If you got my note on October 16, I told you the Huddle would come every weekday. That’s changing. I’ll explain in this post.
Verses: John 10:1-21
This past week, I put a pressure on myself I never was intended to bear. I said I’d start The Daily Huddle. I had sought God and was praying throughout the whole process. And yet, I moved forward on a decision based on what I thought I could do. As I pushed forward, I found myself more shut down. Life got overwhelming last week. The harder I tried, the further I felt like I got from accomplishing anything. Like Sisyphus, I was pushing a rock up a mountain, only to have it fall back down to the bottom.
I’m learning to discern the difference between “God’s Purpose will be hard” and “I’m shutting down because I’m going in a direction God didn’t intend me to go.” I spent the week saying, “I can do this. I’ll look bad if I go back on what I said.”
Maybe I will. But what’s worse? Going in a direction Jesus isn’t giving me Life for?
Have you ever experienced this?
Hard-charging leaders go and do on their own strength. Tough it out. Pull yourself up by your bootstraps. Lone ranger. Make something of yourself. Every one of those says the same thing: accomplishing your Purpose is entirely up to you.
Jesus says, “the thief comes to steal, kill and destroy” our lives. You can stay away from affairs, embezzlement and toxicity and still have the enemy subtly robbing you of the Life Jesus wants to give to you.
Here’s what I missed. In John 10, we aren’t the shepherd. We’re the sheep. The sheep hear His voice and follow Him (vv. 3-5). The sheep who follow Him go in and out and find pasture (v. 9). The sheep who lead themselves wander. And wandering is where the thief has his opportunity to subtly steal from you.
God’s one job description for you is to Hear & Follow Jesus.
Not for your spiritual life. But for all of your life, work and leadership.
“Avoid the mistake of being so preoccupied with the work of the Lord that we neglect our relationship with the Lord.” — Jordan Raynor, The Sacredness of Secular Work
You can know 100% you are doing the work God has you to do. But you can go out and do it without receiving the Abundant Life God promises. This means you’re doing this work in your own strength. And He meant so much more for you.
So how do we Hear & Follow Him? God gives us three tools: the Word, Prayer and Community. The Word is how we hear what He has already said. Prayer is how we talk with Him and get our direction in the moment. Community is how we hear Him through others and follow Him alongside them. The sheep in John 10 aren’t loners. They’re a flock.
So I’m changing the plan
I told you I’d show up every weekday. Instead, The Huddle will come to you early every Monday morning, and the daily part stays with you. Each post gives you a simple way to start.
Hearing & Following Jesus is the one thing God wants you to do every day. Writing five posts a week would turn the Huddle into the very thing Jesus warns us about: work done in my own strength. So Monday gives you the passage, the challenge and the questions. Then each weekday you spend time with Jesus in the Word and Prayer, and carry what He gives you into your life, work and leadership.
For the next five Mondays, we’ll walk through the five pillars of FindingLife, one a week, each anchored in Scripture. This is the first.
One of my Impossible Prayers for what I do through FindingLife is for God to lead everyone in the world to Find Life in Jesus daily. Not people who just show up to church, pray a few prayers and read the token verse of the day every so often. But people whose life, work and leadership is characterized by the Abundant Life Jesus gives because they Hear & Follow Him. People who refuse to let the enemy subtly rob them of that Life. People who push aside the noise every day to spend intentional time with Jesus, and who live, work and lead from the overflow of the Abundant Life only He can give.
Impossible Prayer
God, how do You want me to Hear & Follow Jesus daily to find His Life?
Leadership Challenge
Decide now the time, place and how you will Hear & Follow Jesus through the Word, Prayer and Community.
Where in your life, work and leadership do you experience pushing a rock up a mountain with absolutely no Life despite praying for it?
Multiply Yourself
Where can you be honest with your team on where you feel like you are just spinning your wheels?
Do you have someone on your team who feels like they’re pushing a rock up a mountain just to do it?
How can you check the pulse of your team to see if they feel this way?
This Week
Passage: John 10:1-21
Hear: If you have no other plan, read it once a day. What is He saying to you about His voice and your pace?
Follow: Pick one person on your team or at home and check how they’re really doing.
Next Monday: Every person knows their God-given Purpose (Ephesians 2:1-10).