“So I will be painting over this wall?”, the tradesman asked, anxious to begin prepping the walls of the large room in front of us.
I hesitated. Although I had commissioned the repair work more than a year ago, now that the time had finally come to proceed, I wavered. What if the new paint colour was worse than the existing one? What if the new look clashed with the surroundings? What if it caused the room to shrink or the furniture to appear awkward or unflattering?
As the “what ifs” swirled around in my head, the workman tapped his brush impatiently, awaiting my response.
As a leader, so often it is not my decisions but my indecisions that lead to delay, confusion and failure. As I endlessly weigh the pros, cons and ‘what ifs’ of a given option, I unintentionally creating an atmosphere of impatience, fear and insecurity. Meanwhile, I risk losing time, efficiency and even the confidence of others.
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If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. James 1:5
Friend, I am learning more and more that God is interested and invested in everyone of my leadership decisions. He cares about the outcomes even more than I can imagine. He sees “the big picture” when I cannot see it and is working every aspect and action together for my good (Romans 8:28).
James 1:5 assures me that God will not only respond to my request for wisdom, but that He will respond generously, revealing options and considerations that may not have been obvious to me. Now that’s the framework for decision making that I would can work with! I recognize that as a leader there are those counting on me to bring clarity, vision and direction to each initiative, crisis and crossroad. I’m at my best when I commit to expending my energy on productive momentum and not wandering around the land of “what if”.
I have chosen to commit James 1:5. I invite you to join me in claiming (or re-claiming) this promise of wisdom as often as you need it. Always remember we are never leading to obtain success. Rather, through Christ, we are leading from success. Though we may stumble or grow weary, God will give grace…and beyond that, He also promises to supply us with a generous dose of wisdom – every single time we ask.
By the way, that wall I was not quite sure about eventually got painted and turned out just fine…better than fine in fact. It caused me to wonder why I had wasted even a moment in the land of “what if”.
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