It's been a while

I was going to just try to jump in and begin this blog again--pretending that the gap of the last month didn't really happen. I was going to share something inspirational or humorous and we would just go on. I don't want to make this whole blogging thing another, longer version of Twitter. (The most egocentric invention ever)

But, the gap of a month is fairly obvious--even if you are the vast majority that doesn't really care if I post with legalistic commitment every week. It begs the question: "What the heck have you been up to?" So, rather than ignore it, I suppose it is necessary to acknowledge it.

Leadership involves living with the urgent demands of things while working on the important things that may not scream for our attention. It is a constant struggle to balance these things. The urgent things may not be important--they just might be loud and grab your attention. The important things often don't scream at you--but they need to be addressed. Of course, if you procrastinate long enough, then the important thing WILL scream...and it is a terrifying noise at that point!!

Urgent and Important. Discerning which is which is a leadership skill. The urgent AND important must be addressed right now with energy and clarity. This is not negotiable and is often defined as a crisis. The important and not urgent needs discipline to focus on--these require commitment. These are things like spiritual growth, relationships, exercise, etc. We know these--but often let them slide.

The past month has been a huge lesson in this issue of urgent and important. My struggles with pain have been urgent and affected many areas of my life. (Including the time I could take sitting in front of a computer). But, it has also reminded me of the important things along the journey. These are not new things or new lessons, but small reminders of how much God wants us to address the IMPORTANT things in our relationship with Him, ourselves, our family and our friends.

Pain is a tiring companion. But, I have not walked it alone. I have appreciated the care and concern from friends and family. We simply can't walk this journey alone. We need others to help us discern the important from the urgent. Think about these two--and strategies you need to develop to separate them in your life and your calendar.

God bless,
Tiger

Pain

Pain has hit me again. This time is was physical pain--a shoulder that could not be ignored any more. It screamed for my attention even throughout the night at hourly intervals. It disrupted my normal pattern, sapped my energy and drained my strength. I have lived with it for years as an on-again, off-again reminder of a nagging injury. But, this weekend was not a back-burner issue. It became a demanding partner that would not let go of me, and frankly, really disrupted my plans for the weekend.

The week before Christmas it was relational pain as I lost my 51 year old brother in law as he had surgery for a heart problem suddenly diagnosed. Pain took hold of his family as they suffered the loss of a husband, father, brother and son. It was brutal to be a part of this kind of pain. For this family--the pain was magnified because of the love they had for one another, the positive relationships in the family, and the closeness they experienced with one another. Pain screamed for their attention.

We see pain as the enemy. We drug it, deny it, stay busy to ignore it and pray for a band-aid to cover it. But, we often don't really deal with it and see what we can learn from it. I am certainly not one to say I'm glad when pain comes my way. But, our avoidance of it without reflection often does us no good as leaders and as followers of Jesus. It circumvents the learning process when we make our theology be all about avoiding pain.

It is interesting that the Bible doesn't seem to buy into this idea. The writers of Scripture lament openly about pain, cry out to God in honest pain and even wonder out loud if God is around during it all. Good, honest stuff. And the good news is that God is bigger than our perspective on pain--and can meet us in and through it all. Scripture is full of folks who have learned that lesson, and we need to be reminded of it in our world today.

Life is hard at times. Pain screams at us. Sometimes the pain is physical--sometimes relational or emotional. Whatever the pain, I pray that you avoid the blaming and running. Face it, name it and seek to find God in it. Is God the rock in the midst of the pain, or the rescue attempt to get out of the pain?