Ron Harris

Some truths are easy to digest. Chocolate ice cream is good. Majestic, snow-capped mountains are beautiful. The giggle of a little child is delightful. But some truths are harder to process. Like this truth from leadership guru Fred Smith:

“Aloneness is chosen; loneliness is imposed.”

When I read that recently, I had to take time to think it through. I also had to read further to see how Fred Smith arrived at that conclusion. Smith was moving into an executive role at a major shoe company when his boss and mentor, Maxie Jarman, confronted him.

“Fred, how far do you want to go?” “Mr. Jarman, I want to go as far as I can.”

He responded, “Then learn to live with loneliness.”

The startling truth is that those who lead find they cannot relate to their staff as they might with close friends. Smith says:

“Aloneness is chosen; loneliness is imposed. It can be imposed by responsibility…for example, an executive who is highly functioning can never really be ‘one of the boys.’”

Smith goes on to relate a story of an executive who shared everything with many people on his staff: his challenges, his vision for the company’s future, and his concerns. What happened was different people formed different opinions and set their minds in one direction or another. Then, when the executive made a decision, a faction was immediately against it, bringing on unnecessary strife in the organization. Smith called it abdicating his leadership to create a comfortable environment.

Is it OK to share things with some of the staff? Smith says that for a leader, “Talking over his potential decisions is valuable if and only if he chooses the right person and assesses his motivation.”

Do you remember the story of King Rehoboam found in 1 Kings 12? Solomon’s son was faced with a decision regarding the treatment of some of the Israelites. Rehoboam sought counsel from his father’s older advisors, who encouraged him to treat the Israelites kindly. But Rehoboam went to his own young advisors, who said he needed to be even harsher with them. The counsel he received from these men brought strife and grief. Their advice was born out of their own personal agenda.

When all Israel realized that the king had refused to listen to them, they responded, “Down with the dynasty of David! We have no interest in the son of Jesse. Back to your homes, O Israel! Look out for your own house, O David!”

1 Kings 12:16 NLT

A wedge was driven between a people that was unnecessary.

You, as a leader, may need to set yourself apart from others on your team. Think of the times Jesus went off by himself to pray. He chose to be alone as he sought His Father’s direction for His purpose and plan.

Choosing aloneness.

As Fred Smith says,” The loneliness of leadership must be accepted as part of the price.” Are you willing to pay that price to lead effectively?

God’s best,

I didn’t hear those exact words, but the sentiment was the same. I took it as a compliment, but in reality, it could go either way.

It is said your reputation is what others think of you. Your character is who you are when no one is around. Character should take higher importance for all of us.

There was a book written many years ago called, Dress for Success. The author gave ideas and suggestions for how to dress to be considered a leader by others. Of course, the “look” had to be backed up by the substance, the ability to do the job. The look may have built a reputation of sorts, but something inside the person needed to back it up.

You may have experienced what I have. You buy a name-brand piece of clothing, famous for its style and quality, only to find the company has lowered its standards to make more sales. Disappointing at best.

Reputations are built over time. And those reputations, driven by a lack of character, can lead to challenges in our lives. This is especially true if we lead Christian ministries or organizations.

Jehoram was appointed king after the death of his father, Jehoshaphat. Jehoram’s father and grandfather built reputations as good kings. Jehoram could have followed the legacy left by those who led before him. But he didn’t. And it didn’t take long for all around him to see Jehoram for who he really was. Chronicles tells the brief and sad story:

Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years. No one was sorry when he died. They buried him in the City of David, but not in the royal cemetery.

2 Chronicles‬ 21‬:20‬ NLT‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

What a legacy! No one was sorry when he died.

What is your reputation? What do others think of you and your leadership? Is the character of your life directing your actions, or are you driven by something else?

The Lord reminds us through the apostle Luke that it can all come tumbling down, as it did for Jehoram.

For all that is secret will eventually be brought into the open, and everything that is concealed will be brought to light and made known to all.

Luke 8:17 NLT

Be careful with your good reputation. It is fragile.

God’s best,

In the Old Testament, Joseph became famous for being able to interpret dreams. I’m no Joseph. But I have had dreams. And last week I had three strange dreams. They were each different. Later, I realized they had a common theme. Failure. To be more specific, MY failure.

Failure to pick up some people in time. Failure to start an event because of distractions. Failure, failure, failure. I’m no Joseph, but I began to ponder the meaning, if any, of such dreams.

By the way, I’m not big into dreams as a way of guiding my life or for teaching me something on my spiritual journey. It might just have been a spicy enchilada that brought on that dream! But I also don’t want to miss something that could help me be the person, the leader, that the Lord wants me to be.

That led me to think of what constitutes success. All of us fail, mainly in things that are of little or no importance. We fail to call someone when we said we would. We miss something in a letter or email, and we don’t respond correctly…or at all. These are minor and highly correctable.

To think on the positive side, how do we succeed in the things that really matter? We usually believe that success is being able to accomplish things. And if we can’t do those things, we have failed. Henry Blackaby helps us adjust our thinking.

“Will God ever ask you to do something you are not able to do? The answer is yes—all the time! It must be that way, for God’s glory and kingdom. If we function according to our ability alone, we get the glory; if we function according to the power of the Spirit within us, God gets the glory. He wants to reveal Himself to a watching world.”

It wasn’t long before my morning Bible reading took me to the book of Acts. In this passage Paul seems to be weighing the value of accomplishments and yet the uncertainty of what the future might bring. I think we all live with these kinds of thoughts. Then Paul brought it down to the essence of success versus failure with these words:

But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God.

Acts 20:24 NLT

All of us can fail. All of us will fail. But our Lord is ready to lift our heavy load and put us back on track to serving Him with all our heart. The Psalmist gives these encouraging words:

The Lord helps the fallen
and lifts those bent beneath their loads.

Psalm 145:14 NLT

Someone has said failure is not fatal. Better yet, God’s grace and His hand of mercy are everlasting. You don’t need to dream of success. You can achieve God’s success by your obedience to His way and His will…today.

God’s best,

Excellence is a difficult thing to define. Even the dictionary struggles. Webster’s tries to nail down the meaning of excellence this way: “…the quality of being excellent.” That doesn’t help a lot. Yet most of us know what excellence is when we see it.

I have led conference sessions in many places around the world. One of the key topics I speak on is excellence. A well-known American football coach, Vince Lombardi, expressed great wisdom with his thoughts on the subject.

“Perfection is not attainable. But if we chase perfection, we can catch excellence.”

As leaders in ministries and Christian organizations, it often falls to us to push the team to do their best to achieve the most. I often think of the title of Oswald Chambers’s book of devotionals: My Utmost for His Highest. What a great phrase to capture what we should be about in our ministry, our work, our families, and our lives.

Here are four keys to excellence:

• Consistency – Aristotle, the Greek philosopher, said, “Excellence is not an act, it’s a habit.” Strive consistently for excellence and soon you will be developing a habit of great accomplishments.
• Improvement—We need a heart to constantly get better. A successful college baseball coach asks his players to get one percent better every day. That’s a good start toward excellence.
• Creativity – Our Lord is a creative God, and we are made in His likeness. We have creativity within us. No doubt, it is seen better in some than others, but we all have the ability to break new ground and find innovative ways to solve problems.

Going the extra mile – Someone has said that responsible people do what is expected of them. Excellent people routinely do more than asked.

Ryan Denison of the Denison Forum wrote on the topic of excellence.

“There is something about the pursuit of excellence that is easy for people to notice and appreciate, regardless of the context in which it occurs. Perhaps it is easier to recognize when it comes to music, athletics, or other more public displays, but the principle applies to our work, our relationships, and our personal pursuits as well.”

Denison then examines Daniel’s life in the Old Testament as an example. He lived a life of excellence that was quickly noted by Nebuchadnezzar.

The Apostle Paul reminded the believers in Colossae that our best efforts…our excellence… are found in service to our Savior.

Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.

Colossians 3:23 NLT

Along with the obvious reason for pursuing excellence in our Christian life, there are other benefits. Again, the great football coach Vince Lombardi made a profound statement worth pondering and retaining.

“The quality of a person’s life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor.”

God is honored when we serve Him with excellence. Other lives are impacted by the effort we exhibit toward excellence in ministry. And the quality of our own lives is enhanced by our commitment to excellence.

It sounds like we all gain from a life of excellence. And the Lord is honored. Oswald Chambers sums it up this way:

“Worship is giving God the best He has given to you. Be careful what you do with your best.”

God’s best,

Time killers. All of us can look back on days when things just didn’t get done. And if we look close enough, we can see times we failed to make a decision, and soon other things ground to a halt.

Leadership expert Fred Smith says there are three key things he has observed that waste time and slow down our ability to make a decision.

1. Procrastination – Smith cleverly wrote, “If I ever get around to it, I am going to run for President of the National Procrastination Society. The problem is I just haven’t gotten around to it.”

Sometimes, we don’t make the decisions out of fear of making the wrong one. We over-analyze. Or we wait until we have all the information. Sure, we need to do our due diligence on key issues. But if we aren’t careful, we will be shuffling papers and gathering information and still put off the decision. In Texas, we often say we are, “fixin’” to do something. We are thinking about it. We are planning for it. But we never get around to doing “it.” Fred Smith says, “Exhaustion without results is a waste of time and energy.”

1. Rationalization – It is better to own your mistakes than to try to explain them away. We sometimes spend more time explaining why something went wrong than we do in moving to the right decision.
2. Indecision – This area not only slows down progress but also affects the rest of your team. John Maxwell says, “When the leader lacks confidence, the followers lack commitment.” It was Joshua who urged the Israelites to make a decision, not to waver.

…choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.

Joshua 24:15 NLT

Decide to decide. Don’t let indecision, rationalization, or procrastination sidetrack you as you lead others. And don’t let the definite answer be – MAYBE.

God’s best,

Everyone in leadership has had those times. First, a small problem will come. Soon, that is compounded by another one, even bigger than the first. And then these challenges fall like great torrents of rain. Before long, we feel we are drowning, with no life raft in sight.

If you have been in leadership for any time at all, you have no doubt gone through a testing time like this. If you are in Christian ministry, you wonder why you must deal with these overwhelming challenges as you try to share God’s hope with those who need to know Jesus and His love.

I was recently reminded of the time Job questioned God. By human standards, he had every right to challenge his Lord about the disasters he experienced. The loss of his children, his wealth, and his health. And Job’s friends…even Job’s wife…were not much help. His wife told Job, “Curse God and die.” Not a lot of comfort.

Job had an interesting exchange with Almighty God. Listen to his comments about his multiple losses and see if you might also think along these lines as you face your challenges.

If only someone would listen to me!
Look, I will sign my name to my defense.
Let the Almighty answer me.
Let my accuser write out the charges against me.
I would face the accusation proudly.

Job 31:35-36 NLT

Here are some things to note:

• God listened to Job’s complaints and questions.
• God responded to what concerned Job.
• God blessed Job despite his questioning and lack of understanding.

At the same time, the Lord didn’t let Job’s wrong thinking go unchecked. In Job 38, He asked Job penetrating and sobering questions:

• Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?
• Where were you when I set the oceans in their place?
• Where were you when I put the constellations of stars in position?

We see things from a narrow and simplistic viewpoint. God knows what He is doing, whether we see it or not. And Job, to his credit, replied to Almighty God in a way that should be our response when we question the Lord and our circumstances.

You asked, ‘Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorance?’ It is I—and I was talking about things I knew nothing about, things far too wonderful for me.

Job 42:3 NLT

We need to admit that we don’t understand God’s ways—they are not our ways. Yet we also need to remember that our Lord loves us greatly. After all, He sent His Son Jesus to die for our sins. What greater love could there be?

Problems? Challenges? They can seem to be overwhelming. But the God who put everything in our world in place is still in charge. He will listen to you. And He will bless you. That is His nature.

God’s best,

I was sitting at a signal light the other day, rather impatiently, I must admit. I was trying to “will” the light to turn green. No surprise. The light didn’t change when I wanted it to.

Many of us take that same attitude into our personal and spiritual lives. We want God’s will to happen right now on our timetable. It is not easy to see things from the Lord’s perspective.

One online site that deals with biblical questions mentioned the difficulty of waiting on God’s timing.

“Waiting on God is not only difficult; sometimes it seems impossible. We want things to happen in our own timing, according to our plans. But God doesn’t operate on our schedules, and expecting that He will… sets one up for disappointment.”

Our expectations and God’s plan don’t always align. I recall a challenging season of waiting for the Lord to open a door and show me a path…and waiting…and waiting…for almost a year. When God finally set things in motion, it was more than I could have hoped for. But to be honest, those many months were spiritually grueling. Yet, it was during this time that I experienced significant spiritual growth.

Dr. David Jeremiah wrote in one of his ministry blogs about the challenges faced when it comes to our timing versus God’s timing.

To wait on the Lord is to trust that God is at work, even when His timetable is longer than we’d like. It goes against our nature, but part of the problem is how we define “waiting.” Biblical waiting involves actively walking in step with God as He unfolds his plans. It is far more than sitting around, twiddling our thumbs.

So, if you are willing to wait, what do you do? First, be prepared for others to not understand why you are waiting. God’s voice speaks to you, but others may not hear or understand His will for you.

Pastor Charles Stanley has six things a person needs to do to wait on God successfully.

1. You must trust God. Do you believe the Lord has a plan for your life? Then, you must trust He is working it all out for your good and His purpose.
2. You must have patience. The Psalmist wrote:

Be still in the presence of the Lord,
and wait patiently for him to act.

Psalm 37:7 NLT

Dr. Stanley reminded us, “You never waste time waiting on God.”

1. You need courage. Joshua didn’t know all that God had for him. The Lord had to remind Joshua repeatedly to be strong and of good courage.
2. You need to be determined. Waiting when others urge you to do something takes determination. You must listen to the Holy Spirit over the voices of others.
3. You need strength. The waiting task gets harder the longer it takes. Lean on the one who is our strength… Jesus.
4. You must endure… until God moves.

The words of Isaiah ring true today for all of us who find ourselves waiting.

But those who wait on the Lord
Shall renew their strength;
They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
They shall run and not be weary,
They shall walk and not faint.

Isaiah 40:31 NKJV

So… when necessary…let’s wait… on the Lord.

God’s best,

Let’s do something different today. Take out a piece of paper and a writing instrument. Got it?

Now…write down the top one or two problems that are keeping you from accomplishing your God-given task. You probably won’t have to think too hard. They are probably before you every day you try to lead and serve. Or, what problems are keeping you from being all God wants you to be?

Now, hold onto that paper while I tell you what God showed me as I was reading through Numbers in the Old Testament. Some of these passages are rather tedious. Counting men who could fight. Rules and laws for living lives that please the Lord. Sacrifices and gifts to be given to atone for sin and shortcomings. Many of them become repetitive. So, I often ask the Holy Spirit to teach me something through these passages.

I began to think of those Israelites who left Egypt and wandered for forty years in the wilderness. By many accounts, they numbered over two million people. That’s huge. As I figure it, there were probably four hundred thousand family units throughout the twelve tribes. And God gave Moses instructions for them to make sacrifices.

“…This is the special gift you must present to the Lord as your daily burnt offering. You must offer two one-year-old male lambs with no defects. Sacrifice one lamb in the morning and the other in the evening.”

Numbers 28:3-4 NLT

So, each family was to make this sacrifice. Four hundred thousand lambs in the morning. Four hundred thousand lambs in the evening. That’s eight hundred thousand lambs a day. And in five days…that’s four million lambs sacrificed. And this was to go on and on, week after week, month after month, year after year. Where did all these sacrificial lambs come from?

Someone calculated what it would take to feed these two million people. The primary food needed each day was over four million pounds worth. To bring that much food would have taken three trains of boxcars, each over a mile long. And for water…it would have required eleven million gallons each day and a freight train with tanker cars over eighteen hundred miles long… each day.

Of course, they didn’t have trains!

I could go on and on detailing the magnitude of these people’s challenges and what it would take to meet their needs—impossible, but God!

Now…grab that piece of paper you wrote on a few moments ago. Look at the items you wrote down. My question to you…how big is your problem…for God?

Over and over throughout God’s Word, we hear God saying:

Is there anything too hard for the Lord?

The question then is this: Do you trust God or not? Do you believe Him or not? Is He the same yesterday, today, and forever?

The writer of Hebrews has good instructions for us as we trod the often-difficult path of life the Lord has for us.

…let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.

Hebrews 12:1-2 NLT

OK…one more time…look at those things you wrote down. Then, look to Jesus and place those problems before Him. He has been waiting for you.

God’s best,