Miss The Crash And Burn

I entrust my spirit into your hand. Rescue me, Lord, for you are a faithful God. Psalm 31:5

On occasion I watch car racing. It is pretty amazing how someone can go over a hundred miles an hour in the lead, and with one false move, one small mistake, the car crashes and burns, and the driver is out of the race. As leaders, those pursuing our calling, we are susceptible to the crash and burn.

Sam Rima and Gary McIntosh, in their book Overcoming the Dark Side of Leadership, describe the importance of allowing God to redeem back the hurts and rebuild our lives with his love: “It was during this research that it became clear that a paradox of sorts existed in the lives of most of the leaders who had experienced significant failures: The personal insecurities, feelings of inferiority, and need for parental approval (among other dysfunctions) that compelled these people to become successful leaders were very often the same issues that precipitated their failure.”^a

God seems to use all our hurts and dysfunctions to motivate us to be difference makers who continue in the race. We have to submit these same motivating factors to him, or they will be the source of our undoing.

List why you want to make a difference. Then pray Psalm 51:2: “Wash me clean from my guilt. Purify me from my sin.”

Pray through your motivational factors, and ask God to redeem them.