Standing or Stumbling?

"If people can't see what God is doing, they stumble all over themselves; but when they attend to what he reveals, they are most blessed."  Prov. 29:18 (MSG)

Many times as I read the Bible, verses jump out at me. They stick with me in the following days as God weaves portions of that verse (or theme) throughout my life.  But over time, those verses fade into the background as new ones emerge building on top of the things that God has shown me.

However, there have been a couple times in my life when a verse does more than jump out at me and it changes everything at that moment and every moment thereafter.  It's one of those things where this unusual power and striking meaning are so obvious and distinct that the only way to explain it is God.  The way the verses are read, received and understood leaves an imprint in my mind that will never be forgotten and will fuel my beliefs, ministry decisions and way of life.

My friends know the story behind Psalm 32:8 and how that has impacted my life.  And, although I've had other "verses-jumping-out-at-ya" experiences since then, none have been as powerful and life-changing until this spring when I ran across Proverbs 29:18 (see above) during a Wed. night service.

For most, it's just another verse; but for me, it brought everything together!  Actually, the first thing I wrote down was "circle lifeshape" (from Huddle/weare3dm.com) but the more the truth of that verse sank in, the larger it got!  The circle lifeshape is just the beginning...but this is the mindset that we should operate out of as leaders.  If we have it wrong, we lead wrong.  If we see ourselves, we're not seeing God.  If we see others, we're still not seeing God.  I've read this verse in a variety of translations and commentaries, and each time, the realities found in that verse change everything! 

Personal experience shows me that the secret to everything in life, in family, in ministry and in leadership is found in Proverbs 29:18 as much as it is found in Psalm 32:8.  If we're honest with ourselves, we know the times where we have seen and responded to what God is doing vs. stumbled all over ourselves by trying to do it ourselves (or half-ourselves/half-God, if you know what I mean).  We stumble when we lose moving toward God as our driving vision.  If God and His Word fail to be the focal points in our lives and ministries, we've already missed the mark from the get go. 

We also tend to stumble when we wait for others to catch up and join us.  We stumble when we believe others can tell us where we need to be and seek their opinions before God's.  We stumble when we slowly let go of the beliefs, character qualities and morals that we know to be pure, right, true, and just and rationalize the little compromises that come our way.  We stumble when we allow others to create divisions or when we dare to create divisions ourselves.  We stumble when we learn from every great leadership book yet the Bible still sits unopened on our desk (to get to later, of course).

We stumble when we remain in the dark and fail to see that we were never created to represent dark.  We stumble when we fail to lead from the inside-out--from God and His Word at the center of our being and letting Him overflow to every area of our life.  All the prayers and prep time in the Word that we do for ministry can keep us from seeing that we're running on fumes as we are still "doing" instead of finding personal rest and enjoyment in our relationship with God.  We have to faithfully be in the Word ourselves so we know God, what He is saying, where He is working and where we need to align ourselves in order to be with Him and reflect more of Him. 

Love the last part of the verse because it points out our responsibility and choice with "when they attend to what he reveals...".  Seeing what God reveals in His Word or seeing Him at work all around us is only half of the equation...responding to it makes it complete.  We can see all day long but seeing doesn't produce inner change...we have to act on the things that we see.  We can choose to obey or we can choose to keep doing our own thing...it's really as simple as that no matter how much we want to excuse it or complicate it. 

To see and to respond bring great blessings--the kind that come across in sweet relationships and in the joy, clarity and peace that come through responding to God and in turn, finding that God-rhythm to our lives.