day 237: Walking Away

Thankfully not every day on the job are we faced with situations where our values and principles are so challenged that we must make a binary decision to either capitulate or stand firm and just walk away. Because they can be few and far between, our defenses and muscles to walk away might not be as sharp and toned as they need to be. So these moments become ones that feel like they have "sneaked up" on us, or come from left-field. But, these times do come and when they do, are we really ready? I wish I could say that in my career I have a perfect record in these moments, but I can't. None of us do. However, the more we keep ourselves ready and on the watch for these, the better we will be able to handle the situation and the more conviction we can muster to make the right decision. I remember a moment where in the early days of a new job, after a long day of meetings on the road, the other senior executives I was with were going to go off into the night to a number of places that I felt like would not only compromise my own values, but also send a message to the other junior people around us, male and female, that this activity was condoned and potentially being encouraged. As I climbed into the cab to go home (along with a number of other people) the other cab with the other senior executives went the other way. At that moment, I didn't need to say anything or do anything but just walk away and not go out to make the point and take the stand. Sure, there was a few minutes of ribbing, but it was just a moment of saying, "I'm hitting the hay and heading back" and the stand was made. I could say that in that moment, I was full of prayer and spiritual strength, but that would not be true. In that moment, I was just making the choice of what is right and wrong and having the conviction to walk away. Like I said before, no one is perfect all the time, so each of miss these moments and later kick ourselves for not walking away. And they are not always big moments. They can be the moment to tell the truth versus stretch or shade the truth. It could be the moment of giving the actual number versus rounding it up or down. It may be holding those words in your mouth that so desperately want to spew out in a moment of anger. Whatever it is, there are moments that we are called upon to walk away. What I have learned over the years is that God is with us in those moments whether we recognize Him or not. The story of Gideon who was so beaten down as he watched everything collapse around him until he gave up the fight hits home. But at one of Gideon's lowest moments, God said to him; "Go with the strength you have..." What an encouraging verse for us today. God is telling us that we don't need to worry about having super powers and super convictions to do the right thing and to just walk away when that is what is demanded. He says just, "Go with the strength you have". Implied is that He will take care of the rest if we allow Him to do so. Today, know that the strength you have is enough to make it through this day. Keep building that strength through your Bible study, prayer and fellowship with others and know that when you find yourself in the situation where you need to walk away, that God has given you all the the strength you need to do so.

Reference: Judges 6:14 (New Living Testament)

day 100: A Numbers Problem

As Purposed worKING crosses the 100 day mark, I am reminded of the story of Gideon and how I heard it referred to the other day in a meeting, as "Gideon's numbers problem". In business it is all about the numbers. We are working to grow revenue, expand margins, increase profits, decrease costs, even counting people as "headcount". Supposedly the numbers never lie (don't we wish) and all day long we stare at numbers and try to figure out how to make them better. In some instances the numbers just won't get better and we find ourselves stabbing into the dark to try another approach, a different solution, anything we can come up with to try and rectify the problem. It's hard and it gets harder and harder as the numbers get worse. The great story of Gideon in the book of Judges is the same story. Gideon had the numbers stacked against him as God told him to go to battle. He kept looking at his headcount of soldiers vs. the numbers of Midianites and he told God that he was outnumbered and that he couldn't go into battle with so few less warriors than the opposition. God agreed that something was wrong with the numbers and he took care of the problem, but not the way Gideon imagined. God kept narrowing down the number of men that Gideon had until he was well beyond deficient staffing. From the outside looking in, it looked like he was going to fight with overwhelming odds against him and was going to battle with little more than a skeleton crew. But what happens? God delivers a victory with far fewer resources than anyone would have ever humanly planned. And, from the story we learn another valuable lesson about numbers problems. When it looks like the numbers are stacked against us and there doesn't seem any way to win, what God is calling on us to do is to listen to Him and what he said to Gideon in Judges 6:14: "The the Lord turned to to him and said, 'Go with with the strength you have...I am sending you". God wants us, when the odds are against us, and the numbers look worse than bleak, to remember that He is there and through our faith He will provide strength and like He did in the case of Gideon make strength in the numbers. Today may be another day when you are seeing nothing but red numbers all around you and you don't have the answer or solution that others are expecting from you. This is the time to turn over the numbers to God and let him give you strength you need to make the numbers work.

Reference: Judges 6-7, 6:14 (New Living Testament)