Follow the Leader

One of my favorite bible verses is John 15:5.  I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without me. I think of a ship out at sea with no sails and no ability to move. Driftless and lost at sea. That would be a harrowing experience, right? Yet, that’s exactly where people find themselves when they have no sense of direction. It’s far worse when there is someone in your life that wants to grant it. Yet, stubbornness and pride take the front seat and convince them that they can handle it themselves.

That reminds me of the DIY experience. I don’t know about you, but I can recall more than one instance of me trying to “figure it out” myself even when instructions were provided. That’s the trick with DIY, right? We’re convinced that we can handle it so we don’t bother checking out the instructions. Why do we reach that point? Is it really just our pride, convincing us that we got it and don’t need help? Whatever the reason, we always end up with extra pieces at the end of the project. We're convinced we found a quicker path, but the reality is that the completed product is often flawed. 

In my line of work, I always had a golden rule for my team. Ask questions. If you ask the questions you have up front, you’ll save time later. Especially when it’s task oriented. It’s a horrible feeling when you have to start from scratch when all you had to do was ask for help in the beginning. Rather put so much emphasis on being the leader of the pack, focus on being a follower. In doing so, you learn the qualities that are necessary in leadership. Furthermore, when it comes to our spiritual living, we don’t just stop at hearing directions. But we also learn how to follow them. I’m also guilty of occasionally ignoring my GPS because I’m convinced I know a better and quicker route. If my end result is what Jesus desires for me, then it behooves me to follow his direction and not try to figure it out on my own. 

Stay Sunny!

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