The COVID Pandemic is a change accelerator. The world is changing at the highest rate ever, not in new ways so much as accelerating the rate of change that was already in motion. (see digitized medical practices, etc) This means that leadership is intensely more exciting, exhilarating, and challenging than normal - simply because of the speed of things.
Every day when I go out to my car for my commute to work (which has been a while as I have had the fortune of working from home) I have my satchel over my shoulder, a bag with my lunch in one hand and my coffee in the other. I slide into the driver’s seat, put the bag on the floorboard, the coffee in the cup holder and the satchel on the passenger seat. Then I plug my phone in and put on a podcast that will keep me distracted until I arrive.
I doubt it is a new trend, but lately it seems popular to dunk on/razz/make fun of the apostles of Jesus. And it makes sense; how many times can Jesus tell you exactly what’s going to happen while you’re still surprised when it happens exactly like he said? The food miracles really get to me. He multiplies a meal for the following crowd once and his disciples are shocked, understandably. Then, they find themselves in the same position no more than a few weeks later and his disciples have no hope that Jesus can do anything to fix the situation. If it were you or me, we would probably just look at Jesus with raised eyebrows and wait for him to get multiplying. But that’s not really true, is it?
I was reading the first few chapters of Haggai this morning, along with Isaiah 48, and it struck me that God has two fundamental priorities that are always at work with equal ferocity and consistency. Awareness of these two priorities gives wise counsel to us in our daily journey of knowing, understanding, and enjoying God.
The hearty durian is a fruit of renowned nutritional value and equally notorious smell. Though never interacting with one myself, the consensus is they smell like a mix between gym socks and ripe cheese. To me it is clear that, of all the Fruit of the Spirit, Patience would be the durian. Few things in the world are better for you but boy, does it stink.
