No Mystery
No Mystery
October 15th 2015
(I posted this thursday dont know what happened)
I never feel that we are where we are for no reason. I think God ordains us for what we are created for. “People are products of their past”[1] As much as I want to not associate with my past I know it has me where I am now. I love this because as God blesses us we should stay in a place of remembrance. What we have experienced is so important. As I preached to students tonight I put my bible and notes down. I did not need them. I went through what I was preaching Philippians 1: 6. As I preached I understood that God had bought me to where I am. There is no mystery he did it. And to me from where I came from this is monumental! People will bury their past because it might not be so intriguing but it is. We are everything we are and everything we have done good and bad. But there is always a method to the madness. We can help someone who doesn’t think they are worth anything. Not to preach too much but this book stirred me up. The author of this book is really scientific in his approach to leadership. And he probably has the time to do that. I never feel like leading nothing. But I do because I am always in a place where nobody else is going to do it. If there is a science to that cool! But leadership sometimes is not about science it’s about what is needed at a certain time. This week I had to turn down something because of the arrogance of the person presenting it to me. Leadership should never stoop low enough to a person for any monetary gain. I did not and I did not make any money! But to me that was not important because I can make money without the person who was presenting it. The dynamic that go with leadership is the ability to say no too! I talked to a friend of a mine today that owns a construction company. He always credits me for what he is doing now. The first job we ever did was an 18-unit hotel and I never even built a pigeon cage. But we did it and now he is doing great things. I don’t know what the mystique of leadership I had or he had we just did it. In Los Angeles we come up from the bottom and we don’t look back. But reading this book made me realize my past is really indicative of where I am now. And I appreciate the past because I know it is important in my present. This mystique of leadership has many forms. It is never scientific to me. But we do things in certain times and certain spaces. I would not do what I did then now i.e. building a hotel with no experience. I was young then and loved that challenge but if the money is not there trust me I wont build nothing because i am older lol.
[1] Manfred F. R. Kets de Vries, The Leadership Mystique: Leading Behavior in the Human Enterprise (Harlow, England, Prentice Hall Financial Times 2006), 17.
About the Author
Travis Biglow
Pastor of Victory Empowerment Center. Regional Chaplain High Desert Regional Center Graduates Azusa Pacific University. Licensed General Contractor B. I am the married with one daughter, two grandsons and one step son.11 responses to “No Mystery”
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Travis,
I like your line … ‘I never feel like leading nothing. But I do because I am always in a place where nobody else is going to do it.” I have recently been saying that I feel like I have been leading out of sense of “responsibility.” I think that is kind of what you are saying with doing the things you don’t see anyone else doing and knowing it needs to happen. I would say I see a lot of possibilities for leadership and I see it as an un met opportunity that I go ahead and take in order to get things done. So I think I am getting what you are saying there!
God bless you Phil, leading out of responsibility is a real thing. And we do have to at times. I have often felt overwhelmed and then sometimes i don’t. We just got to give it our best shot trusting in God’s grace!
Travis, “But we do things in certain times and certain spaces. I would not do what I did then now” So true…and it’s amazing that God uses those things we did back in the day to guide us in the present. Thanks Travis.
Yes he does Nick, even the good the bad and the ugly. I must say i am glad those things that were needed to mature me has already happened! lol blessings
Nick and Travis,
Great thoughts. I’ve always found the the Lord opens doors for me to walk through at just the right times in life, when I focus on Him and allow Him to lead. There have been times in my career where I questioned why God had me in a specific place, but looking back I know that He had me gain certain experience and to be exposed to certain leaders so that I could grow, learn, and be prepared for what He has me to do in the future. As soon as my focus drifts from Him to what I’m accomplishing, then I loose my edge.
“But leadership sometimes is not about science it’s about what is needed at a certain time.”
Many great leaders would be unknown if they had not recognized the need and stepped up to the plate. I so often think of Esther and the challenge of “for such a time as this.”
There it is Brian right there, for such a time as this. And it is going to be rewarding to see the things God has us here for at this time in life! be blessed
Brian and Travis. “…not about science…” That stood out to me as well. I find myself (just yesterday actually) using the phrase “well, it’s more of an art than a science really.” The art of hearing the Holy Spirit, moment by moment, then taking action only based on his direction is something that you have to just “feel” your way through sometimes isn’t it?
Travis, Sometimes the past haunts us sometimes it gives us perspective but always we can remember the moments that God intervened and rescued us. While it makes us who we are today, while it informs our choices it doesn’t control our choices – would you agree? Thanks for your post.
God bless you Dave, i think it helps us to make better choices in most cases! I was in a Spiritual Formations course at Azusa Pacific. And it was there that i realized how many things affect us from the past. And i had to come to grips with the fact that i made some dumb choices and i had to accept that with all the good ones too. We cant separate ourselves from the fact that we made those mistakes no matter what circumstances we had around us. But it makes me more aware of the ramifications of choosing the wrong choice! Blessings Dave!
When you speak of the past, Travis, I’m reminded of a coaching tool I give people. We walk through 5-8 stories of their past (at least one has to be below the age of 10), and then “exegete” what that story tells them about who they were…then later we begin to relate it to who they are today. It’s amazing what the past, even when we were completely unaware of what we were doing other than living life as best we could, even with all the mistakes, can tell us. Most often, I find for those who are followers of Christ that they see a thread of God’s faithfulness. Your story seems to echo the same thing. Your willingness to reveal what God is doing in your life is a gift to us.