Turning Point: The Mental Challenge (3/5)
How do you ruin a marriage? Act like you’re still single. How do you fail as a leader? Act like you’re still an individual contributor. The surefire way to fail a turning point is to act like it never happened.
Turning points are mentally challenging because you will need to learn and practice a new set of skills. Fail at this and you will fail the turning point.
Before Jesus went to the Cross, he prepared his disciples for the turning point by directing them to make multiple changes.
He basically told them, “I used to do this… Now you will need to do this…” Some examples:
Jesus served them, now they need to serve each other (John 13:15)
Jesus led them, now they need to follow the Holy Spirit (John 14:26)
Jesus prayed for them, now they need to pray directly (John 16:24)
All turning points require you to make skill changes.
That means that if you continue to do “more of what you did before… only better” you will fail. For instance, suppose Jesus died and went to heaven and the disciples just sat around and waited for Jesus to return. When the Holy comes, the disciples would have said, “Meh. We’d rather follow Jesus. We used to wait for him to return from a mountain top or short trip. We’ve learned how to wait so we’ll just keep waiting.” Fail!
Marriages fail because the partners continue to act like they’re single. The couple fails to learn and apply the skills needed for an enduring relationship. Managers fail because they continue to act like individual contributors. They fail to learn and apply the skills needed to supervise.
Turing points require learning and implementing new skills and to stop doing things the way you did before.
Are you struggling with effectiveness / success after a turning point?
Ask the LORD to open your mind to the changes required by the turning point.
What new skills do you need to learn and implement? Be specific, e.g., “I will need to learn how to create a schedule for my staff.” Who or what resources are available to help you identify and develop these skills?
What old things or ways of doing things must you stop?
Tomorrow: the turning points stack.