As a senior business executive for the past 30+ years, I have had many opportunities for making strategic decisions, and hopefully learning something from them. I believe that over time, those decisions became more reasoned, better informed, and ultimately more successful.
The ones that turned out to be wrong were obvious – sometimes right away and sometimes a few months or quarters down the road. However, I understand that making decisions involves risk, and if I never make a mistake, I am probably not taking enough risk. In fact, making mistakes can be one of the best tools for successful decision-making.
However, I don’t want to address here the decisions that turn out to be the mistakes, but those that turn out to be the good ones. If you are like me, you probably have had the experience of seeing a decision turn out well, but still have that sneaking suspicion that it could have been better, and maybe much better. I think I have found one of the reasons why this is the case – I had been trying to use my experience and decision-making capabilities instead of God’s. As a result, I get an earthy outcome rather than a heavenly outcome. In my book, that’s sub-optimal.
There is a story in the Bible (2 Kings 13:18-19) of a king named Joash who was told by the prophet Elisha to take some arrows and strike the ground. He hit the ground with the arrows three times, and Elisha was angry with him, telling him that the number of times he struck the ground would be the number of times he would defeat his enemy in battle. Joash should have hit the ground more times, and he would have won more battles.
While there are many lessons in this story, the one that I’d like to highlight here is that Joash subsequently won three battles. He was fighting a tough Syrian army, so beating them three times was a pretty good outcome. But, it wasn’t the best outcome. Joash leaned on his own decision-making; he was implementing an earthly solution rather than a heavenly solution. So, while he won three battles, his result was good, but not the best.
So, what can we learn from this and how can we be sure to implement a heavenly solution?
First, take time to hear what God has to say. We need to hear His voice well in decisions both large and small. Joash could have simply asked Elisha how many times to hit the ground, and I think Elisha might have told him to hit the ground a lot. We can take that same approach with God today. Ask for His wisdom, not just in a general sense, but for specific guidance. He loves to partner with us and give us really powerful business advice.
Second, as I am sure was the case for King Joash, we are made to have specific skills and abilities. Since God is our maker, I think he likes those, because He makes things that He likes. He is not asking us to sit down quietly and ask Him to do all the work, nor is He is asking us to do it all on our own. There is a powerful partnership in being fully and absolutely all that we are created to be, and at the same time being completely overshadowed by Jesus. The balance is important, but the sweet spot is not 50/50, or 75/25 – it’s 100/100. Be fully you and fully Him in everything do you.
Finally – and this might be the one we miss most of the time – give up control. Go to a quiet place and leave your iPhone somewhere else. Ask God where you take control, and take the time to listen for His answer. Then give that specific place of control to Him and ask Him what He wants to give you in return. Take the time to listen and receive. I have this sneaking suspicion that God’s outcome is a lot bigger than anything we can hope for, dream of or envision. (Eph. 3:20)
Join me in the practice of partnering with heaven to access heavenly solutions. In my book, that’s the best outcome.