The Inspired Leader: 101 Biblical Reflections for Becoming a Person of Influence (43 page)

In 1999, Warren Buffet, famed investor, gave a speech to an exclusive group of business leaders in Sun Valley about investing. While the business community was clearly enamored with the rising technology industry, Buffet had fastidiously refused to invest in its stocks. This seemed odd, since Buffet had a penchant for finding profitable investments, and he was a good friend of Bill Gates. Buffet insisted on investing in value and not in the popular stock of the day. Even when his Berkshire Hathaway stock prices languished, he refused to compromise his convictions and jump on the dot-com bandwagon. He explained, “In the short run, the market is a voting machine. In the long run, it’s a weighing machine” (Alice Schroeder,
The Snowball,
16).

During 2000-2002, the dot-com bubble burst and over five trillion dollars in company value was lost. Refusing to be rushed or hurried into unwise investments, Buffet experienced astronomical success in the following years.

Scripture exhorts us “
Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart. Wait, I say, on the Lord!”
(Psalm 27:14). God knows how to bring the maximum joy and abundance to our lives. But we must trust Him. His ways are not our ways. His timing is not ours. We can become impatient, wanting to experience financial success or to obtain a management position
now
. When a shortcut to success and happiness presents itself, we can be sorely tempted to jump on the bandwagon. But Scripture also encourages us to wait
patiently
on the Lord (Psalm 37:7). That can be the hard part!

Why does God make us wait for things? If He loves us, why doesn’t He immediately shower us with everything that makes us happy? It is because God cares more about our
relationship
with Him than our
gifts
from Him. Waiting reminds us of who is ultimately in control of our life. It causes us to turn our attention (and our prayers) toward Him. It tangibly demonstrates His lordship over our lives.

We can be tempted to forgo waiting on the Lord and to simply take matters into our own hands. Those who have done so know what the result can be. We only have one life to invest. There will be innumerable dot-com schemes to throw your life into, but beware. If you are impatient, you may recklessly forfeit your future and miss what God intended to give you, if only you had waited. Scripture promises, “
Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles. They shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint”
(Isaiah 40:31). Wait on the Lord. It’s worth it!

REFLECT FOR A MOMENT

1. Are you presently waiting for something? How are you handling it? Do you have difficulty waiting? If so, why is that? What might it cost you if you grow impatient?
   

2. If God is making you wait for something, how have you been spending the time? Have you grown frustrated? Or, have you been focusing more on Christ? Have you concentrated more on the gift or the Giver?
   

3. Why might God ask you to wait? What might God build in to your character and walk with Him that He can accomplish better by making you wait, than if He had immediately given you what you wanted? Are you willing to wait as long as it takes until you receive what God has for you? What is the alternative?
   

EDWARD ALBERT CHRISTIAN George Andrew Patrick David was born on June 23, 1894, with great fanfare. His great- grandmother, the formidable Queen Victoria, rejoiced at his birth. David, as he was known by his family, grew up to be popularly described as “Prince Charming.” Winston Churchill took it upon himself to train him as a public speaker, and with considerable success. The young Prince of Wales made successful trips to North America, Australia, South Africa, and India. He drew large, enthusiastic crowds wherever he went. Yet David was unhappy. He constantly complained that he had no private life of his own. His father, King George V, had warned his son, “Don’t think you can act like other people…You must always remember who you are.” Yet King George worried about his son. When his son was 40, the king declared, “After I am dead the boy will ruin himself within twelve months” (Phillip Ziegler,
King Edward VIII,
174).

Then David met Mrs. Wallis Simpson. She was an American who had divorced her first husband and was married to Earnest Simpson. David fell in love with her and began a torrid affair. She eventually divorced her second husband to marry David, who became King Edward VIII. But Edward was warned that the people would not accept their king marrying a woman who had two living husbands. Edward claimed that only she could make him happy. His mother warned him that she would never accept Mrs. Simpson as his wife, and the prime minister cautioned that marrying her would cost him his throne. Nevertheless, after having been King of England for less than a year, Edward VIII abdicated on December 10, 1937, so he could marry Wallis Simpson. Edward thereafter was known as the Duke of Windsor. He held various minor posts during World War Two, but after the war, he never fulfilled another official government role. Edward grew extremely bitter at his lot, and often suffered from boredom. He remained married to Wallis for 36 years until his death in 1972. Edward was the son of the king, yet he forfeited his inheritance to indulge in the sins of his flesh.

The apostle Paul claimed, “
The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together”
(Romans 8:16-17). Paul was describing the unbelievable truth that we have the incomparable privilege as creatures of dust, to be adopted into God’s royal family. Believers are made heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ. We enjoy free access into God’s presence. The storehouses of heaven are at our disposal. God’s armies are mobilized for our defense. It is truly mindboggling.

Yet incredibly, there are those who forfeit their heavenly birthright. They are adopted as sons and daughters, yet they live as aliens. They prefer the cheap trinkets and gaudy earthly pleasures over the joys of heaven. They become consumed with their lust and greed and surrender the treasures that were theirs. Whereas they may have once been of service to their King, they are no longer. Lives that showed such promise now live with regrets. How are you living? As a child of the King? Are you delighting in your heavenly inheritance? Live like the royalty you are!

REFLECT FOR A MOMENT

1. Are you living like a child of the King? Do you live with the constant awareness that all the resources of heaven are at your disposal? What confidence does being a child of the King give you?
   

2. Have you been tempted to forfeit your spiritual birthright? Have you been willing to harm your relationship with the King in order to dabble in the pleasures of sin? Why do you think Christians are so willing to forfeit something of value for pleasures that are temporal and ultimately dissatisfying?
   

3. Have you found yourself wanting to have the “best” of both worlds? Do you want all the privileges of being a child of God while still being free to dabble in the worldly sins that appeal to you? How successful have you been at doing both?
   

ONE OF THE most elusive goals for people is balance. We are often urged to carve out proper amounts of time for work, family, recreation, God, friends, rest, and hobbies. Since time continues to be our most precious commodity, properly balancing each responsibility forces us to continually fight a losing battle to find sufficient time for every priority. Something inevitably suffers neglect. Nevertheless, although the proponents of balanced living continue to fervently preach their message, the reality is that history has largely been made by imbalanced people. Think of the people who have exerted the greatest influence on human affairs. How many of them lived what you would call “balanced” lives? They were passionate. They were focused. But balanced, they were not. In order to be unusually effective in one area of their life, people tend to neglect other, important responsibilities.

Many a famous Christian leaders have experienced dramatic success in one area of their life while simultaneously neglecting other important aspects of their lives, such as their family. William Carey, a shoe cobbler from England was so passionate about impacting India for Christ that he volunteered to go as Britain’s first missionary, even though it literally drove his wife insane. George Whitefield, the incomparable preacher of the 1700s, married Mrs. James, a widow. At the close of the wedding ceremony, Whitefield delivered a sermon and then preached twice daily throughout the following week. He then left for a month-long preaching tour, returning on Christmas Eve, and then departed on the 26
th
. When A.W. Tozer, the inspirational preacher and author, died, his widow remarried Leonard Odam. When she was later asked how her second marriage was going, in light of having been first married to such a well-known man of God, she replied, “I have never been happier in my life. Aiden loved Jesus Christ, but Leonard Odam loves me.”

Jesus was an extremely busy person. He was constantly surrounded by crowds of people. Further, He had the ability to alleviate people’s illnesses and to meet their needs. The pressure to do all He could would seemingly have been intense. But you never see Jesus in a hurry. You never witness Him feeling overwhelmed at all of His tasks. At one point Jesus was traveling through the bustling streets of Jericho. He spied Zacchaeus, the chief tax collector, sitting in a tree (Luke 19:1-10). Jesus instantly knew that His Father’s priority for that moment was to spend time with the notorious sinner. At other times God’s will was to move on to other villages (Mark 1:37). Periodically Jesus retreated from the crowds to spend time with His disciples (Matthew 16:5, 13). In other moments Jesus took time to teach the multitudes (Mark 6:34). The key for Jesus was not in properly allocating sufficient time on His calendar for each of His priorities. The key was to understand His Father’s will (John 5:19-20). As a result, Jesus ultimately completed everything His Father assigned to Him (John 17:4).