by David Delp | Dec 11, 2016 | Leadership, Spiritual Life, Uncategorized
I woke up in the middle of the night last night to a gently scolding revelation. Arrogance is a hinderance from releasing the good stuff inside me. What?!? Yep, when we fail to release the gold inside us because we constantly question its worth, that could be arrogance. Humility is necessary to rightly release the good things in us to bless others.
Here are 10 reasons why humility is an essential character quality for leaders.
#1 Humility is accepting myself and my limitations and not trying be something I am not. Arrogance is trying to appear to be something I am not. Humility supports authenticity, arrogance does not.
#2 Humility submits to crucifixion. Lately, an emerging character trait allows me to steel myself and push through pain when facing needful difficulty. The more battle scarred I become, the easier it is to do this. I am determined to be whole and healthy, and sometimes the process of such is incredibly painful. My natural inclinations are to draw back from hardships and to choose an easier path. Arrogance seeks to convince me that life’s difficulties are unfair, and that I deserve an easier path. Arrogance uses words like “deserve” and “fair” while humility understands we truly “deserve” nothing and no one’s life is ever really “fair.” Yet another reason I am so thankful for grace and mercy!
#3 Humility allows me to champion unpopular ideas, because it is needful, and its not about me. Arrogance proclaims controversial ideas for the purpose of garnering attention or increasing ratings or readership. Humility is willing to appear less profound, less studied, and less clever in order to simplistically deliver that which is most needful for the situation. Arrogance makes acrostics, rhyming points, and trendy ideas solely for the purpose of impressing the audience. Clever is good, but the mission is communication of vital truth, not clever for the sake of applause.
#4 Humility deflects attention to the One who is more important than I. Arrogance seeks to draw attention to self.
#5 Humility painfully communicates the truth of cause and effect, while arrogance plays to the crowd with harsh and legalistic tones because it wants the applause of the Pharisees. Humility fosters transformation, arrogance promotes alienation.
#6 Humility embraces the necessary path even when anticipating a smack to the jaw. Arrogance obscures truth with candy coating for the sake of its reputation and standing.
#7 Humility allows for celebration. Celebration is awesome. Be proud of outstanding accomplishments. Be celebratory and grateful for the favor of the Father and be ecstatic in his grace. High-five, and shout, and be exuberant over wins. Such behavior is neither humility nor arrogance, it is joyful living! It is sweet. I love it! Humility is not dour or sour or boring or consistently painful or abased. That would be called asceticism… and I think asceticism finds its genesis in arrogance…hmmm…
#8 Humility opens the door to revelation. I’ve never met an arrogant leader who seemed to hear the heartbeat of God. Believe me, I never use the word “never” without thinking long and hard about it. Maybe I’m not looking hard enough, maybe I’m just jaded. I’ve personally never seen humility obsessed with trendiness, though I am certain some humble people might be. I’ve never seen humility draped in plainness with the intent to draw attention to itself. Arrogance, on the other hand, seems to always want to draw attention to itself. I’ve never encountered a leader who was really connected to the heartbeat of God who exuded arrogance. The men and women who have made a difference in my life always exuded humility. Maybe because that’s what I was looking for, maybe because that is how I personally identify wisdom, maybe because brokenness releases the diamonds of the Father more so than arrogance ever can.
#9 Humility enables the impartation of value. I’m suspicious of people for whom everything has always gone their way. I look for people who are figuratively missing a few teeth because they’ve endured blows to the face in the course of life. I look for gray hair and some graybeards who have loved intensely and lost tragically. I look for people with limps and scars who survived something, because if they survived something then they might have something transformational to give me.
When I was a bit younger, I believed anything was possible and that God favored me above all others. I never was a stand out, but I acted like one. My wounds that became scars and my breaks that became limps have taught me more than all of my easy times combined. These things imparted to me a brokenness that instructs humility. And still… believe it or not there are people who look down on others who have survived hard blows. There are those who intimate something was lacking in either my spirituality or the love of the Father towards me. Arrogance is disturbed by such comments, so arrogance is not dead in me yet, but humility understands that the accusers only feel that way because they’ve not yet had their wound or scar, or they simply hide and deny their deepest wounds.
Not every action denotes either humility or arrogance. I do not want to polarize everything as either humility or arrogance; rather, I write these thoughts because I need to regularly remind myself, and the leaders I love, that courage is more often clothed with humility than with arrogance. We do courageous things because they must be done, not because it feeds our ego. At least that is my hope. My arrogance would rather I run away from battles, because I don’t “deserve” the skirmishes, its just not “fair.”
I want to be obedient to my heavenly Father. I am engaged in the lifelong process of the crucifixion of self. I think that I shall only be free from the anchor to this world when I experience glorification on “that day.” Am I arrogant? Yes, I am, too often. Am I humble? From the depths of my soul may I embrace it and grow in it.
#10 Humility is forging forward in obedience to the obvious task without bowing to possible consequences. Oh yes, I do believe in calculating risks, being a good steward, etc., but I’m talking about that moment when we know what we ought to do, what we must do, and arrogance squeezes it out of us. When the Father gives a divine vision, a divine strategy, things to which obedience is required, can I obey without throwing a shield up because I am afraid of opinions and opposition? I hope so.
I do seek to follow Jesus’ example and be clothed with his humility, so that I may simply do my best to be obedient.
by David Delp | Oct 12, 2016 | Grief & Disappointment, Joyful Living, Spiritual Life
It is not so much the path upon which we find ourselves that matters, what matters most is how we choose to walk the path. In this we accept the path’s reality, we embrace God’s sovereignty, we rejoice in redemption… and we keep walking out our place in life.
[shareable]It is not so much the path upon which we find ourselves that matters, what matters most is how we choose to walk the path.[/shareable]
What do you do when you have no choice? We give a lot of thought to choosing the right path, but how do you live joyfully when you cannot choose your path?
When we miss a turn our GPS declares it is “recalculating”. When we miss a turn in life, life is not over, we (or God) recalculates our path based upon the best or only route from our present location to our destination. We cannot go back and start over, our life must “recalculate.”
My life has been most affected, not by the times when I had a choice and made the wrong one, but by the times my path and direction changed and I had no choice in the matter. When the single road I was walking turned dark, there were no alternate paths. There were no forks or crossroads. I could “quit” or I could keep going, but another path was not an option.
So, since this is a reality, how then do we joyfully move forward when we’ve been offered no choice?
Accept the Reality of the Path
As I write this we are in a presidential campaign season in which I hear many saying there is no choice with which they are comfortable. To call something godly that is evil is no solution. We lose a piece of our soul when we do it. We may not have the choice we want, but we need to acknowledge our dilemma, call it what it is, and make the best of it.
When we lose a loved one to death it is irreversible. Our lives must “recalculate.” Acceptance of the path is a part of healing. The ignorant platitudes doled out by well-meaning people in attempts to placate my grief did not help. In a progressive way, I had to acknowledge the stinking reality of the situation before I could find wholeness.
Yes, we do have to find ways to come to peace with what has happened, or the stinky choice made for us, but I need to acknowledge the situation as stinky so I can move forward in the reality of the situation. We must eventually overcome denial.
Sincerely Embrace the Sovereignty of God
This is where joy enters the equation. Yes, joy. We have committed to living a joyful life. I have spoken much about the decision to believe that good things will happen in the future that would not have happened had the bad stuff had not happened. This is not a Pollyanna-ish declaration. I believe in the sovereignty of God. I believe God has a plan for my life. I believe I’ve messed up His plan more than once, I will probably mess it up again, and that he has recalculated a number of times to take me from where I am to the desired destination.
I will trust God’s sovereignty and keep going with a belief that my path leads me to a place I need to be. I will live joyfully in spite of the stinky stuff, because I do believe and trust in something bigger than myself. Believe me, there have been plenty of times I have figuratively spat in the face of such “happy talk”, but finding my bearings, with my eyes wide open, I can actually see the progression of the path and how it takes me to all the right places.
Here’s the thing… you might be at a place in life where all you can see is the sorry path you’ve been given, that’s okay. Since it is the only path you’ve been given, I encourage you to keep walking, keep going, keep trusting, keep yielding to the “recalculation” of God, and keep your eyes open, because you will find signs along the way that your path is going to actually take you to a good place.
Believe the Path is Redeemable
The most painful things I’ve walked through were not my fault. I did nothing to cause them, they were just part of the journey. But, I’ve also walked dark paths that were a mistake brought upon me by poor choices. This is common. We made decisions that led to unintended consequences, and now we have no choice but to walk the path we forged.
And what about compound complex paths? Like walking a path of grief and compounding it with subsequent poor decisions made in the fog. I know what I’m talking about.
Again, “recalculation” is a sovereign act in which we start where we are, work through the stuff, and move toward the desired destination. Redemption is atonement for a mistake or sin. The entire story of God is one of reconciliation and redemption. Without redemption all of us would be irrevocably lost.
When I have no choice but to walk the path I am on, I rejoice in the reality of redemption that redeems that which should have or could have destroyed me, and transforms it into a good thing.
Finally…
The beauty of having no choice is… well… we don’t have to make a choice. Resignation to reality has a way of leading us to a summit that only adversity can offer. Small consolation in the depths of a terrible path, but it is hope for a good place.
Remember, It is not so much the path upon which we find ourselves that matters, what matters most is how we choose to walk the path. In this we accept the path’s reality, we embrace God’s sovereignty, we rejoice in redemption… and we keep walking out our place in life.
by David Delp | Sep 29, 2016 | Spiritual Life, Uncategorized
When you see obstacles, odds, and enemies larger than your own resources — do not be afraid.
I am at a men’s prayer summit this week. I decided I would do a post every morning related to what I’m “hearing” and “seeing.” I am a recovering perfectionist, so shooting from the hip is hard for me, I don’t like to push “publish” until I’ve completely over thought a post, but I am intentionally not over thinking this week… because I need to loosen up a bit and let who I really am show through. This is the final installment of my “Thoughts from the Summit” series.
God is laying out new paths in my life. Dreams and visions that have emerged for decades are finding legs. Every dream and every vision comes complete with its own set of obstacles. We have to wrestle through the obstacles. Whether you are leading a church, a business, or building out new platforms in your life, you will, of course, face obstacles and resource challenges.
In The Book of Deuteronomy, chapter 20, God gives directives for going to war. In the pursuit of our calling, our dreams, and the fulfillment of God’s vision in our lives we have to cross the boundaries of our comfort zones and move into conflict.
Deuteronomy 20:1 says, “When you go out to war against your enemies, and see horses and chariots and an army larger than your own, you shall not be afraid of them, for the Lord your God is with you, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt” (ESV).
How can we position ourselves to boldly pursue the things in our hearts? Here are four things declarations necessary to go boldly into the battle to contend for the vision.
Rely Upon God’s Resource
Look around. See the odds against you. Just look at all the other people who have gone before you who failed and the remnants of their foolish attempts lie scattered on the ground. Faith says that if my directive is from God, God will provide. If the battle is the Lord’s, then we trust him to intervene in the battle. When my resource is inadequate, then it does not really matter how inadequate my resource is… too little is too little no matter how it scales. When I get into a God-zone, then either I trust or I don’t, there really is no in between.
I’ve always wanted to live my life in pursuit of God’s plan for my life in such a way that I was reliant upon him. To pursue God-dreams so big that if God did not resource and intervene, I would utterly fail. I am getting dangerously close to such a posture, and it is kind of scary. It’s scary because I have to give up control. It’s scary because my resource is not enough. It’s scary because I have to trust, trust that God is sufficient.
God is With You
The difficult implication of Deuteronomy 20 is that God is with “you” and not “them.” Be careful with this. When I frame this in the context of God’s calling on my life, if God has called me to a task, if he has birthed a vision within me, then his purposes and activity in my life supersedes the strength of the obstacles. Walking through the grief process the greatest comfort to me was, “Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, he is WITH me.” I learned in a new way that God was with me. The word of God to his people is, “When you see obstacles 10x bigger than you are, don’t be afraid because I am with you.”
Stand Against the Obstacles
A house divided against itself cannot stand. God cannot be for the thing he put in you and for the things that tear you down. Think about it. Sometimes we pursue our own imaginations, and it is dangerous to assume our own imagination is a directive from God. We have to work out the difference. Sometimes all we can do is move forward with a sincere heart and proper motivations. Time and God’s activity will bring some adjustments.
There are always obstacles, and I cannot let them scare me away from the things I sincerely believe I am to pursue.
God Has Proven Himself in the Past
When we look back we see good things and bad things. I’ve been through the times of looking back and just getting angry that God did not intervene differently, but I also look back and see God working on my behalf. David, the shepherd boy, had the courage to go against Goliath because he had been victorious in his skirmishes with bears and lions while protecting the sheep. David’s reasoning was that God helped him with the bears and the lions, he would help also him with the giants. If God helped us before he will help us again.
Contending for a vision is sometimes like going to battle. We have to wrestle against ever-present obstacles. Usually, the world isn’t out to get us… it just feels that way sometimes. Stepping into our desired future is always hard because it necessitates leaving our comfort zone. That, in and of itself, is a battle.
I will boldly content for the things in my heart… because I believe they came from the heart of the Father.
(NOTE: This post is the last in the series of “Thoughts from the Summit.” I took on the challenge of posting “from the hip” things that were stirring in my heart this week.)
by David Delp | Sep 28, 2016 | Grief & Disappointment, Spiritual Life
I’ve always lacked boldness… that’s a nice way of saying I’m a natural born coward. I care about what others think, this is a strength. I am influenced too much by what others MIGHT think, this is a weakness. Some people think I’m intimidating, I can be, but on the inside I want everyone to be happy and think only happy thoughts about me.
I am at a men’s prayer summit. I’ve decided to write the next few days about what God is speaking to me. I’m a perfectionist, so to just publish on the fly like this is out of my comfort zone, but that’s the point…
God has given you everything you need for life and godliness. He has given you gifts. He has called you with a calling unique to you (2 Peter 1:3).
It is time.
It is time to step into your calling with boldness.
We must challenge each other in the context of our culture, but we must not bow to the culture.
I grew a beard on sabbatical. I liked it. Donna liked it. Being the natural coward I am, as the sabbatical wound down, my thoughts turned to shaving, not because I wanted to, but because of how it might be perceived. “He’s trying to be cool.” He’s going through an emotional crisis.” He’s trying to figure out who he is.” “It looks raggedy.” “I don’t like it.” “It doesn’t look professional.” People really care far less about what we are doing than we think! Getting noticed is far more challenging than anyone focusing on us.
I decided to keep the beard. I kept it because it reminds me of who I am, because it brings me pleasure, and because, oddly enough, I believe it brings God pleasure.
I’ve decided that I’m not a weasel. I’ve decided that God likes me. He thinks I’m cool. I’ve decided that my life was not turned upside down because I’m a worthless worm. The days I walked in that belief were painful days. I don’t know why our worlds got turned upside down, but it is not because God doesn’t like us or that he is out to get us.
[shareable]God actually likes me! Wow![/shareable]
Over the past few years I’ve met and talked to a lot of people who have lost people they love. We never signed up for this ministry, but it surely found us. Most of us who have suffered untimely loss have felt, at least for a few moments, that it was our fault because we were worthless and not worthy of being spared from intense pain.
Before we can move forward we have to find a boldness. A boldness to stand. A boldness to be. A boldness to embrace the path and what’s ahead.
[shareable]We must have boldness to move forward. A boldness to stand. A boldness to be. A boldness to embrace the path and what’s ahead. [/shareable]
I am UNAPOLOGETICALLY who I am.
I am UNAPOLOGETICALLY David Delp. The good, the bad, the ugly, the crap, the wonderful things… but this one thing I know. My Daddy, Abba, loves me. He adores me. He dotes over me. He has called me to live in his presence. He has called me to hear his heartbeat. He has given me the privilege of listening to his very heartbeat. He has allowed me close enough to hear. To feel his warmth. To smell the aroma of his very presence.
I will UNAPOLOGETICALLY follow the demands and directions he gives me.
I will UNAPOLOGETICALLY go where he wants me to go. I will ask for the resources to do so, both of my Father and of those who are holding on to his wealth.
I will UNAPOLOGETICALLY write what he puts on my heart. I will UNAPOLOGETICALLY say what he wants said. I will UNAPOLOGETICALLY go where he wants me to go. I will UNAPOLOGETICALLY be who he wants me to be.
by David Delp | Sep 27, 2016 | Spiritual Life
Outcomes are not my responsibility. I am at a men’s “prayer summit” this week and I will post a few thoughts from the “summit.” This is some quick hits of things I’m thinking about this week. It is important to pull back from routine regularly and calibrate.
This thought has come to me consistently and almost continuously over the past 24 hours, “The outcomes are not my responsibility.” The perfectionist in me wants to qualify that statement. Yes, I take responsibility for my decisions and actions, but there is so much in life I cannot control. Fear keeps me from starting, but starting is my chief responsibility. I cannot control ultimate outcomes. I can only trust that if I do the right things the right things will happen.
I always thought that if I was “good enough” and if I worked hard enough, I could keep my family safe, healthy, provided for, and we could live the life I envisioned in my head. It is my responsibility to see the vision, to start the journey, be faithful to what I hear in my heart, take action, etc., etc., but the end result is not the object, the object is day to day obedience, trust, and action. There are simply a lot of things along the way I cannot control.
Am I to take LESS action? Am I to sit passively and just LET life happen? No, I will be a man of action. I will be a starter. I will dream dreams and see visions and I will pursue them with faith and courage. But when the circumstances of life make it impossible to ZIG, I will ZAG.
[shareable]When the circumstances of life make it impossible to ZIG, I will ZAG.[/shareable]
Ok, typical of the way I think… here are three action points to help us do this:
First, Hear
My mission in life is to listen to the heartbeat of the Father and to write, speak, and do what I hear. I take the time to listen and I am committed to following the paths I believe God is leading me on. Meditation, prayer, journaling are important. Every successful person I’ve ever met has a quiet time in their daily routine to think. I use my quiet time to listen. Pacing and shouting during your prayer time is a good thing, I do it more often than you’d think, but I find that what God has to say is always more important than what I have to say. I need to listen.
Second, Trust
When I listen, and I hear, I then must trust what I’m hearing. This is cultivated. I must position myself that the outcomes are not my responsibility, but acting upon what I hear is my responsibility. If I fail to START because the end result is not guaranteed, then I will never start. I have to trust God to orchestrate the end result.
But, its not enough that I trust God… I have to trust God in me. I have to trust my relationship and my ability to hear clearly. Sometimes I get it right, sometimes I get it wrong, but I must have the COURAGE to go forward on what I sincerely believe is right. Even if I am wrong, if I proceed with a pure and sincere heart (Psalm 25), God is still able to orchestrate the right outcome.
[shareable]It is not enough to trust God… I must trust God in me.[/shareable]
Third, Act
Pull the trigger. Take action. Don’t try to do, do. If I sit around trying to clarify everything I will never take action. There is a time for waiting, a time for being certain, a time for testing the waters, a time for thinking, a time for caution, a time for observation… But, for-crying-out-loud, make a decision to pull the trigger and get on with it. You have to trust enough to get on with it.
Hey, a lot of this is self-talk. I struggle with this every day of my life.
I am emboldened when I realize the outcomes are not my responsibility. Taking action and doing what I know to do is my responsibility. I cannot foresee the unexpected. I don’t know how long I will live. I don’t know how long my loved ones will live. I do not know when tragedy will strike (again). I cannot control governments, the economy, politics, or evil people. I can control my obedience and the actions I take.
I will do my best to (1) clearly listen, then I will (2) trust myself enough to act, and then (3) I will trust God to bring about HIS outcome.
by David Delp | Sep 26, 2016 | Grief & Disappointment, Spiritual Life, Uncategorized
One of the keys to loving the “twists” in life is embracing their divine nature. Besides, most of the good things in life come from the “twists” in life’s road.
Deo Volente,” it is a Latin phrase meaning “God willing.” A century ago, it was common to include the initials D.V. at the bottom of a letter or invitation. The initials qualified the contents of the letter, indicating plans based upon and subservient to God’s will (James 4).
My Granny was a wiry old woman. In the middle of the Great Depression, at the age of 35, with no means of supporting herself and her four children, she buried my granddad who died in an accident as a West Virginia coal miner. They were married 17 years. She never remarried, probably never even thought about it.
To my recollection, Granny never stated her future intention, be it about going to the grocery store, sweeping the floor, or preparing a meal, without adding the phrase, “Lord willing I am going to….” “Lord willing, I’m going to make a banana pudding.” I was always certain the banana pudding was God’s will! As an ignorant theology student in college, I sometimes said to her, “Granny, it is not necessary to add ‘Lord willing’ to every statement, God doesn’t care if you make a pudding.” She was never deterred.
Now I get it.
Walking through life’s difficulties, there are days I’d like to chat with Granny. I would like to hear from her in my present context of understanding. I’d like to know what God taught her as a young mother, alone in the middle of the Great Depression. Granny somehow learned to resign herself to the will of her God and, with all of her heart and sincerity, to faithfully trust. And it was proven, her trust was not misplaced.
Now, my friends sometimes chide me for saying, “Lord willing.” They sometimes jokingly add, “and if the creek don’t rise.” I don’t care so much about rising creeks, but I do want to acknowledge God’s rightful prerogative to intervene in my plans. Sometimes I add “DV” to the bottom of communications. Deo Volente, if God wills it.
Here are five thoughts about embracing the will of God:
Boldly Pursue Life
Don’t just sit around and wait for the “will of God” to hit you in the face. Use the gifts, insights, and discernment God has given you to boldly pursue the divine future you see. Sincerely acknowledge “Deo Volente,” because reality often ends up different than imagined, but have confidence that God’s progression will bring you to a good place. Otherwise our inactivity bring paralysis.
Allow for Variances
When things turn out contrary to the way you imagined, embrace “Deo Volente”. When things turn out contrary to your plans, if I have not allowed for variances, if I have not allowed for “Deo Volente,” you will get body-slammed. Denial is a normal part of grief, and it takes many forms, but we eventually realize denial does not change reality.
Embrace the Twists
When you lay plans, acknowledge “Deo Volente.” Oddly enough, when you acknowledge such from the outset, it is easier to recognize and joyfully embrace twists in your road. The greatest joys come from the “twists.” Twists may be devastating, but more often, they are incredible blessings.
[shareable]The greatest joys come from the ‘twists’ in our journey. Twists may be devastating, but more often, they are incredible blessings.[/shareable]
Acknowledge Present Reality
Why do some Christians think it a lack of faith to acknowledge present reality? God is bigger than our reality, he can change present reality, but reality is still reality. Responsibly face the things that are. Faith speaks into existence things that are not. Speak to the desired reality while acknowledging present reality. Prayer is seeking God’s will on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6).
[shareable]God is bigger than our reality, he can change present reality, but reality is still reality.[/shareable]
Joyfully Desire God’s Will
I say, “Lord willing,” “Deo Volente,” “DV,” because if I make a stupid or uninformed plan, I WANT God to intervene and help me discover a better path. It takes trust, self-denial, and a bit of “crucifixion,” but His plan is always better in the end. I want God’s path, even when it looks like a path I’d rather not take.
Such is the faith taught me by a wiry little West Virginia woman who weighed less than 100 pounds, always wore her hair in a tight bun on the back of her head, who navigated losses and disappointments that I have only begun to understand.
Deo Volente. God willing.
