In the past week, how often have you asked someone (or had someone ask you), “How are you?” In the society that we live in, this question is less of an authentic inquiry and more of a greeting, like hello. But how are you REALLY doing?
Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out? Jesus of Nazareth asked his followers the very same question. His response to their answer: “Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly” (Matthew 11:28-30, The Message Translation).
I remember the first time someone shared this passage of Scripture from the Message Translation with me; it was in a business coaching session! They asked me, “Are you living in the unforced rhythms of God’s grace for your life?” My answer was a responding no at the time, but the question itself seemed to invite me on a quest – a quest of discovering what living in the unforced rhythms of grace could look like in my life. I realized that to start changing things in my life, I needed to set aside time to start thinking – and, more importantly, thinking differently. In his book, Essentialism, Greg McKeown makes an important observation when he says that if leaders are too busy to think, they’re too busy, period! Most business leaders find themselves in a frenetic cycle of doing, with very little time for thinking.
Through the Business Forum, we create the opportunity for business leaders to take a step back from their doing, to be … and to think. My encouragement to business leaders is to invest time and effort in growing themselves as a leader and developing their thinking around their teams and businesses. More than just an occasion to learn helpful new content and tools, the Business Forum allows business people to take this step back from the busyness of your day-to-day to think! Think about yourself. Think about your family. Think about your team or organisation. But most importantly, think about the difference you have been called to make in this world.
To see God’s glory break into our communities, cities, and nations requires that we start longing for more of the unforced rhythms of God’s grace to be at work in our lives. Remember, what we long for shapes what we live for. So how are you REALLY doing? And, if you are not living in the unforced rhythms of God’s grace for your life, what ONE thing can you start to do differently?
By Trevor Hartley
