Starting the Day Anchored Instead of Running

This morning I woke up earlier than I ever do. Maybe because I went to sleep earlier, too.

When I got up, several things were on my mind. But at the front was this:
I don’t want to start my day running.

These days, my days can be pretty intense. But today, I wanted to start my day with Him.

What We Expect vs. What We Receive

I’m learning something vital in these quiet moments.

What we expect is not often what we get.

Now this isn’t a statement meant to lay a foundation for negativity, but one meant to bring a sober-minded reality back into play—that there are many different arenas of life, and when we are sent, it is not always to places that look like we thought they would.

I had a picture in my mind.
If I’m being honest, that picture may have been more about what I thought and believed than what was really needed.

We’ll come back to that.

The Lesson in Ezekiel

This morning, the Lord has had the book of Ezekiel on my mind yet again. It’s one of my favorite books of prophecy always has been.

But why is it on my mind today?

Not because I’m looking at it the way I once did as a picture of what the life and ministry of a prophet looks like but because of a lesson I’ve come face to face with over and over during the past few years:

The first lesson you learn as a leader but not just any leader, a sent one is that this is about the people.

If you study Ezekiel, especially the first few chapters, you realize two things happen in a specific succession:

• First, God reveals Himself
• Then, God reveals who Ezekiel is
• And after that… God tells him about the people

Now does this mean you and I do not matter? Of course not.
But the message, the ministry, the call it is all about the people.

When Our “Helping” Is About Us

When God tells us the people we are sent to, He tells us what they need.

And this is where our idea of what is needed often begins to be revealed as surface-level and often about us.

For me, I would have said I loved to help people. I loved to support people. And I’m not saying that isn’t true.

But truthfully, in my self-centered immaturity, I loved being the one people gave acclaim to for helping and supporting them.

Leadership is not about this.

Letting Go of the Picture

I struggled to write this.

Because in my mind I considered, What if people think differently about me after reading it?

But to my heart came:
“Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus…”

And I realized something:

When I hold my picture up higher than the picture He is painting, I get in the way of His ministry to the people.

Eating the Scroll

I spent weeks pondering and meditating on the passage where the Lord told Ezekiel to “eat the scroll.”

Yes, it was the message.
Yes, it was the understanding of what was to come.

But if the scroll is the Word of God, maybe it’s also this:

Before we can be sent, we have to partake of the Lamb in His wholeness.

“Eat the whole body, or you can have no part with me.”

Eating the whole Lamb includes the parts where our plans and vision have to die.

Open Hands

I know those who have walked around for 30 years holding close to a vision they believe is from God but not for us, the body for them.

They hold it close like a toddler holding toys.

But the Lord calls us to come with open hands
willing to let go of everything but Christ,
understanding that His ways are higher than ours.

What People Really Need

What does this mean?

Sometimes the picture we’ve had the things we thought we’d need to navigate and the things we thought others would need are too surface-level.

• We think people need a mouthpiece, but they really need a mother
• We think they need a word, but what they really need is a hug
• We think they need encouragement, but what they really need is accountability

What’s my point?

What they need flows from the heart of the Father.
What we need flows from the heart of the Father.

The Cost of Being Sent

It’s only when we are willing to die to self—

When someone you came to help is angry at you for what helps…
When you have to say the same things over and over…
When you have to trust the Lord to speak to you…
And you have to learn to listen even to the simple things…

—that you begin to walk this out.

Why I Didn’t Want to Start Running

So why did I want to start my day with Him?

Because He is my anchor.

I cannot do this without Him.
He is not an option He is the breath.

So yes, I could get up running…

But I’d rather wake up breathing.