A group of Rhino’s is called a CRASH…You know why?
- Rhinoceros can weigh up to 7000 lbs.
- They can run upwards around 40 mph.
- They can’t see very well
Too many leaders CRASH into problems like a rhinoceros with an attitude problem. I see a lot of leaders both political and “spiritual” running into the trying times of our country with little poise, patience or perspective.
Whenever I encounter a problem my first reaction is to CRASH…run at it, full bore. However, I usually (I said usually) don’t rely on my first instinct. I try to do 3 things when hit with struggles.
I pray – too often we do this last…we often go to God when we are at the end of our rope, when he was there for us the entire length of the rope. Even if I don’t get a “burning bush” revelation, what it does is puts things into their right place. A 7000 pound problem in relation to the greatness of God begins to shrink to a much manageable situation. So, I pray for wisdom, I pray for strength, I pray for patience…
That is the next step, I am patient – This is a discipline that I struggle with but I don’t charge…I wait…because I know that my first reaction usually isn’t the best one (I’m not even saying it isn’t a right reaction or a good reaction…just not the best reaction). Slow down and take a breath and look around.
That is the last step, you aren’t a blind rhino…so look around. Gain perspective. Things are rarely as bad as they seem and you are hardly the first person to go through them. Look around. One problem I have with all of these “preachers” who are screaming end times because our beloved president wasn’t reelected is that they have no sense of history, theology or perspective. There was probably some shady stuff done in this election, no news here…study your history it has been WAY worse. Study your theology… bad elections, even spiritual persecution isn’t a sign of the end times…Jesus promised as much
18“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. 19If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.
Finally gain some perspective…Christianity isn’t an American religion…as much as we should be proud to be Americans we are not the center of the story. Whenever bad things happen to America we start screaming end times…do you know how ignorant that makes us sound to the rest of the world who have been enduring hard times for centuries?!
These are trying days, leaders people are going to come to you to guide them through it…don’t be a Rhino. Pray, Be Patient and Open your eyes.
Sean Rheaume 