God is not afraid of opposition. Bear in mind, He will have the final word but He welcomes a good wrestling match! He will even go all night in the dust with His appointed one, for at the end of the match you can rest assured God does not have cauliflower ear and that your opinion will be heard by the greatest Judge of all time. Sometimes He will change His mind and sometimes He won’t, because He is more interested in your character than your comfort, if I remember correctly Jacob came out of that match with a bum hip! God’s ultimate goal is to grow you in Christ-likeness. I know I have been in many a wrestling match with God. I have wrestled with him when I wanted my own way, when my mother was dying of cancer, when I wasn’t prepared to have children, when my marriage was difficult, with my husband’s salvation, with the stress of my jobs, when my friends hurt me and just because I was feisty. He has been faithful every time we hit the mat, sometimes he had to put me in a choker hold and sometimes He rigged it so I would win, or at least think I did. And each time I walked out of the circle, my character grew closer to His image.
Do you allow your team to enter into conflict? Do you engage in great debates to grow your team’s character or do you avoid conflict and dare I say…Fear it?
God’s word is filled with controversy, mystery and conflict but He always does what is pure and holy and so should you! How do you engage your team in constructive conflict? Over the next few weeks I will offer a few of my simple steps to help you grow in mastering conflict and let me give you a tip, it does not mean you get your way every time.
2. Constructive Debates with Resolution
Have lively, interesting meetings – Jesus never had a boring meeting with his disciples, he called them to interact, serve others, be creative, question him, trust him, develop their presentation skills, develop their own styles and do it all under his watchful eye. Jesus empowered his men to soar beyond where He went himself in John 14:12 “most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father." His greatest desire was for his team to do more than He did during his time on earth. I love this about Jesus and it is my sincere desire to see my employees excel in the HR department greater than myself. I teach, coach, mentor and let go. I have seen some great women do some pretty amazing things when I was able to step aside and encourage their growth. Join me next week as we talk about how to extract the best out of your team and solve problems quickly.
Meeting with God, Tammy