Written in Heaven

Initiative is something that all 'natural born' leaders have. Some people refer to this as being a ‘self-starter.’ You have within you something that propels you to do or to start or to accomplish. It’s not motivated by anything else other than your desire to do it. It’s motivation that comes from within.

When my wife and I were first married, we lived in a house that was just over 800 sq. feet. It was pretty tiny. Our kitchen was also our dining room and also our laundry room. It wasn’t much, but it was home and really it was perfect for us. Well, in that house it was obvious when things weren’t clean because you could almost see in every room from every room. I remember having been married a month or so and sitting at the breakfast table. I looked up and in front of me sat one of the biggest piles of laundry I had ever seen. No joke, it was probably about four feet tall and three feet in diameter. That’s a pretty ridiculous amount of clothes for two people. I sat there pretty irritated. I mean, why hadn’t the laundry been done? Sure my wife and I never talked about who would do laundry in our relationship, but it’s a given that surely someone should do it if it needed to be done. The more I thought about it, the madder I got.

After about 2 minutes of needless seething, I realized that the logic I was applying to my wife also applied to me. It was a moment like “Hey moron, if you want clean clothes then do some laundry!” I’m pretty harsh with myself. But, the inner me made a good point, and since that time I have applied this idea of initiative to my own life.

God continually challenges me in this area of leadership. It seems like when I think I have a full plate or when I’m doing a lot, God calls me to start something else. I’m learning though, that it’s a real honor to work for God and when He calls me to do something it’s because he trusts me enough to carry it through. My prayer is that God will continue to call all leaders to new initiatives and to go through life making a difference for Jesus in everything they do – whether that’s laundry or something more important.