{"id":499,"date":"2010-03-18T06:04:00","date_gmt":"2010-03-18T13:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gotpotential.org\/?p=499"},"modified":"2010-03-18T06:04:31","modified_gmt":"2010-03-18T13:04:31","slug":"running-with-the-wind","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gotpotential.org\/site-news\/running-with-the-wind","title":{"rendered":"Running with the Wind"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.\u00c2\u00a0 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/em> Matthew 11:28-30<\/p>\n

I’m a Baby-Boomer and an American. For a lot of us that means we attack the world with effort. Need more cash? – work harder! Need more time? – work harder! Things aren’t going right? – work harder! Economy bad? – work harder! Economy good? that spells opportunity – work harder! It’s the Puritan work ethic, the American Dream and the secret to success all wrapped up into one universal tool – work harder!<\/p>\n

Well … ‘work harder’ doesn’t always work. The ‘American Dream’<\/em> morphs into the ‘American chronic disease’<\/em> – exhaustion, burn-out, frustration, broken relationships and too much stuff. It doesn’t get any better when you’re working for something you consider ‘worthy’; usually it gets worse. That’s because we allow ourselves to believe that working ourselves to death for a good cause is more honorable than working ourselves to death for money. In a world like this it’s easy to believe that our work<\/em> equals our worth<\/em>. “If it is to be, it’s up to me.”<\/em><\/p>\n

God does have a job for you to do, but He’s a lot more interested in your obedience than He is in your effort. A new friend, Bob Regnerus, is discovering this in his own life. Bob’s fairly young and he’s been fairly successful … as far as working hard goes. But hard work isn’t necessarily what God wants from him right now. As Bob says, he’s trying to get used the “new normal.”<\/em><\/p>\n

Bob and his partner, Matt Gillogly, founded Christian Business Daily. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a great resource for Christians in business and, I think, Christians in any walk of life. You can check out what Bob and Matt are up to by visiting http:\/\/www.christianbusinessdaily.com\/<\/a>. Here\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an excerpt from Bob\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s great post, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Running With The Wind, or Against It?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/em><\/p>\n

For me, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m still stumbling my way through what my wife and I are calling our \u00e2\u20ac\u0153new normal<\/span>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153.\u00c2\u00a0 12 months ago, things were changing, but they were certainly different than they were today \u00e2\u20ac\u201c financially, spiritually, physically.\u00c2\u00a0 I had a growing business, growing staff, growing status, growing confidence, and unlimited opportunity.\u00c2\u00a0 On the surface, you could say I was doing pretty well.<\/em><\/p>\n

Fast forward to the present, and our new normal is a struggling business, shrinking staff, shrinking status, shrinking confidence, and seemingly limited opportunity.\u00c2\u00a0 A little over 5 months ago, I was in the hospital, completely burnt out, suffering from physical and emotional manifestations of stress and anxiety.<\/em><\/p>\n

Looking back, it was certainly a low point, but more of a turning point.\u00c2\u00a0 That started my road to caring more for myself. Physically, I started to exercise again, eat right, and get enough sleep.\u00c2\u00a0 Emotionally, I started to deal with issues of confidence, pride, and happiness.\u00c2\u00a0 Spiritually, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been led away from a performance-based lifestyle \u00e2\u20ac\u201c at home, at church, at work \u00e2\u20ac\u201c basically all aspects of my life.\u00c2\u00a0 God has been slowly and painfully chiseling away a lot of rough edges, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m honestly telling you it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s longer than I want, and more painful at times than I care to admit.<\/em><\/p>\n

I figured September 28 was the lowest day I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d have to experience, but I was in for more.\u00c2\u00a0 Many more very low days since then, and a very significant low day on January 28 of this year when I had to make the most dramatic and painful business decision of my life that dramatically affected many people that I dearly love.<\/em><\/p>\n

Fortunately, Papa had a release for me, and that was a 5 day trip to Florida to visit my dad.\u00c2\u00a0 It was both the worst time and best time for a trip.\u00c2\u00a0 But I was sure that the trip was all part of a plan, and timed perfectly to take me out of the fire for a few days.<\/em><\/p>\n

The trip was amazing in so many ways, both on a personal and spiritual level.\u00c2\u00a0 A few weeks ago I shared an experience here on the blog where God showed me a picture of what spending time with him looked like<\/span>.\u00c2\u00a0 It was so cool. (If you didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t read it, I invite you to \u00e2\u20ac\u201c here\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the link<\/a>).<\/em><\/p>\n

There was also a very powerful experience I did not share with you yet, and I felt led to do that today.\u00c2\u00a0 It was an experience for me that struck at many levels, and like many powerful experiences, it hit me physically, spiritually, and personally.\u00c2\u00a0 It was an experience that spoke to me about my personal life, my relationships, my business, and my \u00e2\u20ac\u0153walk with God\u00e2\u20ac\u009d.<\/em><\/p>\n

Let me set the scene. It was a crisp, 50 degree, sunny Florida Gulf day in early February.\u00c2\u00a0 Warm by my standards, freezing by local standards.\u00c2\u00a0 The \u00e2\u20ac\u0153breeze\u00e2\u20ac\u009d that day was stiff, and better characterized by terms like \u00e2\u20ac\u0153wind\u00e2\u20ac\u009d or \u00e2\u20ac\u0153gusts\u00e2\u20ac\u009d.\u00c2\u00a0 There was a constant breeze of at least 10 MPH, with frequent gusts into the 30 MPH range.\u00c2\u00a0 I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m on the beach stretching, ready for a run.\u00c2\u00a0 The surf is crashing the beach and the waves are topped with white caps.\u00c2\u00a0 The pelicans who are flying into the wind appear to be hovering, not getting anywhere until they turn and head the other direction.\u00c2\u00a0 Since I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m running the beach, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got a choice to run \u00e2\u20ac\u0153up the beach\u00e2\u20ac\u009d or run \u00e2\u20ac\u0153down the beach\u00e2\u20ac\u009d to start, and then will have to reverse my direction on my way back.<\/em><\/p>\n

Because I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m just starting to run again after MANY <\/span>years, I choose the wise path to run \u00e2\u20ac\u0153up the beach\u00e2\u20ac\u009d against the wind to start, and then have the wind with me as I head home down the beach.<\/em><\/p>\n

Starting out, I begin to understand what the pelican was going through.\u00c2\u00a0 As I attempted to run, I felt like that wind was not only sanding me up, but actually pushing me back and I wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t making much progress.\u00c2\u00a0 I might as well have been running up a steep hill because it didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t take more than 500 yards for my legs and my lungs to burn like fire.\u00c2\u00a0 I slowed my pace from a jog to a fast walk, and decided to just face the winds at a walking pace for a couple miles.\u00c2\u00a0 It was just no use fighting the wind, it was going to wear me out too soon.<\/em><\/p>\n

So I trucked up the beach with the wind at my face for a good 2 miles, if not more.\u00c2\u00a0 My mind wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t really too occupied at the moment.\u00c2\u00a0 I think I was even listening to a podcast of Darin Hufford or Wayne Jacobsen at the time.\u00c2\u00a0 But as I reached a point near the end of the beach, I sat down and just stared out into the ocean for 10 minutes.\u00c2\u00a0 (Hey, I was quite winded even though it was a walking pace!) I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t recall the details of what I was thinking or doing, to be honest.<\/em><\/p>\n

Once I got my own wind back, I set to start running back down the beach.\u00c2\u00a0 Boy, did I feel like Forrest Gump<\/strong> \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I was RUNNING!<\/span>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153.\u00c2\u00a0 My pace was swift, and my stride was solid.\u00c2\u00a0 I felt good.\u00c2\u00a0 But because I am still working my way back into shape, and because I already walked about 2 miles, I started to get fatigued and winded.\u00c2\u00a0 I had run about a 1\/2 a mile at this point, and I figured that I might just walk a couple hundred yards and then start jogging again.\u00c2\u00a0 As I was about to stop, a gust of wind came up from behind me and felt like it picked me up off my feet.\u00c2\u00a0 As I was feeling light on my feet, I kept running.\u00c2\u00a0 About a 1\/2 mile later, I was starting to get really tired again, I figured I deserved to slow down and catch my breath.<\/em><\/p>\n

Again, a swift \u00e2\u20ac\u0153breeze\u00e2\u20ac\u009d hit my back and pushed me again \u00e2\u20ac\u201c so I kept running.\u00c2\u00a0 Over that last mile, every couple hundred yards I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d think about stopping, yet each time would be swept up by the wind and carried further.\u00c2\u00a0 Sooner than I imagined, I had reached the condo, and I had run the whole 2+ miles back without stopping.\u00c2\u00a0 As I hunched over with my hands on my knees, watching the sweat bead off into the sand, I said to myself, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153God, thank you for that wind.\u00c2\u00a0 It really pushed me.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/em><\/p>\n

At that moment, as I was hunched over and enjoying the moment, a voice welled up from my heart and said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Son, you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been running into the wind far too long. Wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t you like to run with the wind at your back from now on?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Whoa.<\/em><\/p>\n

Boy did I know what Papa meant by that.\u00c2\u00a0 It was a flood of emotion, and I just stood there stunned.\u00c2\u00a0 In that moment, I was reminded of the struggles of the past 5 months, the disappointments, the unmet expectations over the years, the feelings of 1 step forward, 2 steps back \u00e2\u20ac\u201c all of it.\u00c2\u00a0 Right then and there, I just said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Yes, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m really tired of running against the wind.\u00c2\u00a0 I want you to show me how to run with your wind at my back<\/span>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153.<\/em><\/p>\n

It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s only been about a month, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m going to confess \u00e2\u20ac\u201c I haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t figured it out yet.\u00c2\u00a0 I find myself falling back into old habits, old mindsets, and old routines.\u00c2\u00a0 And I have to tell you it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s as if I was running smack into the wind.\u00c2\u00a0 Yet, there have been a few surprises personally in our family that could only have been God, and didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have a single thing to do with me.\u00c2\u00a0 It was all him \u00e2\u20ac\u201c running with the wind at my back.<\/em><\/p>\n

So as I reach the end of this post, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d like to have a silver lining, a proverb, or a happy ending for you to tie it all together.\u00c2\u00a0 But I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t.\u00c2\u00a0 I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m adjusting to a new routine within our family, opening up fresh revelations in regards to God, fighting constant struggles and trials with my business, and fighting with a loss of confidence and security I enjoyed for 39+ years.<\/em><\/p>\n

Just yesterday, God spoke to me about my focus and my depth.\u00c2\u00a0 I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m just trying to sort that out, because that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a painful word that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going to involve a lot more change, I think.<\/em><\/p>\n

Peter writes in his letter, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153In this life, you will have troubles\u00e2\u20ac\u009d.\u00c2\u00a0 Amen, H*** Yeah, and No Kidding.\u00c2\u00a0 He was writing from experience folks, and I (and probably you too) can testify to that.<\/em><\/p>\n

So as I work out what \u00e2\u20ac\u0153running with the wind at my back\u00e2\u20ac\u009d looks like for me, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d love to hear from you: What does it mean to you to have the wind at your back?\u00c2\u00a0 I want to hear your personal experiences and so would our readers.\u00c2\u00a0 What has that looked like in your life?\u00c2\u00a0 What about running against the wind? Ever done that?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Thanks Bob, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re with you.<\/span><\/p>\n

Until next week, keep the wind at your back,<\/span><\/p>\n

Steve Spillman <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.\u00c2\u00a0 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Matthew 11:28-30 I’m a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[334,1,15],"tags":[355,831,833,832,834],"class_list":["post-499","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-obedience","category-site-news","category-success","tag-american-dream","tag-bob-regnerus","tag-christian-business-daily","tag-matt-gillogly","tag-matthew-11"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gotpotential.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/499","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gotpotential.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gotpotential.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gotpotential.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gotpotential.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=499"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gotpotential.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/499\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gotpotential.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=499"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gotpotential.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=499"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gotpotential.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=499"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}