Bang Your Head!

At my old company, in an office on the third floor, a co-worker had taped a sheet of paper to the wall. On the paper was a single, solitary circle. Within that circle were three simple words.

Bang.

Head.

Here.

Servant Leader, have you ever felt like you are climbing a ladder only to have someone cutting rungs off the bottom and adding them to the top? Or have you raced ahead, leading your team into a tunnel, only to find that the light coming around the bend was a train? Or have you validated the project against the checklist twice, only to find that a stakeholder added requirements, so now you are behind? Did it feel like you were spinning your wheels or banging your head against the wall?

You are not alone. Just ask my former co-worker. He felt that so often that he dedicated space in his office for just that purpose.

But what do we do? How do we get beyond or around whatever is cutting our rungs or hiding the train or adding requirements?

I bet that some of the Army of Israel felt the same way marching around the city of Jericho. Now, in our defense, they had the Ark of the Covenant and had witnessed the power of God, but still, by day six I'm thinking there were at least one or two asking themselves, "what is the definition of insanity?"

Servant Leader, sometimes, even when we know the right way, even when we know that what we are doing is valued, and beneficial, even when we understand that we have to repeat our process over and over before we can achieve our result, even in those times when we trust in the outcome, we still have doubts. But you see, Servant Leader, the secret isn't in not having doubt. The secret isn't even in having faith.

"On the seventh day, they got up at daybreak and marched around the city seven times in the same manner, except that on that day they circled the city seven times. The seventh time around, when the priests sounded the trumpet blast, Joshua commanded the army, 'Shout! For the Lord has given you the city! The city and all that is in it are to be devoted to the Lord...' When the trumpets sounded, the army shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet, when the men gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed; so everyone charged straight in, and they took the city." (Joshua 6:15-17 & 20, NIV)

You see, Servant Leader, the secret wasn't in Joshua's Army's faith, nor was it in their single-minded devotion to their duty. No, it was in their willingness to keep going, to keep doing what they had been asked (instructed) to do, even when the previous 6 days gave them no hope for change. And on that seventh day, when they had circled the city seven times, they shouted!

So, don't give up, Servant Leader, if it feels like you are beating your head against that wall. Get up, go to work, circle that proverbial city and shout! When the time comes, and you've met all of God's foundational tasks, the walls will fall, and the spoils will be yours.

Put another way, the secret isn't in not falling. It is in getting back up and trying again.

(Note: Please don't politicize this post or read into it support or condemnation of current events. This post does NOT pertain to the war in Ukraine.)

(Graphic: etechglobalservices.com)