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Have you ever been held spellbound as you listened to a public speaker teach from an area of expertise? Such talks are unforgettable, aren't they? I'll never forget one such message I was privileged to hear.
It was given by a premier eye surgeon—one of the leaders at the church where I was pastoring at the time. The Bible passage he was slated to speak from included the following prayer:
"I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints" (Ephesians 1:18).
Pulling from his expert knowledge of the human eye, he rattled off the following description in less than 30-45 seconds before drawing other observations and applications from the text:
Light comes into the front of the eye passing through the cornea which bends the light. Passing through the anterior chamber thru the pupil thru the lens where it is again altered. It passes through the vitreous cavity striking the retina. It penetrates down through the ten layers of retina striking the rods and cones.
Here it is changed from light to an electrical impulse through several chemical transactions. The message is then transported back up through the retina and via a nerve fiber it is transported to the optic nerve. Approximately 2-3 million of these fibers travel via both optic nerves into the orbit. The optic nerve in the orbit travels in a sinusoidal course to the optic canal.
The nerve travels through the optic canal and then half of the fibers crisscross at the chasm creating the optic tracts. Here several fibers course into the hypothalamus, some traverse into the lateral geniculate body and some bypass this and proceed to the medial geniculate body. The fibers that leave the lateral geniculate body proceed to the occipital cortex where the electrical signal is transposed into what we perceive as vision.*
Wow! Unless you're an eye surgeon, that complex description probably just caused your brain waves to short circuit! Isn't that an apt illustration of how we sometimes feel when facing complexities in our own life and leadership?
What a wonder it is that something so complex allows us to see so clearly. I believe there are at least three ways we can gain more clarity for our life, work, and our leadership complexities.
1. Accept that complexity is part of our lot
Sometimes I think we stress ourselves out by chasing after an elusive and impossible dream: a simple life without any complexity challenges!
There's nothing simple about this life! There's nothing easy about our walk, our work, or leading others, whether it's at work, at home, or in the broader community. We can't escape this reality, but we can reframe it.
Listen to the sage words of King Solomon:
"Then I realized it is good and proper for a man to eat and drink, and to find satisfaction in his toilsome labor under the sun…for this is his lot." (Ecclesiastes 5:18)
There was a time that Solomon fought against this simple conclusion. As a result, his life and leadership became more complex and seemingly meaningless.
He found clarity in the complexity of his toilsome labor through acceptance of the struggle and by enjoying some of the greatest gifts from God.
2. Acknowledge your Creator
The amazing complexity of the human eye alone should cause us to conclude that there is an intelligent God behind the design and that He cares about us.
Further, such evidence of God's existence should cause us to realize that if He can bring clear vision through something so complex, then surely He can do the same for our complexities.
God does care for us. He will provide us with greater clarity if we seek Him.
3. Align yourself to work withyour Creator
There's an awesome story in Luke 5. Peter and His companions fished all night. They applied their collective knowledge of the fishing industry. They implemented the best fishing techniques and targeted the best places to cast their nets.
And yet, their nets still came up empty.
Then Jesus steps into the scene. He calls out to Peter, "Put your nets out into the deep." Peter obligingly obeys. The result? A record catch!
I wonder if Peter thought something like, Jesus, you stick to carpentry. I know fishing. As it turned out, Jesus knew a lot more about fishing than what Peter might have assumed.
The lesson? The creator of the eye also created every career path. Sometimes greater clarity can be found in simple obedience to a principle or call of God instead of trying to implement the latest and greatest business practices.
Take a few moments to take a self-assessment
*Re-drafted by Dr. Jud Martin and used by permission
Written by Dan Anderson, President and CEO of Kingdom Way Ministries. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Content distributed by WorkLife.org.
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