An Invitation to a Deeper Place

God's wisdom for seasons of uncertainty

Life is unpredictable, and leaders are forged in challenging times. Is the faith we lean on when we feel confident and secure any less real when we experience seasons of uncertainty?

I had stepped into a new season of leadership that came with unexpected transitions. This resulted in leading a team of one – myself. Fresh in my rearview mirror was my mom’s heart-wrenching end-of-life battle with Alzheimer’s and my mother-in-law’s passing from cancer, all in the same year.

It didn’t take long before limitations and weaknesses that I knew I had to begin being revealed to others. I found myself in a vulnerable place in both my personal life and my leadership.

I kept unmistakably hearing God’s invitation to a deeper place with him…

With my vulnerabilities, limitations, and weaknesses exposed, my insecurities also came to the surface. This led me to question if I had misunderstood God’s invitation to lead in my new role. I felt compelled to give up, and many would have understood. However, I kept unmistakably hearing God’s invitation to a deeper place with him and to lay everything at his feet.

Psalm 25 for Gina!

That is where I was when an email showed up in my inbox from a woman who has walked many miles ahead of me in both life and leadership. Her email was short, “I prayed for you today and heard the Lord say, ‘Psalm 25 for Gina!’ I offer it with love and joy.”

That email led me to surrender all I was carrying to God. It led me to embrace his invitation to seek him and be forged by him instead of my insecurities. It was also a great reminder that even when we feel alone, the Lord is not just with us but, in his kindness, he calls others to pray for us and walk the journey alongside us.

Living and Leading Wisely in the Storm

Psalm 25 was written by David, though the exact time is unknown. It reflects David’s prayer and desire to seek and know God deeper by walking in his truth and wisdom amidst trials and opposition.

Here are a few things that I gleaned from my time in Psalm 25. This reflects its impact on my life and leadership amidst the heartache and challenges I was facing:

1. Our Inner Struggle

We must first acknowledge our inner struggle.

David acknowledges his inner struggle when he prays in Psalm 25:16-18, “Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted. The troubles of my heart are enlarged; bring me out of my distresses. Consider my affliction and my trouble, and forgive all my sins.”

I could relate to David as I felt the loneliness of leading a one-member team. I faced an inner struggle trusting God’s timing for the team he would establish. What would others think about a team that became a team of one shortly after I started leading it? I often felt tempted to explain myself to others. However, each time I wanted to explain myself, I heard God urging me to wait on him.

As I read through Psalm 25, I noticed David mentioning seeking and waiting on God three times. This reminds us that when we as leaders seek and wait on the Lord instead of following our insecurities, we will not be put to shame (Psalm 25:3). God is faithful, and his truth will guide us as we wait on him, even if it takes all day or several months (Psalm 25:5). When we seek and wait on God instead of explaining ourselves, integrity and uprightness uphold us (Psalm 25:21).

2. The Sufficiency of God’s Grace 

We need to embrace the sufficiency of God’s grace in order to see his goodness in our pain.

Paul teaches us in 2 Corinthians 12:9 that embracing the sufficiency of God’s grace allows us to find his strength to persevere. We can even learn to boast about our weaknesses so others can see God as the source of our strength. This allows us to not be concerned with what they think of our limitations: “Each time Jesus said, ‘My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.’ So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.” (2 Cor. 12:9, NLT)

3. His Goodness in our Pain

In Romans 8:28, we read that God uses all the hardships we face for our good. The context of “good” we read in verse 28 involves transforming us into the likeness of his Son, Jesus (Romans 8:29). This transformation glorifies God as others witness us leading through both prosperous times and life’s brokenness. They see us acknowledging our limitations and insecurities, and embracing the sufficiency of God’s grace to shape us into the likeness of his Son.

God often allows our lives and leadership roles to become complex to remind us to seek him and trust his timing. Sometimes, we can be foolish enough to rely on our talents rather than abiding in Jesus. We can strive for others’ approval instead of thriving in his presence.

Leading in our areas of strength can make us forget that apart from him, we can do nothing (John 15:5). God often presents us with the impossible so that when a miracle happens, we cannot take credit for it. He allows challenges and headaches that keep us on our knees and perhaps even cause us to lose sleep. This is not out of cruelty, but to remind us of our need to rely on him.

In Psalm 25, David kept his focus on God’s glory and acknowledged the significance of his iniquity while asking for forgiveness (Psalm 25:11). David understood that only by keeping his eyes on Jesus would he be released from the snare he was in (Psalm 25:15).

4. Joy in God’s Presence 

Joy is found in God’s presence as we pray and rely on his promises for victory.

Psalm 25 begins with David seeking and trusting God for wisdom and deliverance from his troubles. It closes with David’s concern for the people of Israel, whom he has been entrusted to lead.

In God’s kindness, I am no longer leading a team of one. I no longer face a season of an uphill battle alone. However, our team is still navigating what feels like an uphill climb. And yet, I am thankful for it as it keeps me seeking and trusting God as he leads.

David’s ongoing tone in his plea to God in his closing should be encouraging to us all: “Deliver Israel, O God, from all their troubles!” (Psalm 25:22).

What a great reminder that God’s redemption in our lives and leadership is ongoing.

God is With Us in All Seasons

To answer the original question, is the faith we lean on when we feel confident and secure any less real during seasons of uncertainty? The same faith still holds because the wind and waves still know God’s name (Luke 8:25). God remains with us, inviting us to be courageous (Joshua 1:9), faithfully picking up his children and holding them close to his heart (Isaiah 40:11).

He says, “Fear not…I have redeemed you. I have called you by name. You are mine” (Isaiah 43:1). In God’s presence, the fullness of joy is still found as he makes known to us the path of life, and at his “right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Psalm 16:11).

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Gina Holm is the Director of Navigators Life and Leadership Coaching. Gina’s passion is to encourage ministry leaders to embrace their identity in Christ and take their next step in their journey with him. She does this through life-on-life discipleship and as a Navigator Life and Leadership Mentor Coach. Gina treasures time with her husband, Lindell, and their young adult children. She can be reached at: gina.holm@navigators.org

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