Thriving in Seasons of Disruption

Spiritual attunement to flourish through drought or storm

In seasons of disruption, the pressure to adapt and deliver can be relentless. We double down, work harder yet still lack the kind of thriving we long for: a daily sense of purpose, resilience, peace and clarity.

What if thriving doesn’t come from grinding harder, but from rooting deeper in Jesus’ love and guidance?

Psalm 1 shares that when we “meditate on his [instruction] day and night,” we are like “a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither.”

Spiritual Attunement: An Invitation to Thriving

Spiritual attunement is the cultivated ability to perceive and align with God’s presence and guidance. It shapes how we lead under pressure and relate to others. It shows us our next faithful steps.

Attuned leaders don’t just react – they respond with wisdom.

Attuned leaders don’t just react – they respond with wisdom. They’re less likely to burn out and more likely to create environments where people thrive. Spiritual attunement cultivates the rootedness that helps teams flourish even in seasons of drought or storm.

Any team can grow in attunement. It takes courage and intention but bears fruit quickly. Set aside an hour with two to three trusted teammates who opt into this experiment:

1. Choose a Real Challenge
   Each person brings a current leadership situation needing God’s guidance – especially one marked by tension, uncertainty, or change.
2. Practice Spiritual Attunement Together
   Try one of the following, seeking guidance for your situations:

• A Lectio Divina exercise, using Galatians 5:18-26 or other passage, using the instructions from TLS 101: The Thriving Leader | Spiritual Formation, a Christian Leadership Alliance (CLA) course packed with powerful spiritual formation practices.
• This Decision-Making Quadrant tool, brought to us by our friends at Dwellings.
• The “Wisdom from Above” audio-guided exercise found on Attune’s Practice Page.

3. Share and Affirm
   Create space to share what surfaced. Listeners are not to give advice. They should just help each person voice their best sense of God’s guidance. Offer affirmations of the good you hear.

Even one practice like this can deepen connection, clarity, and your team’s rootedness in God’s love and wisdom.

Building a Culture Where Leaders Thrive

Attunement isn’t a one-off practice – it’s a leadership culture. Teams that commit to it build deeper trust, make more grounded decisions, and sense God’s presence in their daily work.

To Embed Attunement:

• Invite, but never pressure, leaders to practice it regularly in small groups.
• Integrate reflection and discernment into meetings and decision-making.
• Explore offerings like CLA’s Thriving Leader Series – courses designed to integrate spiritual formation and strategic leadership.

Resilient Thriving

In seasons of disruption, the most strategic move may not be to push harder – but to listen more deeply. Resilient thriving comes not from hustle, but from being deeply rooted, individually and as a team, in the love and wisdom of Christ.

Spiritual attunement forms leaders who are steady in storms, wise in tension, and fruitful in every season. Let’s lead from that place.

###

Tracy Mathews is the founder and Executive Director of Attune. Through facilitated workshops, Attune offers tools and training to help teams slow down, listen deeply, and tap into more of God’s guidance for the decision making, strategic direction setting and team building of organizational leadership. Tracy serves on Christian Leadership Alliance’s Advisory Council.

Learn more about Outcomes magazine.