Last week I found myself in the same place I was – almost exactly 12 months prior. However, I wasn’t in the same place at all.
For the 2nd year in a row, a few members of my real estate team and I attended the Global
Leadership Summit put on by Willow Creek (a mega-church out of the Chicago area). We join roughly 95,000 people around the United States to watch a simulcast of this event that includes speakers like Colin Powell, Tyler Perry, Brene Brown, Jeffrey Immelt, and more. Some speakers are incredible church leaders. Others are political and business leaders. All are rooted on the rock of Christ – and share the highs, lows, and insights on Christ-like leadership.
The moment I sat down in that seat – and the summit began – I was overwhelmed with a sea of emotions. I remember vividly what I was feeling – and the emotions cascading through my heart – when I was here last year. You see, I was coming out of one of the largest failures and hurts in my life. I was filled with doubt, fear, timidity, and I was downright scared.
The summit provided for me some incredible solace and comfort when I was broken and downtrodden. I was reassured that things were going to get better – so long as we built our business and our lives on the foundation of Jesus Christ. But, to be honest, I sure had my share of doubts. When everything around you feels like it collapsed, believing that “everything’s going to be ok” seems completely farcical.
I’ll spare you all the details and dirty work of the last 12 months. But imagine the movie sequence (say…Rocky IV – when he starts his training in Russia to compete against Ivan Drago) where the music is playing in the background and it shows the main characters working fervently to reach their goal. Sure, I wasn’t running in the snow while wearing a bomber jacket…sure, I wasn’t chopping wood to get stronger…and sure, I wasn’t dead-lifting my team in a pull-cart – but we were working intentionally hard. We were focusing on building a business that was built on the right foundation with the right leadership.
And so, when the summit began last week, I was hit with a different wave of emotions. I no longer felt scared. I didn’t doubt what lies ahead. God has been faithful. God has pulled us out of the miry pit and set our feet upon a rock. I’m not quite sure, but I bet the Summit speakers said a lot of the same things – but I heard it differently. I think God and the Bible are like that. They give us the same message, but we hear them differently based upon where we are in life.
I imagine we’ve all had those times when we’ve felt completely beat down and hopeless. Whether we have failed – or things have failed us – the hurt is all the same. It’s real, it’s intense, and it doesn’t seem to ever go away on our preferred timelines.
But Christ is faithful. I hope you get the opportunity to look back on the serious valleys of your life and see that God has pulled you through. Glory to our Savior for being just that!
We often times doubt when we’re caught in the pain and agony of life. That’s ok. But when has God NOT pulled us through!?!
Erik Hatch