Your "Oh, God! Moment"

In his excellent little book, The Radical Leap, author Steve Farber describes the kind of leadership he believes necessary for the problems and opportunities we face at the dawn of the 21st century. Farber says we need “extreme leaders who live in pursuit of the OG!M.”

What’s an OG!M?

It’s what I experienced when I first arrived at Maranatha Church in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida and at Metro Church in Birmingham, Alabama. After getting my head and heart around the enormous responsibilities before me, I sort of gulped and said to myself, “Oh, God…”

It’s what I felt about a week after I stepped down from my position at Metro. I left a secure job with a salary package and began a journey of faith… It didn’t take long to think about the realities of an on going mortgage payment, car payment and the works and say to myself, “Oh, God…”

I didn’t say or think those words as a swear. I said them as a desperate prayer. I knew that unless God got involved, failure was inevitable. In that moment, I knew I needed resources beyond my own abilities.

Farber describes an “Oh, God! Moment” like this: “…fear in the pursuit of creating something greater than the present reality.”

Ever been there… A lot of the guys and gals we read about in the Bible experienced their fair share of OG!M’s.

Think Moses standing on the banks of the Red Sea in Exodus 14. Pharoah’s army is in hot pursuit. Pharoah’s is bent on Israel’s annihilation. Mountains have Israel hemmed in on each side, and an uncrossable sea is in front of them. And the people? They’re questioning Moses’ leadership, wondering how he ever got them into this mess. This is an “OG!M” on steroids!

Moses goes to God. God speaks. Moses looks at Israel and says, “Don’t be afraid. Stand firm and watch God do his work of salvation for you today. Take a good look at the Egyptians today for you’re never going to see them again. God will fight the battle for you. And you? You keep your mouths shut!” (Exodus 14:10, 13-15, The Message)

I love it! That’s a picture of extreme leadership. It’s the picture of guy looking an OG!M in the eye and not flinching.

Farber issues a challenge for those who think leadership is easy and are tempted to coast:

“If you’re using all the buzzwords, reading all the latest books, and holding forth at every meeting the latest management fads, but you’re not experiencing that visceral churning in your gut – not scaring yourself every day, not feeling that ‘Oh, God! Moment’ like clockwork, then you’re not doing anything significant – let alone changing the world – and you’re certainly not leading anyone else.” ~ Steve Farber, The Radical Leap

Wow!

I’m prone to avoid OG!M’s. Most of the people I know are built the same way…

Maybe that’s one reason we don’t see the Red Sea parting, giant walls falling, the sun standing still in midcourse, or miracles occurring…

Here’s a thought: If the only reason you’re avoiding taking on a challenge is because the idea scares you, then maybe that’s the very reason you need to take it on! Maybe this is your opportunity for a real OG!M – an opportunity for you to trust God to do what God can only do, and for God to show up and DO IT!

In his classic, Experiencing God, Henry Blackaby sums things up.

“Whenever God involves you in His activity, the assignment will include God-like dimensions to it. Have you ever heard the statement, “God will never ask me to do something I can’t do…” That’s bologna! God will almost always ask you to do something you probably can’t do in and with your strength, ability, talent and personality.

“The assignments God gave in the Bible were always God-sized assignments. The assignments were always beyond the means and ability of the people God involved in them.

“Why? Why does God always give us an assignment that is far bigger than we are?

“Because in those assignments God gets to demonstrates His nature, His strength, His provision and His power to His people.

“Not only that! But when God does the work, there’s no question as to who accomplished it! It was God!” ~ Henry Blackaby, Experiencing God

That's the ultimate OG!M.