As a leader, there will be times when you want to quit. This is why resilience is important. Resilience, simply put, is seeing something through to the end.
When we look at the leadership of Jesus, we see He saw things through to the end. An example of this is at the Garden of Gethsemane (Matthew 26:36-46; Mark 14:32-42; Luke 22:39-46).
In this story, Jesus was preparing to go to the cross. Jesus’ purpose was to reconcile humanity’s relationship with God. To fulfill that purpose, Jesus had to die.
If there was a time for Jesus to quit, that time was at Gethsemane. I think He knew that. In Luke’s account of this story, Jesus prayed, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me” (v. 42a, NIV). Essentially, Jesus was asking God the Father if there was another way to fulfill His purpose.
Jesus had several reasons to quit. However, He chose to see it through to the end. In His prayer, He said, “Not my will, but yours be done” (v. 42b, NIV). As Jesus prayed, an angel came to give Him strength (v. 43).
As Christian leaders, we will have Gethsemane moments. There will be moments in our leadership when we will want to quit.
When discerning whether to quit, our prayers need to be the same as Jesus’: “Not my will, but yours be done.” We can ask God if there is another way to fulfill our purpose. If there is, then we can ask Him to show it to us. If there is no other way, then we can ask God to give us the strength to see it through to the end. Just as God sent an angel to strengthen Jesus, there are people on your team who can strengthen and support you.
Think about it: When was the last time you saw something through to the end. What helped you be resilient?
Nick Chellsen 