• Leadership: Isolation
Leadership: Isolation
Why would the subject of Isolation be included in a list of desirable qualities for leadership?
We are surrounded everywhere by sounds and noises, in cars, in home, in elevators, at work, answering machines, shopping malls and restaurants. Being alone in such a social world is different. Isolation is the opposite, a removing of oneself from any disturbance. Some get really nervous with the lack of sounds—we can get so used to it. Isolation is being by ones self, being removed from outside influences, people, music, and noise. Being alone in a calm quiet moment, so that God can deal with us, without any interruption or distraction.
Isolation is not a punishment of being locked in, like being in prison. It is rather, locking out the distractions that could hinder us from hearing the whisper of God in our spirit. To accomplish this, one might deliberately remove oneself from their normal environment—a desert place or a mountain cabin, a camp or a chapel, a church sanctuary, a hotel room, anywhere that might qualify as a “trysting place.”
Consider some of these Ten Great Experiences that are all associated with this Leadership Discipline of Isolation:
1. Time to think, to contemplate, to consider, to meditate, to reflect.
2. Chance for you to get in touch with the noise that is in your heart and head.
3. Opportunity to seek God without distraction or interruption. Worship, praise and intercession are part of this.
4. An open window to experience some new direction and guidance form God. Try to listen for His Whisper to you.
5. An occasion for more input: to read, to study and to research a topic or area of interest.
6. Write down what God is leading you to experience next. Try to capture in writing what God is saying to you.
7. Journeling is another aspect of writing that helps one sort out the messages inside.
8. Make observations about your surrounds for visual aids that might provide “pictures” of your experience.
9. Planning ahead: consider the calendar and when the sequence of things coming might logically flow.
10. Be still and know that the Lord is God, the All Sovereign One. Be subject unto Him. He wants to be in charge of you, if you let Him.
So here is the challenge: Plan a time to experience the Leadership Discipline of Isolation. Spending some time alone is not a waste of time, if you try to include some of these experiences above.
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