Paying Attention to Details

"Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!" Psalm 139:23-24

As a leader it is an essential that we pay attention to the details. As a pastor we are watching over our people, planning events, numerical goals, pushing budgets, dreaming about visions and plans to get there- and the list goes on. Leaders in business do this in their field as well.

But "good leaders" learn how to watch for the details. Watch for positive trends or negative trends and react accordingly. We leverage the positive for gains and wins and we try to stop the negative before too much loss or damage ensues.

But I have been wondering if I do a better job with that at the corporate level than the personal level. I can analyze my church to death, but pay little attention to my own heart. We have plans, visions, and dreams for our church/business, but what about our personal life? What kind of people do we want to be in 5 years?

I talked with our staff this week about taking some time to evaluate, not our ministry, but what is going on in our own heart! Sometimes we are so busy taking care of the "business" that we neglect the eternal stuff- who we are becoming.

The great thing is that we all have built in warning signs or indicators. For me when I am negelecting the condition of my heart I get cynical, critical, and negative. For you it might be something else. Maybe it's your mouth and language- starts to digress when things are slipping. Maybe it's sleep or diet. Maybe it's your thought life.

I encourage you- learn to listen, let God do some searching, and then if you need to course correct, do it now. Many leaders will say "if only" after it was too late. By God's grace, don't let it get that far. Pay attention to the details.