You’ve Got To Find a Hiding Place

Scripture

“You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance” (Psalm 32:7)

Thought

If you have been leading for a long period of time you likely have experienced the many ebbs and flows that come with the role. Some of the highest highs and some of the lowest lows. The joy of leading and influencing, coupled with the loneliness of being the decision maker, and the easy target for criticism.

It takes an emotionally resilient person to be a leader. We’re not robots, and we must show some vulnerability to lead, but the truth is the leader carries a burden of “holding it together” when the going gets tough.

We can only hold it together for so long before there is a designed need for a release. Where is your emotional release? Where is your hiding place?

Some leaders fall and lose credibility for this reason alone. They have not developed a hiding place for their emotions to be released. Without a proper hiding place, we settle for a cheap imitation. It could be an improper relationship with a co-worker. It could be ranting and public journaling via social media. Or it could be personal numbing through a range of vices.

If we’re going to be leaders who last we must develop healthy outlets for all the stress, all the emotion, and the entire burden we carry in leadership. Social media doesn’t count. Venting in front of the people you lead doesn’t count. Coming home and being unavailable for your family doesn’t count.

A healthy leader has developed hiding place rhythms to lead without sacrificing their soul. It could be a thirty-minute walk. An early morning bike ride. A journaling or writing session each night before bed. A phone call with a trusted confidant.

It’s unique to you and it is an urgent need. Where is your hiding place? What are your hiding rhythms?

It’s not the pressure that will take you out of leadership someday. It is the inability to find a hiding place to recover.

The danger is not in the weight of leadership, it’s in the lack of rest.

Call to Action

• List three rest and recovery rhythms you want to implement

• Assign them each an hour this week

• Find some rest before it’s too late