Beyond Our Wildest Imagination

Usually, I'm a team player and am willing to try new things. Every now and then though, I am reminded of my boundaries and limits. When I was in college, I worked in the Center for Leadership. I created and facilitated workshops and retreats on different aspects of leadership with a team of other students for various student groups on campus. I loved this job! When I started, we had a week-long training before we got to work. So much of it was meaningful. We went over different leadership theories, over the mission and vision of our center, we built relationships, and more.

It was all great until we had a guest facilitator come in and lead an improvisation activity. The facilitator described a scenario and said that when he pointed to us, we had to respond to it without thinking and just go for it. Ok, I thought to myself, I can do this. I knew, at that moment, how I would respond to his scenario. But then, he added more rules! Exactly the way I thought I was going to respond, he said we couldn't use it. It was too obvious. I started to panic. What was I going to do?

You might be surprised by this considering I preach twice a month, but being in front of people has never been something that I've truly loved. And then, emoting and making a scene? Nope. That just wasn't going to happen. I made it through that moment, but what I experienced was panic, anxiety, and a major creativity block. Have you ever been put on the spot and not known how to respond?

I think in many ways, the Israelites felt this way throughout their journey to the Promised Land. The world as they knew it was gone and what was to come was not clearly visible. How do we navigate these liminal spaces when it feels like everything is on the line and we are underequipped? Join us this Sunday as we explore Exodus 17:1-7.