Day 1
AN INTRODUCTION TO PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
This article was written by Clay Staires, Tulsa Leadership Trainer, Motivational Speaker & Founder of Tulsa’s #1 Leadership Program, The Leadership Initiative.
WHAT IS YOUR METRON!
Your destiny is to RULE! It’s how you were designed! That’s one fun thing about being a Christian! WE GET TO RULE! However, he who has been prepared to lead is the better leader! If not prepared to lead, most people end up being a mean boss and a cruel leader.
So, our life story takes us through a series of EVENTS to help us grow. Unfortunately, few people recognize the process and therefore walk through life hoping for the best and getting angry and confused when something negative happens!
We go through seasons called PROCESS EVENTS. Each process event prepares us for the next promotion. After every process event is a promotion. After every promotion will eventually be another process event. Each process event we go through successfully moves us toward our ultimate design or destiny! This “ultimate design” is called our metron.
There’s actually research on this stuff! Studies have shown that 1 IN 3 PEOPLE MAKE IT TO THEIR ULTIMATE DESIGN!!! Most people get stuck in the process and never move forward! The primary reason is simply because they don’t see it. The see it wrong and so they process it wrong.
Let’s take a look at some life stories with METRONS.
Joseph in the Bible… Jacob’s son!
You will rule over your brothers, sold into slavery!
You will rule over my house, sent to jail!
You will rule over the jail, gets passed over!
Finally, he gets his chance to step into his destiny, and because of his preparation, he’s ready and BOOM he becomes a ruler over a nation!
His destiny was to rule over a nation, not just over his brothers. It looks an awful lot like he’s going in the wrong direction! Does that sound familiar to you? Have you felt that way? His journey was preparing him for his destiny not just his desire! Do you see the difference? Our destiny is so much bigger than our daily desires. When we begin to view life through the lens of our destiny, then we are able to better embrace the process of preparation (struggle and difficulty) that we go through. If we focus more on our daily desires, it is very easy to interpret struggle as an obstacle to what we want and, as a result, we can fight it.
Many other stories in the Bible just like this. Go ahead and check it out. It really helps to see other people’s stories! Try looking at Abraham Lincoln! Wow, there’s a story of resilience and preparation! How bout Thomas Edison and Lance Armstrong?
“If you don’t think correctly, you won’t act correctly!” Captain Obvious
My personal life story… Classic case of mistaken identity!
“You will be an athlete” (cool!), then I quit football at OU. Loss of perceived identity… uh oh!
“You will impact 10’s”, then got fired from ministry by my dad and from the family business! AAHH!
“You still got it baby!” Sweet, then I went on a 3-year losing streak!
“You will impact 100’s”, then got fired from the church and school and got divorced! WHAT???
“You will impact 1000’s”, and then got called away to return home. ARE YOU KIDDING?
“You will impact 10,000’s”, and this is where I am now… in the midst of transition, but very excited because I see the progression and the path.
My life isn’t over, it’s just shifting as I am moving to more!
The big question is…How bout your life story? Are you aware of your METRON? If we’re not careful, we can identify ourselves through the lens of a victim (because we didn’t get what we wanted) instead of as someone that is being prepared for greatness! I guarantee most of these people we’ve discussed today gained a good grip on where they were headed! They processed defeat and struggle with a resilience that was born out of IDENTITY!
Your IDENTITY is wrapped up in your story… your METRON, YOUR DESTINY!
Action doesn’t flow out of knowledge, it flows out of BELIEF! It’s not about what you know; it’s about what you BELIEVE! Have you learned this yet, or are you still seeking to fix things by learning more information?
The Furnace is in place to help you THINK and ACT “according to His good will and purpose”.
Isn’t that one of the biggest questions we have when we go to prayer?
“Lord, what are you doing?” or “Lord, what should I do?”
New thinking! Rom 12: 1-4 How You Think Is The Most Important Thing About You.
Take time this week to ask and listen to the testimonies of others about their journey.
You can only think what you think! The Furnace is designed to expand your thinking.
How will you respond to growth? You’re about to find out!
WELCOME TO THE FURNACE!! Welcome to the fire!
