Five ways to turn a challenge into an opportunity

By Stan Toler

One of my favorite philosophers, Yogi Berra, said, “If you don’t know where you are going, you might wind up someplace else.” Christian leadership is at a crossroads where challenge and opportunity meet.

Right now you are deciding whether to surrender to the world’s statistics or ramp up the mission of your organization. I encourage you to ramp it up—to make an opportunity out of a challenge. How?

  1. Master your attitude. That’s right; you can control your attitude! You may not be able to control your altitude or longitude, but you can control what, how, and when you think about your challenges. Stay on the plus side. Honey tastes a whole lot better than vinegar.
  2. Plan for the best. Remember Joseph’s strategy when faced with economic hardships in Egypt? He planned for the best in the face of the worst by creating an emergency stockpile. You might have to re-focus your resources, but you can still fill a shelf or two.
  3. Spend some time on yourself. Get away from it all. Give yourself a coffee break or some prime time at the gym. Hit a bucket of golf balls. Grab your fishing pole and take a fish out to dinner.
  4. Stay in the game. Be careful about those “timeouts.” For example limit your time online—especially if it includes the “bad news” sites. Remember, King David got in trouble during a “timeout.”
  5. Think about the victory. We’re not living by man’s economy; we’re living by God’s. The last word won’t come from the world’s “advisors.” A sovereign God is fulfilling His game plan for your life—and for your world.

Jazz great Duke Ellington once said, “Gray skies are just clouds passing over.”

I’m praying that God will give you grace and wisdom to make an opportunity out of a challenge.

 

Copyright © 2012 by Stan A. Toler

All resources on this page are the property of Stan A. Toler. They are available to you free of charge. You may copy and distribute them. However, they may not be altered, transformed, built upon, or used for commercial purposes.