The Stormy Sea

A pretty good friend of mine is struggling right now.   Feeling economic pressure, because his work has slowed quite a bit.  This is a guy who is every bit of faithful.  He wants to be where God wants him to be, and that’s just not very clear to him at the moment.  I can relate, in making the transition from full time gainful employment to the “life of leisure” as I’ve taken to calling it.

I rolled through Psalm 107 this morning, and it hit me in the face.

Some of you made a living by sailing the mighty sea, and you saw the miracles the Lord performed there.  At his command a storm arose, and waves covered the sea.

You were tossed to the sky and to the ocean depths,
until things looked so bad that you lost your courage. You staggered like drunkards and gave up all hope. You were in serious trouble, but you prayed to the Lord , and he rescued you. He made the storm stop and the sea be quiet.

You were happy because of this, and he brought you to the port where you wanted to go. You should praise the Lord for his love and for the wonderful things he does for all of us.

He’s planning to take me where I want to go.   That’s cool.  It doesn’t seem to bother him too much that I might lose courage from time to time.  He’s still got a handle on it.  Hmmm.  I like that, a lot!

So, that’s personal.  Phil Cooke had some very interesting thoughts on what the economic slowdown means for organizations a short while back.

The short version…  a strong brand will survive and can even thrive during a downturn. Keep your head about you and pay attention to the fundamentals.  Keep the brand unified, don’t make decisions based on short term conditions if they will have long term impact, and take advantage of  the stress to spur real innovation.  It’s worth your time to read, right here.