https://davidleemartin.com/action-taker-and-the-one-great-reason-why/

---

00:00:03.890]
Good morning. Hopefully you are well, if you are watching this this month, I’m taking every day or at least every day in the week to talk a bit about productivity. I think needless to say, my family are rather productive. If anything, we could probably do it leaning in the opposite direction sometimes. So, yeah, we’re quite a driven bunch. We feel a need to put all that we’ve got on the table out there in the world.

00:00:44.670]
I think there will be plenty of time for kicking back and resting when the day comes, although we do want to learn. Certainly I do want to learn to live and act and produce and bear fruit from a place of peace as opposed to a place of striving. And nevertheless, I think that the kind of the weight of the general way that many people operate leans not so much toward action taking, but toward procrastinating or hedging bets and never really making bold moves.

00:01:32.840]
And obviously, I would never advocate a reckless decision making, reckless actions. But at the same time, there is a sense in which if we don’t make the decisions that I spoke about yesterday and really just begin to take action on the things that we are learning, the things that we know, and especially the things that we feel that the Holy Spirit has placed within our heart to actually step out and do it. It’s really just daylight robbery. We’re robbing ourselves of the possibility of what could happen if we choose to do that.

00:02:19.370]
But we’re also robbing other people of how they could benefit from us, sharing our value in ways that they can engage with and ways that they can consume. I do really very much like this particular verse. Let me just quickly jump in here and. And I’ll bring this verse up so we can look at it together. Now, when they had gone through, I don’t even know how to say this word, Vergeer In the region of Galatia, they were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia that’s found in Act 16, verse six.

00:03:10.690]
What I find interesting about this particular verse is, is that it’s. I clearly indicates that Paul was very much a yes now go type mentality, had an attitude of action as opposed to passivity, and the Holy Ghost had to pull the reins in rather than kind of smack his rump to try and get him moving. And I think it kind of would benefit us as as Christian creatives to have a bit of that fire in our belly. That kind of requires that the Holy Ghost kind of pull the reins in sometimes and say, hey, whoa, hang on, don’t go there yet, don’t do that yet.

00:04:05.400]
And be people who assume a yes from the Holy Ghost. If we feel something on the inside, if we feel impressed or inspired to step out in some way that we would assume. Yes. As opposed to a no. I mean, some people really, instead of just taking an action toward what they believe God has asked of them or what they believe is stirring in this spirit, they wait for like six signs from heaven, some kind of voice from from the clouds to fleece confirmations aside contract by the Godhead, signed in triplicate by a host of witnesses, whatever else it may be before they’ll actually step out and make a move.

00:04:56.550]
And as I say, I’m not advocating being impetuous. I’m not saying be thoughtless or reckless. I’m just pointing out that it’s probably better to lean toward action rather than passivity if we’re looking to get things done, if we’re looking to make a difference, if we’re looking to make a dent, really, it is people who have been kind of courageous enough to step out and try something at the very least, as I mean, Yoda would say, don’t try, do I won’t do Yoda voice.

00:05:35.220]
Don’t worry. But, you know, as I said, something about you. But the honest truth is. Yeah, don’t try. Do yeah. I get that. You know, we don’t want to step into things. We’ve kind of racked with doubt. But at the same time, we’re also aware that often times are doing really is trying. We’re just having a go. We’re giving it our best shot. And I think that that’s commendable.

00:06:03.760]
I do I think sometimes it’s very easy to wait for some kind of. Kind of. Guarantee that something is going to work before we step out, but because we can never be guaranteed that something is going to work in the way that we expect, we never step out. And it’s sometimes not until we step out, it’s not until we take action that we actually will know if something is going to work or something is not going to work. And and as well, I evolved.

00:06:37.580]
I found this on a number of occasions, both in my life and the lives of my my family, my wife, my kids, that sometimes we’ve stepped out. And the immediate results have been somewhat disappointing. But down the line that that content that we put out, that action that we stepped out on, that that that that boldness that we exercised back in the day really comes to the forefront at a later time that that, you know, God was preparing the way.

00:07:14.480]
And because we chose to act, not based on immediate results or immediate feedback and despite disappointments, continued to put ourselves out there. You can get down the line and then look back and think, oh, wow, look, what I did back there has really played in to what is working right now today, you know, whether that’s a lesson or whether there’s just a timing to things. And like what we what we did previously just finds its audience or finds its place.

00:07:55.520]
And so I really encourage you to be people who step out. You know, the Holy Ghost is there to partner with us and he’ll soon speak and steer us in the right direction. If we go running off in our own kind of like just run after our own crazy thoughts, he’ll say, whoa, he can pull us back in, trust him, trust the Holy Spirit to lead you, trust the Holy Spirit to walk with you, trust the Holy Spirit to pull the reins if you run too hard or pull in a certain direction.

00:08:35.690]
I remember when we had the kids and they were like real tinies and you put those little kind of strappy kind of reins on them. And then like when they’re learning to walk, you know, you got those reins on them to try to say it so they don’t run over. And so if they fall over, you can just kind of hold them up so they don’t smack their nose on the floor. I think the Holy Ghost is well able to put some child reins on us if it’s necessary when we’re stepping out into new things, when we’re when we’re taking those first baby steps and then and then as we grow and we become more kind of muscular in our ability to take action, he can he can throw a saddle on us and he can put a bit in our mouth and he can put some reins on us and really, really take charge.

00:09:29.480]
But he needs sometimes, you know, with an action taken attitude, at least the Holy Ghost has some momentum to direct, very difficult to move a stationary vehicle, very difficult to turn a dead weight. But where there’s movement, where there’s momentum, it takes a great deal less energy to move that vehicle in the right direction. I believe it’s the same for us in in our activities that the Holy Spirit is our guide. The Holy Spirit is our director.

00:10:05.420]
Our leader is able to move us in in a much more sensitive way when we are actually on the move ourselves. It’s a partnership that we share with him. And, you know, both of these elements are important and action taking attitude and a humble hearing ear. They’re both, you know, that one. And one of them kind of is like, go get them. And the other one is kind of lean back and yield to the leading of someone else.

00:10:41.870]
It’s almost like the two in some ways could be seen as quite. Quite the opposite of one another. But it’s not wilfulness I’m talking about its willingness, not wilfulness and willingness, willingness to act, willingness to believe that the Holy Ghost will direct if we give him something to work with. And then like one more willingness, I think that’s worth adding to the mix. It’s not really an ingredient that we are all so keen to to have in in the pie.

00:11:22.050]
But nevertheless, it’s still necessary in an entrepreneurial, creative life is the willingness and the readiness to fail. You know, it’s been said that being willing to fail quickly is often an element of overall success, being willingness, a willingness to try something, a willingness not to get so hung up, not to let ego get so much, so involved in the process of taking action and doing things that we we just simply never step out, you know, that that we we refuse to bear the shame of something not working.

00:12:11.760]
But often times you find that success story. Is that the road to success and if you look back, is often strewn with many, many seeming seeming failures, seeming disappointments. And they were all part of that character building, they were all part of that that that learning, that cultivating that that leaning in that that turning of the that inclining of the hard all of that. These are things that we learn and they are best learnt in the trenches of actually taking action and and stepping out.

00:12:56.550]
You know, I often say that the the the disciples learnt to pray in the upper room, not in the schoolroom. It’s in the doing that we learn and grow and you know as well as the you know, the the ever present. Fact that if we put our head above the parapet, we face the threat of criticism, we expose ourselves to ridicule. I mean, some people may even watch these live videos that I put out and just shake their head and think, man, who does he think he is?

00:13:39.880]
I’m aware of that. And that’s and I’m actually OK with that, because, quite honestly, I probably agree with you. I’m under no illusion that, you know, that that we’re all just here on the planet doing the best, we know how they’re putting out the best we can in the in the best way we know how to do it. And, you know, I’m kind of I would like to say I’m completely over this, but like, I’m really getting over myself a bit and I’m getting over comparing myself with other people and judging myself by whatever measures, you know, maybe I once did all measures that maybe other people or I may think that other people measure me by.

00:14:36.680]
I just it really is quite. It’s it’s really not important at the end of the day. I’m reminded of a you know, because because when we have that willingness to fail, we also we also open up the possibility of success. We open up our options, open up the likelihood that something good will come, that something good will happen, that some awesome connexion will will just come into place, is is increased exponentially when we get when we actually provide opportunity for it to happen in some way.

00:15:22.270]
You know, and maybe I call is not to evangelise the known world like Paul the Apostles was maybe I call is a little more kind of humble than that in some ways, but it doesn’t make it any less significant in the big kingdom picture. You know, it may seem it may seem insignificant or irrelevant to you in comparison to whatever else it is you want to measure it by. But it’s very significant to the people that you’re called to touch and the people that you are called to encourage.

00:16:00.730]
And ultimately, our call is not about us. It’s about them. It’s about the people were called to reach. I remember I was reminded of a story of General Buth William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army. And in his in his later years, he was unable to attend the convention of the Salvation Army and instead was constrained to just send a telegram to the conference. And of course, he didn’t have Zoom’s they couldn’t just like zoom in on the big screen and do his live address to the waiting troops.

00:16:38.590]
You may yet use the technology of his day and sent a telegram. And in the telegram there was literally just one word o t h e r s others. And that that friend is why we move. That is why we overcome our tendency to play safe and hejab. That’s that’s that’s why we overcome our tendency sometimes not to play it all. That friend others is why we choose to take action. Well, thanks for listening, hopefully. It’s been an encouragement to you today, if you want to connect any further, you can do so through my website at DavidLeeMartin.com.

00:17:33.180]
Have a great day.