The last tendency kicks me around and makes my face cringe because it’s one that I use most often.
Withdrawal
Being an S and one of my StrengthsFinder themes as restorative, let’s just say my natural tendency is to keep things steady, not rock the boat, and look for ways to find harmony. Conflict? Sends me running! Literally. Uncomfortable? I’m out the door. However, especially in the last year, I’m learning that engaging conflict often leads to a faster, healthier, and more productive outcome. Hear some potential gossip about yourself–engage it. Someone starts talking about how they don’t like something–bring them to the source. (Cue my extreme thankfulness for people willing to walk this out with me and teach me and give me awesome, godly advice about lots of situations)
The tricky thing about withdrawal, though, is that it comes in many different forms: moving backward, standing still, or hesitating. Especially when facing a difficult or new situation, people sometimes tend to want to go back to a familiar time. Let’s look at how Lot’s wife handled thing…
26But [Lot’s] wife looked back from behind him, and she [b]became a pillar of salt.
Pretty straightforward. Lot’s wife wanted to head back to where she felt safe and comfortable. Likely, she didn’t want to leave her home and everything she knew. Going forward toward the unknown is scary. Sometimes, though, we don’t always take the big step of trying to literally go backward, but we stand still. We let our inaction keep us from moving. Or we try to hesitate until the decision is made for us. Waiting until the last minute to put in an application? Debating about something until it’s too late? Not apologizing until the issue is too far in the past to address? Not wanting to take responsibility so we wait…
What’s something God wants you to move forward into that is harder than just staying where you are or even deciding to go back to the comfortable?
psst as usual i’ll be sharing my own in the comments =)
b'ahava 