salvation and strength look like. When we look for someone who will save us from our troubles, the qualifications at the top of the list are rarely repentance and rest. We tend to want leaders who will take charge and get moving. Repentance sounds, to the untrained ear, like a reversal or perhaps like a lack of confidence. And as for rest? We want leaders who are going to work until they solve our problem—or drop trying. And when we think of strong lead- ers, we don’t tend to look for someone who would best be described by the words quiet and trusting. At least in North America, we often seem to be drawn to bombastic, self-assured leaders who seem to know what they’re doing—and we hope like crazy they’ll get the right thing done. But Isaiah said that we’ll find salva- tion—help, wholeness, or rescue—in repentance and rest. He said that we’ll find strength—power, influence, and energy—in quietness and trust. An Unhurried Leader U nhurried leaders are differ- ent. Rather than fill their lives with noise, unhurried leaders make time for silence in which to listen (quietness). Rather than allow anxiety to drive them, unhurried leaders learn to depend on a reliable God who invites them to join a good Kingdom work already well underway (trust). Rather than tackle self-initiated projects under the guise of doing them for God, unhurried leaders humbly orient themselves to the Leader of all, learning to take their cues from Him (repentance). Unhurried leaders learn to rest as hard as they work. Rather than measuring the productivity of their lives only in terms of what they do, unhurried leaders understand the importance of certain things they don’t do. Quietness, trust, repentance, and rest are words that speak to those things. So what was Israel’s response to God’s invitation to those things? Unfortunately, Israel answered God with an unqualified no. They decided to rely on horsepower. To try harder. Do more. Work longer. Hard work and effort are good, God-given capacities, but when these become separated from a living communion with God, they can become destruc- tive rather than constructive. We can find ourselves running past God rather than walking with God. Unfortunately, Israel chose to run away rather than engage or confront their enemies in the strength of God. Doesn’t it sound a lot like the Chinese finger trap, only with greater consequences? When I have resisted relating to God and life on the basis of trust and humble respect, I’ve usually chosen the path of giving it more horsepower. When that doesn’t work, I often up the ante, choosing even more horsepower. But those hurried, high-horsepower ways of living and working leave me dogged by those who have even more horsepower than I do. Practically speaking, when I wake up to being in horsepower-only mode, I feel angry, anxious, and drained. In such moments, I seek to take even a few minutes to be quiet and still, to allow my heart and mind to remember that God is with me. When anxious thoughts start to invade and rule that moment of silence, I allow myself to gently remember God’s gracious invitation: “Turn to face me. Relax in me. Let me quiet your heart. Trust me.” Then I remember that I’m not doing this work alone or for a God who is distant or disengaged. I let myself remember that I’m doing this work because of God’s invitation and in His loving and empowering pres- ence. When I take this kind of break, I often find that a fresh sense of the salvation and strength Isaiah described becomes the context of my thoughts, emotions, and intentions as I move forward. I experience the fruit of the beautiful prayer Paul prayed for his friends in Thessalonica: “May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word” (2 Thessalonians 2:16–17).  Excerpt taken from An Unhurried Leader by Alan Fadling. Copyright © 2017 by Alan Fadling. Used by permission of InterVarsity Press, P.O. Box 1400, Downers Grove, IL 60515, USA. www.ivpress.com 48 WWW.CITYGATENETWORK.ORG MAY/JUNE 2019 Alan is president and founder of Unhurried Living, Inc. He speaks and consults internationally, and is a certified spiritual director. He lives in Mission Viejo, California, with his wife, Gem, and their three sons. You can see more of his ministry at unhurriedliving.com.