Relationship and Faith in LeadershipSample

Day Three: A Test of Faith

I wish I had time to share the full story of how Nona left her first executive job at age 29 to become the CEO of a wonderful organization that serves at-risk girls.

Instead, I’m going to ask a question: do you ever wish you hadn’t prayed for something? I don’t know about you, but when I pray for God’s direction, and then God directs me, I often make a mistake. That mistake is thinking that God’s direction is one-and-done. The mistake is getting comfortable with a simple prayer—like, “God, show me your will.”—and not understanding how it can be life-changing.

In April 2017, while Nona was CEO of an organization serving at-risk girls, she and her husband were also in the process of transitioning into the senior leadership of a church. And that’s when, as she prayed for God’s will, that He told Nona to resign as CEO—without telling her what was coming next. So she quit. Talk about a test of faith!

And that was when Facebook called her, out of the blue, to speak with her about a job centered on faith and community building.

We often hear the definition of faith: the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Noah’s faith was tested when God told him to build an ark at a time where there was no sign of rain. I don’t think many of us are called to build giant boats these days. But what if more of us are being called in faith to do things like quit jobs we love?

As she leads at Facebook and beyond, Nona still focuses on the issues that harmed and hampered her as a child. She knows first-hand that most “problem kids” are really dealing with trauma and nursing wounds.

“We think of trauma as the physical abuse,” she says, “but there is also trauma related to poverty. There's trauma related to abandonment. There's trauma related to never measuring up. You have to get healed from that, or else you'll carry that into your own family. You'll carry that into the workplace. You'll carry that into everything. I'm a huge advocate for healing because I think that's how we get to experience joy in life.”

Isn’t that powerful?

As we close, I can’t help sharing one other thing Nona told me. If you’re in a position of influence, you haven’t been put there to “make your name great, but to make the world better.” All of us are statistically improbable products of grace, and it’s through relationships—both being mentored and mentoring—that we grow into the kind of people God is calling us to be.

People who can step out in faith and make the world better.

To Consider

React to one or both of these quotes from Nona Jones:

“It doesn’t matter how many followers you have if those followers aren’t following Jesus through you.”

“Good success requires great surrender.”

To Pray

God, give me the courage to pray for your will and give me the faith to act on what you show me. Amen.

Listen to the full podcast episode now.