How do you lead when the pressure is high and the stakes are even higher? deadlines, loom expectations rise. The weight of responsibility feels heavier than ever, and it's easy to think. The only way through it is to push harder, hustle faster, carry it all yourself. But what if there's a better way? This is leading 10. I'm Chris Moore, and today we're talking about something. Every leader needs to master managing pressure with peace. Okay, John chapter 14, verse 27. Peace I leave with you. My peace I give unto you, not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. Jesus spoke these words to his disciples right before the most pressure packed moment in his earthly ministry. The cross was just around the corner. If anyone had a reason to panic, it was him, and yet he speaks peace. Not a piece the world offers. It wasn't fleeting, not circumstantial, not surface level, but a real anchored, supernatural peace. And here's the good news for you as a leader, that same piece, it's available to you. It is hard to see, you know, because pressure is a part of leading, of managing of life, and it's not, if it shows up, it's when is it gonna show up? There's going to be hard calls. There's going to be tight deadlines. There's going to be times where it feels like the weight of everything in the world. Business, personal, family, sickness, everything rests on your shoulders and there's no one there to help. But listen, you don't have to carry it the way the world carries it. But listen, you don't have to carry it the way the world carries it. You can lead from a place, a peace. So what does this say about us? It says that we often default to striving when pressure hits. You know, we move faster, we move angrier. We, we try harder. We think, well, if I can just do a little more, if we do this or if I try this, or maybe, maybe this and I'll, I'll feel better. But striving just leads to burnout. The, the hustle culture in us can bypass what God has to say to us. And this passage says something about God too. It tells us that his peace is a different kind of peace because his peace is not tied to outcomes. It's not tied to the applause. It's rooted in his presence and it's steady. Even while the storm rages around us, he is asleep in the boat because he knows the way it's going to end. And the way it's going to end is not as important as how we flow through life with him. If you are leading from pressure instead of from peace, if you are carrying a burden that you were never meant to bear, remember Jesus didn't say, I'm gonna take away the problems. He said, I'll give you peace in the middle. Of the storm, I will give you peace in the middle of all your issues. That means you can sit in a boardroom, in a meeting room, in a classroom that everything is going on around you and you can still be at peace. You can have tough conversations that you don't want to walk into, but you can. And you can still carry peace into that room with you. You can face a deadline, you can face a downturn, you can face disruption, you can face sickness, and yes, you can even face impending death without losing your center around God. It is possible. It is hard. It is not easy. It is scary. But God is there because peace isn't the absence of problems. Anything in my life that I've been through, that I've walked through with other people, peace isn't the absence, it's the presence. It's the presence of Christ in the middle of everything. In the middle of the storm, when he can speak peace to you, just like he did. To the storm, he can speak peace to you and the storm still be raging around. And if you become that person of peace in the storm, the calm in the storm, it can become contagious. When you carry peace, the people around you, they feel it. Your family can feel it, your clients can feel it. Your team. Can rally around the piece. They may not be able to explain it, but they'll be drawn to it because leadership doesn't just move people forward. It's not about shuffling parts and pieces. Sometimes it's about stabilizing them in the middle of conflict. So what's the leadership application about this? Well, we should lead from peace, not from panic. We should try to find the peace in the storm instead of running around trying to find what to do next. How should we handle this? What should we do? Sometimes we're the person who needs to make sure that everyone takes a deep breath. It takes a moment to pause because when the pressure rises, that's the moment that you need to pause before you react. Be sure you anchor your heart in God's promises and what he has for you. Breathe, pray. Remember whose you are. You are not just carrying a title, you're carrying his very presence. And when his peace rules, your heart pressure does not get the final word. He does. So start your day with prayer, not with email. Definitely not with the news. Remind yourself you are responsible for obedience. You're not responsible for the outcome. Speak calm in the tense situations instead of matching the chaos that's around you. When you lead meetings, do it with clarity and do it with calm, even when there are big challenges that are on the table, even when you are about to upset those that are around you with a message that you must deliver because circumstances require it, you can still do it with calm, you can still do it with a word of peace and return again and again to the truth of God, to the message that he has for you in prayer. And in his word, remember God is with you. You don't have to fake peace. You can just live it out. Some of the greatest compliments I've ever received as a manager, as a leader, as just a fellow peer, was not about strategy or result. It was about peace. You know, making someone feel safe even when things are uncertain. You know, helping someone stay grounded when everything else is spinning around them. That's not just leadership. That's what God has called each and every one of us as a Christian to do to those that are around us, to support one another, to love one another, to share the peace that passes all understanding. And you know, it's not because we're superhuman, it's because we're staying connected to the source of peace. De Jesus didn't just offer peace. He is that very peace. So here's your challenge for today, your next meeting or decision, start it with a short prayer for peace. And you don't have to be out loud. I know some of us work in different cultures in different business environments, but what happens between you and God needs to always happen. Between you and God. So take those 10 seconds internally to center yourself and just say, God, lead me with your peace, not my pressure. Watch how it changes the atmosphere, even if you are the only person who changes. You know, life is always going to bring pressure and if you are managing or leading people or want to or try to, you're always gonna feel that pressure, but you don't have to be crushed by it. You can carry peace in the middle of the storm and in so doing, you'll lead others to peace. Two. This is leading 10. I'm Chris Moore. It's time for you to go lead with calm, and that takes courage and with a peace. That only God can give. If this gave you a breath of fresh air, if you were able to breathe a little bit, find a little bit of peace, uh, go ahead, please tap the like button, subscribe, share this with someone, share the message with someone even if you don't share this video, this podcast, this audio, share the message with someone that they can be the calm in the midst of the storm and who can help them through it. They don't have to carry it alone. You can carry it together, but you can always carry it with God, and I'll see you next time.