30 January 2026 | Perth, Scotland [Jimmy Botha]
Leadership rarely fails for lack of effort. Most leaders work hard, care deeply and carry heavy responsibilities. Yet leadership often falters when perspective shrinks.
Recently, I have been reading The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt (2024). While the book explores many social and psychological factors shaping our society, one observation stands out. Haidt suggests that our generation has not only lost resilience, attention and community, but has also lost something more subtle and deeply human, the experience of awe. He describes awe as an emotion that lifts us beyond ourselves, re-centres us and reconnects us with something larger than our fears.
As I reflected on this, I began to wonder: what if part of our anxiety, even as leaders, is not simply about workload or responsibility, but about the quiet loss of wonder?
Awe Comes Before Calling
One of the clearest biblical images of awe is found in Isaiah 6. The prophet describes seeing the Lord, “high and exalted”, seated on a throne, while the foundations of the temple shake and the seraphim cry, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty” (Isaiah 6:1–4, NIV). Isaiah’s response is, “Woe to me! I am ruined!” (v. 5).
What strikes me in this passage is that Isaiah is not first given a task. He is given a vision. Before he hears the words, “Whom shall I send?”, he hears the song of heaven and sees the holiness of God.
Awe comes before assignment. Vision comes before mission. Worship comes before work.
Perhaps this is something we, as church leaders, need to be reminded of again and again. We spend so much time managing, planning, problem-solving, attending meetings, responding to emails and carrying responsibility. Scripture, however, reminds us that leadership begins not with strategy, but with seeing God again.
Awe and Gratitude
Paul writes in Colossians 3:15–17 (NIV): “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”
Notice the movement in this passage. It begins with peace, then moves to gratitude, shifts to worship, and finally speaks of action.
I have begun to realise that gratitude is not something we can manufacture by willpower. Gratitude is the fruit of awe. When we are amazed by God, thankfulness flows naturally. When we lose awe, gratitude becomes duty. And when gratitude dries up, generosity often follows.
It is difficult to be generous when we feel small and burdened. It is much easier to be generous when we remember how big God is.
A Personal Moment of Awe
One personal moment has stayed with me. As some will know, photography is one of the small ways God restores my soul. Some time ago, I had the opportunity to photograph the Aurora Borealis (also known as the northern lights) here in Scotland, in my own backyard. It was cold, dark and completely silent.
Standing there, watching the sky move in colours I cannot properly describe, I remember thinking: this is happening whether I am here or not. God does not need me to keep the universe running.
Strangely, that realisation did not make me feel insignificant. It made me feel grateful. It made me feel calm. It made me feel as though worship was the only reasonable response.
In that moment, many of the pressures of leadership became quieter. Not because they disappeared, but because God became bigger again.
When Anxiety Meets Vision
Haidt argues that anxiety grows when we become trapped inside ourselves, inside our screens, our worries, our comparisons and our constant noise. Awe does the opposite. Awe pulls us outward. Awe enlarges perspective. Awe reminds us that we are not the centre of the story.
Perhaps this applies not only to young people, as Haidt suggests, but also to us as leaders.
We can become anxious when outcomes feel uncertain and when conflict feels heavy. We become anxious when expectations feel endless and when resources feel limited. Scripture, however, consistently responds to anxious leaders not with new techniques but with a new vision.
Elijah is given a whisper. Job is given the stars. Peter is given a miraculous catch of fish. Isaiah is given the throne room of heaven.
God answers anxiety with awe.
A Gentle Invitation
I want to offer this as a gentle invitation rather than a challenge. What if one of the most important spiritual disciplines for us right now is to recover our capacity for wonder? Not another programme, not another document, not another meeting, but moments where we slow down, become still, notice beauty, read Scripture as poetry again and allow God to be God.
John Mark Comer, in The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry (2019), suggests that hurry is the great enemy of spiritual depth. Henri Nouwen often wrote about how difficult it is to be fully present and reminded us that presence is often the doorway to gratitude. Curt Thompson, in The Soul of Shame (2015), reflects on how beauty and worship can heal the anxious brain.
Perhaps awe is not optional. Perhaps it is essential for healthy leadership.
When awe returns, gratitude deepens. When gratitude deepens, generosity grows. Fear loosens its grip and joy quietly reappears. We begin to lead not from pressure, but from perspective. We begin to serve not from exhaustion, but from overflow.
Closing Thought
Before God sends us, God shows us. Before God uses us, God reveals Himself to us. Before God asks us to act, God invites us to worship.
In an anxious world, perhaps one of the most counter-cultural acts of leadership is to be people of awe, people who still stop, people who still look up, people who still wonder and people who still worship.
That is my wish and prayer for us all.
Books Referenced
Comer, John Mark. 2019. The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry: How to Stay Emotionally Healthy and Spiritually Alive in the Chaos of the Modern World. 1st edition ed. Colorado Springs, CO: Waterbrook Press.
Haidt, J. 2024. The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness: Penguin Books Limited.
Thompson, Curt. 2015. The Soul of Shame – Retelling the Stories We Believe About Ourselves. 1st edition ed. Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press.
[Photo: Aurora borealis over the Isle of Skye in Scotland. Credit: Rawpixel, Elements by Envato]
