Leadership is a continuous journey — one where stress and guilt often feel like constant companions. A few years ago, during a business trip, I found myself in deep reflection, overwhelmed by the pressures of work and life. Alone in my hotel room, I grabbed a piece of paper and sketched out what I now call the “T-Chart of Stress and Guilt.”
On the left, I listed everything consuming my time and energy — what I called “Stress.” On the right, I wrote down the areas where I felt guilt — the things I knew I should be prioritizing but wasn’t:
I shared this simple exercise with a few leaders around me, and it struck a chord. It resonated so deeply that I continued sharing it, eventually presenting it to hundreds of business leaders. Through these conversations, I noticed a profound pattern: While the specific details varied, the categories of stress and guilt were universal.
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Everyone wrestled with financial pressures, relational conflicts, and concerns about the future. And almost everyone admitted guilt about neglecting time with God, their spouse, their children, or their spiritual calling.
Then came a sobering realization: We feel stress over things only God can control, while we feel guilt over things He has entrusted to us.
I call this “cosmic insubordination.”
What struck me most was how these two columns were divided. Everything under “Stress” belonged to God’s sovereignty — He governs the future, provides resources, and oversees the world. But everything under “Guilt” was my personal responsibility — things God had explicitly assigned to me.
No one else could be a husband to my wife. No one else could be a father to my children. No one else could be accountable for my walk with Christ.
Yet, I was spending so much time trying to control what belonged to God that I was neglecting the very things He had entrusted to me.
I found myself thinking, “God, I’m so busy trying to do Your job — the things you control — that I need You to cover my responsibilities until I’m done.”
Have you ever asked God to do your job because you were too busy trying to do His?
It’s like an employee ignoring their actual job duties while trying to run the company, and then asking the CEO to handle their neglected responsibilities. It sounds absurd, yet that’s exactly what many of us do.
Whenever I guide business leaders through the T-Chart exercise, I witness the same reaction — a moment of recognition followed by a deep sigh. The chart shows how much of their approach is misaligned.
It prompts them to pause, reflect, and ask if they are neglecting what God has entrusted to them and how they should be doing things differently.
What if we inverted our approach? Instead of burdening ourselves with responsibilities that were never ours at the expense of what truly is, what if we fully committed to what God has assigned to us first and trusted Him with the rest?
This isn’t about being passive — it’s about biblical alignment.
Jesus taught, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33). Yet, we often live as if the opposite were true — believing that once we handle “all these things,” then we’ll focus on His Kingdom.
Through my years of leadership, I’ve seen firsthand that when leaders prioritize their relationship with God, their families, and their calling, their so-called “stressors” become more manageable. The problems don’t disappear, but they lose their power over us as we learn to trust God with His job.
The T-Chart isn’t about avoiding responsibility — it’s about finding freedom. God never called us to carry the weight of the world. He called us to be faithful stewards of the time, talents, and opportunities He has given us.
Perhaps doing the same exercise I did will help change your perspective as well. Take a sheet of paper and draw your own T-Chart. Be honest. Reflect. Pray over it. Then, ask yourself where you need to shift your focus.
God is faithful in meeting us where we are and leading us to where we need to be. We have to resist the temptation of doing God’s job and start doing ours.
Mike Sharrow is the CEO of C12 Business Forums, the world’s largest peer-learning organization for Christian CEOs, business owners, and executives. Under Mike’s leadership, C12 has grown to serve 4,400 members worldwide, which is supported by a community of more than 200 full-time Chairs. He leads the C12 headquarters team, championing the concept of BaaM (Business as a Ministry) for leaders building great businesses for a greater purpose.
Leadership is a continuous journey — one where stress and guilt often feel like constant companions. A few years ago, during a business trip, I found myself in deep reflection, overwhelmed by the pressures of work and life. Alone in my hotel room, I grabbed a piece of paper and sketched out what I now call the “T-Chart of Stress and Guilt.”
On the left, I listed everything consuming my time and energy — what I called “Stress.” On the right, I wrote down the areas where I felt guilt — the things I knew I should be prioritizing but wasn’t:
I shared this simple exercise with a few leaders around me, and it struck a chord. It resonated so deeply that I continued sharing it, eventually presenting it to hundreds of business leaders. Through these conversations, I noticed a profound pattern: While the specific details varied, the categories of stress and guilt were universal.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know.
Everyone wrestled with financial pressures, relational conflicts, and concerns about the future. And almost everyone admitted guilt about neglecting time with God, their spouse, their children, or their spiritual calling.
Then came a sobering realization: We feel stress over things only God can control, while we feel guilt over things He has entrusted to us.
I call this “cosmic insubordination.”
What struck me most was how these two columns were divided. Everything under “Stress” belonged to God’s sovereignty — He governs the future, provides resources, and oversees the world. But everything under “Guilt” was my personal responsibility — things God had explicitly assigned to me.
No one else could be a husband to my wife. No one else could be a father to my children. No one else could be accountable for my walk with Christ.
Yet, I was spending so much time trying to control what belonged to God that I was neglecting the very things He had entrusted to me.
I found myself thinking, “God, I’m so busy trying to do Your job — the things you control — that I need You to cover my responsibilities until I’m done.”
Have you ever asked God to do your job because you were too busy trying to do His?
It’s like an employee ignoring their actual job duties while trying to run the company, and then asking the CEO to handle their neglected responsibilities. It sounds absurd, yet that’s exactly what many of us do.
Whenever I guide business leaders through the T-Chart exercise, I witness the same reaction — a moment of recognition followed by a deep sigh. The chart shows how much of their approach is misaligned.
It prompts them to pause, reflect, and ask if they are neglecting what God has entrusted to them and how they should be doing things differently.
What if we inverted our approach? Instead of burdening ourselves with responsibilities that were never ours at the expense of what truly is, what if we fully committed to what God has assigned to us first and trusted Him with the rest?
This isn’t about being passive — it’s about biblical alignment.
Jesus taught, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33). Yet, we often live as if the opposite were true — believing that once we handle “all these things,” then we’ll focus on His Kingdom.
Through my years of leadership, I’ve seen firsthand that when leaders prioritize their relationship with God, their families, and their calling, their so-called “stressors” become more manageable. The problems don’t disappear, but they lose their power over us as we learn to trust God with His job.
The T-Chart isn’t about avoiding responsibility — it’s about finding freedom. God never called us to carry the weight of the world. He called us to be faithful stewards of the time, talents, and opportunities He has given us.
Perhaps doing the same exercise I did will help change your perspective as well. Take a sheet of paper and draw your own T-Chart. Be honest. Reflect. Pray over it. Then, ask yourself where you need to shift your focus.
God is faithful in meeting us where we are and leading us to where we need to be. We have to resist the temptation of doing God’s job and start doing ours.
Mike Sharrow is the CEO of C12 Business Forums, the world’s largest peer-learning organization for Christian CEOs, business owners, and executives. Under Mike’s leadership, C12 has grown to serve 4,400 members worldwide, which is supported by a community of more than 200 full-time Chairs. He leads the C12 headquarters team, championing the concept of BaaM (Business as a Ministry) for leaders building great businesses for a greater purpose.
