It's Not About What You Do...

Today a friend challenged me to think about how I might help his agency.
I responded by saying that I felt that if I were to accept the challenge, it would be more about what they would stop doing, than about what they would do.

Most of our organizations try to do far too many things, given the level of resources the Lord has entrusted to us.

There are good reasons for this. Here are just a few:

• We don't know exactly what will work, so the more things we try, the more likely it is that "something" may succeed
• This is the Lord's work, and the needs are tremendous. The more we do, the more gets done. And that is a good thing!
• We work in voluntary organizations, and we want to encourage those who work with us by doing things that will advance their interests.
• For the above reasons, it's much easier, and it seems better to start something new than to stop anything we are currently attempting to do.

Another area that figures into our computation is that of resources. We understand that while our spiritual resources are infinite, the actual day-to-day human resources we deal with are finite, though somewhat flexible. Here, I'm thinking about mainly time and effort. We could work longer and harder, or even smarter, but only to a certain extent.

In the end, my observation is that most of us try to outrun our resources, and that results in work that does not result in moving us toward the ends the Lord has called us to achieve, resulting in wasted Kingdom resources.

What could we do to move in a more productive direction:

1. Take a serious, and specific inventory of what our current resources are, particularly in terms of the flexible categories of time and effort. (Just how many hours should your people work, at a sustainable pace?)
2. What activities are being effectively persued with excellence, using those resources?
3. If we were to limit our efforts to those God has currently provided resources for, what tasks and projects would we have to eliminate, delegate, postpone or abandon?
4. What could be the positive effects of our re-ordering our priorities in terms of forcing us to spend time equipping others, delegating tasks we do because we enjoy doing them, delaying things until resources were more abundant, etc.?

The founder of my agency, Hudson Taylor has famously said, "God's work, done in God's way, never lacks God's supply."

If resources are seemingly not available I'm forced to ask:

• Is this God's work? Is this really something God has assigned to me, or is it a bright idea I've assigned to myself without seriously seeking His direction?
• Am I pursuing this God's way? Have I run ahead of God's provision? How has God demonstrated His timing? Am I using the resources in the most effective and efficient way? Am I open to God's supernatural provision?

The writer of Hebrews exhorts us to "labor to enter into His rest." That might involve what we stop doing!