The emergency broadcast system started going off in our home and this time, it wasn't a test. It had been raining for days. A call for volunteers came through to help sandbag a neighborhood in danger of going under from the nearby river.
I hurriedly put on my rain suit and boots. Grabbed a shovel, ball cap and took off. I arrived only to find about 500 people, standing around, not knowing what to do. Those in charge were somewhere in the know, but they weren't letting anyone else in on the project. I ended up helping about eight people fill and stack another row of sandbags. We soon went home.
As I find myself trying to manage the flood of information and opportunities that I have been receiving just getting on board in the district, God has brought that image back several times to me now.
What I have learned about managing a flood...
1. You can only control what you can control--the river was going to rise no matter what. All we could do was work to channel it when it did. How are you channeling the flood when it comes upon you?
2. Other people are our greatest asset--how are you utilizing those whom God has placed around you? Unless we use them we lose them.
3. Reset the foundations--the water was rising and flooding the banks. We had to add more resources to the banks. What do you need to add to the foundation of the work that God has called you to?
4. Don't drown in it. Channel it--What if the flood is the River of Life overflowing with opportunity? Building better systems in our church (discipleship, assimilation, lay mobilization) is more productive than trying to work harder and faster.
5. Rescue work is sometimes dirty work--sandbags aren't filled with pretty Caribbean sand. They are rather made out of muddy, Ohio pond sand. Dirty work though can still be fun.
How will you manage your flood? Noah built an ark and rode it out. Jesus would often slip away into the wilderness and just pray.
Instead of drowning in it, maybe it's God's way of calling us to be better spiritual leaders.
No comments:
Post a Comment