Sunday, February 5, 2012

There are four “P's” in plan...



Panera Bread Perfectly Grilled Pesto Chicken Panini sandwich = success! Glad I waited!

I'm not a patient person and on a trip recently, it was nearing 2:00 PM and I hadn't eaten any lunch yet. I was weary of travel and hungry. I was alone and didn't feel blessed at all. Then I saw a Panera Bread! I drug myself along the ground, in an ARMY crawl style, and finally made it in, ordered and this sandwich was my reward! Success!

Galatians 6:9 “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.”
Persistence - “…not be weary…”
We have to keep going with the right we are doing. 
Are you doing your best in what you do? 
Are you giving all you can to others?  
Is your life impacting those around you because of your efforts?
I don’t think that God means for us to just be busy. I believe that we should be putting effort forth in what we do to impact all around us. Being professional and giving your best in your job impacts people. Working diligently in a ministry changes people. Being right in your particular role in your family helps the others to grow.
The Bible adds “...well doing…” to this part and I think that means more than just busy work, it means the best busy work - impacting others.
Patience - “...for in due season…”
Are you trusting the Lord in His timing? 
Are you frustrated that you haven’t seen success immediately?
Do you struggle with the timing God has for you?
We have to wait on the Lord and His plan.  Just because we are ministering correctly with all the appropriate diligence, doesn’t mean the results come in our timing. He has His “...due season…” and when it’s right, God will bless in ways we can’t explain.
Just wait...
Posse - “...us…” and “...we…”
Are you always trying to do the job or ministry alone?
Do you have others that support what you do?
Do you support others in what they do?
We can’t do it alone. Sometimes we like to be the Lone Ranger and ride up doing everything all by ourselves, but it’s a team effort.  This verse says “we” twice and “us” once and that’s pretty clear to me that we need to support one another and work together to accomplish goals and ministry in life. We all need support and encouragement and we need to support and encourage others too.
Preference - “...we shall reap…”
Do you want the results?
Do you seek the end before the beginning?
Do you like to have success?
Success will happen, but you have to have the persistence, patience and have a posse to get God’s preference in the end. I’m not saying He can’t bless just because He wants to, but for some reason He has chosen to use us, so we need to get busy about the task He has for us, in work, in ministry and in your family. Then we have His preference and we have the pleasure of success in the end - His pleasure in us and pleasure in whatever success He gives us.
Lessons Learned: Keep going! God will handle the rest.
Thoughts: Do you keep going or do you give up?

1 comment:

  1. Hi Craig, read a few of your posts and your advice is very helpful and practical. I'd like to invite you to stop on over and visit either of my two blogs-one is on various topicl with a Christian world view and the other is a  blog on leadersip issues.
    http://christianmusings-brian.blogspot.com/

    http://briansleadershipstudies.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete

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