Those of us who manage have a grave responsibility. Whether it’s managing the kids while they clean their room, or the money in the family banking account or associates while at work, it’s a privilege of great responsibility to do the work of a manager.
The manager’s effectiveness is reflected in that which they manage. A problem exists when the managers can’t manage themselves. Mis-managers can be terrible organizers, communicators or just plain lazy. When managers mismanage, they create issues for who or what they manage. As an example, check out this biblical story.
“A faithful, sensible servant is one to whom the master can give the responsibility of managing his other household servants and feeding them. If the master returns and finds that the servant has done a good job, there will be a reward. I tell you the truth, the master will put that servant in charge of all he owns. But what if the servant is evil and thinks, ‘My master won’t be back for a while,’ and he begins beating the other servants, partying, and getting drunk? The master will return unannounced and unexpected, and he will cut the servant to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 24:45-51).
Managers must learn to manage themselves. In the Bible story, the good manager is the one who manages himself with sensibility and commitment. The other couldn’t manage his passions and therefore had no ability to manage his tasks. He was given to chasing after his own whims and all sense was lost to him. He’d loose his temper, play instead of do his work and ignore moderation in his eating and drinking (See Titus 1:6-9). He had no control over any aspect of ruling his own life and therefore he couldn’t manage anything else.
Hearing this story causes me to question my abilities. Do I mismanage my own life? Am I managing well my passions, my tasks, my time and the people in my life? What kind of manager, wife, mother and witness am I? Am I doing what I should be: sharing God’s love, making disciples, feeding the hungry, visiting the sick and imprisoned, clothing the poor, etc.?
Maybe we all need to work on some areas. I know I do. The master will come at any moment and even though we can’t see Jesus, he sees everything we do. We must set our hearts on being sensible and faithful to task. Don’t we want to hear, “Well done, my good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21)?
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(Images courtesy of sxc.hu)
Truth was, nothing. Not one thing was that funny. We were just having a grand time. Renae, my fast-forming BFF, and I snickered, giggled and laughed until my face hurt and my sides ached. It was like being a teenager again. Our fun seemed to make many the bus riders take interest.
Over time, I’ve been tempted to reduce this process to a formula. Prayer can easily turn into a ritual without meaning. Prayer is the relationship, not a rule. When we make prayer a dutiful practice, we create a religion about God not enter a relationship with God. The goal is spiritual connectivity with God.
“Lord, I need help. I can’t do this.”
I confessed to Jonathan my need for God’s help to do what’s right and my trouble obeying. We talked about how God can help us, how he wants us to tell him about our struggles and how he gives hope when we feel like there’s no way we can do what we are supposed to do.
