As Peter Drucker reminds us, “Leaders do the right things, Managers do things right.” I try to do both. And so, I am a planner. In fact, I am a strategic planner. In fact, my list-making and prioritization philosophy borders on obsessive-compulsive behavior. That's because I want to make sure I have a strategic and tactical plan by which I invest my life.
But I have discovered that oftentimes God has bigger and certainly better plans than I could ever imagine. The Lord has given me maximized freedom with minimal restriction. As such, I have a sense of responsibility and accountability. For as Jesus said; “To whom much is given, much is required.”
As I reflect on the investment of my life of ministry, a haunting question reverberates in my mind: What would you have tried if you were not afraid? Fear comes in all shapes and sizes. I’m not smart enough, I am not eloquent enough, there are so many others with so much more, what am I doing in the same room?
And then the Lord reminds me of the Moses syndrome, “Fred, it is not about you, it is about Me.” What happens when half the story becomes the whole story? The real story is that God, in His grace and mercy, decides to use each of us in a way to magnify His Glory through us. The Apostle Paul calls this the “Cracked Pot strategy” 2 Corinthians 4:6-7.
“For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassing greatness of the power may be of God and not from ourselves…”
The greatness and glory of God shine forth best in ordinary earthenware -- old, cracked pots. It is not about me, it is about Him.
Paul introduced this concept to the Corinthians in his first letter. "For consider your calling brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong.”
1 Corinthians 1:26 -29
When it is about me, I fear. When it is about Him, I am Free.
Serving Him with you
Until He comes for us, Fred | 