Monday, August 16, 2010

Pray, Divide, and Conquer

"Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ" (Col 3:23-24, ESV).

The semester just started and I admit it, I'm in overload. Anybody with me? One look at my fall schedule and I wonder about my sanity. I am eternally grateful for each and every opportunity, yet it never seems to end. My husband tells me I have a job because there are things to do. If there weren't, they would not need me. I got over someone "needing" me a long time ago.

I do what I do because God has called me to do it. I actually love most of it and the truth is, I do love to work. But the reason I work is to honor Christ. There was work before the fall of man, but after the fall the work just got a bit messier. I'm a sinner, and so is everyone else. Bummer (as my husband says). Wouldn't life be grand if we were all perfect? We could just work work work and all would be well!

I love new semesters with incredible new students, love the challenges of refining my teaching, and love to strive for excellence in all I do. Yet, in my humanity, I can become overwhelmed with the multitude of details screaming for attention. The only way I can deal with it is to pray, divide, and conquer. I pray for God to give me a perspective on things so I can remember for whom I am working. I divide the work into tasks so I can see what needs to happen, and then I go after one thing at a time.

I don't know what you are dealing with today, but I do know that if God has called you to do it, then you can. He will be right there. Let's keep our perspective and remember that we work for the Lord!

You are a blessing to me.
PS. Find life complicated? Sign up for the W conference. http://events.sbts.edu/wconference