Stop Doing Things
I was a Junior in high school. The tests were handed out by the teacher and placed face down on our desks. I waited for the signal to start because, being very competitive by nature, I wanted to be the first one to finish and turn it in (I also liked to finish early because I could spend the rest of the hour reading whatever book I couldn’t put down at the time).
“You may start the test.” The command was given and I was off, tearing through question after question on the two-page questionnaire. But something strange happened while I scribbled and wrote…people started getting up to turn in their tests before me. At first it was the kids I would expect to beat me, the ones who actually cared more about their grades than just winning a race, but soon other students were taking their quizzes up too. And they were NOT smarter than me! Something was way off, so I doubled down and raced through the questions even faster to just not be last.
When I filled in my last blank, I scratched my name across the top of the sheet and rushed it up to the teacher’s desk. I wasn’t last, but as I walked back to my seat I saw the strange smiles on the faces of the students who had beaten me. They were giggling and looking very self-satisfied. I sat down a little confused. When the last student turned in their test, our teacher got up and addressed the class. “Those of you who completed all the test questions will be graded on how many you got right. Those of you who followed the instructions at the top of the page to just write your name on the test and turn it in will get 100%.”
There it was in black in white at the very top of the test: Write your name on this test and turn it in without answering any of the questions.
If I had bothered to take the time to read the instructions instead of just forging blindly ahead, I would have gotten a perfect score and still probably been the first one finished. Instead, I jumped right into it, thinking that the directions were pointless because I knew the right way to do it. That is a character defect that I struggle with to this day, I want to just go and do something…anything! I don’t want to have meeting after meeting, plotting and planning, devising and scheming. I just want to know the general direction I need to head toward so I can start sprinting there.
Jesus understood this passion to do something. The Bible describes Jesus in Matthew chapter 9 as travelling through all the villages and towns in the area, healing people wherever he went. It then gives us insight into his motivation when it says:
We are working on the beginning of an exciting new opportunity at First Assembly. There are a lot of things that need to be done to make it happen. There are a lot of jobs to be done and spots that need to be filled. It is in my nature to want to make a checklist and start scratching off the things that I have taken care of, but I am reminded that it’s not about what I can do. It’s about what God can do. He is the one in charge of the harvest, not me. So I will stop, take a deep breath and ask him to send the workers he needs in order to help those who are lost without any idea of where to go for help. Jesus thought praying for workers was important enough to specifically tell us to do it. Will you be a doer or a prayer?
“You may start the test.” The command was given and I was off, tearing through question after question on the two-page questionnaire. But something strange happened while I scribbled and wrote…people started getting up to turn in their tests before me. At first it was the kids I would expect to beat me, the ones who actually cared more about their grades than just winning a race, but soon other students were taking their quizzes up too. And they were NOT smarter than me! Something was way off, so I doubled down and raced through the questions even faster to just not be last.
When I filled in my last blank, I scratched my name across the top of the sheet and rushed it up to the teacher’s desk. I wasn’t last, but as I walked back to my seat I saw the strange smiles on the faces of the students who had beaten me. They were giggling and looking very self-satisfied. I sat down a little confused. When the last student turned in their test, our teacher got up and addressed the class. “Those of you who completed all the test questions will be graded on how many you got right. Those of you who followed the instructions at the top of the page to just write your name on the test and turn it in will get 100%.”
There it was in black in white at the very top of the test: Write your name on this test and turn it in without answering any of the questions.
If I had bothered to take the time to read the instructions instead of just forging blindly ahead, I would have gotten a perfect score and still probably been the first one finished. Instead, I jumped right into it, thinking that the directions were pointless because I knew the right way to do it. That is a character defect that I struggle with to this day, I want to just go and do something…anything! I don’t want to have meeting after meeting, plotting and planning, devising and scheming. I just want to know the general direction I need to head toward so I can start sprinting there.
Jesus understood this passion to do something. The Bible describes Jesus in Matthew chapter 9 as travelling through all the villages and towns in the area, healing people wherever he went. It then gives us insight into his motivation when it says:
When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.If I were Jesus, moved with compassion by the lostness he saw in people at this moment, I would start doing things. Healing people, giving them money, offering good advice, telling my disciples to get out there and help for pete’s sake. But Jesus doesn’t tell his disciples to go get busy. He tells them to do something else entirely.
Matthew 9:36
He said to his disciples, “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.”Jesus tells us the best thing we can do if we want to help people who are lost – pray. He didn’t tell his disciples that they ARE the workers and should go out there and get busy. He didn’t give them a strategy for how to help the people they had pity for. He told them to pray for God to send more workers.
Matthew 9:37-38
We are working on the beginning of an exciting new opportunity at First Assembly. There are a lot of things that need to be done to make it happen. There are a lot of jobs to be done and spots that need to be filled. It is in my nature to want to make a checklist and start scratching off the things that I have taken care of, but I am reminded that it’s not about what I can do. It’s about what God can do. He is the one in charge of the harvest, not me. So I will stop, take a deep breath and ask him to send the workers he needs in order to help those who are lost without any idea of where to go for help. Jesus thought praying for workers was important enough to specifically tell us to do it. Will you be a doer or a prayer?
posted by Chris at
11:02 AM
4 Comments:
Love it
Good stuff Chris.
Even though I only read the first and last paragraphs. :-)
Awesome.
Haha. i like
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