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Archives for August 2016

Reclaiming Monday

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Getting back into your work rhythm after a weekend can be a challenge. Here’s a simple framework for planning your workweek so you can dive back into your most important work:

Pray

  • “Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.” – Ps. 127:1
  • “Commit your work to the LORD, and your plans will be established.” – Prov. 16:3

Plan

Review your mission and values.

  • Am I still aiming for these long-term goals? Do I need to update?
  • Does this work align with my values? Does it move toward my mission and goals?

Define your priorities for the week.

  • What do I need to do this week? What would I like to do?
  • What should I do this week to fulfill each of my roles?
  • What should I do this week to move towards my goals?
  • What should I do this week for each of my major projects?
  • What should I do this week from my action list?
  • What is on my calendar this week?
  • How could I help people in need, fight injustice, or promote my family’s/church’s/community’s good?

Organize your priorities in a way that makes them easy to do.

  • Which of these items are small? Which will take more time or investment?
  • Is this list doable within one week? If not, what should I eliminate or delay? What is most crucial?
  • Which of these items need to be scheduled? When should they be done?
  • Which of these small actions can I accomplish right now?

For more detail on weekly planning and applying these questions, see Chapter 19 in What’s Best Next.

Doing Good Work that Matters Doesn’t Happen Accidentally

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Everything you do can become an agent for good. The activities of our everyday lives are themselves part of the good works God created us for in Christ (Ephesian 2). And, therefore, they have great meaning. Don’t just try to get things done; seek to serve others to the glory of God in everything you do.

Doing good work also doesn’t just happen accidentally. We have to be intentional in making plans for the welfare of others. And then we have to be proactive in carrying those plans out.

Note Ephesians 5:15–17: “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.”

We are not to breeze through life, but to “look carefully” at how we walk. We don’t just walk through a store with our eyes closed, buying whatever we touch, and expect it to turn into a wardrobe. Nor should we do that with our time and opportunities. We are to “make the most” of the time. The time doesn’t make the most of itself; we are to take back the time from poor uses and turn it to good uses.

Let us plan to do good with the time we’ve been given today.

For more, see Chapter 4 and 5 in What’s Best Next.

Throwing Sheep into a Pit: The Discipline of Sabbath Rest

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Guest post by Rachel Poel

When I was a student, I would justify studying on Sunday by quoting Matthew 12:11-12: “He said to them, “Which one of you who has a sheep, if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out? Of how much more value is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” But many weekend afternoons, exhausted from a full week of classes, work, and studying, I would put off studying for a Monday morning test or drafting a paper due on Tuesday—effectively throwing that sheep into the pit myself.

Taking a Sabbath takes intentionality. Resting well is hard work.

There will be days when sheep are leaping into pits, when your kids all get the flu on a Sunday or your venue falls through days before a retreat. When these days come, do that work well. Your standing before God does not depend on how clear your Sunday schedule is.

But if you find yourself regularly planning projects for Sunday afternoon, consider the heart of Sabbath. God calls us to join Him in His rest. He gives us the Sabbath as a gift: “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27-28).

How are we receiving this gift?

We don’t rest to maximize our productivity later.
We rest to remember that our worth does not hinge on our productivity.

Our struggle to let go of our to-do lists and inboxes for a day shows how much we really need this rest. We don’t rest to maximize our productivity later. We rest to remember that our worth does not hinge on our productivity. We rest because we are children and God is the Father. We rest because we are creatures and God is the Potter. We rest because we are saved and God is the Savior.

How will you plan this week to take time to know that God is God?


Rachel Poel recently graduated from Wheaton College with a BA in English Literature. Since graduating, she has been working on projects with Useful Group. Rachel lives in Aurora, Illinois with too many books and a very large puppy.