The Goal and the Role

My anticipation point today is getting a better view of the big picture. To do this successfully today, I will need to figure out which is more important: the goal or the role. The role I may play today needs to keep the goals in mind. There are big goals that I spend a lifetime striving for and there are daily goals that require changing and adapting to meet. Bruce Barton once said, “ If you are through changing, you’re through.” Here are some questions that I need to answer today:

Am I aware of the changes going on around me? If I treat others based on how they were yesterday, I may miss significant things that they need.

Am I willing to change? If I do it grudgingly, I spend my life frustrated and hurt.

Are my ministries changing to correspond with societal changes? This one is a bit more complicated because society tends to move with fads that may not be healthy. However, if I do not speak to the issues such as blended families, divorce recovery, homelessness, addiction, downsizing of the industrial workforce, or time pressures of single parenting, I operate on a different landscape than those I need to reach. (A key to missions is going to the landscape of the needy.)

Are there any positions God is asking me to change today? My personal agendas have been developed and influenced by life. I do find from time to time that some of them need a tune up. It is humbling to figure out that I have promoted something that needs to be ousted in order to go the next step toward God’s bigger goals in my life.

I need to look sincerely at what sacrifices I am making. Every time I do that, I find that I really have not sacrificed much at all. There is no real growth without sacrifice.

A quote from Mother Teresa: “You can do what I cannot do, I can do what you cannot do, Together we can do great things."