A man called his neighbor to help him move a couch that had become stuck in the doorway. They pushed and pulled until they were exhausted, but the couch wouldn’t budge. “Forget it,” the man finally said. “We’ll never get this in.”
The neighbor looked at him quizzically and said, “In?”
Could it be that we can’t work with someone because they don’t know what we’re thinking? My wife and I have this problem often. I’m talking about one thing and she’s talking about another. We finally come to the place where it dawns on one of us that we’re misunderstanding something. I’m pushing one way and she’s pulling another.
That problem that you have with the other person just might be a miscommunication on your part. Sometimes we just need to start over and spell out our vision. Which way are we trying to go, anyway?
Tags: division, humor, unity, vision
Remember the old hymn that says, “I once was blind, but now I see”? Have I ever told about the time I was blind? I was about 12 or so and was working on a project in the back yard. I was using a can of spray paint and it was clogged. I had seen my Dad clear out a clog before, so I felt confident in my ability. I took the plunger off and stuck a paperclip down in the hole. Nothing happened, so I took a closer look. Bad idea!
It was a can of white paint and the moment I looked down it let go. I spray painted my eyeballs white. I immediately panicked. I could see nothing. So I called my little sister over and told her to lead me to the bathroom, where I began flushing my eyes with cold water. My sister then got Mom. As Mom stepped into the doorway of the bathroom, I opened my eyes and looked at myself in the mirror. I could see again! That’s when Mom burst out laughing. She had no mercy on my miserable soul. She just laughed at me. Dad got a pretty good kick out of it, too, but he just told me how to clean the paint off my face and hair: with gasoline. My face turned from white to red.
I learned a pretty good lesson that day. What lesson does that story remind you of?
Tags: accident, blindness
Years ago when we were still in the old building, I was on the platform preaching. Our sound man was at the sound board in the back with his headphones on. About half way through my sermon loud music suddenly began to ring through the sanctuary. Everything came to a stand still. The sound man’s wife, sitting beside him, gave him a sharp elbow to the ribs and he suddenly awoke to the fact that he had hit a wrong button and his daydreaming music was being projected over the speakers.
Of course, it woke everybody up, and I lost my place in my notes, but we all had a good laugh at the soundman’s expense. He was so embarrassed. Have you ever been so caught up in what you were doing that you didn’t realize the main thing going on around you? Of course, we have.
Could it be that we are so focused upon what is happening in our material world that we have ignored the spiritual realm around us. Could God be trying to get our attention but we’re oblivious to His signs? Does someone need to punch us in the ribs to get us to see things from God’s perspective?
Stop right now and ask God if there is something He’s trying to show you that you are not hearing. Just stopping and asking can be the invitation He’s been waiting for.
Tags: daydream, focus, trouble
The story I recounted yesterday reminded me of an experience I had in basic training. We were running a similar obstacle course, with full combat gear and bayonets affixed. I had just run through a mud hole and next had to run across a log over a small ravine. As I got about half way across, my boots slipped and I fell, straddling the log.
I immediately began to lose my balance and slip to the right side of the log. Instinctively jerking my arms up to regain balance, my bayonet caught on the side of the log and the butt of the rifle struck my lower lip, splitting it open. Stunned senseless, I fell onto my back to the ravine bottom. I lay there for a few seconds until my drill sergeant yelled at me to get up and move on. When I stood, he saw the blood running down my chin and onto my jacket. That’s when they pulled me off the course and took me to the first aid station.
Its easy to lose your footing when you’ve been wading in the mud. If we don’t want to fall into sin, we must avoid wading around in it. If we’ll clean our behavior up, we’ll have a better grip on life. Clean something up today.
Tags: accident, fall, sin, slip, unclean
Mike Barker told of the obstacle course in Air Force basic training that changed his life. On his first attempt he completed the course far ahead of everyone else, but he was immediately confronted by his drill sergeant, who demanded, “Where are all your buddies?” “Back there, Sir,” Mike replied. “I won!”
The seargeant barked, “The obstacle course isn’t about coming in first! It’s about finishing! Everybody finishes or nobody wins. Go back and run it again, and this time help the guys who are struggling along the way!”
That began Mike’s transformation from a lone competitor obsessed with winning into an encourager whose goal was to build teamwork.
Let’s go back and help our buddies finish.
Tags: encouragement, teamwork, unity
Five days before Christmas, the newspaper headline proclaimed: GOOD WILL? PEACE? NOT IN THIS CHURCH.
A 133-year old congregation was being torn apart. The pastor was being heckled during his sermons. Competing factions were passing around their own collection plates. The police even had to be called in when the arguing got out of hand during a service.
I remember speaking at a Michigan church as a guest of the pastor. When we arived, an older gentleman was passing out papers to people arriving at the front door. When I sat down and read the paper, it was 15 reasons why we need to get rid of the pastor. Why do Christians not see the damage they are doing to the Lord’s church with such actions? Who is interested in the god of a church like that?
In Jesus’ longest recorded prayer, He prayed: “I pray that they all may be one…that the world may believe that You sent Me” (John 17:21). Let’s join Jesus in this prayer of unity.
Tags: church, spiritual warfare, unity
In a horse-pulling contest at a county fair the first-place horse moved a sled weighing 4,500 pounds. The runner up pulled 4,000 pounds. The owners of the two horses wondered how much the animals could pull if they worked together. So they hitched them up and loaded the sled. To everyone’s surprise, the horses were able to pull 12,000 pounds.
Now that’s the power of synergy. Power wasn’t added, it was multiplied. I believe the same principle works when God’s people decide to get on the same page and work together toward a goal. There are no limits on teamwork and unity.
That’s what happened with Moses when the Israelites came to him to settle their disputes. At first he worked alone. His judgments were effective, but his method was inefficient. His father-in-law, who saw that he would soon wear down, advised him to handle only the difficult cases and let other wise leaders take the easier ones (Exodus 18:18). Moses heeded his advice and increased his efficiency. Much more was accomplished and he helped others leaders grow in the process.
Tags: synergy, teamwork, unity