sim·pli·fy
"To make less complex or complicated; make plainer or easier: to simplify a problem."
I once took a job that was suppose to be a no-brainer, part time deal, and promptly found myself in the position of in-charge-of-everything. This actually happened to me more than once. In this case, it was a business in which people with good intentions had driven it into a pit. One of the reasons for this was the systems they used internally to track and process stuff. There were folders for folders, files for files, most things were done not once but three different ways-for "backup". This wasn't a complex business, yet in their attempt to be efficient, they were completely ineffective.
Charles Hummel (no relation to us French Hommels) wrote a great book called "Tyranny of the Urgent" in which he makes the important distinction between efficient and effective. Read the book, it will be an extremely effective use of your time. The point is, it is possible to hold to a system and do it efficiently, yet have the system be totally ineffective for obtaining your goal. That was the case in this business.
The first thing I did was get a trash can. The trash can is your friend. Really. It took about two weeks for me to figure out what they were trying to keep track of and why, and five minutes to consolidate it into five folders in one file drawer.
Lesson One: Life is as complicated as you make it.
Lesson Two: God has a trash can for you.
Here's what God thinks you need to do today:
Deut 10:12-14 "And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the Lord?"
Here's how Jesus told you to do it:
John 15:4-6 "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing."
So here's a good prayer for this morning:
Ps 5:3 My voice You shall hear in the morning, O Lord; In the morning I will direct it to You, And I will look up.
Ps 139:23-24 Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting.
Ps 119:133 Direct my steps by Your word, And let no iniquity have dominion over me.
Ps 25:5 Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the God of my salvation; On You I wait all the day.
Ps 143:10 Teach me to do Your will, For You are my God; Your Spirit is good. Lead me in the land of uprightness.
Ps 86:12 I will praise You, O Lord my God, with all my heart,And I will glorify Your name forevermore.
Now take out the trash.
I once took a job that was suppose to be a no-brainer, part time deal, and promptly found myself in the position of in-charge-of-everything. This actually happened to me more than once. In this case, it was a business in which people with good intentions had driven it into a pit. One of the reasons for this was the systems they used internally to track and process stuff. There were folders for folders, files for files, most things were done not once but three different ways-for "backup". This wasn't a complex business, yet in their attempt to be efficient, they were completely ineffective.
Charles Hummel (no relation to us French Hommels) wrote a great book called "Tyranny of the Urgent" in which he makes the important distinction between efficient and effective. Read the book, it will be an extremely effective use of your time. The point is, it is possible to hold to a system and do it efficiently, yet have the system be totally ineffective for obtaining your goal. That was the case in this business.
The first thing I did was get a trash can. The trash can is your friend. Really. It took about two weeks for me to figure out what they were trying to keep track of and why, and five minutes to consolidate it into five folders in one file drawer.
Lesson One: Life is as complicated as you make it.
Lesson Two: God has a trash can for you.
Here's what God thinks you need to do today:
Deut 10:12-14 "And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the Lord?"
Here's how Jesus told you to do it:
John 15:4-6 "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing."
So here's a good prayer for this morning:
Ps 5:3 My voice You shall hear in the morning, O Lord; In the morning I will direct it to You, And I will look up.
Ps 139:23-24 Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting.
Ps 119:133 Direct my steps by Your word, And let no iniquity have dominion over me.
Ps 25:5 Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the God of my salvation; On You I wait all the day.
Ps 143:10 Teach me to do Your will, For You are my God; Your Spirit is good. Lead me in the land of uprightness.
Ps 86:12 I will praise You, O Lord my God, with all my heart,And I will glorify Your name forevermore.
Now take out the trash.
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