Are You Doing Too Much?

It seems that the rapid pace of life in American society is swamping most of us. There is so much to do and so many places to go and so many people to see, text, email, phone, etc. You know exactly what I mean.

Many of us have a great work ethic, but this is not the problem. The problem is usually working too much, or having "too many irons in the fire." Can you keep juggling all the balls that you have in the air? Maybe it is time to let some of them drop before you do.

In Andy Stanley's book, Next Generation Leader, he says that the less you do, the more you accomplish. Now, he is saying this with leadership in mind because when you are leading others you must let go of things and let others do it -- thus, you get more done by doing less, but you enable others to accomplish more.

We must "focus" our energies so that we will do well what is our main thing. You've heard the saying, "a jack of all trades, master of none," right? If you are doing too many things then they are all going to suffer; none will be excellent. But if you are good at something and you have more time to give to it, well, it will be done with excellence and you will be more productive. You will also have greater satisfaction in your work and you will have a lot less stress in your life.

So, let's focus our energies and let others do what we are not so good at. Guess what? Now you are empowering them and they are actually good at that line of work and you see that it will multiply as that person focuses and so forth. I know that many of you are saying that there is no way that you can do that. You have to do all that you are doing. Really?

It was painful, yet fun for the staff here at ALC to look at this in all our work here. There was some who were really ready to let things drop as we discovered that some of the things we were doing were not the main thing for them, nor was it needed anymore. It maybe was a nice thing to do, but with the resources we have it was no longer a priority. It is good to periodically look at what we are doing to see if there is really any success in it. Maybe we can let it go and drop it. Maybe someone will pick it up or maybe no one will even notice. I bet many times no one will even notice.

Let's free up our time by focusing on what we are good at. Did you know that the most successful people are not the most "well-rounded?" The successful people are those focused on what they were gifted in. If we will do this, then our lives will be less busy and stressed out we will have time for relationships, ministry and, yes, even time for the Lord. It is also very freeing to know that you don't have to be good at everything, nor know everything. Somebody else will know and do it, and love doing it.

Remember in the Bible when the apostles were waiting tables for the widows? They discovered that they needed others to do it. Why? Andy Stanley says it this way, "Unlike the modern church, they did not ask for volunteers. They chose seven men who were equipped to handle the task. They were not shirking their responsibility by doing this. On the contrary, they were choosing in such a way as to ensure that the job would be done better than before." The result is recorded in Acts 6:7, "So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith."

Dr. Howard Hendricks said, "... this principle of central focus. There are many things I can do, but I have to narrow it down to the one thing I must do. The secret of concentration is elimination." Are you having trouble concentrating? If so, then think of things that you can eliminate. When you do, I will be seeing more of you and you will be more carefree and successful, too. Less is more.