Seedplots

We all seem to have a common problem – not enough time to get everything done.

Here are some helpful hints Doug Wilson posted last fall on “getting things done” over the long hall…

First, I believe in plodding

Productivity is more a matter of diligent, long-distance hiking than it is one-hundred-yard dashing. Doing a little bit now is far better than hoping to do a lot on the morrow. So redeem the fifteen minute spaces. Chip away at it. For example, I have a stack of six books that I am working through most weekday mornings — a page or two of each every time I sit down to read. I do the same thing with writing — if you have time for a little bit, then do a little bit.

Second, maintain boundaries for everything, boundaries that suit the circumstance

When the kids were little and still at home, the daily routine was completely different than it is now that they have families of their own. Generally, pastors need to set boundaries to keep their work from spilling into family time, and not the other way around. So, for example, when we were first married… I would be home with the family a minimum of four nights a week… As my responsibilities grew I had to figure out ways to be more fruitful in those allotted times. When an extra load developed, the idea was to have it land on me and not on the family…

In the evenings, Nancy and I hang out with the kids and grandkids who come over frequently, I play the guitar, read, and so on. It is a full and busy life, but we work hard at preventing it from becoming frenetic. I hate frenetic, which returns us to the previous point on the fruitfulness of plodding. Living this way, we have found that it adds up.

Third, measure progress by the extended video, not the snapshot

Set goals for getting things done, but have the time for measuring the goals be extended enough to allow for daily or weekly fluctuations. For example, when I first began to work as a minister I set a goal for my weekly reading, as measured by the month. I wanted to read on average 1-2 books a week, calculated by how many I finished in a month, which would be somewhere between four to eight books.

Set hard but reasonable goals, and measure them in reasonably extended time units.

Fourth, use and reuse everything

I know that my blogging pace sometimes creates the illusion that I do little other than sit here typing like a madman, but that is really not the way it is at all. Prepare things with an eye on reusing them in the future, and make sure to use (any useful) work from the past. This is how former Credenda articles are shaped into books, sermon outlines are shaped into books, Bible study outlines from fifteen years ago are lightly edited into continuous prose and turned into blog posts and may one day find their way into a book, and interesting quotations from books I have read are posted here with a view to using them as the research background on future books.

Posted by Douglas Wilson – 7/1/2008 Here’s the original link.

In my Bible reading this morning I ran across an encouraging verse on encouragement.In 2 Corinthians 7 Paul writes,

⁶ But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus,

I share with you several observations that emerged as I reflected on this verse.
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1) Even Paul, the great apostle, was in need of comfort (ESV, NASV) and encouragement (NET).  He was "downcast."  I can’t remember many Christian leaders telling their congregation they were "downcast" (ESV) or "depressed" (NASV).  Shows his humility, doesn’t it, for Paul to say that.  We can learn from this verse that even powerful, godly, successful Christian leaders can become discouraged.

In chapter one Paul explains that God’s comfort was connected with his "troubles" (a word that means squeezed or crushed).  Earlier in this chapter Paul describes in more detail what these troubles actually were,

Our bodies had no rest, but we were afflicted at every turn – fighting without and fear within" (verse 5).

2) Comfort comes from God.  God took the initiative here.  "God who comforts…" He is actively involved in the lives of those who serve him, taking care of them.  In chapter 1 of this book he is referred to as the "God of all comfort".

3) The word comfort in this verse is the well known word parakaleo. It refers to coming along side someone to help them in their need.  In its noun form, Jesus uses the word to describe the Holy Spirit.  He is the promised "Comforter".  The comfort or encouragement God provides is strong and exactly suited to our need at the time.

4) God’s comfort came to Paul through another person.  Titus, although he probably didn’t even know it, was sent by God to Paul to comfort his mentor, the apostle Paul.

Think about the sequence here.  God sent Titus to Paul to encourage him.  That event reverberates down through history and encourages us as we read it 2000 years later.  One of the reasons God comforts us is,

So that we may be able to comfort those experiencing any trouble with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God (2 Cor 1:4).

Staying encouraged in ministry

Pastor and writer Tim Keller was asked, “It’s easy to get overwhelmed by the challenges that the North American Church is facing. What keeps you encouraged?”

He replied:

Prayer. Meeting God in prayer. Sorry to sound so trite. Prayer and meditation brings joy. God is on His throne-everything’s going to be fine in the end. The new heavens and new earth are coming in which “everything sad is going to come untrue.” Don’t get too bent out of shape because your church didn’t grow this year.

from an interview of Tim Keller by Darryl Dash