by Dr. Cecil Clements (15th May 2012)
I want to share with you this morning on the whole issue of prioritizing.
William Gladstone says, “He is a wise man who wastes no energy on pursuits for which he is not fitted; and he is wiser still who, from among the things that he can do well, chooses and resolutely follows the best.” In other words, we are wise if we put our energy and pursuit into the things which are good for us and which we are suited for, and even wiser still if we are able to find out the things that we can do best among the things that we can do well and tenaciously follow those things.
I realize that sometimes it’s easier said than done, because we can get so caught up with the mundane and the trivial, that we forget the important things.
In the Bible, we have an account of how two groups of people came to some of the leaders of the church who were talking about God and prayer, and said, “We have a problem. Our widows are not being taken care of; the food that should go to them is not being given to them. It’s not being distributed well.” One of the leaders, Peter, stood up and said, “Listen! We understand this is a problem and we want you to find seven men who can take care of the problem. But,” he said, “We need to do what we need to do, which is to continue to talk about God and to continue to pray.”
Every time I read this, I am reminded that 2 things happened here: one is that they didn’t ignore the problem. They knew that there was a problem, which needed to be taken care of. But secondly, it didn’t affect what they believed that they themselves needed to do. They said, “Find seven men who can do this, but we need to do what we are doing.”
Here’s an important principle that comes out – people who are successful, people who prioritize, don’t allow the unimportant things in their lives to become important. And conversely, they don’t allow the important things to become unimportant.
What makes prioritizing so important? Well, it’s important because eventually time runs out on us. We all have a limited amount of time. Therefore, the more time we spend on wrong things, the less time we have to invest in doing what is right and the longer it will take us to be successful in doing that.
Amy Carmichael puts this in perspective when she says, “We will have all eternity to celebrate the victories, but only a few hours until sunset to win them.”
John Maxwell puts it like this. He says, “Being successful is not about how hard you work but about how smart you work.” He illustrates this by talking about a man who was told that if he really worked hard, he would be successful. So he went out and thought that the hardest work he could do was to dig a hole in his backyard. So he began to dig holes in his backyard. Well, he didn’t grow very rich, that’s for sure, but he sure got a lot of backaches.
It’s not about how hard you work but about how smart you work. Sometimes that’s how we are. We put all our efforts into things that are inconsequential and what we are left with is a residue of different ailments, stress levels, ulcers and all of those things that don’t in any way advance us because we are doing the wrong things.
Daniel Theyagu who is a training consultant with Lateral Solutions Consultancy in Singapore, talks about ‘START’, which is an acronym for ‘Simple Triage And Rapid Treatment’. He says that it was an effective technique that was developed by a French army surgeon during the Napoleonic war to treat soldiers wounded in battle. It was called the ‘Triage Technique’. Dominique Larrey was a surgeon-in-chief in the Napoleonic army in the late 19th century. He said it played a pivotal role in the Battle of Waterloo. Larrey’s greatest challenge was how to treat the wounded soldiers rapidly in order to save their lives. The injuries sustained by the soldiers ranged from life threatening to simple wounds. Dr. Larrey, being short staffed, decided to classify the wounded soldiers into 3 categories, which he called the ‘triage’ to assist in the evacuation and treatment of them.
The first category was those soldiers who are likely to live, regardless of what care they received. The second category was those who are likely to die, regardless of what care they received. And the third category was those for whom immediate care might make a positive difference to the outcome.
Today that program is called START and is used in many hospitals to take care and help them to focus when they have a major disaster that has come their way – to be able to prioritize and say “This is where we need to focus our attention when time is of the essence.”
How does it translate into our lives, and does it? Theyagu says, “Yes. What you can do with the triage is apply it to your own life as well. How?
I want to share with you this morning on the whole issue of prioritizing.
William Gladstone says, “He is a wise man who wastes no energy on pursuits for which he is not fitted; and he is wiser still who, from among the things that he can do well, chooses and resolutely follows the best.” In other words, we are wise if we put our energy and pursuit into the things which are good for us and which we are suited for, and even wiser still if we are able to find out the things that we can do best among the things that we can do well and tenaciously follow those things.
I realize that sometimes it’s easier said than done, because we can get so caught up with the mundane and the trivial, that we forget the important things.
In the Bible, we have an account of how two groups of people came to some of the leaders of the church who were talking about God and prayer, and said, “We have a problem. Our widows are not being taken care of; the food that should go to them is not being given to them. It’s not being distributed well.” One of the leaders, Peter, stood up and said, “Listen! We understand this is a problem and we want you to find seven men who can take care of the problem. But,” he said, “We need to do what we need to do, which is to continue to talk about God and to continue to pray.”
Every time I read this, I am reminded that 2 things happened here: one is that they didn’t ignore the problem. They knew that there was a problem, which needed to be taken care of. But secondly, it didn’t affect what they believed that they themselves needed to do. They said, “Find seven men who can do this, but we need to do what we are doing.”
Here’s an important principle that comes out – people who are successful, people who prioritize, don’t allow the unimportant things in their lives to become important. And conversely, they don’t allow the important things to become unimportant.
What makes prioritizing so important? Well, it’s important because eventually time runs out on us. We all have a limited amount of time. Therefore, the more time we spend on wrong things, the less time we have to invest in doing what is right and the longer it will take us to be successful in doing that.
Amy Carmichael puts this in perspective when she says, “We will have all eternity to celebrate the victories, but only a few hours until sunset to win them.”
John Maxwell puts it like this. He says, “Being successful is not about how hard you work but about how smart you work.” He illustrates this by talking about a man who was told that if he really worked hard, he would be successful. So he went out and thought that the hardest work he could do was to dig a hole in his backyard. So he began to dig holes in his backyard. Well, he didn’t grow very rich, that’s for sure, but he sure got a lot of backaches.
It’s not about how hard you work but about how smart you work. Sometimes that’s how we are. We put all our efforts into things that are inconsequential and what we are left with is a residue of different ailments, stress levels, ulcers and all of those things that don’t in any way advance us because we are doing the wrong things.
Daniel Theyagu who is a training consultant with Lateral Solutions Consultancy in Singapore, talks about ‘START’, which is an acronym for ‘Simple Triage And Rapid Treatment’. He says that it was an effective technique that was developed by a French army surgeon during the Napoleonic war to treat soldiers wounded in battle. It was called the ‘Triage Technique’. Dominique Larrey was a surgeon-in-chief in the Napoleonic army in the late 19th century. He said it played a pivotal role in the Battle of Waterloo. Larrey’s greatest challenge was how to treat the wounded soldiers rapidly in order to save their lives. The injuries sustained by the soldiers ranged from life threatening to simple wounds. Dr. Larrey, being short staffed, decided to classify the wounded soldiers into 3 categories, which he called the ‘triage’ to assist in the evacuation and treatment of them.
The first category was those soldiers who are likely to live, regardless of what care they received. The second category was those who are likely to die, regardless of what care they received. And the third category was those for whom immediate care might make a positive difference to the outcome.
Today that program is called START and is used in many hospitals to take care and help them to focus when they have a major disaster that has come their way – to be able to prioritize and say “This is where we need to focus our attention when time is of the essence.”
How does it translate into our lives, and does it? Theyagu says, “Yes. What you can do with the triage is apply it to your own life as well. How?
- Do the things that you need to do but which would not change the current state of things.
- Things that even if you get it done, you are not going to solve anything or it’s a complete waste of time.
- The things that if you put immediate care and action into, you can see positive development in the outcome.
The third category is the one that you and I should give high priority to. This could be making a call to potential new customers, completing the project that earns you the highest profit, solving the problem that you know will go away once you find a solution. Or it could be just coaching an underperforming staff so that he/she can become competent again. It could be even taking the time to spend with God.
I wonder how many of us take time to bring God into the equation of our life. When we start the day and we are jumping into things that we need to do, maybe the wisest decision that we can make is to spend a few quiet moments with God and invite Him into our situations. Because when God comes, He brings with Him wisdom. And when we have God’s wisdom, then we are able to make wise choices, to be able to know the things that we ought to be doing first, know the places that we ought to be putting our time into.
Mother Teresa once saw a girl who was working as a volunteer, getting up at 4:30 in the morning, getting ready to go to work. She asked the girl what she was doing. The girl replied, “Mother, there’s so much work to be done. I came here yesterday and I was so overwhelmed with the needs that are here. I got up early today so that I can begin work a little earlier.”
Mother Teresa asked, “Girl, have you spent time with God?” and the girl said, “No Mother, there was no time for that. There is so much need out here.” Mother Teresa said, “If you haven’t spent time with God, you are not going to be able to meet the needs. Because it is only in spending time with God that you are able to know what and how you need to function in the time that you have.”
Stephen Covey says, “The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.”
I want to close with this story. It’s about a girl who had 4 friends and she loved the 4th friend the most. She gave him much treatment, gave him robes, treated him to the best restaurants. She gave him nothing but the best.
She also loved her 3rd friend very much and was always showing him off to neighboring people. However, she feared that one day he would leave her for somebody.
She also loved her 2nd friend. He was her confidante and was always kind, considerate and patient with her. Whenever she faced a problem, she could confide in him and he would help her get through the difficult times.
The girl’s first friend however, was a very loyal partner and had made great contributions in maintaining her wealth. However, she did not love him and although he loved her deeply, she hardly took notice of him.
One day, the girl fell ill and knew that her time was short. She thought of her luxurious life and wondered, “I now have 4 friends with me, but when I die, I’ll be alone.” She asked the 4th friend, “I loved you the most. I gave you everything, the best I had. Now that I am dying, will you follow me and keep my company?” “No way!” replied the 4th friend and he walked away without another word.
The girl then asked the 3rd friend, “I loved you all my life. Now that I’m dying, will you follow me and keep me company?” “No!” replied the 3rd friend, “Life is too good! When you die, I’m going to marry someone else.”
She then asked the 2nd friend, “I have always turned to you for help and you’ve always been there for me. When I die, will you follow me and keep me company?” “I’m sorry but I can’t help you this time. At the very most, I can only walk with you to your grave.”
Then a voice called out, “I’ll go with you. I’ll follow you no matter where you go.” The girl looked up and there was her first friend. He was very skinny as he suffered from malnutrition and neglect. Greatly grieved, the girl said, “I should have taken much better care of you when I had the chance.”
The moral of the story is that, in truth, all of us have 4 friends in our lives.
I wonder how many of us take time to bring God into the equation of our life. When we start the day and we are jumping into things that we need to do, maybe the wisest decision that we can make is to spend a few quiet moments with God and invite Him into our situations. Because when God comes, He brings with Him wisdom. And when we have God’s wisdom, then we are able to make wise choices, to be able to know the things that we ought to be doing first, know the places that we ought to be putting our time into.
Mother Teresa once saw a girl who was working as a volunteer, getting up at 4:30 in the morning, getting ready to go to work. She asked the girl what she was doing. The girl replied, “Mother, there’s so much work to be done. I came here yesterday and I was so overwhelmed with the needs that are here. I got up early today so that I can begin work a little earlier.”
Mother Teresa asked, “Girl, have you spent time with God?” and the girl said, “No Mother, there was no time for that. There is so much need out here.” Mother Teresa said, “If you haven’t spent time with God, you are not going to be able to meet the needs. Because it is only in spending time with God that you are able to know what and how you need to function in the time that you have.”
Stephen Covey says, “The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.”
I want to close with this story. It’s about a girl who had 4 friends and she loved the 4th friend the most. She gave him much treatment, gave him robes, treated him to the best restaurants. She gave him nothing but the best.
She also loved her 3rd friend very much and was always showing him off to neighboring people. However, she feared that one day he would leave her for somebody.
She also loved her 2nd friend. He was her confidante and was always kind, considerate and patient with her. Whenever she faced a problem, she could confide in him and he would help her get through the difficult times.
The girl’s first friend however, was a very loyal partner and had made great contributions in maintaining her wealth. However, she did not love him and although he loved her deeply, she hardly took notice of him.
One day, the girl fell ill and knew that her time was short. She thought of her luxurious life and wondered, “I now have 4 friends with me, but when I die, I’ll be alone.” She asked the 4th friend, “I loved you the most. I gave you everything, the best I had. Now that I am dying, will you follow me and keep my company?” “No way!” replied the 4th friend and he walked away without another word.
The girl then asked the 3rd friend, “I loved you all my life. Now that I’m dying, will you follow me and keep me company?” “No!” replied the 3rd friend, “Life is too good! When you die, I’m going to marry someone else.”
She then asked the 2nd friend, “I have always turned to you for help and you’ve always been there for me. When I die, will you follow me and keep me company?” “I’m sorry but I can’t help you this time. At the very most, I can only walk with you to your grave.”
Then a voice called out, “I’ll go with you. I’ll follow you no matter where you go.” The girl looked up and there was her first friend. He was very skinny as he suffered from malnutrition and neglect. Greatly grieved, the girl said, “I should have taken much better care of you when I had the chance.”
The moral of the story is that, in truth, all of us have 4 friends in our lives.
- The 4th friend is your body. No matter how much time and effort we lavish in making it look good, they leave us when we die.
- The 3rd friend is our possessions, status and wealth. When we die, it will all go to others.
- The 2nd friend is our family and friends. No matter how much they have been there for us, the farthest that they can go is up to our grave.
- And the 1st friend is our soul. Often our soul is the most neglected. We don’t take the time to cultivate our spiritual life and yet that is the part of us that has enabled us to walk through life and also to face the afterlife.
I wonder whether we are taking care of the right things. Whether in our sense of priorities, in our busy-ness of everyday, is God in there? Are we spending time with Him, inviting Him to be a part of our lives, taking care of our souls so that when the time comes, in difficult times, He will be the one who will lead us every day, give us wisdom and understanding of the situation because He is part of the equation of our life.
The Bible says (Matthew 6:33) “But more than anything else, put God’s work first and do what he wants. Then the other things will be yours as well.”
Prioritize your life; prioritize your day and allow God to work powerfully in your life. I pray that this will be true for each one of us.
God Bless Us All.
The Bible says (Matthew 6:33) “But more than anything else, put God’s work first and do what he wants. Then the other things will be yours as well.”
Prioritize your life; prioritize your day and allow God to work powerfully in your life. I pray that this will be true for each one of us.
God Bless Us All.
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