Being strategic

I have so many things to improve, change and fix this year. One of those things is to be strategic in whatever I do.

I've heard few pastors/preachers preached about this, but it just hit home end of last yr when I did my thinking and praying for this yr. We as christian need to change the way we do things. We need to be strategic in whatever we do without being constraint by our own plan plus limitations. In our daily life, we need to keep our vision all the time in our mind and work towards achieving that vision.

I'll share with you how I'm gonna do that;
1. Get a vision. In my case, taking ownership my church and LG vision.
2. Make plans
3. Work towards achieving that plan

Sounds easy? Yep, it's as easy as it sounds.
Here's an example. I made the church's vision to be my vision (capturing Matt 28:19). Then drilling down, I made my group's vision to be my vision (as it's more clearer, or easier to measure, Matt 28:19 in workplace/friends). Then after the leaders in my group broke the vision down into smaller goals, I made plan on how to achieve those goals, when and where.

Furthermore, I aligned my personal goals this yr to the church/LG vision, such as prayer life, friendship and other stuff. One area where I want to see myself grow in this year is in the area of prayer life and the Word of God.

Hence to achieve all that at the same time, I'm trying to keep the vision alive in my mind all the time and work towards achieving those smaller goals one at a time. Your question now is, where is the strategic part?

Before I continue on, let me remind you that there's 2 important part here, 1 is a very close relationship with God (discerning HS leading, in-tune with Him), and the second part is doing our part by knowing those things I listed above and putting them into practice/reality. At all times, being in-tuned to the HS leading is very important.

So here's how I do it.
In the morning, I would wake up and do my QT. In my QT, I already have my prayer list. In those list, there are friends (pre-believer) who I want to see saved this yr, hence I'd pray for them. But I'll always try to be specific in my prayer, meaning praying for a specific area that I want to see change. To do this, I need to find out more about my friend. Hence I'll get to know my friend better. So when I spend time with my friend, I'll do my best to find out more about them. More than that, when I speak to them, I'll try to put in few words of God to gage or to see how they take it in. In everything I do, I must be intentional, and still keeping that flexibility. The flexibility part is for HS to do His wonders. This is one area I want to grow in, being use by HS in a way never before I have experienced. But I need to be bold and courageous though, ahahha.....

So yeah, when I meet new people, I'd ask question like where are you from, what's your hobby, what do you do on the weekend, what do you do for a living and questions that can help me know their needs and how I can share the Gospel to them.

Now that was only a small part of it.
I have my shepherd, my unit leader, 4 of my sheeps, the guys in my groups and my friends to think and pray for. On top of that I have meetings to go to (church and LG related), movies to watch (at least 1 movie every 3 months), sports to do (must exercise at least once a month), and the many dinners and lunches plus activities to attend where I can meet more people.

Think about it. I'm not even a unit leader or holding a very significant role in the church or at workplace. If I'm not being strategic in whatever I'm doing, especially in reaching out to my friends, I won't be able to see salvation and grow spiritually at the same time, not to mention grow in my career. Every minutes I spend with people is precious.

Last yr I tried to be strategic (though not all the time), and it helped me alot. Instead of praying to God a general prayer for my friend, I prayed specific prayer. Instead of buying a general things for their bday, I bought specific things that they need. And instead of giving suggestions on how to deal with their problems/issues in life (only when they ask my opinion), I'd tell them what the root of the problem is and how they should deal with it.

I can so feel the urgency of seeing people being saved as soon as possible, cause I myself simply don't have much time in my hand. I wish I could be in so many places at the same time, but I can't. Hence I need to change the way I do things, I need to be strategic. And to do this, I need to spend more time with God (for guidance and directions), and with people (for opportunities to share and bless) as well.

So right now, if you don't have a vision, get to know your God, get to know your church, get to know yourself, and get to know your people or friends/colleagues/families. Make your church's vision, your vision and take ownership. Find out (make plans) how you can achieve it then work towards it. But don't work harder, work smarter.

Good nite.
:)
PS: Here's an old song from GMB I was listening (it's in indonesian though, direct translation of title is Chasing Your Presence, referring to God's presence)