Appointed
Whom do you trust to help you do the work you have been given to do?
He went up the mountain and called to him those whom he wanted, and they came to him. And he appointed twelve, whom he also named apostles, to be with him, and to be sent out to proclaim the message, and to have authority to cast out demons. So he appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); James son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder); and Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him. - Mark 3:13-19
One of the first things a manager learns is that he or she cannot do the work alone.
We all need help, not just in doing the things we don't want to do, but also in the things we like to do and want to do ourselves.
If I can trust people to do what I do, then I can go and do more.
But with trust comes risk and responsibility. If the person I trust isn't ready to take on the responsibility, then we can have a problem and the work may not get done, or may be done wrong.
When Jesus gave authority to cast out demons to his disciples, he may have thought them ready and willing to do the work. Six chapters later, the disciples find they cannot cast out the demon tormenting a young boy and they don't understand.
Jesus tells them that kind can only be cast out through prayer.
In other words, there will be some things you cannot do alone, even when you believe you know how to do them.
When God sends helpers, I don't turn them away. I look for things that need to be done that we are not getting done, and give them the job.
Yesterday, we had more volunteers show up for our pantry than we expected to have, and it just so happens we had many more families come than we anticipated.
The helpers were available when we needed them.
The father of one of our regular volunteers came for the first time, and he was not sure what he could do. It looked like all jobs were taken, so he started sorting through the produce, finding those that were damaged or moldy, taking them out.
It was work we needed to do, but didn't know it needed to be done.
So, I think God has a hand in all we do, whether we acknowledge it or not. He brings the resources for the tasks, and it is up to us to trust Him and ourselves to share the work.
Jesus didn't pick the most respected and responsible people to be followers. He picked the ones others rejected, and they lived into his expectation of them.
Wouldn't it be great if we could all do the same?
More to come...