Purpose
Vol. 1 Issue 17
November 23 2007
The weekly newsletter of True Potential Publishing

Week 5: Communication

“This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it” (Psalm 118:24).

I used to work at a place where we had daily meetings. Every morning at 8:00 we would sit down for fifteen minutes and go over the day’s schedule, discuss yesterday’s production, correct mistakes and add on to this day’s schedule anything we may have missed yesterday.

We all knew our jobs and responsibilities. It wasn’t like we had to re-learn how to make widgets; that wasn’t the purpose for the meeting. When you came to the meeting each morning it was assumed you already knew your job description. The purpose for the daily production meeting was to focus on the work due that particular day. We also took time to correct anything that might have gone off-target or been left undone the previous day.

The daily meeting wasn’t a cheerleading session or a re-statement of corporate goals. We already knew our responsibilities and we knew the company’s mission statement and long term objectives. The meeting wasn’t about that. Sometimes our boss would have to use time in the daily meeting to correct the general direction of our performance and to effectively communicate the company’s mission in relation to our continued employment; but that wasn’t the purpose of the daily meeting.

Our part of the daily meeting was to let the boss know what we needed to keep our production on schedule and to bring up any problems in the work flow. If we didn’t understand a task or a process, this was the time to bring it up. If there was a problem on the floor with machinery or co-workers, now was the time to take care of it.

It wasn’t like our boss needed to be informed about what we needed or what yesterday’s production problems were. He had grown up in the business and he was usually better at anticipating our needs than we were at identifying them. He also kept his eye on the production floor. He knew when a machine or process was starting to go south and he had a pretty good idea of who the slackers were.

The boss liked to get our input out of the way first. It was like he wanted us to get our problems and points of view out on the table before he laid out the day’s work for us. We liked that too. It made us feel like we had been heard and that he cared about what we needed and our concerns with how things were going.

We felt pretty good speaking up about what we wanted and needed on the floor or about our worries that machines or other employees wouldn’t live up to our expectations. We felt like our voices were being heard and our needs were being met. We didn’t realize that we weren’t really there to have our voices heard and our needs met. Our voices were heard and our needs were met as a result, but it wasn’t the main purpose of the daily meeting. It wasn’t why we kept our jobs. It was the last half of the meeting that kept us employed.

After we presented our needs and concerns, the boss wanted to share with us the needs of the company that day and what our particular roles would be in fulfilling those needs. It was, after all, what we were here for.

The purpose of the meeting was to focus on daily production needs and our roles in fulfilling them in light of the overall goals and objectives of the company. The overall goals and objectives of the company were too big picture and too long term to hold our attention each day. Our boss knew that. He also knew that if he could keep us focused on just the day’s goals and objectives and if he could do that consistently day after day, we’d accomplish the long term goals and objectives of the company – even if we weren’t aware of it.

So that’s what the daily meeting did for us. It gave us a voice in our own jobs and it focused us for our tasks of the day in relation to the company’s long term goals and objectives. On occasion, there was a little cheerleading; every so often there may have even been a butt-chewing. But the purpose for that meeting was to prepare ourselves for the day ahead.

A daily meeting is a pretty good idea. It keeps the channels of communication open and keeps everyone focused on the task at hand. I’ve worked at companies that held meetings weekly instead of daily. Weekly meetings beat no meetings at all, but they were never as effective for keeping our focus as the daily meetings. It was just too easy to lose track without that short get-together each morning.

*****

Let’s rethink for a second what’s really real; what’s really important. Assuming you believe that God exists and that He’s interested enough in you that He had a purpose for you, not just when you came into the world but long before that – He had you in mind when He first spun the world itself into existence. If your purpose - your reason for being – is that important in the grand scheme of things, don’t you think a regular morning meeting is a pretty good idea? You know, just to keep the plan on track.

The structure of your daily meeting with God doesn’t have to be a lot different than those we had back in my company days. Use the first part of the meeting for requests and concerns. God already knows what you need and He already knows your concerns. But He also wants you to ask. He wants you to ask so that you know He responds. How would you know you had needs and that He supplied them unless you were somehow involved in the process? He involves you for your benefit, not for His.

It’s a little crazy to spend the whole meeting telling God what you want and never listening for any feedback from Him. That’s a to-do list; not a meeting. It’s too bad, but a lot of folks think communicating with God only involves them asking Him for stuff, going over their worries and fears, and then hanging up. They assume it’s a one sided discussion because they really don’t expect God to answer. As a matter of fact, they’d fall out of their chair if He did. If you don’t like the idea of God talking back to you when talk to Him, skip the meeting. It’s pointless to talk to God if you never expect a response. There are more productive things in life to do than talking to gods who never answer.

One of the biggest stumbling blocks we have regarding our purpose here is thinking that it’s all about us. Our needs and concerns are so important to us because they’re ours. It’s like the old joke; “What’s the difference between minor surgery and major surgery?” Minor surgery is when it’s being performed on someone else. Major surgery is when it’s being performed on us! Our needs affect us. Our problems happen to us. Because God loves us He provides for our needs and solves our problems – but that’s not the reason for our existence or His. His provision is a result, not a reason for being.

We’re here because we’re a part of His plan and purpose. Too often, the only time we want to involve God in our dialog is when we want something from Him. So the daily meetings end up being one sided; “I need this.” “I’m worried about that.” “Could you please do this?” “Thanks.” And then we leave the room.

That’s not what the meeting is about and that’s not what your existence here is about. The last part of the daily meeting, the most important part, is about listening. You’ve got a job to do; a role to play in God’s eternal purpose. And in that role there’s a task at hand today. You miss that and you’ve missed the reason for the meeting.

God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. That’s the big picture; we’ve been over that part already. God has a role for specifically for you in His eternal purpose. He’s built you and prepared you for that role. It’s what you were created for. That’s the big picture too. He’s given you instructions for how you’re to regard Him and how you’re to treat your neighbor. We covered that last week - still the big picture. When you come to the daily meeting it’s assumed that you understand the idea of the big picture. The purpose for daily meeting isn’t forever discussing, worrying about or continually re-hashing the big picture. The purpose for the daily meeting is to bring up your needs and concerns for the day and to receive your work assignment for the day.

And don’t think your purpose changes from day to day just because He’s willing to lay out your assignment every day. The big picture remains intact. Today’s schedule involves your role in carrying out your purpose - today. If you handle today’s tasks today, then you’ll be ready for tomorrow’s tasks tomorrow. Don’t worry about tomorrow’s tasks today; you’ll just mess things up by taking attention away from today – then you won’t be ready for tomorrow.

And don’t spend too much time on what got screwed up yesterday. If you’ve got any issues left over from yesterday, get them out of the way at the beginning of today’s meeting. Obsessing over yesterday’s issues is unproductive; it takes your eye off the ball today. Today has its own issues and its own schedule. You need to focus on that.
Don’t get bored or disappointed if the daily schedule starts to seem a little, well … daily. Trust Him for the big picture and settle into the task at hand.

And don’t worry that you can’t see every detail of the big picture. When you’re not sure of God’s will and purpose for your life, just focus on the task at hand. He made the big picture and He made the task at hand. It all works together. If you don’t see the relationship now, trust Him for it; you’ll see it one day. Way too many times, people have told me that they just can’t find God’s will and purpose for their lives. At the same time they’re completely ignoring God’s will and purpose for their day. You miss God’s purpose for your day enough times and you will miss God’s will and purpose for your life. That’s what your life’s made up of – days.

“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own” (Matthew 6:34).

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Next week we’ll talk about stepping out of the boat. What to do when you know what you should do but don’t know if you’ve got the courage to do it. Now we’re getting to the good stuff! A little scary sometimes, but good. Don’t miss next week!