God is a god of order, not chaos!

“And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?” (Matthew 7:3)

What does a messy desk or home mean to me?
What can I do to bring more order to my home and life?

On Sunday September 23, the day before Julia and I left home to fly to Lake Tahoe, I completely cleared off the top of the 12 foot desk in my home office. This was the first time in more than seven years that my entire desk had seen the light of day. How did this happen? Why is that important? And what were consequences?

Dr. Jerry Graham [www.thecoachingpair.com/meet/jerry-graham-ph.d.-d.min.html] and I officially began our formal peer coaching of one another on Sep 18. During that phone meeting, I made the commitment to clear off my desk within a week. My son Robbie told me months ago that I could be more focused and more productive with a clear desk. Jon Monroe, who works for me, told me something similar a few weeks ago. Knowing that Jerry was going to hold me accountable for my commitment the next time we talked provided the motivation I needed.

After making my commitment to clear my desk, Jerry asked, “How are you going to keep it clear?” While I was thinking, he asked if I wanted his counsel and I gladly accepted. Jerry recommended making a firm commitment not to go to bed at night until my desk is completely cleared off. That make sense. This comes back to daily habits.

OK, so that’s how it happened. But why is clearing off my desk and keeping it that way so important? It’s important because extra things on my desk distract me from the task at hand. They can easily side-track me, leading me to do extra things I don’t have time for. A messy desk makes me feel unorganized and look that way too.

What does a messy desk or home say about my stewardship of the property God has entrusted to me? Are these a sign of being over-committed? What is God’s perspective on the matter? Throughout the Bible, God reveals he is a god of order – numbers matter, colors matter, places matter, situations matter, and people matter. God has a master plan. He promises to entrust us with big things if we are good stewards of the little things. God expects us to be a good steward of our homes, our cars, our property, etc. My parents did a wonderful job modeling that.

What were some of the consequences of clearing off my desk? I only sent one devotional for Sep 25-Oct 2. Because I spent hours sorting things on my desk on Sep 23, I didn’t have time to prepare new devotionals for the week I was at Lake Tahoe. Initially I wasn’t too concerned about that because I figured I could do that at Lake Tahoe. However, it turned out we didn’t have Internet access at our condo. I tried to get around that by paying for a week’s membership at the Recreation Center in Lake Tahoe. However, I quickly discovered the slow Internet connection and pop-up window restrictions there made it extremely difficult to post and preview devotionals with Constant Contact.

Amazingly, God turned this whole thing around so I was able to get more than one week ahead with future devotionals. That is something I’ve wanted to do for months. Also, now that I’ve taken the plank out of my own eye (clearing my own office), God will allow my wife and me to get other parts of our home and business in better order.

Prayer Power
Heavenly Father, I praise You as the God of order. Thank You for bringing Jerry Graham into my life to help bring order to my home office. Help me to follow the great example that my parents set to be a good steward with everything entrusted to them. Bless my readers to do likewise. Thank You Jesus. We praise Your holy name. Amen and hallelujah!

Link of the Day
The Top 10 Habits of Organized People [http://topten.org/public/AG/AG596.html]

Blessings to choose to bring order to your home and work!