OVERCOMMITMENT CAN RUIN COMMITMENT

Busyness is not the sign of a servant of Christ. It is a sign of American meaning; look busy even if you aren't. Busy equals success or profits to some....to most. But it isn't the sign of a kingdom slave.

Commitment is ruined because of overcommitment to too much. We don't know how to say no so we mask it with a lie; yes. We said yes when we meant no. Jesus said let your yes be yes and your no be no; but we have so restored the New Testament church that we have overridden his assertion with no conscience of wrong.

Overcommitment is ruining marriages, families, and churches. Don't we want the members engaged in the work of the church? Yes, we plead as well as plan for it. But we don't want our people knowing work and not knowing Jesus. This is happening.

Overcommitment isn't a sign of a worker in the kingdom. It is a sign of a liar who is covering up a lack of study and of prayer. It is a sign of appearance bent on approval when the grace and mercy of God is not trusted by that individual.

How do I know? I lived there. I lived in both exhaustion and guilt. I thought the visible services mattered and I was especially one who needed to be seen. And....I could never say no. I wanted to and resented that I couldn't.

But I learned. I learned God does His work. Yes, I am to respond to His call; but not every call the brethren make. There is a difference. We can try to please men by our actions just as much as by our teachings. We can tickle the ears of the one on the other end of the phone by committing to a work we shouldn't just so they will approve of us. Sinfully wrong.

What shall we do? We shall trust God that when we say no to a very good project that He knows exactly who can and will be able to carry it out. Our ability to say no appropriately gives someone else an opportunity to serve. But what if no one else takes it?

I don't know. It won't get done by me if I don't sense God's involvement in the invitation. He either knows the one who can/needs to get it done....or possibly it was never a work of His in the first place.

Romans 9:16 is very good for those of us tempted to live in overcommitment. It isn't up to us to run or to will; but it is up to God. Let Him worry over it. It is His work.