I Found Patience!

Have you been looking for it too? I was. For years. No... for decades.

The ever elusive patience.

And then a buddy suggested I spend time every 2-3 months doing long-range planning.

Hang on. There's a giant connection coming!

Every 2-3 months I block out a half-day on my calendar and dream about what could happen primarily 6 months - 24 months ahead. I am always tempted to give my energy and attention to things that will happen in the next few weeks, but I force myself to think farther out.

And I do it in multiple parts of my area of ministry:
   Worship teams
   Choir
   Technology
   Prayer
   Discipleship
   Leadership development, etc.

That means I had a pretty good idea of what all of 2020 was going to look like early in the fall of 2019... including Christmas!

And when I get to do this again in March of 2020, I'll be focusing on Easter and the summer of 2021. And get this -- even beyond.

Some of this long-range planning gets me visioning better for 3-5 years down the road.

And this is where I found patience.

I wasn't looking for it. Wasn't expecting it.

But when I have a better, clearer, more specific vision of what will happen 1-2 years ahead, I can be FAR more patient with what is happening 1-2 months ahead.

I'll say it even more strongly:

Long range planning gives you short term patience. When you have a clear vision of what can happen in 5 years, you'll be less stressed by what does or doesn't happen in the next 5 weeks.

Now, it also gives us better alignment of daily tasks with weekly and monthly events. It extends to the big events we plan, contributing to a long-range vision. But that's not the topic of this post. Here I just want to say it one more time:

Long range planning gives us short term patience.

So if you are feeling impatient in your ministry, stretch out your vision. Think about what could be in 3, 5, even 10 years. And then move prayerfully, carefully, and deliberately in that direction. You might get there when you expected it to happen. It might take a little longer. You may even be surprised that when you take the stress/urgency off those you lead that those long-range visions may become reality sooner than you ever imagined!

I pray you find some patience from seeing what God wants to do in your life, your family, your ministry, your church and your community.