IF YOU DO NOT SWEAT IN PLANNING, YOU WILL SWEAT IN EXECUTION
We were planning for our annual convention. In one of our strategy meetings, I said to the team, “Let us walk mentally through all the events of the convention: pre-convention, in-convention and post-convention matters”. It was mentally stretching but we saw the loopholes in advance. We ended up making very minimal adjustments at execution. We did not have to start running around.
Your mind is a gift from the Lord. Engage it! Some believers have abused the grace of God. They are constantly looking for a miracle while they abuse divine principles.
For instance, you ask a Christian who is planning to start a business, “How will so and so get done?”. The common answer is “The Lord will do it”. We agree the Lord will do it but most times, it is a quick cover-up for the inability to process an issue till you get to a point of light. It is a cover-up for mediocrity.
There are Christian meetings that are bereft of an excellent spirit. Why? They gave excuses while planning. They believe a miracle would just happen.
As a matter of fact, thinking is one of the hard work there is and few people engage in it. If you have been to a meeting where you see the organisers running around at the last minute, you already know that poor thinking was in the background.
Listen, your mind must be fruitful. Engage it. Think through things. Process issues. Look at matters circumspectly. Paul advocated that:
Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do.
Ephesians 5:17 NLT
Therefore do not be vague and thoughtless and foolish, but understanding and firmly grasping what the will of the Lord is.
Ephesians 5:17 AMPC
God wants you to engage your mind. Take time to meditate on that idea, that issue or that business plan or that ambition. Do not use “Christianese” to excuse yourself. Think through and break through.
Those who think before execution gets the highest rewards. Those who act without thinking always sweat and get little or no reward for their labour.