Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Make Less

“You cannot serve both God and money” (Matthew 6:24b, NIV 2011).

We were meeting to discuss our local Christian doctor ministry. During our discussion of missions, Michael mentioned three different countries where he was involved each year in short-term medical missions. I said to him on the side, “I wish I could get away and take the mission trips that you do, Michael. I just can’t do it.”
Rather than talking about his own practice arrangements, he went straight to the heart of the matter, almost as a question, “You could make less.”

We actually have a choice. We actually can change the way we practice to fit God’s best plan for our lives. For some of us, as my friend Michael suggested, that choice might mean working for less income.

All change requires energy. Accepting a life with less income requires great energy for most of us. It requires we run up a hill toward less security and less self-fulfillment while the rest of the world is rolling down the hill toward more.

And, unfortunately for our peace of mind, “All change requires friction” (Oswald Chambers). Change is not easy, even when the Creator of the universe calls us to change. We like to run with the pack. We don’t like to cause friction. Our choice to live differently from the world will generate friction, especially from those we love, as we brush against people moving in the opposite direction.

If God asks me to do so, I could make less and serve more; but this will require a choice that requires energy and causes friction.

Thank God, we follow the One who found enough energy to carry the Cross and the One who felt the friction of the nails. So, if God asks me to find the energy to change the way I do my practice, if such changes require me to make less, and if those changes bring friction into my life, at least I have a role model.

Dear Father,
Let me listen and then help me make the changes necessary in my life and work that best complete your mission for my life.
Amen

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