My assignment today was to go to Branson, MO and lead a workshop on dealing with stress for the Branson city employees. Just after I crossed from OK to MO there were several messages on my phone that led me to believe that Branson was expecting something else. So when I got to city hall I tracked down my contact and asked to see the presentation they had loaded. Sure enough it was not what I had been assigned by the people that hired me for this gig. So I had them print it out. I sat down in the lobby and reviewed the slides, thought through the presentation, and gave it. It was a similar topic but I had to tweak what I knew to make it work.
In Colossians 1:28 – 29 Paul declares that his purpose is to present every man complete in Christ. The same goal should drive us as we engage with the people in our communities. That is the purpose of the gifts that have been given to us by the Holy Spirit. For the past 44 years I have been focused at one level or another on this task. Some of the interaction is planned; some of it is spontaneous; all of it is prepared. There are basic topics of the Christian life that I have worked through for the purpose of sharing with folks. I have several ways of sharing that topic identified and prepared. There are many times that I have intended to share one of those topics with someone and in the initial conversation it became obvious that there was another need than what I was planning to share. In that case I switched gears and we talked about the issues that individual needed. Usually, it is a topic that I have already prepared as well.
This afternoon in Branson, I switched gears. That was not the first time that I have made a presentation. I was prepared by years of standing in front of people and working through different topics. I pulled from other experience to make the hour work. Meeting with people is exactly the same. To be flexible you have to be prepared. That preparation has to greatly exceed what you expect to share. You have to be alert to the leading of the Holy Spirit and committed to following His lead and not committed to following your plan. But in order to do that, you have to have a very full tank.
This afternoon in Branson, I switched gears. That was not the first time that I have made a presentation. I was prepared by years of standing in front of people and working through different topics. I pulled from other experience to make the hour work. Meeting with people is exactly the same. To be flexible you have to be prepared. That preparation has to greatly exceed what you expect to share. You have to be alert to the leading of the Holy Spirit and committed to following His lead and not committed to following your plan. But in order to do that, you have to have a very full tank.
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