Daily Dose 7: Priority Stewardship: What do the words mean?

Do you know how to get the right answer for any situation? You need to ask the right questions! Questions set a line of inquiry, and the best sets of questions help us maintain a wholesome objectivity, a passionate determination, and a helpful empathy. Questions are so informative! At times questions open new vistas and insights way beyond their actual answers. Questions are so helpful, we’ll need to give them a day or two on center stage, but right now, we just need to know what time questions will work that kind of magic for us? Here are a few for starters:

1.       What has God shown us about time?

Always the starting point for any topic. What has God shown us about this part of life through His Word and the world around us? We want to learn more about time, how God makes it to work, how it affects the events it carries. The first week of Daily Doses spread out tidbits of basic time information, so what should we already know about the biblical position of time?

 *Earth Time began at Creation and is part of the broader time called Eternity. Both have a bearing on the life we live now. Biblical thinking embraces both.

*Both Earth Time and Eternity are always passing and are beyond human control. Things, events, feelings and thoughts all happen within time. How we steward the stuff of life demonstrates whether we are making the most of God’s Time in our lives.

*Earth Time has many different cycles. The first time cycle was that evening and morning made a day.

2.       What does being a steward mean?

Most of us understand that a steward operates under the owner. The steward’s job is to look out for the best interests of the owner.  In an extensive household (the Lord’s household certainly qualifies as extensive) the steward was an executive position, not the menial laborer.

Executive Thinking

For people “important” or “influential” to the world, executive thinking may not feel uncomfortable: such people are used to telling other people what to do, assigning tasks, delegating authority.

For many women, however, the concept of being an executive over home (and even personal) responsibilities is novel. Easy to see in the workplace, and part of the workplace appeal, but not quite so easy to see in a house without nannies, butlers, maids, cleaning personnel, or cooks.

Even stranger is for children, (either in their life of “just being a kid” or in their main, modern-civilization task of being students), to view themselves as executives over their lives. Yet developing the executive element of stewardship is crucial for effective living.

The steward always has hands-on work to do, but the best stewards also give thought and practice to evaluating and analyzing the processes that get things done. They can float above tasks, and while overseeing, find principle connections between diverse pieces. They recognize the value of organizing behind the scenes to help the outward flow of activities. They know how to order and sequence events to make things go as smoothly as possible. The creative, self-motivated, process-oriented, diligent steward mindset gives tangible direction to effectively use God’s time in our lives.

3.       How do we figure out what our priorities are, or what they should be?

Think dose. Before we rush into priorities let’s give ourselves time to think about stewarding. How does stewarding  look in your life, your home, your tasks? Are you all menial laborer? Do you see yourself as a “taker care of things” but less of a “taker care of processes” kind of person? Often people talk about “owning a task,” meaning “the owner” accepts responsibility for a task, demonstrates self-motivation and becomes engaged in handling it, willing to invest positive energy and creativity into making it happen, getting personally committed to its success. Those are all commendable qualities, so how can the stewarding mindset help with the owning a task concept? Hmm, that’s something worth a little thinking time.