Have you ever been in the place where you feel like you have nothing left to give. Trying to meet the needs that face us every day quickly puts us into overdrive. We feel obliged to give everything we have and more and end up on the critical list ourselves. This is not what God intended, not by a long shot. Faced with burnout for the second time, Wayne Cordeira had a dream about a farm store which brought new perspective to where he found himself.
In this dream, people were buying various products: one bought a gallon of milk, another ripe tomatoes, another cheese, others eggs or corn. A lady came and asked for something they didn’t have, but the farmer simply said, “Come back tomorrow and I’ll have more.” The irate woman gave the farmer a sour look, but it didn’t bother him. He just went back to work.
That was how it was on the farm. The chickens can lay only so many eggs a day, cows have just so much fresh milk, and a few more tomatoes will ripen tomorrow. Yet people still came, standing in line for the products, buying up everything until the farmer sold out for the day. This happened every day because this particular farm’s goods were the freshest and finest anywhere. And when they ran out (as they inevitably did), the farmer would say, “Come back tomorrow and I’ll have more.”
– Wayne Cordeira
If we try to overproduce, we will compromise the quality that God and His people we serve deserve. If we focus on overproducing, we also leave no time to recharge. This is why we need healthy boundaries in our lives and it is why we need some restrictions. We are the only one who can institute these things in our lives. If we do, we will be able to say, “Come back tomorrow and I’ll have more.” This produces a healthy rythm in our lives, not only of giving out, but also of getting in. Regular meetings with God lead to purposeful meetings with people. I am going to be careful to avoid attempting to give what I do not have.
See also Hitting the wall and Where you stand will affect what you see
Scripture references from http://www.biblegateway.com
Image source: Steven Vermeulen
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