Ineffective Projects

I’ve been reading ‘Prison to Praise’ by Merlin Carothers. Not only has it boosted my faith by reading all the testimonies in the book, but I came across this passage and wanted to share. 

“Every day and wherever I went it was the same: people responding to Jesus Christ. Whenever I fell back into the habit of tring to think beforehand what I would say to someone, the results were immediate. I became tense; the power and presence of God simply didn’t flow. The principle of letting go and letting God was valid. All I had to do was relax in the presence of God, letting my mind go blank and opening my mouth in faith to speak whatever God impressed on me. Always the words spoke directly to a need, always the person was wonderfully helped. 

I marveled. I had been a pastor for many years and worked hard at it, yet I had never seen so much happen in the lives of so many in the short time since Jesus Christ invaded my being in the fullness of His Spirit. 

Without the pressures of having to prepare and organize and research and write sermon notes, I found that I had much more time to spend in Bible reading and prayer. It seems as if I suddenly had more energy than ever before, and I never had the frustrating experience of wasting time of projects that turned out to be ineffective.” 

I want that energy, that life, the experience of not wasting time on ineffective projects! 

Often that’s how I feel my life is; ‘wasting’ time on things that actually don’t matter, or I reinvent the wheel way too often, organize, reorganize, round in circles, changing this or that, tweaking things, writing down the same ideas over and over and not actually working ON the ideas to see them fleshed out (Not always, but often). 

What’s it like to not waste energy on ineffective projects? What does it look like? 

In Carother’s case it was writing sermon notes and research. Letting God work through him in faith instead of researching, he had more time for Bible reading and prayer. 

What’s it in my case? What does it look like for me to ‘let go and let God’ work through me in the area of my creativity and ideas? What will that make room for in my life? What will I see happen, or see God do through me?

What is it in your case?