OUTSOURCE
For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith. For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.
Romans 12:3-5
My friends and I have recently discovered a new skill. We have perfected the art of outsourcing. This idea entered our vocabulary at first as just a joke. We have become keen on recognizing people's talents and recruiting them when needed. But the truth is, once I realized how valuable outsourcing can be I became quite aware that it is not just a joke but truly an ability to see in each other Christ's beautiful gifts.
Our ability to outsource I believe started among each other as a group of friends. God has given us so many talents and gifts and we have slowly, as we've built our friendship, began to see those strengths in each other. And the most amazing gift of friendship, I suppose, is the ability to see God alive and working in our lives and one gift I see God overtime cultivating in me is the ability to rely on the strengths of others. A friendship that can see and bring out the gifts of God in the other is perhaps the truest and most powerful form of friendship and what I feel God calls us to do for one another.
So after we figured out a means to outsource among each-other's gifts; communication, humor, thought, love, we began to see the value of looking for and leaning on the gifts of people in our lives. Now I understand this method of "passing on the buck" to others may seem to serve as a scapegoat or look like a form of laziness but I think like all things, in moderation, it can become a most beautiful gift within itself.
When you break it down, outsourcing is in so many ways our ability to identify the strength of the spirit alive within the hearts of those whose lives cross our own. God has made each of us unique for a reason, my gifts are not exactly like the gifts of any other. Because God created us as such that we must all work together to build His kingdom. Not one person alone has all the gifts to do it. And thus, outsourcing is a form by which we look to each other for the talents we do not possess and encourage the strengths of another.
And while this is something that can be taken to an extreme, this is something that to me personally has become a big area of growth. I would be what you call a type A personality. Along with this comes my need to constantly be in control. Much of my life was spent doing access amounts because I felt the need to have "the final say" so to speak. I was always the type of girl who would complete the entire group project on my own because I feared the others wouldn't complete it in the way it should be done. And sure, this was the safe way to look at things. I had control over everything so I knew exactly the work that was being turned it, but I wasted so much time struggling to do things that to some other people would have came so naturally. I couldn't rely on someone else, because I didn't trust in their ability to get things done.
I have however, now reached a point in my life where I have discovered I am not Superwoman and I cannot possibly do everything. And in discovering this, I have also found out the allowing others to help me along the journey can be a most refreshing and beautiful thing. You see that's the the pro and con about outsourcing, because outsourcing is in so many ways surrender.
When you lean on someone else, you trust them completely. Sometimes this is with a simple task or a huge project but either way the result leaves your hands and enters the hands of another. Sometimes things will get done exactly as you had planned, sometimes they will not. But either way you let go of something and hope that in the end the result is something better than you could have done alone.
So while, I have come to know the power of outsourcing among the people in my life, I must say my number one outsource has to be God. How lucky are we that we have a God who can take our biggest projects into His own hands? So many times I know I fail though, I fail to outsource and I fail to give God the things I know He can make beautiful. Why? Why can't I turn to Him? Because outsourcing requires surrendering and letting go of control and those things scare me because they leave me with no guarantee things will go the way I have had planned.
Two sides to one coin, really. But here's the difference; if I control things they'll be done my way after much time and stress and work and if I outsource to God my dreams and projects and ideas, He will get the work done perfectly to His liking in His time. And although I have come to know I am no superwoman, I've also come to find that He is a super God. You let the teacher teach, the builder build, and the singer sing, it's time in my life to let God, be God.
So I offer up to Him my wildest dreams and deepest desires, knowing full well that in doing this the control is out of my hands and completely in His. And I pray with all my heart that as I lean on others to assist me along the journey by sharing their beautiful gifts, I too might become an outsource for others as they push me to discover the gifts Christ has given to me!
Romans 12:3-5
My friends and I have recently discovered a new skill. We have perfected the art of outsourcing. This idea entered our vocabulary at first as just a joke. We have become keen on recognizing people's talents and recruiting them when needed. But the truth is, once I realized how valuable outsourcing can be I became quite aware that it is not just a joke but truly an ability to see in each other Christ's beautiful gifts.
Our ability to outsource I believe started among each other as a group of friends. God has given us so many talents and gifts and we have slowly, as we've built our friendship, began to see those strengths in each other. And the most amazing gift of friendship, I suppose, is the ability to see God alive and working in our lives and one gift I see God overtime cultivating in me is the ability to rely on the strengths of others. A friendship that can see and bring out the gifts of God in the other is perhaps the truest and most powerful form of friendship and what I feel God calls us to do for one another.
So after we figured out a means to outsource among each-other's gifts; communication, humor, thought, love, we began to see the value of looking for and leaning on the gifts of people in our lives. Now I understand this method of "passing on the buck" to others may seem to serve as a scapegoat or look like a form of laziness but I think like all things, in moderation, it can become a most beautiful gift within itself.
When you break it down, outsourcing is in so many ways our ability to identify the strength of the spirit alive within the hearts of those whose lives cross our own. God has made each of us unique for a reason, my gifts are not exactly like the gifts of any other. Because God created us as such that we must all work together to build His kingdom. Not one person alone has all the gifts to do it. And thus, outsourcing is a form by which we look to each other for the talents we do not possess and encourage the strengths of another.
And while this is something that can be taken to an extreme, this is something that to me personally has become a big area of growth. I would be what you call a type A personality. Along with this comes my need to constantly be in control. Much of my life was spent doing access amounts because I felt the need to have "the final say" so to speak. I was always the type of girl who would complete the entire group project on my own because I feared the others wouldn't complete it in the way it should be done. And sure, this was the safe way to look at things. I had control over everything so I knew exactly the work that was being turned it, but I wasted so much time struggling to do things that to some other people would have came so naturally. I couldn't rely on someone else, because I didn't trust in their ability to get things done.
I have however, now reached a point in my life where I have discovered I am not Superwoman and I cannot possibly do everything. And in discovering this, I have also found out the allowing others to help me along the journey can be a most refreshing and beautiful thing. You see that's the the pro and con about outsourcing, because outsourcing is in so many ways surrender.
When you lean on someone else, you trust them completely. Sometimes this is with a simple task or a huge project but either way the result leaves your hands and enters the hands of another. Sometimes things will get done exactly as you had planned, sometimes they will not. But either way you let go of something and hope that in the end the result is something better than you could have done alone.
So while, I have come to know the power of outsourcing among the people in my life, I must say my number one outsource has to be God. How lucky are we that we have a God who can take our biggest projects into His own hands? So many times I know I fail though, I fail to outsource and I fail to give God the things I know He can make beautiful. Why? Why can't I turn to Him? Because outsourcing requires surrendering and letting go of control and those things scare me because they leave me with no guarantee things will go the way I have had planned.
Two sides to one coin, really. But here's the difference; if I control things they'll be done my way after much time and stress and work and if I outsource to God my dreams and projects and ideas, He will get the work done perfectly to His liking in His time. And although I have come to know I am no superwoman, I've also come to find that He is a super God. You let the teacher teach, the builder build, and the singer sing, it's time in my life to let God, be God.
So I offer up to Him my wildest dreams and deepest desires, knowing full well that in doing this the control is out of my hands and completely in His. And I pray with all my heart that as I lean on others to assist me along the journey by sharing their beautiful gifts, I too might become an outsource for others as they push me to discover the gifts Christ has given to me!
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