Beware of overproducing

Wayne Cordeiro Sept. 14, 2019

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I have always been an overachiever, even before I came to Christ. And when I did, I simply gave those efforts to God. I didn’t change the fuels. It was still me working hard for God.

I don’t often relate my dreams to people. I’ve heard enough strange ones by well-meaning Christians to discount dream interpretations altogether. But this one was vivid—with a lesson that has never left my soul.

I dreamed about a man and his family who ran a small farm. 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.”

I woke up from that dream with a new view of life and ministry. I don’t have to tie myself to an imaginary, unrelenting cycle to produce more, make more, or try to outdo last week’s numbers. I have just so much time in the day, and I want to do what I can with all my heart involved. When the clock runs out, then I say, “Come back tomorrow, and I’ll have more.”

In other words, I don’t want to kill myself by overproducing or doing anything without the quality that God and His people deserve. And I also want to leave time to recharge. So I had to establish some guardrails and make some restrictions in my life.

The only one who can do that in your life is you! It is not a board decision or your response to a spouse’s complaints. It has to be you!

Excerpted fromLeading on Empty, by Wayne Cordeiro (Bethany House, 2009).

Photo source: istock 

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Wayne Cordeiro is the founding pastor of New Hope Christian Fellowship in Honolulu, Hawaii.  New Hope is also listed as one of the top ten most innovative churches in America with Outreach Magazine listing them as one of the “top five churches to learn from.” New Hope is known for redeeming the arts and technology.  New Hope has seen over 73,000 first time decisions in Hawaii since its inception over 32 years ago.

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