The Matter Matters

It's funny how two jobs that take the same amount of time, occur in the same conditions, and require the same amount of effort can be felt in two totally different ways. The mental approach will determine if it’s a joy or a burden, if it’s easy or hard, if it’s meaningful or meaningless.

Author John Maxwell described it as the ABCs of energy drain.

Activity Without Direction—doing things that don’t seem to matter

Burden Without Action—not being able to do things that really matter

Conflict Without Resolution—not being able to deal with what’s the matter

In the end, what matters is if it matters to us. We can handle the work, we will accept the burden, power through the problem, IF we can see the purpose to do so. Churches would be wise to consider this in the work they do.

Often, we have programs and activities, and we forget to emphasize and reemphasize the why we do it. As time goes by, the work becomes draining because we don’t know if it much matters. We grow weary doing good till we quit, thinking it’s not doing much good. The matter can’t just be ‘cause that’s what we do’ or we ‘that’s what we are told to do’ or ‘you better do that’. These lead to drain.

We need to be told it matters. We need to be led to purposeful places. We need to make sure we are busy in work that isn’t just busy work.

‘Does it matter?’ is an important matter!

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Ecclesiastes 12:10

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