One lesson learned during Hurricane Michael was the value of teamwork and process. Now we seem to be having to apply all of those lessons again in all this COVID 19 chaos. What that teamwork looks like depends on one’s own internal and external resources and the relationships in one’s life…. all relationships. These two factors- resources and relaiionships. In fact, relationships and the ability to work with and through others in a crisis IS one’s greatest resource for recovery…. no matter what the dysfunction is that is plaguing us. People-units are the functioning agency of all action in our nation and in the world – families, staff work groups, churches, a business’s “profit centers” or departments, neighborhoods, communities, counties, regions, states, nations, continents, etc. As society is stressed, we have to rely on the lowest common denominators of efficient and effective functionality for the quickest recovery based on needs at the time and the scale of the damage that could result from failure to do so. In other words, the success of the society in pulling through the disaster is dependent on the whole “chain” remaining functional…. and every link within the chain…. every single link is important and serves its role. And when it is working well, “just in time deliver” results in continued flow of whatever is needed. The system can respond on a minute’s notice to subtle changes in demand based on the perceived changes that are happening.
National and global markets don’t work as well. They require time to adjust to what appear to be “sudden” threats when, in fact, the threats may have been silently at work for a while before they are evident.
When it gets right down to it, none of us is entirely self-sufficient. We depend on one another. If we think otherwise, God will bring us to our knees and show us that there is ONLY ONE OMNIPOTENT PRIME MOVER…. and it isn’t any of us, whether viewed from the perspective of the individual, the family, the community, the nation, or the globe. No one can afford to be isolationist and entirely self-sufficient…… And that’s how God intended it to be…… not DEPENDENT, not INDPENDENT, but INTERDEPENDENT …… Each one standing firmly in its own strengths and yet close enough and cooperative enough with others close by, each one sharing its respective strengths with the ones adjacent to it to work together as a unit when stresses of life bear down upon us all. So how small…. or large…. must a group of relationships be to get the work of recovery done…. or to function well no matter what stresses come upon it? That’s what we are finding out. It takes everyone, in small close groups and spread out over large spaces…. and time. And with time and experience, it will become clear what size groups and what resources are essential for recovery or for avoiding disasters to start with.
Exodus 18 show us these principles at work in the herculean macro-task of getting the big jobs done……
Ecclesiastes 4 offers us wisdom for the smaller tasks and reveals the lowest number for maximum result…
And the 5 chapters of the book of James give us wisdom for the individual or group who finds himself or itself having to carry the burden all alone…..”the fervent, effectual prayer of a righteous person availeth much.” (James 5:16) For that is the voice in times of distress that gets God’s attention and moves his heart….. the cry of “His People”.
Who is that Righteous One, worthy of bringing our petitions before Almighty God that we might be saved? Jesus alone is. Jesus did it. And he continues to do it daily through His Holy Spirit. When that Spirit resides within us, any one of us may be the very one, or all of us crying out together may be the voices collectively, to whom God will hearken….. So…. what do you believe? Or as Jesus was known to ask on occasion, “How do you read it?” What does God’s Word say to you?
As James 1:5 directs us, “But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.” Where do we seek wisdom? From God or from the world? From the godly or from the shrewd? From sound, disciplined education according to God’s Word and counsel or from the “school of hard knocks.”
Ultimately, it is not the voice of the one(s) praying in which the power dwells. It is the power of the Good and Sovereign, Ever-present and Ever-attentive God that gets the job done. So…. pray… In the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and trust his Goodness, Presence, Sovereignty, and Love. Let it be. Amen.