The Tyranny of the Urgent

"And the crowd sought Him and came to Him, and tried to keep Him from leaving them; but He said to them, 'I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also because for this purpose I have been sent'" (Luke 4:42-43).

Ministers know what I mean when I say, 'we know pressure'.

Pressure to please people. Pressure to have the church service shorter, and longer, and sing this music and teach that topic. Pressure to be funny, to be serious, to be 'deep' (whatever that is) and to be relevant. Pressure to reach the neighborhood, yet maintain everyone's needs within. Pressure to pay off the building and simultaneously add an addition. Pressure to live within budgets and do more with less. The list goes on and on. If we're not careful, we'll try to make everyone happy instead of simply hearing from God.

Jesus was pressured too.

The crowds were growing, people were getting healed, and His fame was spreading. Who wouldn't want His problem? The people pressured Jesus to stay with them for extended meetings. But Jesus was adamant. His success was not measured in numbers or dollars or healings. His success simply came from 'OBEYING GOD'. This was the yardstick by which He measured everything.

Jesus was not distracted from His purpose... "to seek and save the lost". So He moved on to other towns where they had not heard of His salvation. He left the "reached" to find the "unreached".

What's pressuring you? What's keeping you from being His ambassador to the lost? Our supreme task is to reach the unreached. Our life's purpose is only complete when we obey God.

The crowd will keep us busy inside the church until we retire, and we'll still be frazzled and unfulfilled. But when we obey God and take His love 'outside' the church, our fire will burn brighter, the sky will be bluer, and the grass will be greener.

'Obeying God' is the best 'pressure-relief' valve ever!

Intentional for souls,
Tom Elie
Evangelist/President
www.oasisworldministries.org

P.S. The Oasis Team will be in India February 11-March 1. Please keep us in your prayers. We will conduct four "Gospel & Healing" Festivals, three "Ignite the Fire" Training Seminars; dedicate seven churches and 17 fresh-water wells that were recently completed. During the final few days, I will be meeting with our National Evangelists for training and encouragement.