A few weeks ago, one of my coworkers at Nuru, Marc, gave me his copy of a book he thought I might find enjoyable. It was called The Trusted Advisor by David Maister. It probably would not have been a book I would have picked up on my own, but I'm always appreciative of a good book recommendation. I had also communicated with Marc my desire to grow in my ability to lead, coach, and develop the talents of others, so I started looking at this book as a potential tool toward that end.
The book, which receives some pretty incredible reviews on Amazon, is a fairly quick read, and filled with personal examples from the author(s) own experiences. The themes of this book are incredibly important and timely in a world that is growing increasingly skeptical of "experts" and those who are in the know. It is a reminder of the Theodore Roosevelt quote, "Nobody cares how much you know until they know how much you care."
Maister and his fellow authors, Charles Green and Robert Galford walk through the importance of trust and of developing relationships with others as well as the outflow of those relationships over time. It actually brought to mind this short verse from Saul of Tarsus in his letter to the Corinthian church, "Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful." Trust is not something that comes in an instant, it comes over time, it comes from faithful practice, and it comes as a result of very real relationships. The authors point out it comes more from learning how to listen well than it does from all that one might have on their mind to say.
Looking to learn more about how to be a better friend, advisor, counselor, coach, or advisor? Take a look at The Trusted Advisor, and learn from its many chapters, examples, and actionable lists. May we each work to cultivate and practice greater trust in our relationships with others.
Over the last couple of weeks, I've been thinking a lot about Jesus and Him taking some kid's loaves and fishes and using this seemingly small amount of food to feed several thousand people. I mean it's pretty wild because the kid didn't have a lot, but when he was willing to put it in Jesus' hands, Jesus was able to use it to do something greater than the kid could have ever imagined.
I think it's the same with us. We can take an apparently small thing. Like five minutes of prayer. Or 10% of our income. Or a few minutes to do community service. Or a few items of clothing that we no longer wear. And when we are willing to take those things, those resources, that stuff, and put it in the hands of Jesus, then He is able to do something amazing with it.
We get a blessing in being able to yield our stuff. Often we don't get to see what happens with it, but that money, that time, those clothes, and those prayers, do amazing things when we yield them to Jesus.
The real irony in my mind is that it's really all His anyway. He gives us the privilege and the responsibility of giving it back to Him so He can do even greater things with it and we get to be part of it. That's pretty amazing trust on His part.
And while I was writing this I started thinking, don't our lives really belong to Him? I mean, not just our prayer time, or the time we go to a church or when we read our Bibles, but the whole thing. Every heartbeat, every breath, every ounce. It belongs to Him.
And when we give our lives to Him, He even takes all of our sins, our screw-ups, our mistakes, and makes something beautiful out of our lives too.
Is there something you've been holding that you feel like God may want you to place in His hands? Give it to Him and see what he does with it. (and if you feel like it, leave a comment on this blog to let the world know what God did with your loaves and fishes.)