A thought crossed my mind, and I decided to follow it. There may be something to it, or nothing there at all. But I just wanted to share it with you before Q2 kicks in fully.
I’ve been quiet on here for a few days. Usually, that’s just a gap in the schedule, but after our last conversation about the Unseen, I realised I couldn’t just write about looking deeper and then ignore what I was actually observing in the silence.
For some years now, I’ve been in school. Literally. I am furthering my studies while navigating the heavy lifting of writing about stewardship. It has forced me to spend time thinking about things I wouldn’t ordinarily touch – going to church more, diving into scripture, and wrestling with what it actually means to “own” nothing but manage everything. Because of who I want to become and what this stewardship work demands of me, I tend to think differently about this now.
But I’ll be honest: sometimes I’m just making things unnecessarily complicated. Even I admit it, myself. So, please, I invite you to be the judge.
Too busy being bored to notice the unseen.
Ever since I was little, there has been a specific phrase that has always grated on me: “I’m bored.” To me, those words have always been a confession of an inner state that I find hard to stomach. I’ll be crude because I don’t know how else to explain it: when I hear someone say they are bored, I get triggered to give a lecture – completely unnecessary. To me, for whatever reason, those words sound like an admission that they’ve done all that needs to be done and have nothing better to do. It’s the sound of someone who has stopped looking for the “unseen” work. It is the antithesis of stewardship.
Now, as I looked at the calendar this week, I realise that we are about to enter a national season of much-needed rest, and in some cases, intentional boredom. We’re entering a “Holiday Haze” that blinds and distracts most of us. If we’re careful as stewards, we willingly enter this period with our eyes wide shut because we’ve mistaken it for the natural flow of this time of the year. I’m not anti-fun, anti-rest or anti-easter. Don’t get me wrong. I’m only saying let’s be watchful of the heist.
The Heist
I started by looking at “The Ten-Year Heist.” Over the past few days, I took some time to look at the data. I looked at the last decade of Easters and the seasonal patterns that are common for many of us in South Africa. The pattern is startling. During this time of the year, our calendar is essentially a series of interruptions designed to hijack the very moments we should be checking our quarterly progress.
We just finished Human Rights Day, and now, as we hit the final week of March, the finish line of our first quarter, the haze sets in. It’s not unreasonable to suggest that we are being distracted by events. Again, I’m not anti-rest. All I’m asking you, as a steward, is that as you are busy planning road trips, checking traffic reports, and prepping family lunches, consider that while we tell ourselves we are “flowing,” it’s possible that we aren’t. We should consider it a strong possibility that all that’s happening is that we’re just being distracted. We are choosing the visible holiday over the unseen architecture of our lives.
Reflecting on the First Quarter
If we spend this week only looking at the holiday ahead, we lose the vital opportunity to hear the music we’ve been composing since January.
- January: Architecting Integrity. We talked about how you cannot legislate integrity; you must architect it. We decided that we wouldn’t just legislate rules for ourselves but build structures that make character inevitable. We wrestled with the David Complex and realised the work itself is the worship.
- February: The Operating System of Reality. We didn’t just talk about “Love”; we looked at the audacity of a God who loved us first, forcing us to realise that legacy isn’t what we leave for people, but what we leave in them. We fought against “Love Fatigue” by remembering that gratitude is how a steward prays.
- March: The Conviction of Stewardship. We’ve been challenged to move from the Pressure of Performance to the Conviction of Stewardship. We’ve learned that presence is a form of honour, that forgiveness is a leadership skill, and that when what you see becomes all you see, the unseen feels impossible.
The High Cost of Free Time is paid when we let a long weekend drown out the reality that the first quarter of the year is ending. Some of us started with resolutions. Where are we with them? We started with goals-what’s the progress? We are continuing from last year-do we need to adjust now?
From One Steward to Another
Moments of downtime, shutting down, taking a break and the deliberate “bored” thinking or to simply “drift” into a long weekend should never be an unseen declaration that you have done all that needs to be done. For you, stewards, who are learning to manage our lives with Bold Reverence, the work is never finished. Stewardship doesn’t take the long weekend off without reflecting, preparing and opening spiritual eyes. Growth doesn’t follow the Department of Labour’s schedule.
Don’t let the “event” take control of you. Before the traffic starts and the “Out of Office” replies go on, look back at the feedback life has given you since January. Look at the books we’ve shared, the fasting we’ve practiced, and the worlds we’ve tried to build with our words. Look at where you started, how far you are and where you’re going. Are you becoming a different person, or just “going with the flow”?
Let’s not pay the price of a wasted season just for the sake of a free weekend.
Conclusion
Whatever you do this week, let it be pleasing to God.
One, Perfect Love.