"Have you ever found yourself trying to beat a dead horse? By that I mean trying to keep a project going that is already dead. Someone created the following “Top 10 Strategies for Dealing with a Dead Horse”:
1. Buy a stronger whip.
2. Change riders.
3. Appoint a committee to study the horse.
4. Appoint a team to revive the horse.
5. Send out a memo declaring the horse isn’t really dead.
6. Hire an expensive consultant to find “the real problem.”
7. Harness several dead horses together for increased speed and efficiency.
8. Rewrite the standard definition of “live horse.”
9. Declare the horse to be better, faster, and cheaper when dead.
10. Promote the dead horse to a supervisory position.
Maybe you’ve seen those strategies applied in your workplace, your church or even your home. But there’s only one thing to do with a dead horse. Bury it and find a new one.
Don’t waste time on a dead horse when you could be redeeming the time.
"
"Two men were walking down the street when one of them said, “Look. There’s a dead bird.” The other one looked up in the sky and said, “Where, I don’t see it?”
The second man didn’t understand the principle that dead things don’t fly. But that’s a principle we can use to manage our time. An example would be wasting time participating in church functions that have lost their meaning. Often someone has a good idea for a church project or a program which God blesses and uses. But then we then institutionalize the program and set up a committee to do it again year after year.
What we forget is that God anoints a method much like He anoints a man. A particular method may work for a time in one setting, but be a waste of time and energy in another. Being careful to use the best method of reaching people with the Gospel will insure our church activities are the ones that redeem the time.
"
"David Livingston, the famous pioneer missionary to Africa, was a man who was not afraid to deal with problems. A missionary society once wanted to send helpers to Dr. Livingston. The leader sent him a message that read, “Have you found a good road to where you are? If so, we want to send other men to join you.” Livingston replied, “If you have found men who will come only if there is a good road, I don’t want them. I want men who will come even if there is no road at all.”
Livingston lived out the scripture given by Paul to, “Endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.” He understood that God never promised a life of ease and comfort. On the contrary, Jesus said, “In the world ye shall have tribulation.”
People of accomplishment all recognize that there will be obstacles in life and they make plans to deal with them. They don’t waste time lamenting over problems hoping they’ll go away. Rather, they choose to confront them and redeem the time.
"
"Lots of people get frustrated and develop negative thinking patterns because they can't see any progress toward their goals. They don't see themselves moving any closer to fulfilling God's plan for their lives.
If you find yourself depressed because you are going nowhere and achieving nothing, learn how to create an achievable goal for yourself each day. Making a daily goal and achieving it, establishes a pattern of positive accomplishment. It keeps you moving in the right direction. It creates a positive momentum that says I am allowing God to use me in a real and tangible way to accomplish something for Him.
Setting goals is a key part of good time management. Setting a God ordained, spiritually beneficial goal each day, and achieving it, is an excellent way to create the positive motivation you need to be used of God and to redeem the time.
"