God has already planned it

When Adam and Eve brought onto themselves the curses of sin at Eden, God had already planned that the woman's seed would crush the head of the serpent. (Genesis 3:15)

When Joseph's brothers delivered him into slavery in Egypt, God had already planned that he would save countless lives through the great famine. (Genesis 50:20)

When Israel found themselves trapped by the Egyptians with their back to the Red Sea, God had already planned a miracle He'd refer back to all throughout the Bible. (Exodus 14:13)

When Saul disqualified himself from kingship at Gilgal, God had already planned to anoint a greater king after His own heart. (1 Samuel 13:14)

When Naomi was left without a husband or sons, God had already planned that the Messiah would come through her family. (Ruth 4:17)

When Lazarus grew ill and died, God had already planned that His disciples would believe in Him as a result. (John 11:14)

When Jesus was taken prisoner and sentenced to crucifixion, God had already planned to bring about the salvation of mankind. (Acts 2:23)

When Jesus departed this world and left His frightened disciples behind, He had already planned that the gospel would penetrate to the ends of the earth. (Acts 1:8)

When a murderer was on his way to claim the life of more Christians, God had already planned to bring salvation to the Gentiles through him. (Acts 9:15)

When you were still in the grasp of the devil, God had already planned good works for you to accomplish. (Ephesians 2:10)

When all the armies of the earth gather together to finally destroy Christianity, God has already planned to demonstrate His sovereignty with absolute victory. (Revelation 20:9)

Perhaps you are feeling like your fundraising (or life!) isn't going according to your plan right now. If so, don't worry...

God has already planned something glorious to come from it.

Making the best use of the time

The world seems to slow down quite a bit between Christmas and New Year's. I get about 7% of the email I usually do. The blogosphere is full of recycled "top ten" posts. Fundraising appointments seem non-existent. You probably relax a bit more, eat a bit more and sleep a bit more.

There's a season for everything under the sun so that's all fine. The problem arises, however, when the season is over but you keep living as though it's December 26.

Perhaps that isn't a struggle for you, but it sure was for me during my full-time fundraising! My first fundraising stint took 15 months which spanned two Christmases. In both cases, I hadn't made calls in a while, momentum had slowed down and I'd fully bought into the popular myth that "no one wants to meet around the holidays." So when the time came to hang up my new wall calendar, I kept up the seasonal pattern by finding a dozen other things to do other than fundraising... and not all of those things were particularly wholesome. Where much distraction is, sin is not absent.

Looking back, a lot of that trouble was entirely avoidable. Much of it stemmed from the fact that I'd forgotten my mission. The rest of it was because I'd forgotten the gospel.

Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. (Ephesians 5:15-16 ESV)

My time, much like my own heart, is not naturally good. Rather, both need to be redeemed by grace. If you, like me, tend to squander time that you should be redeeming, repent and believe the gospel! The Lord Jesus came to this earth as our Redeemer, voluntarily substituting His righteousness for our unrighteousness, His glory for our brokenness and His perfect use of time for our imperfect use.

After you've repented and are ready to get back at it, here are a few practical ideas to get you started:

1. Write some thank-you notes: One of the best ways to remind yourself of your mission is to remind others. Thank your donors for helping you on the mission!
2. Plan out the week: Do you know what you'll be doing the rest of the week? If you don't have specific goals, plans and names written down, you're not looking carefully how you walk. Choose wisdom instead!
3. Take the first step: Know what's even better than planning? Doing! The first step often seems daunting, but it can easily serve as a catalyst for future productivity. You'll be making the best use of the time before you know it. The Lord has already gone before you in whatever task you pick. He knows what you need and He's eager to see you finish!

By God's grace, this is the year you'll finish your fundraising. What are you waiting for?

Treasure hunt

One of the first questions I'm usually asked by someone about to start fundraising is, "How will I meet the people who will help me reach my support goal?"  It's a great question, and there are lots of ways to answer it.  One way that I answer that question these days is to compare it to a treasure hunt.

Do you remember going on treasure hunts as a kid?  It didn't matter where you were.  It didn't matter whether you did it alone or with others.  It didn't even matter if there was "real" treasure or if it was all in your mind.  Every kid has built-in expertise in the field of treasure-hunting.  Here are the few simple things you formerly knew but may have forgotten about a good treasure hunt:

1. There is definitely treasure out there, waiting to be found.
2. The treasure was hidden by a pirate who intended for you personally to find it many years later.
3. Though you sometimes have some clues or a cryptic map, the treasure could really be anywhere, so you have to search under every rock and behind every couch until you find it.

Finding the people to make up your support team is essentially a treasure hunt!  If God has called you to your ministry, then He has also provided the people for you to get the funds you need.  Your donors are already out there, hand-selected by God in advance for you to find along the way.

Now in case you're concerned that I'm too quickly comparing God to a pirate, consider that all throughout Scripture God seems to love hiding things for us to find at the right time.  Consider these passages from a simple word search on "mystery":

Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith. (Romans 16:25-26 ESV, emphasis mine)

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. (Ephesians 1:7-10 ESV, emphasis mine)

Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. (Colossians 1:24-27 ESV, emphasis mine)

For lack of space I didn't include Daniel 2, Ephesians 3:1-12, a handful of passages in Revelation, and a number of others.  Should it surprise us that God hides things from us for a time so that He can reveal them later, all to His glory?  "It is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search things out." (Proverbs 25:2 ESV)

Our troubles begin when we fool ourselves into thinking that we're not simply finding donors, but rather that we're the ones creating donors.  We believe that if we act a certain way or say a certain thing or know a certain person then suddenly WHAP!  Donors everywhere!  But that isn't how it works.  God created our donors; we simply discover them as a child discovers treasure.  Indeed, God has hidden treasure all around us.  We don't know quite where, but that's why we have to look everywhere we can think to look.

This treasure hunt perspective is so much more freeing than thinking we need to create donors.  If that were the case, every time someone said no to an appointment or to a request for funds, we should rightly feel like we've failed.  If our job, however, is simply to look under every proverbial rock and behind every proverbial couch, we shouldn't be discouraged when we don't find a donor there.  It just means we have to keep looking - the donors are somewhere else.

At its core, this treasure hunt perspective is simply choosing to believe the gospel.  We can't create donors.  We can't say the right things.  We can't raise the funds we need.  We can't even see what God is doing unless He reveals it to us.  But we ARE able to trust in a God who accepts us despite that, because Jesus Christ stood in our place.  Jesus did create donors.  Jesus did say the right things.  Jesus can and is raising the funds you need.  Let's not trust in ourselves for either our salvation or our fundraising - let's turn to the One who provides both.

So, stop trying to get it right, remember your "inner child", and go on a treasure hunt.  God has hidden your donors out there for you to find.  So be encouraged, have fun and keep looking!

"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened." (Matthew 7:7-8 ESV)