Everybody’s got predictions. Wall street “Quants.” Political pundits. The weather guy. Your CFO. The last thing you want to hear is that the very best you’re likely to achieve will be in negative numbers.
As I type this, the temperature here is minus 10 degrees Fahrenheit. Of course it feels like -35 with “wind chill,” a scale invented by a meteorologist with a minor in psychology to take our feelings into account. As a friend’s son put it, “It’s always colder at the windshield factory.”
But the worst part is that the best the sun will be able to manage today is to move the mercury up to “a high of minus one.” Is that all you’ve got? The surface of the sun is over 10,000 degrees! So you’re 93,000,000 miles away? Quit whining. Try a little harder, why don’t ya?
We can all look ahead and see that the best we can do may fall short of what we wanted or expected. Your ministry plan just took a major hit from budget cuts. Your volunteers are reducing their involvement because of increased work schedules… or no work at all. Your staff may shrink but the work won’t go away. You’re starting to think that “breaking even” sounds like a “win.” And no matter how hard you work, your “high” may still be low.
How do you deal with dire predictions, and how do you plan to modify your ministry strategy? Will you ignore the predictions and press on? Move ahead with caution? Batten down the hatches and ride out the storm? What practical advice do you have for others who are facing a tough ministry year? We have a few thoughts that we’ll be sharing here over the next few weeks, and we’d sure like to hear yours.
