Make The Difficult Decisions

If we hadn’t wasted all this time, we could have gone and returned twice by now. Genesis 43:10

By all standards, it was a successful ministry—good attendance, dedicated staff, strong missional outreach, and a healthy budget.

But an elephant in the room was making everyone uncomfortable. The “Wednesday Night Family Meal Time” was not doing well. It had never done well. Attendance was bad, the food was second-rate, and the volunteer staff could have been assigned more effectively.

Although there were more effective programs to focus on, no one was willing to pull the plug on what was privately known as Arnie’s Albatross, after the pastor who had originally promoted the idea.

Joseph’s brothers were starving (see Genesis 43). They wanted to return to Egypt for more food, but their father, Jacob, hesitated on this crucial decision and wasted valuable time hemming and hawing.

For leaders, tough decisions come with the territory. Make them and move on. You know what needs to be done. More importantly, your people know what needs to be done, and they’re waiting for you to do it—now.