What does wise organization do for leaders and those they lead?

Genesis 1:28-30Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.” Then God said, “Look! I have given you every seed-bearing plant throughout the earth and all the fruit trees for your food. And I have given every green plant as food for all the wild animals, the birds in the sky, and the small animals that scurry along the ground—everything that has life.” And that is what happened.

Psalm 139:13-17You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered!

Leadership, in some sense, imitates the work of our Creator God. As such we are compelled toward order and organization simply by observing the way we were made. As leaders, we are sub-creators who care for the situations and people under our care, seeking to provide environments where they can reach their full potential.

Genesis 2:15The Lord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it.

God charged human beings with the continuing work of bringing order out of chaos so that the earth would be fruitful. Organization is the holy task of ordering and administrating human and material resources, including time, in ways that bring out the best in people and situations.

Genesis 6:13-22So God said to Noah, . . . “Build a large boat from cypress wood and waterproof it with tar, inside and out. Then construct decks and stalls throughout its interior. Make the boat 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. Leave an 18-inch opening below the roof all the way around the boat. Put the door on the side, and build three decks inside the boat—lower, middle, and upper. Look! I am about to cover the earth with a flood that will destroy every living thing that breathes. Everything on earth will die. But I will confirm my covenant with you. So enter the boat—you and your wife and your sons and their wives. Bring a pair of every kind of animal—a male and a female—into the boat with you to keep them alive during the flood. Pairs of every kind of bird, and every kind of animal, and every kind of small animal that scurries along the ground, will come to you to be kept alive. And be sure to take on board enough food for your family and for all the animals.” So Noah did everything exactly as God had commanded him.

Genesis 41:33-36“Therefore, Pharaoh should find an intelligent and wise man and put him in charge of the entire land of Egypt. Then Pharaoh should appoint supervisors over the land and let them collect one-fifth of all the crops during the seven good years. Have them gather all the food produced in the good years that are just ahead and bring it to Pharaoh’s storehouses. Store it away, and guard it so there will be food in the cities. That way there will be enough to eat when the seven years of famine come to the land of Egypt. Otherwise this famine will destroy the land.”

Some believe that human organization tends to manipulate people and can get in the way of the Holy Spirit’s work in a situation. The testimony throughout Scripture, however, shows that God works in orderly ways. In fact, organization not only improves the quality of our lives but can also save lives. Noah’s organizational skills, in obedience to God’s commands, preserved his life, his family’s lives and the animal species during the flood. Joseph was used by God to organize the Egyptian nation so that the future years of bumper crops could be stored and then distributed during the seven years of famine. Getting organized is often inspired by God; it can be a divine moment when God’s people create a strategy to complete a divine task.