What is enough?

At work, we are in the last quarter of the fiscal year, and are in the heat of finalizing the next fiscal year’s budget. The worldwide financial turmoil is only making the budgeting exercise more challenging than ever. It is not surprising that we need to tighten up our belt to ride through the situation. While working with leaner and stringent constraints, I see something good can be emerged out from it. Working with limitations and constraints forces us to look for waste cycles to improve efficiency, compels us to be creative in solutions, and encourages us to share resources to reduce overheads. As I have brought it up to some of the management, “even if we were given more, there would still be limits.” At the end of the day, what is enough? The best I want to see is that we all can be more accountable—to our shareholders who have invested on us, to our colleague who have given up some convenience and resources for the greater good, to our own conscience, and ultimately, to God.

There was a business opportunity that might help me raise my own support while I am in full-time ministry. I am deeply in debt to even the thought of the offer driven by love. However, I had to pass it, knowing that I would likely become conceited. I am still in my sinful fresh that constraints and accountability are actually do me good. Thus, I willfully want to be held accountable to the church, communities and those who love me. There will be challenges to manage multiple “bosses” and expectations of many “stakeholders”. But my great example is the Son giving up his flexibility, power, wealth and glory to become man with many limitations. In faith, I trust “the boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places.” (Ps 16:6)