Straighten It Out!

Titus 1:5

The reason I left you in Crete was that you might straighten out what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town, as I directed you.

Have you ever wondered why you are still where you are? Sometimes it appears that everybody else is moving forward but you. It’s not that God has passed you but rather he has positioned you to straighten out the place where you’ve been assigned.

Many times when I go fishing my line gets tangled up. I can be on a roll catching fish and then my line gets in a mess. I want to go forward, move on down the lake but instead I must anchor down to get my line untangled before I can move on to better fishing spots. It takes great patience because to move forward with an unfinished mess would be very unproductive. What is it in your life that you need to straighten out before you move forward?

Paul told Titus for this reason I left you in Crete, to straighten out what was left unfinished. Your assignment where you are is to do two things:

1. Straighten out what was left unfinished. You can’t move on to something new until you take care of old business. The problem with some of us is that we keep jumping from one thing to the next without finishing what we started. There is an old proverb that states: never trade horses in the middle of the stream. You can’t jump from one thing to the other until you’ve successfully crossed over to the other side with the horse you started out with. Trying to switch in the middle of a river could get you swept away in the middle of unfinished business. No matter how much you dislike the horse you are on , your best bet is to get across the water before you try to switch. Before you leave Crete make sure you finish your assignment.

2. Appoint elders in every town. That is you must find people of character to raise up in leadership. You must reproduce leaders to ensure that the movement continues. Jesus told his disciples to go and make disciples teaching them the things he taught them. It’s not enough to be saved if you have not reproduced yourself in others. Look at the character traits of these leaders in Titus 1:6-9. More importantly please know that you draw who you are.

Dear God,

Give me staying power. Sometimes it gets hard to finish where I am because I see where I want to be. Give me the wisdom and discipline to be where I am so that I can finish what you have assigned for me in this season of my life. Show me the right leaders so that I can appoint them in the different cities where you are calling us to as we head in a New Direction with mulit-sites. Most of all create in me the right spirit because I know that I draw who I am. We want to be more like Jesus inside and out. Thank you for my assignment and I am determined to straighten out what is unfinished.

In Jesus Name,

Amen