A MAN WENT on Safari in an exotic country, hiring some local guides to manage his procession…

 

Because he had arrived late, he was already three days behind schedule, and the original safari had left without him.  So the hired men sprinted to catch up.

 

After the first day of running in the jungle heat, the men fell exhausted at the evening campfire.  Early the next morning, the visitor blew his whistle:  “Come on!  Let’s go!  Let’s catch that safari!”  The men jumped up, strapped on the bags, and started running.

 

Long after the sun had set, they finally stopped, once again falling in sheer exhaustion.  The foreigner was well-pleased, saying, “If we keep up this pace, we may catch the others!”  So the next morning, they got up in a hurry and ran again — all day long.

 

On the fourth day, the eager visitor sprung to his feet and exclaimed, “Today we shall surely catch them!  Let’s go!”

 

But the hired men just sat around the dying fire, poking the embers with sticks.  “Get moving right now!” urged the man.

 

The leader of the men replied, “We’re not moving.”

 

Indignant, the foreigner insisted, “I paid you to help me catch up with the safari!”

 

“Sir,” said the leader with a firm calmness, “we are not going to move all day.  You have pushed us so hard these first three days.  Now we will have to wait a whole day . . . to let our souls catch up!” 

 

Lead out of rest and allow your soul to catch up with you.  Only then will you be able to put your heart into everything God asks of you.  Without rest, you are leading on empty.  Wayne Cordeiro, “Seven Lessons Hard Learned,” Leading on Empty, 127-128

 

Mike Benson