Chapter 2

Managers of God's World

"Helen? Are you sure Dr. Smith told you to take this for your asthma?" He pointed to the paper in his hand.

"Yes." Her eyebrows puckered. "Is there something wrong?"

"It just doesn't look right," he mumbled. He reached for the phone and tapped out the number of the doctor's private line. "Dr. Smith? I'm filling Helen Jones' prescription. Are you sure you wanted her to have this medication? Do you think it's compatible with her other meds?"

He waited and then spoke in short sentences. "Yes, . . . That's right . . . That's what I thought . . . Yes, that would be better. Thanks."

"Helen." John moved closer. "Dr. Smith thinks I should give you another medication. I'll be just a moment."

John became a pharmacist because he wanted to help people. He remembered how he'd made the decision. I couldn't endure the patient load of a doctor, he'd thought. But the work of a pharmacist? I could do that.

He began working for a large drug-store chain and soon found himself in his home town.

"Counting pills and typing labels is boring," he told his wife Elaine. "But I enjoy working with customers." He gave her a kiss on the cheek. "I've known many of them since I was a child."

John treated every customer with care—just as he'd done for Helen. He explained to each one how to use their medicine and what to expect in side effects.

"I try to put myself in their shoes," he explained to Elaine. "If I were going to take this prescription, what would I want to know?" He winked at her. "I've never gone wrong working like that."

One day Bill, the store manager, asked John into his office. He smiled, leaned back in his chair, and put his feet up on the desk. "You're a good man, John," he declared as a grin spread over his face. "You could handle a lot more responsibility than you have now."

Bill slowly removed his feet from the desk, and leaned forward. "I'm being transferred to another store." He raised his left eyebrow. "And I've recommended that you take my place."

John felt as though a wave of electricity zapped through his body. "Th-thanks," he stammered as he managed a faint smile.

As manager, John worked as hard as he had when he'd run the pharmacy. "I follow one personal rule in everything I do," he told Elaine. "When I find myself in a situation where I don't know what to do, I ask myself: 'What would the owners want me to do?'" He put his finger to his lips and then pointed it at Elaine. "So far I've never gone wrong."

Owner vs. Manager

When God created this planet, he designed and built both the hardware and the software to run it. We call the software "the human race." God calls us His "children."

God created you and me for the purpose of caring for His world—to be managers of His "store." And if we'll just ask ourselves the question, like John did, "What would the Owner want me to do?" we'd never go wrong.

What's the difference between a manager and an owner? That may seem like a silly question. But when I begin talking about the things "I own"—those things I have in my possession—then the definitions of owner and manager can become cloudy. After all, "it's mine . . . isn't it? I own it . . . don't I?"

Do you?

Own your house? Stop paying your taxes and see how long "they" let you keep it!

Own your car? Fail to renew your registration and see how long "they" let you drive it!

Whatever you "own," what will you do with it when you die?

"I'll leave it behind for somebody else!" you return.

You're getting tired of this little game aren't you? But think about it: If someone or some condition can take your property away from you, then do you really own it?

Only one Person owns anything. God Himself!

God created everything. He maintains everything. He owns everything.

All we can do, at best, is to take care of the things God puts into our hands. And He made us managers over all these things.

The Decision

Steve and Esther received an appointment to mission service. They prayed about it and "counted the cost." They knew that to accept the appointment would make it necessary for them to sell their comfortable home, their new car, and most of their furniture—during an economic recession!

But without hesitation they sold it all—at a loss of more than $10,000. "It's God's property," Steve explained to a friend. "If He wants us to go to the mission field . . . then we must sell His property . . . whether we make a loss or not."

On the surface there may not appear much difference between manager and owner. Both have privileges; both have responsibilities; both have authority to use the materials for which they are responsible.

But there the similarity ends. The owner possesses the business. She has the responsibility to put up the money for basic materials of operation. The owner appoints managers and lays down the policies for the use of her property.

On the other hand, the manager has the responsibility of taking care of the owner's business . . . as well as he would take care of his own property . . . as well as the owner would do it were she there in person.

A manager has to account to the owner for the use of her property and the treatment of employees. At the same time, he directs the day to day work in order to draw from the employees labor equivalent to what they're being paid. And at the end of the month, when the accountant tallies up the balance, the manager returns all the profits to the owner.

And most of all, managers remember that, after all, they're only temporary. Their jobs exist only so long as the owner is satisfied with their leadership. Were the owner to ever become displeased, the manager could find someone else working in his place.

When God created the earth and asked the human race to take care of it, He retained ownership for Himself. He blessed the world, supplied it with all the needed materials, and sustained its inhabitants with food, water, and air. And God made the human race managers of His business.

If we remember the principle that God is the owner and we the people are His managers, we'll find security . . . and happiness that we'd never believed could be possible.

God's Agents

Alice lost her job. A single mother of two, she had no income. Before long she ran out of money.

When her landlord asked for the rent, she sobbed: "I've lost my job . . . I don't have any money."

"I'm sorry," returned her landlord. "But if you can't pay, then you'll have to move out."

Alice didn't know what to do . . . where to turn for help.

Charles—a traveling salesman—overheard two friends discussing her distress. "What was that?" he broke into the conversation.

"The widow . . . Alice . . . and her two kids are being evicted," said one.

"What a shame," returned his friend.

"Where does she live?" Charles asked.

"Over on Oak St."

Without hesitating, Charles found Alice and paid her rent. "Take this too." He handed her a bulging envelope. "It'll help you buy food and other things while you look for a job."

"I don't know how to thank you!" Alice cried.

"Don't thank me," Charles smiled. "Thank God . . . I'm just His agent."

God's manager; God's agent. Sounds exciting, doesn't it?

Chapter 3