Ordering Your Private World | Book Review

Reviewed by Thomas Scarborough

I shall begin this review on a personal note. I once suffered serious burn-out in the ministry, and was not expected to make it back. In the months and years that followed, I was propped up by giving diligent attention to what has been referred to as the “wheel of balance”. This often has seven segments (labels may vary): work life, home life, exercise, rest, social life, intellectual life, and spiritual life. If one segment is considered to be “unsatisfactory”, one is likely to be emotionally endangered. If two or more segments are considered to be “unsatisfactory”, one is almost certainly in trouble.

Looking back, however, the “wheel of balance” was merely an artificial prop for me. It was a temporary fix. I believe I found the real solution when I came to learn my calling. A minister friend has put it like this: there are quite likely a thousand ministers who would be better qualified for your position, yet you are the person God decided to put there. The implication is that you are the person God has decided to use, by His sovereign grace, despite yourself. It has little to do with your own suitability or performance.

With this in mind, “Ordering Your Private World” would seem to take a middle way between the “wheel of balance”, and the learning of one’s calling. It proposes a wheel of balance with five segments: motivation, use of time, wisdom and knowledge, spiritual strength, and restoration. At the same time, the book has a sound emphasis on one’s calling. I shall briefly describe the five segments of the “wheel of balance”, then close with some quotes on calling.

* Motivation — don’t be driven, but listen for the call of Christ

* Time — it is God’s gift, use it carefully, allocate it in terms of giftedness

* Wisdom and knowledge — grow in wisdom and knowledge, and put these to use

* Spiritual strength — enlarge the spiritual centre of your life

* Restoration — press Sabbath peace into the rush and routine of life

Here follow some quotes on calling:

* Why is it that for so many the answer to personal tension and pressure lies not in going to the bridge of life [Christ] but rather attempting to run faster, protest more vigorously, accumulate more, collect more data, and gain more expertise?

* Jesus Christ will not do mighty works in the private worlds of people who are driven. He never has. He seems to prefer to work with people whom He calls.

* When, in complete submission, [Saul] asked Jesus Christ, “What shall I do, Lord?” a driven man was converted into a called one.

* Often, at the moment when it is least expected, hostile events conspire, and there can be collapse. Called people have strength from within, perseverance and power that are impervious to the blows from without.

* When others thought that John [the Baptist] might be worried about ending up as a failure, they discovered that he actually was quite satisfied, in spite of the fact that his audiences were leaving him . . . but John had such assurance because his evaluations were based first on his private world.

* From where they [the crowd] were standing, it appeared that Jesus was misusing His time [turning aside to Zacchaeus]. From where Jesus was standing, however, the time was well spent, for it fit the criteria of His mission.

* [Jesus] knew what we conveniently forget: that time must be properly budgeted for the gathering of inner strength and resolve in order to compensate for one’s weaknesses when spiritual warfare begins.

* Ask the question: What is my mission today? Not to regularly ask this question is to leave yourself open to mistakes of judgement and direction.

MacDonald, Gordon

1984 (reprinted 2000) Ordering Your Private World. Glasgow: Highland Books. Publisher Price:  £4.50. ISBN 0-946616-31-0.