Designing Order

1 Chronicles 6:32

And they ministered before the dwelling place of the tabernacle of the congregation with singing, until Solomon had built the house of the LORD in Jerusalem: and then they waited on their office according to their order.

God is a God of organization and order. Throughout the Scriptures, you see God giving the order of how things ought to be done. From the very beginning of creation, God designed this world with order. God understood the importance of having order in life, in business, and in the church, because without order, you only have chaos.

Solomon was a great leader who understood the importance of order. After building the great temple, he gave people a place to serve, but he also had an order in which they were to serve. Solomon followed the designed order of authority and the designed order of how one should serve.

Whether it is your life or an organization, there must be a designed order if you want to accomplish great things for God. Too many want to run their life, a church, or an organization by feelings, but that only leads to chaos and failure. You can run on your feelings for so long before eventual collapse. Having a designed order for how to do things allows you to find the formula for success and keep repeating it to enjoy continued success. Let me share a few things on how to design order.

First, you must have an order of authorities. There is nothing wrong with having an order of authorities and knowing each authority's role. There always has to be a leader, and then leaders under the leader. Knowing who is in charge is critical to having order. Once you set up the order of authorities, you must follow that order of authorities if you want to keep order in whatever you do.

Second, you must set up an order of how things are to be done. There is always a process for how to do things, and we must get that process set in place and expect everyone to follow it. Followers may not always understand the process's order, but that process is key to giving you the best chance of having success.

I am a big believer in having a bulleted list of how things ought to be done. I learned this from my flight instructor when I was learning to fly planes. He had a printed list I had to go through for preflight to make sure everything on the plane was right. Going through that list gave my instructor and me the assurance that the plane was in proper order to fly. Not following that list not only endangered my life, but also those who were flying with me, and potentially those on the ground if that plane crashed because something was not right. Having a bulleted list to follow keeps you from forgetting things that need to be done, but it also gives those who take over a position a guide for carrying on the work of the role they assumed.

Third, you must expect everyone to follow the designed order. There is no purpose in designing an order if you are not going to follow it. Leaders must follow the designed order they have set up, as well as their followers. All it takes for chaos to happen is for one person to stop following the designed order set up by leadership. You have the best chance of success if you design an order and follow it. Continued success is not accidental; it is planned. Follow the planned order, and success will continue.