meditatio at the water's edge

Just in Time
Ever since I heard the term with regard to business inventory, the phrase ‘just-in-time’ has intrigued me. In business, ‘just-in-time’ inventory means scheduling materials to arrive exactly when they are needed in the production process. It places a greater dependency on suppliers to deliver on-time and requires much greater flexibility and adaptability because you do not have the inventory lying around. The benefits are the elimination of stockpiling of inventories, and the ability to adjust quickly to changing needs.

While ‘just-in-time’ is not a perfect system for all businesses, it seems to me that it is often precisely the way that God provides for us. Remember when Jesus sent out his disciples to proclaim the kingdom of God? What did he tell them before they went? He said, “Take nothing for the journey except a staff--no bread, no bag, no money in your belts. Wear sandals but not an extra tunic” (Mark 6:8). They were to trust that God would provide for their needs just in time as they carried out his mission.

So many of us work to make sure we’ll have enough—“planning ahead,” we call it. Jesus sends us on our journey and we want to pack our bags full of food and clothes, cash and credit cards, just in case, but Jesus says, “Take nothing for the journey except a staff….”

So the disciples went out with nothing but their staff in hand. What happened? Mark says that “They went out and preached that people should repent. They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them” (Mark 6:12). They saw God provide precisely what was needed ‘just-in-time.’

I wonder what would happen if we started thinking and acting according to ‘just-in-time’ rather than ‘just-in-case’.

Trusting that God will accomplish his agenda in his time requires, not sitting back and letting God do everything (the way of passivity), but working out (the way of cooperative activity) our vocation with the confidence that the necessary resources will be made available as they become necessary—just-in-time.