“Therefore send me at once a man skillful to work in gold and silver, in bronze and iron, in purple and crimson and blue, who has skill to engrave with the skillful men who are with me in Judah and Jerusalem whom my father provided.”
2 Chronicles 2:7
Solomon was determined to build the house of God but in doing so he needed both skilled and unskilled men for this great endeavor. To find a skilled man he sent word to Hiram, King of Tyre, asking for such. With the help of skilled men, Solomon was able to do what he wanted to do in building a beautiful, permanent temple for the Lord.
Sometimes not just anybody will do. In whatever we are attempting to build, be it a physical structure or an organization, we must look for knowledgeable men who can help us. It may mean that we need to go beyond our ‘borders’, asking others to help us look for that special person with just the right skill set to do what we need done. It’s not our job to build it ourselves. As we realize that we do not have all that it takes, we must search high and low for the one who is able. Solomon was building a team. He had some skilled men already that knew how to do certain things, but needed an expert in metals to assist them. Essentially what he sent Hiram was a job description and evidently they found their man.
All of us have certain God-given skills and abilities which must be used for His glory. The leader’s responsibility is to identify and equip our people to fulfill the “job” the Lord has prepared for them. Some will already be highly skilled when they come to us. Others will be at various levels of skill, but all must be encouraged to use their God-given gifts for the Lord.
If you have a need of someone write down your expectations — call it job description if you’d like. Be specific as possible because the more details you have written down the more likely you will get what you are looking for. What’s more, make sure they come with good recommendation. King Solomon did not send out a general notice for a skilled medalist, he wanted a man recommended by King Hiram, someone proven.
When building a team to work toward a vision take some time to think about what needs to be done and what kind of person you need to make it happen. Ask those whom you trust to give you a good recommendation.
Take some time this week to write down your vision in a fresh way. Then take time to think about the people needed to fulfill the vision. Finally, analyze your current team as to the skill set of each. What are their strengths and weakness? Is there anyone missing to do a specific job? Follow the guidelines above to find them.
