I heard a terrific sermon recently on the importance of making provision for your weaknesses.
The idea was drawn from Proverbs 30:26:
Coneys are creatures of little power, yet they make their home in the crags.
The principle is simple: If there is an area of your life where you’re weak, like the coney, you’ve got to find a way to cover yourself.
The applications are endless:

• No minister of the Gospel should be alone with a female that is not his wife. I’m not sure any Christian man should, really. Sexual temptation is a primary weakness for men. So make provision for it. Hide yourself in the cleft of the rock. Accountability software for internet use-like Covenant Eyes -is another excellent example of the provision principle in action.

• Weekends are high stress for my family due to the nature of preaching multiple times on Sunday. We make provision for this. We don’t make difficult decisions or engage in discussions that invite conflict between Saturday and Monday afternoon. It’s a weak spot for us, so we minimize the liability, sparing us needless collateral damage to our marriage.

• I’ve taught my staff about how I need to and prefer to receive different types of information, and they bless me by communicating within these parameters. I’ve learned that certain modes of interaction trigger the wrong responses within me, leading to bad decisions. We make provision for this weakness by getting me the info I need at the right time, in the right format.

• I was telling a guy about this principle recently, and he shared how he had to budget extra money so his family could eat out more, since his wife worked a full time job and hated to cook. Rather than make a point of contention out of it, he made provision, and his marriage is better because of it.

• At the Furtick house, when a maintainence/repair issue comes up, I don’t pick up a tool belt, we pick up the phone. We learned early in our marriage that it’s better in the long run to call a repair man than for me to entertain the thought of fixing it. I can’t fix stuff. Never could. Holly has never made me feel less manly because of this. Instead, she encourages me: “You’re good at other things-”

These days, there are some men in our church who pity how mechanically challenged I am, and see it as a part of their ministry to help their pastor when these needs arise. It means so much that they would help cover my weaknesses so I can continue to focus where I’m strong: preaching God’s Word and leading our church.
I realize very few people have the luxury of a support system like that. But we were putting this principle into practice even when we were broke, and $150 to the repair man meant no new furniture/clothes/whatever for the next few months.

Take some time this week to identify some weak places in your life. Then get together with the people you call partners, and make provision.
Hide yourself in the rock.