Are you feeling stressed? Overwhelmed? Over-worked? Like you can never complete everything you are supposed to complete? Do projects never seem to be as good as you want them to be?

Here’s an illustration I hope will help.

I love exploring Ted.com for exceptional videos. I don’t get to very often, but when I do, I find great stuff.

Here’s one you should consider watching. It’s about 17 minutes long, and honestly he rambles at times, but you’ll get some great wisdom and reminders from a great man. Here’s John Wooden on the subject “What is True Success?”

I have the opportunity to sit with many people who are experiencing disappointment in life. Many times, even when we are doing the best we know how, we find ourselves disappointed with where we find ourselves in life at the time…

We don’t get the job…
The ministry doesn’t appear to be working…
The marriage unravels…
The children go astray…
The business fails…
The spouse cheats…

Having faced disappointment many times in life, I’ve learned a few things about handling these times.

Here are 7 pieces of wisdom for the disappointments of life:

Inactivity rarely produces anything…
Waiting on God doesn’t always mean doing nothing…

Jesus said, “My time has not yet come” (John 2:4)… He was in a time of waiting…yet He continued to act on what He could do…

Do what you know to do today…
Take initiative towards change you know you should make…

In Joshua 3 they had to get in the water before it started to part…You may have to get in the water first, before you start to see results…

Create action…it is often then God begins to reveal the destination He is taking you towards…

What action do you need to take today?

We have an amazing team of leaders at Grace Community Church. I continually encourage our staff to develop themselves personally. I realize that as they mature and grow individually; in their careers and personal lives, that the strength of our staff and church will only increase. I put out this encouragement at a recent staff meeting again. Apparently, I said the right words this time, because in the past week almost half our staff mentioned they want to improve their plans for personal development.

Recently one staff member asked me to point them towards writing their personal development plan. Here’s what I shared with him. Perhaps you need this as well.

Years ago in a company I owned, there was a young man who worked for me who had tremendous potential. I believed in him so much that I personally invested in him and paid special attention to him. I thought his future with our company was worth the extra time. He never measured up to my expectations and we ended up having to part ways.

Every time I would meet with him to “encourage” him, he would say the same thing. “I’m doing the best I know how to do.” I have come to realize over the years that this response was actually his primary problem. He was doing the best he KNEW HOW to do.

Don’t be a “can’t do it” person…Be a “can do it” person…

Some people are just naturally wired to kill other people’s dreams. Others live in a world of caution and fear, never wanting to take a risk…always opting for the safest side of the street. Sometimes that’s not in an attempt to be negative, but just the way a person is wired…

I realize there is a place for the questioner…There are people inclined to find holes in an idea in an attempt to strengthen it (I use this tactic sometimes.)

I am not advocating running blindly…I’m not impressed when someone comes to me with an idea with no intent to critically think about it, set goals and objectives, or develop a plan to accomplish the idea…

I like common sense….

BUT…

I was helping someone think strategically recently. We were looking at this person’s ministry, trying to design a system, which would allow for continual growth and improvement. The ministry has grown rapidly and the leader barely feels she can keep up with the current demands. She recognizes the need to delegate, grow new leaders, and spread out responsibility and ownership, but she can’t seem to get past the current demands of details to develop a plan to do so.

Have you ever been there?

Recently, actually in the same week, I had a statement made to me and a question asked of me that made me stop and reflect. Does that ever happen to you? Can one word or phrase someone says jump out at you and challenge you to think about your life for a moment?

Nate asked me an important question this weekend. He asked, “When and how did you become disciplined in spiritual growth?” That’s a great question. I wish I could say I was most excellently disciplined, but I’m not…just disciplined. I wonder though if some of you may be equal curious as to the answers to this question.