Category: Excellence

Jackson Brown, author of Life’s Little Instruction Book, once said, “Where there is a hill to climb, don’t think that waiting will make it any smaller.”

Waiting, in fact, tends to give hills the time they need to become mountains. For every challenge that accidentally becomes manageable by benefit of procrastination, 999 just get bigger.

There are items that were on everyone’s to-do list last week that didn’t get done. Things important but not urgent. They didn’t get done because that dreadful, demanding, take-no-prisoners last minute hasn’t confronted us yet.

But you know and I know these items could have been — and should have been — marked off the list.

Surviving or Thriving?

Elbert Hubbard said that postponement is the father of failure. It’s also the best friend of mediocrity. The things that we postpone most often are the things that define the line between surviving and thriving — the things that mark the difference between eeking out an average existence and experiencing the fullness of the abundant life.

This includes getting serious about a closer walk with Christ, following through on a ministry opportunity, putting a business idea into action, taking steps toward a healthier lifestyle, making an effort to strengthen a struggling relationship. And so on.

The only thing that stands between you and God’s blessing in any of these areas is inertia. The sooner you move, the sooner the windows of heaven can open.

Joshua once asked the people of Israel, “How long will you wait before you begin to take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given you?” (Joshua 18:3) He then outlined a simple action plan to follow for their progress.

His idea worked.

How Long Will You Wait?

Maybe we should follow Joshua’s example. You might have 50 things nagging you right now, and there’s no way you can get to all of them this week, but you can knock out one or two — and maybe more than a few.

Take a look at your list. Which items represent a “possession” that you are certain God wants you to take — a victory you are certain he wants you to claim? Put these items at the top, and scratch out a plan that moves you in their direction.

And then, take the first step.

Waiting won’t make the hill any smaller, but start moving in its direction, and you’ll discover the hill doesn’t look nearly as big up close as it did from a distance.

So how long will you wait before you begin to take possession of all that God has given you?

On May 26, 1959, Pittsburgh Pirate pitcher Harvey Haddix accomplished something no one else in baseball has accomplished. He pitched 12 perfect innings in a game against the Milwaukee Braves.

It was enough to set a record, but it wasn’t enough to get a win.

The score was tied at zero in the bottom of the 13th when the Braves’ lead off hitter reached first on an error. Two batters later, Joe Adcock knocked in the winning run.

The Braves took the game, 1-0. And Haddix took the loss. The Pirates had men on base all afternoon — more than a dozen altogether — but they couldn’t manage to get anyone across home plate.

And so, with no help from the offense, Haddix’s brilliant record-setting performance wound up in the “L” side of the ledger.

Nothing Takes the Place of Teamwork

Today many leaders are convinced if they themselves can maintain a certain level of brilliance, it will be enough to guarantee the success they’re looking for.

While brilliance won’t exactly work against you, it will never take the place of teamwork. You’re not enough by yourself.

Whatever it is you’re trying to do, you can’t do it alone. You need a team — a team of team players.

Solomon wrote…

Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up… Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. (Ecclesiastes 4:10, 12)

I encourage you to remind those on your team today that you’re committed to doing your part, that you’ve got their back, and you’re thankful that they’ve got yours.

The day before Walter Carr was scheduled to begin a new job working for a moving company he found himself facing a dilemma: His car broke down and he had no way of getting to work.

Or, rather, no easy way of getting to work.

He realized his only option was to walk the 20 mile distance from his home to the job site — the home of a family he was to help move.

After sleeping a few hours, Walter left at midnight, expecting the walk to take about 8 hours. At the half-way point he stopped to rest. When police officers stopped him for a routine check, Walter told his story.

Intrigued by Walter’s determination to get to work on time, the officers gave him a ride to the jobsite — after taking him to breakfast.

The client family, as well as his co-workers, were impressed with his determination.

And so was his boss, the moving company’s CEO. So impressed, in fact, that he drove from his home in Chattanooga to have lunch with Walter Carr.

While Walter walked the half-hour distance to his lunch meeting, his boss waited for him — along with the clients, the Pelham police, and his co-workers. When he arrived, his boss gave Walter the keys to a Ford Escape SUV.

The clients said their family will be inspired by him whenever they have tough times. “He’s like the poster boy for no excuses. He’s just got this deep faith, he wasn’t alone.”

There will always be times when you can easily (and understandably) get out of doing what you know you need to do. Or … today you can choose to walk on.

For we walk by faith, not by sight…(2 Corinthians 5:7)

We have no control over most outcomes in life. We do our best to influence them: eat right to stay healthy; drive carefully to avoid an accident; invest wisely to accumulate a net worth — we try to influence outcomes, but we can’t control them.

Sometimes we get sick anyway, sometimes the fender-bender isn’t our fault, sometimes seemingly good investments go south.

You can’t always control outcomes, but you can control one thing that is biblically guaranteed to work in your favor every time.

What is it?

Perseverance. Stick-to-it-iveness. The habit of getting back up and trying one more time.

You can’t control results, but you can control whether or not you quit. No one else can make that decision. It’s yours alone.

This is how Johann von Goethe said it: “Perseverance lies within the affordings of everyone; its power increases with its progress, and it but rarely misses its aim.”

He’s saying: Persevering is something anyone can do. The longer you do it, the stronger you get, and the more likely you are to succeed.

Almost every minister, missionary, pastor, church planter and Christian disciple knows about this. You’ll have a chance, and sometimes many, to give up before you really get going. A greener pasture and a wider path will tempt you from time to time.

Sometimes quitting just seems to make sense: it’s easy and appears to be painless. But deciding to stay is often the key that opens the door to God’s abundant blessing.

Napoleon Hill said, “Effort only fully releases its reward after a person refuses to quit.” I believe he was speaking from both observation and experience; this principle has certainly been true in my life.

Babe Ruth’s take on it was, “You just can’t beat the man who won’t give up.” (Even the devil knows this; when you resist him, he flees. James 4:7)

Paul challenges us…

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. (Galatians 6:9)

Let’s begin this week determined to keep doing good. Let it not make you weary. There’s a harvest waiting

It’s been said that the definition of insanity is to keep doing the same thing again and again, hoping for a different result.

Someone then asked, “What’s the difference between that and persistence? Isn’t it irrational to keep trying, failure after failure, expecting this time the outcome won’t be the same?”

Business leader Seth Godin had something to say about this.

“Persistence isn’t using the same tactics over and over. That’s just annoying. Persistence is having the same goal over and over.”

There’s a story in the gospel of John, after the resurrection of Jesus, when the apostles had spent the entire night fishing, but caught nothing. Jesus called out to them from the shore…

“Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish. (John 21:6)

It was like he was saying: “Keep trying, just do it a little differently this time.” The goal didn’t change. The strategy didn’t change. But they modified their method a little bit, and it worked.

If you’ve been in pursuit of an elusive goal — one that you know is worthwhile — the solution is not to give up. Instead, consider what you might do differently. Consider how you might approach things from a new angle. Instead of giving up, ask yourself: What would it mean, in this case, to cast my net on the other side of the boat?

The how of persistence is not that you keep doing the same thing again and again, trying and failing, trying and failing, hoping for a different outcome.

The how of persistence is that you keep pressing on, toward the same goal, adapting as you go.