Posts Tagged ‘Future’
God has a plan
God has a plan. If I’ve heard that once, I’ve heard it a hundred times. In fact, I’ve said it myself many times. I believe it. God does have a plan…for everything. The Bible is clear, God is personal, and He is in control. Proverbs 19:21 says Many are the plans in the mind of…
Read MoreFaith-testing doubt
Immediately after Christmas and New Year’s, many people face a period of faith-testing doubt. I know I have. For me, this manifests as a series of questions: What will I experience at work this coming year? What will the world look like? Will I be able to navigate the challenges that I could face? The…
Read MoreI don’t know how to proceed
Stress, problems, difficulties…put in your own personal synonym and you’ll still find the truth of the following statement: “These situations tend to bring out the best and the worst in people. “ You’ve seen it and you’ve experienced it. Hard times can cause some people to “rise to the occasion” and become more than they…
Read MoreKnowing the future
“No one can know the future.” You’ve heard that said, and so have I. And to a large extent, it’s true. For the sake of full disclosure, I don’t believe in fortune tellers, but I do believe that there are things that are “knowable” about our future. Our future is not a matter of reading…
Read MoreWhat’s God doing?
What’s your first thought when things don’t go your way? Is it disbelief? Maybe it’s anger? Is it resignation to the situation? The reason I ask that question of you is because I ask myself the same question. I came upon a familiar passage that gives me insight and comfort in the midst of a…
Read MoreMarch Madness
If you’re a college basketball follower, you’ll be familiar with the term “March Madness.” This expression goes back to the Illinois’ statewide high-school basketball tournament. In 1939, a spokesperson with the Illinois High School Association, Henry V. Porter, wrote an article called “March Madness.” He wrote, “A little March madness may complement and contribute to…
Read MoreSeasons
I have a favorite season of the year. Spring. I love it for all the “sappy” reasons: trees budding, flowers blooming, life emerging. Sounds like an Emerson poem. My least favorite, don’t hate me, is Autumn. Yes, beautiful leaves are changing, etc. But, for me, it’s a reminder that the cold, the starkness of the…
Read MoreWaiting for the other shoe to drop
I talked with a wonderful friend today. She’s had her fair share of life challenges. Those challenges include breast cancer, abandonment, and some financial struggles. But, she shared today that these past six months have been the best of her life. Then she confessed, “I’m just waiting for ‘the other shoe to drop.’” I understand…
Read MoreExpect the unexpected
“Expect the unexpected.” On a surface level, this doesn’t sound like a leadership principle. It’s more of an observation. Life has a way of throwing you curveballs. Nobody “expects” to be in a car accident or to have a global pandemic foisted upon them. But it happens. So where does good leadership fit? Well, consider…
Read MoreWithout hope nothing works
Without hope, nothing works, at least in the “long term.” Dale Carnegie once said,”Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.” One of the primary, central themes of the Bible is hope. The need for hope…
Read MoreLearned helplessness
Helplessness has a few sides to it. There is a “cuteness” to it. We’ll say things like, “Oh look at that poor dog, he looks so helpless.” In those situations, you’re almost compelled to act to help out. There is the side of economic and social loss where someone loses their ability to survive and…
Read MoreFollow the blueprint
What do you do when things don’t turn out the way you planned? You didn’t get the raise. The promotion went to someone else. You received a surprisingly low grade. You’re team lost. You get the picture. We’ve all been there and some of you are there right now. You’re trying your best to process…
Read MoreYour life as a headline
Much of the history you read is in summary form. “Washington crosses the Potomac.” “Japan surrenders ending World War II.” “Elon Musk set to buy Twitter.” But history books don’t have the bandwidth to tell every back story or every detail that led to the headline. I get the same sense when reading what the…
Read MoreFamous Last Words
I ran across an article on “Famous Last Words.” It wasn’t what I expected. They were all anonymous and pretty funny. Here’s a sample: Cut the red one! Dad, why the apple on my head? He’s probably just hibernating. Here, kitty, kitty, kitty… Hey, it looks sturdy enough to me. Now you know how I…
Read MoreGod has a plan?
God has a plan. If I’ve heard that once, I’ve heard it a hundred times. In fact, I’ve said it myself many times. I believe it. God does have a plan…for everything. The Bible is clear, God is personal and He is in control. Proverbs 19:21 says Many are the plans in the mind of…
Read MoreBlind Arrogance
One of the biggest mistakes we all make is what I’ll call blind arrogance. What I mean by that is simple. It’s false confidence. We believe that we know the future and in some ways, think we can control it. For all intents and purposes, the pandemic has brought most of us back to reality.…
Read MoreThe REAL definition of HOPE
Hope is such an awesome thing. We can’t live without it. It is the theme of the scriptures from Genesis to Revelation. Our hope in God our Creator and hope of a future in God our Redeemer. But hope is misunderstood today and I don’t want you to miss this. Hope today is defined as…
Read More