It seems that every day, I become newly infatuated with the prospect of completing everything in one day. I am inundated with new business ideas, people I want to help, ministries I want to start, time I want to spent with my family, and so much more. Keeping my time and life balanced is the furthest from my mind as I kill myself to stay awake for as long as I possibly can. Sleeping, after all, is such a waste of a good life.

In the last year, I have become so consumed with singularity, trying desperately to stay focused on finishing just one project. But, my mind races ahead of me, dreaming of variations and enhancements to the one project. I feel like putting time on pause for about a month just to catch up with the ideas, which just keep spawning new and better mutations. It makes me just want to scream!

But, one thing that I noticed is that in my quest to finish the “main thing”, I have stopped writing my peripheral ideas down. A few years ago, I would write in four to five different notebooks at any given time. Theological mind maps, business plan outlines, development plans, grocery lists – you name it, I wrote it. But, in the last year, I have stopped writing. This has created both the frustration of forgetting the ideas and, in many ways, has stopped the volume of new ideas altogether. The result has been a feeling of being stuck in the pause position in virtually every area of my life.

So, I bought a new notebook.

Boy, are the ideas and lists flooding in! The excitement that it has generated has driven me into a renewed frenzy of entrepreneurial spirit. I remember how it felt before the business ideas stabilized – before I could pay the mortgage with my ideas.

You see, there is an importance to having a plan to execute after your plan for sustenance has been fulfilled. Entrepreneurs strive for just one thing in the beginning – making enough to live. But, once you have a growing, thriving business that has you in a comfortable position, the temptation is to live in it. That is fine for the secular entrepreneur that is just in it for the money, fame, and rush of it all. But, should the Christian entrepreneur settle with such a mundane definition of “arriving”? As Paul would say, “God forbid!”

We Are Made For BEYOND Success!

What is clear in the Word of God is that He has called us to greatness beyond ourselves. Even the most brilliant minds on the planet cannot conceive or duplicate God’s intentions. I see Christian business men that are quite content with being prideful and “giving back” monetarily. But, the truth is that God does not invest MONEY in people – He invests His Spirit and anointing in the form of ideas, inspiration, and the foolishness to think you can actually make it happen. The RESULT of these things is revenue, useful services, and innovation beyond what we originally understood.

Don’t EVER be comfortable with your worldly success, however small or great. Whether success means paying the bills or living in a mansion, you MUST have a plan for after success. Your mind, abilities, and resourses must continue to be recycled in order to maximize God’s investment in you. God will most definitely hold you accountable for using only part of what He has made you a steward over. Don’t bury the rest of your ideas and resources in your pseudo-success. Buy some new notebooks and plan the next venture, ministry, or foolish idea.

Whether you are in your energetic youth or your restful retirement years, don’t waste a second in believing that God is through with you. In His Word, God always used the young and the old to do amazing things beyond their natural abilities. If God can use us in our weakness, imagine what He could do if we could just humble ourselves in our time of strength and realize that it is nothing compared to the power and glory of the Living God.