¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.                                                         – Jermiah 29:11

Last Catalyst Takeaway: In Times of Uncertainty – Go Back to what God called YOU to do

Andy Stanley is amazing! He talked about leading in uncertain times … Here were my key takeaways from his talk:

Uncertainty is the Arena Where Great Leaders are Born -We all hate uncertainty, but without it we would have no need for leadership and we’d never become the people God wants us to become through the journey of trusting Him.

You don’t Learn Anything in times of Certainty - We all want certainty  in life – certainty that we’ll be a success, that we’ll know what the next step in our lives is, etc. . .  Honestly… we have certainty in the Word of God that our lives are going to be amazing if we follow Him. In times of uncertainty, we can stand on the certainty of God’s promises (His Word)

It’s Ok to be Uncertain, It’s not ok to be Unclear -You can be uncertain about what you’re supposed to do as far as the plan is concerned, but you have to be clear in knowing what God called you to do.

The Clearer You Are on What God’s Called You to, the less Uncertainty will Matter -When you know the Word and know what God has called you to do, obstacles seem so much smaller and easier to tackle.

What can you do proactively in what God has called you to do now? - Stop waiting for everything to be certain and get busy for God today. Andy always says, “You’ll never be more than 80% sure” – so step out do something!

What is the vision God put in YOUR heart? If you don’t know, spend time in prayer, think back to the beginning of your Christian walk before everything got so “complex” – what did you dream about? What do you KNOW He told you to do?

This is going all over the web… thought I’d share it with everyone… Hilarious… I love Maxwell!

¹⁶But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.  -Luke 5:16

Catalyst Takeaway #6 – Call Time Out Consistently

Rick Warren dropped some amazing truths at Catalyst West Coast… one that I thought was so simple, yet so profound was the power of getting away. He said that we need to:

Divert Daily – Do something everyday that energizes you – run, play a game, watch a movie, read… and leave work at work!

Withdraw Weekly - Literally, one day a week you become “Dead to the World”. Have a family night, relax all day, go for a walk, but you should take an entire day to yourself each week.

Abandon Annually - We need to go away every year and lose the laptops, lose the cell phones, etc. Recognize the world can get along without you. You don’t want people to be dependent on you anyway.

We live in such a crazy world where it is so hard to disconnect. I often wonder where we’d be if we just called time out, spent time listening to God, spent more focused time with friends and family, spend more time just being.I think we’d all be in a much better place…

Thoughts?