Failure Defined Differently

 The Merriam Webster Dictionary defines the term failure as "a lack of success". There are numerous varying meanings for the word failure such as, not reaching a measurable objective, an inability to perform, or giving way under pressure. The root core of the word failure is a feeling of not living up to the expectations of the person who is experiencing the "failure".  I prescribe to a different definition of this word that so many people allow themselves to be labelled by. For me failure is best defined as "an opportunity to learn and grow". Failures can define a person in a positive or negative sense, but that is up to the person. Rather than allowing what others may perceive as a failure to define us, choose to use the experience as an opportunity to learn, grow, and succeed. 

Learning from our failures i.e. mistakes, is a part of life's normal process in growing and becoming the person God created you to be. When we make a mistake, we gain an opportunity to figure out what went wrong, what we did that messed up, and gain additional knowledge so that mistake doesn't happen again. In my role as a teacher/coach the vast majority of student/athletes I have coached do not come onto the playing field having mastered every aspect of the sport they are embarking upon. My hope is the young person has a mindset of wanting to grow, which ultimately will traverse through many wins, losses, setbacks, and advances. It is essential that the student/athlete doesn't give up when things get tough, but instead they embrace the struggle as a viable part of the learning to succeed process. 

The old expression, "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me" aptly fits in our conversation around growing through our mistakes. If we are fooled or tricked by someone once that is on them for tricking me. If it happens a second time then I obviously did not learn from my previous mistake and learning, which leads to growth, did not happen. I have to accept ownership for my lack of learning from my negative experience. To put this more in context for our discussion today, if I don't learn from my mistake and it happens again, that is the bedrock foundation of what we would label as a failure. As in any classroom or sport, making the mistake is not the issue, not realizing you made a mistake and thus not correcting your mistake is where true failure creeps into the equation. We fall down, we get up, we analyze why we fell down, and we take the corrective steps to learn and adopt new strategies that will keep us from falling down due to the previous reason for our fall. 

I'm pretty sure most of us have heard of the "school of hard knocks". In essence life's bumps in the road equal the classroom of lessons learned and skills attained. Without education, there is no learning. Without learning there is no growth, and with no growth there is no progress. We stand still in our mistakes and if we persist in our mistakes we actually begin to lose traction and slide backwards, losing any positive momentum we may have experienced. 

The Apostle Paul put it this way in this discussion regarding failing, getting back up, learning from mistakes, and then continuing to press forward, "I don't mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us." Philippians 3:12-14. I can almost hear Paul on the sidelines shouting out the same support for his "players" that He learned through the greatest "Coach" of all time, "Don't give up, Don't Quit, and Always Do Your Best!"  Paul doesn't say things are perfect and obstacles are obsolete. Instead Paul's message to the Christians in Philippi was, I haven't learned it all and at times I get knocked down, but you can't keep me down because I am chasing after the perfection of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. You will get knocked down and you may at times feel like a failure due to your circumstances or situation, but remember this, failure is temporary while you are learning from your mistakes. Progress and change occur when you learn from your mistakes, take corrective action, and then launch yourself right back in the life God purposed you to live!

Coach Carter

Be Careful What You Ask For

In thinking out loud, have you ever said, "I wish I had a little more patience" . Over the years, I have said that myself numerous times, and I have heard it said by others more times than I can count. What stands out in my memory about quipping that phrase is, inevitably someone would quip back, "You better be careful what you ask for". Why should anyone be careful when asking for more of a virtue that we can all benefit from seems like a fair and logical question? A question I'd like to explore today in our time together. 

For an athlete to get stronger they have to exercise their muscles. For most athletes that means they are, to some extent, going to be exercising with weights. Barbells, dumbells, weight machines, whatever form it is, weightlifting increases our strength and builds our muscles. An important aspect of weight training is that as our muscles develop, the weight being lifted has to be increased or the muscle becomes complacent and doesn't grow. Muscles won't grow unless they are challenged. In much the same way, our patience quotient does not increase unless it is challenged, in most cases challenged daily over an extended period of time. This is the essence of the warning behind being careful what you ask for. 

There is a second part to the statement "Be careful what you ask for" it goes something like this, "because you might just get what you asked for." For our purpose and in relation to our weightlifting analogy, if you want to develop more patience, just like building our muscles, you have to exercise the muscle of patience through things that require patience. In the Bible, Job demonstrates what true patience looks like. Job was being pounded on by the devil, who was attempting to show that Job wouldn't be so committed to God if things weren't going so well for him. Job lost his children, his possessions, and was stricken with an ailment, yet through all of the tragic losses, Job's faith did not waiver or wane. Even Job's wife questioned how Job could remain faithful after losing their children and all their possessions, "Then his wife said to him, "Do you still hold on to your faith? Curse God and die!" Job 2:9. Even with this encouragement from his wife, Job would not recant his trust in God. Job's stance was firm and each time he was challenged to turn his back on God, Job stood committed. "He said, "when I was born, I had nothing. When I die, I will take nothing with me. The Lord has given me all the things I have. The Lord may choose to take those things away. I will continue to praise the name of the Lord!" Job 1:21. In other words, regardless of what happens to me, I am going to trust the One who lives in me. (I John 4:4). Job basically was saying I don't really know what God is doing here, but at the end of the day, I am going to trust in God and I am going to never give up on God. Job trusted God and through all of the adversity and affliction he endured, Job would not give up on God. Job's example is the textbook definition of what patience looks like for each of us. 

Job's friends tried to get Job to acknowledge that he was being punished by God, as we discussed above Job's wife tried to get Job to basically renounce God, but through it all Job made the decision to persist and persevere. This is where patience is developed. Just as a muscle is built and made stronger through the adversity of the increased weight it is forced to lift, Job's faith was increased through the adversity and affliction he endured. This doesn't happen overnight. This is a time consuming journey and all the bumps and potholes along the way make it an uncomfortable ride. God never left Job and He will never leave you alone to travel down the lane of adversity you most certainly will traverse. 

In the end of Job's story, the devil realizes that Job's faith and endurance are real and that Job is not going to falter and stumble into blaming God for his misfortunes. Instead Job does exactly the opposite. Job places his trust in God and basically says if this is the way my life is going to be then so be it. Yet as we read the rest of the Book of Job we learn that Job's health was restored, his livestock and possessions were multiplied, and Job's family was expanded as well. Job would not give up on God, through all of the adversity he endured, his patience was challenged and Job proved faithful. 

Job was challenged and for his endurance Job was awarded back more than he lost. When we feel like we are at the end of our rope and our patience is fading fast, may we be reminded that just as Job confronted adversity with patient trust and faith, we too must choose to do the same exact thing. Patience is a virtue that is learned and without adversity there is no lesson to learn. Hold on to your faith, trust in God, and He will patiently walk alongside you each step along the way! 

Coach Carter

Ponds or Rivers

If I asked you to imagine a visual of living water, which image more likely would come to mind, a river or a pond? For me that is a pretty simple response, a river is constantly moving, winding back and forth, carrying boats, tree limbs, and other items downstream. In contrast, ponds may appear stagnant and stale, there really isn't any movement of the water in a pond. If you had to choose one of the two sources of water for a drink, would you choose the ever moving, bubbly fresh water from a river, or would you choose the stagnate, stale pond to quench your thirst? That choice is obvious, yet in life we many times forego the living water to instead choose the stale pool that this world offers. 

Before we "dive" into our comparison of rivers and ponds, it is relevant and important to define true living water. For our Flat Tire Thought, we need to envision "Living Water" as God. There are numerous references throughout the Bible referencing the living water of God, His Word, and Jesus His Son. God is alive and His Holy Spirit flows through our lives. The Holy Bible is the living word of God. Historical in context, preordained in purpose, the Holy Bible is God's guidebook that surpasses all time and perspectives. Finally, Jesus makes reference to Himself as the true Living Water in the Gospel of John, "But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life." John 4:14. Shall we continue? 

In my purview ponds appear lifeless. In most cases the boundaries are visible and there is no life force outside of rain adding to the quantity of water available. In a good rainy season ponds may appear fresh, but when there is an extended dry period, the perimeter of a pond begins to decrease and the water begins to develop algae due to inaction and a lack of a fresh water source. In much the same way, the ways of this world may appear to be thriving and growing, but in reality the ways of this world will only leave us thirsty for another drink of the next mounting wave. As a pond begins to shrink when the precipitation decreases, so do the ways of this world as it becomes obvious that the stagnancy of this world cannot meet the needs of our heart and soul. 

Conversely, from the moment we are in the presence of a river, the water appears to have a life of its own. Always moving, increasing in volume and speed after a storm, and eager to arrive to fulfill it's purpose of providing life to the bigger body of water it is destined to support. The sound alone of a mighty river flowing over rocks in a rapid demonstrates the livelihood and power of this body of water. Teeming with life, rejoicing in its purpose, and resistant to man's constraints, a river provides a wonderful comparison to the Living Water of our God. Jesus definitively proclaims His role as the source of living water in this scripture taken also from the Gospel of John, "... Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, "Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them." John 7:37-38. Notice verse 37 says that Jesus said in a "loud voice", which creates the image of the mighty river of life that Jesus is for all that believe. Not just a mighty river, but a river of living water that will flow from within us. Most certainly, we are to drink from the true well of Living Water which is Christ and then per the words of Jesus we are to allow His Living Water to flow outwards forming tributaries of the good news of hope and life eternal with God our creator and Heavenly Father! 

The question today is a choice. Do you want to drink from the stagnate pond of this life, or will you choose to drink from the well of Living Water that flows like a river from God, through His Son Jesus, to all who accept His offer to drink from the water that never runs dry and will eternally quench our thirst? The choice is yours. Choose God's river of life!

Coach Carter

Are You Spending or Investing Your Time?

 How do you "spend" your time? Do you spend your time earning an income to in turn spend your income on material possessions? Or do you spend your time chasing worldly pleasures and treasures? I'm not completely convinced that I've figured this one out at this point in my life, how about you? If I make the decision to purchase a brand new 2026 Ford Bronco, I will "spend" a number of years paying for that vehicle. Maybe I really "need" a new vehicle, or maybe I just want that new Bronco because they look really cool and I'd love to have one? The point here is, I am making an investment of more than my resources to make this purchase. I am committing to "spending" my time, which is finite not infinite, on a vehicle that may or may not be worthy of that investment. The question I have to ask myself is whether the time I will spend paying for something like a new vehicle is going to be a worthy investment of my energy and time.

Let's just say for our purpose today that you purchase that new Bronco, vacation condo, or whatever it is you might be contemplating making an investment in and the payback covers the next 5, 10, or even up to 50 years (if lenders are allowed to offer 50 year mortgages as recently rumored) of your life. You will "spend" those years paying off the loan you made. That is a major investment of your time. Now let's throw an unexpected emergency expense into the equation and suddenly you may be taking on a side or part time job to maintain your quality of life. That means you are going to be making an adjustment to how you "spend" your time. Time that was formerly spent with family or supporting others suddenly is being "spent" on paying for your investments. Again the common denominator is found in the idea of, is what you are investing your time in worth the time you will be spending. An applicable verse here is found in the teachings of Jesus as He exhorted,"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal." (Matthew 6:19)

Keep in mind as I mentioned earlier, time is finite. We do not know how long our lives on this third rock from the sun will be. We can bank on the averages that an adult male in the United States lives to be around 75 years and for females that number sits at approximately 80 years of age. Those are averages which basically means some will live well beyond those averages, but on the flip side some of us will not live out the full three quarters of a century. Based on this knowledge, shouldn't we make sound investments of our resources which ultimately have a huge impact on how we "spend" our time? The accompanying verse in Matthew 6:20 provides a better investment of our resources and time, "But store up for yourselves treasures in Heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal."

Investments are for the most part a choice. I will choose to purchase a 2026 Ford Bronco, (as much as I like those, I won't be purchasing one), or I can choose to keep the dependable Toyota Rav4 I have or possibly purchase a well maintained used vehicle, reducing the investment and the time that will be spent paying for my investment. Something that needs to be thrown into the mix on the decision making process of how we spend our time is the return on our investment or the ROI. This is critically important, regardless of the cost of the item being purchased, what will that investment bring back to the investor. In our vehicle illustration, it is well documented that a brand new vehicle drops in value as soon as you drive it off the lot. Is that a good investment? I'll leave that one up to you to decide. With material purchases you can do the same ROI analysis, but the investment of where and how we spend our time has a different ROI analysis formula. For us to "spend" our time on an investment it needs to pay back an eternal return on that time spent. Investing in your family spending time sharing, playing, learning, teaching, serving, giving, and training them to be leaders is an investment that we will never regret spending the time we invest. The ROI here is eternal, what we value and invest in will flourish because we care about the future of our investment. That is time well spent. Jesus completed the lesson above with this investor's gem, "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matthew 6:21). 

At the end of the day, when the rubber hits the road, each person has to evaluate their time and how they will spend it. My request is that in that evaluation consider the investment of your time and the return on your time spent. What do you value? What do you want to receive in return for the time you will spend obtaining your investment? Those are critical to making a sound investment. Do you want a garage full of things that eventually will rot and rust, or do you want to "spend" your time investing on things that will impact the world eternally? "No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money." (Matthew 6:24) 

Invest well, the dividends are eternal!

Coach Carter

Endurance

 John 3:16 is probably the most frequently quoted verse in scripture, and if that is true, Philippians 4:13 isn't far behind. Athletes preparing for competition may be the group that most commonly recite this verse. Picture an Olympic weightlifter as he approaches the bar holding what will be his personal best if he successfully lifts the weight. Over and over again he repeats the verse, "I can do all things, I can do all things, I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength!" That may very well be an appropriate application of Paul's declaration, yet I believe Paul had a varying mindset as he penned this encouraging verse. For me this verse "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength" Phil. 4:13, screams of endurance and perseverance. Allow me to explain myself. 

Overcoming a challenge requires endurance, but in the above example of our muscle bound Olympian, the encouragement of referencing Philippians 4:13 is more of a motivation to excel rather than endure. I can win this race, I can get this job promotion, I will have a successful surgery. In these instances the support of leaning into Philippians 4:13 is more about the outcome than it is about the investment of time and patience to endure through whatever lies in front of us. Paul penned this scripture not in isolation, but as a culmination of a much larger proclamation of faith. The preceding verses are critical to understanding Paul's declaration of faith found in Philippians 4:13. 

In the same chapter, just before Paul shares his "I can do all things" statement,  Paul shares his adherence to the concept of faith through endurance in verses 11-12. "I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want." Philippians 4:11-12. To me this speaks more to enduring circumstances and adversity rather than an encouragement to win the competition of a sports arena. 

Paul says he has learned to be content whatever the situation is. He has learned to endure hunger and he has learned to give thanks in times of plenty. For me, the best application of this verse is found in our reliance on God to walk alongside us regardless of what is happening in us or to us. Sickness, work challenges, relationships, financial uncertainty, all of these can cause us to waiver and stumble if we don't understand that the endurance we embrace, will build the perseverance that will lead us to the contentment that Paul references and most certainly adhered to in his own personal life journey. 

Whatever you are going through I will not minimalize in any manner, in your world it is big. What I will tell you today is you can do this, not on your own, but because you are not alone! Our daughter recently shared that the girl's preschool director and my dear lifelong friend, Mrs. Judy Wise, frequently reminds the boys and girls that they can do hard things. That is God's message to you through the encouraging words of the Apostle Paul, YOU can do hard things, YOU can do ALL things, not on your own, but through Christ who gives us the strength, the will, and the endurance to persevere regardless of what is standing in front of us. The contentment which could be labelled peace, is where the strength of this verse is found. Paul said "I have learned to be content" (Phil. 4:11) regardless of his current situation. When you are enduring  sickness for yourself or a loved one, being content sounds off center. I don't believe God was telling Paul to be content in the sickness, but to be content in knowing that God is in control, God has a plan for each of our lives, and we find the peace and strength to confidently move forward because "He who is in us, is greater than he who is in the world" I John 4:4. Our peace and endurance isn't because of anything we can do, but our comfort is found in trusting that we can do ALL things through Christ who is living in us. That is the essence of Philippians 4:13, I can, you can, we can do ALL things through Christ who is in me, in you, in us and He gives us the strength we need to not only endure, but to conquer and overcome! 

Confidently move forward knowing that the God of all creation lives in you, and His strength walks before you and in you! Amen

Coach Carter

Change How You Think ...

 Life is full of choices, research tells us that each person potentially makes up to 35,000 conscious decisions each day. Take sleep time out of the equation, (which involves a decision about when to go to bed) and the numbers equate to something like 2000 decisions each hour or a decision every two seconds. Exhausting if you had time to think about it! For today's purpose, I'd like for us to focus on how we spend our time thinking. The way I see it we have a choice in how we think. We can either spend our time worrying about things, or we can spend our time meditating and in prayer about those same concerns. 

Worrying is not constructive. As a matter of fact worrying is debilitating and thus destructive in nature. Spending your time worrying about matters doesn't change the matter in any way. Should I go or should I stay? Will I fail or will I be successful? The list goes on and on, we can literally worry ourselves out of doing anything. Productivity is decreased or denied as we digress into worrying and creating mental images of the worse case scenarios in our minds. In Luke 12:25-26 Jesus raises this poignant question, "Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?" Not being a fatalist, but more of a realist, we aren't guaranteed tomorrow, none of us are. When we woke up this morning, that was the gift we received, the gift of today. Holocaust survivor Corrie Ten Boom said this about worrying, "Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow. It empties today of its strength." If we spend our time worrying about what "might" happen, then we give up on the potential of what "might" happen if we move forward instead of sitting around worrying about things that haven't even happened. It would be interesting to see how many people would have been successful in life if they could have just left their worries behind them in the dust of hesitation and fear. Worrying is an anchor that we choose to knot ourselves to, but as with any choice there is another option, an option that provides the energy to move forward with confidence and hope!

"Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done." Philippians 4:6 (NLT). The Apostle Paul could have been justified by our modern standards if he had been a worrier. After his conversion as a Christian persecutor to that of a mouthpiece for the Christian faith as we know it today, Paul spent the last portion of his life being persecuted, pursued, and prosecuted for his faith in Jesus. I suppose you could say Paul had legitimate concerns that would have caused many of us to be stuck in our worries and fears. But not Paul, his challenge to the Church in Philippae was to stop worrying and start praying. Prayer and meditation about your prayers is powerful. Paul went on to explain why prayer is so much more powerful than worry, "Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His Peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:7 (NLT). In other words, prayer instead of worry creates peace in your heart and mind. That peace, God's peace, exceeds what we are humanly capable of experiencing on our own. When we spend our time praying and seeking God's will, not our own, that peace is powerful and it allows us to move forward confidently guided by a higher calling than our own design. 

Prayer in itself isn't going to solve our dilemmas and it doesn't guarantee us that our potential worries will magically be resolved. What prayer and subsequent meditation does provide is hope. God's response to our prayers isn't what reduces the worries of life, it is more of the salve that is applied to an injury to heal the hurt and reduce the pain. Ultimately, prayer provides peace in your life's storms and when we experience the peace of God that is where we transcend worry to a state of peace. The status may not change, but the perspective we adopt changes. When the perspective changes what might have been used to create worry and anxiety actually becomes the very fuel that motivates and moves us to where God needs and wants us to be. Fear freezes, faith fuels. 

Am I immune to worry? I'd be telling one if I said that I never worry. Do I live or choose not to live my life because of the worries in my life? No. When I begin to feel that I am worrying, I turn to prayer to help bring my thoughts into a different perspective on life and what is happening in my life. I move from a place of what is happening to me, to a place of what God is doing through me. When my perspective is more about what God can do in me and through me, I begin to leave behind the worries of what may or may not even happen. Worry is time lost that denies us of the unlimited possibilities God has in store for us if only we step into the light of God's purpose for the life He has given us to live. Change how you think and change how you live life!  

Coach Carter

 

Waiting

 "The Lord is good unto them that wait for Him, to the soul that seeketh Him. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord." Lamentations 3:25-26

Waiting is a skill that many of us struggle with, we have become accustomed to instant gratification when we see something we want. Fast food, overnight delivery, and instant communication technology make it hard to practice the skill of waiting for something. This instant gratification mentality has become so prevalent in our world that it even spills over into our prayers and requests to God. In the face of hardship, uncertainty, or any level of adversity, we want to come to God and pray for an instant answer. Where we have become programmed to expect instant responses to our request, it is humanly reasonable that we would expect God to respond to our prayers instantly. But that isn't how God works. As the scripture above explains, "it is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait" (Lament. 3:26). With so many instant solutions available in life, is it possible to develop the skill of waiting? The fruit tree farmer is a prime example of someone who has polished the skill of waiting, active waiting that is. 

Think about it. A fruit tree farmer plants a seed and then at best has to wait 6 to 8 years before fruit is produced. That requires a tremendous amount of patience and trust that the time invested will eventually pay off. This is where the skill of waiting becomes active. If planting the seed was all that a tree farmer had to do that would make it a pretty easy task. He would plant the seeds and then come back six or seven years later and start harvesting the tree's fruit. That isn't how waiting works in farming and it isn't how it works in our prayer requests. True, after the seed is planted the waiting period begins, but not a passive, sitting back and waiting for the outcome to happen. Active waiting requires us to take all actionable steps to move forward as we wait on God's plans to be fulfilled. This methodology applies well to how prayer works as well. Planting seeds, and saying a prayer is just the beginning of the process. 

After the seed is planted the farmer commits to nurturing the seed throughout its seedling stage, then to a sapling, and onward to the time that it becomes a mature fruit bearing tree. Adding nutrients to the soil, providing adequate amounts of water, and weeding the area around the tender plant ensure that the tree has the opportunity to grow and mature properly. The Apostle Paul compared nurturing God's plans and purpose to the same duties our tree farmer must adhere to in this scripture from I Corinthians 3:6-8 "I  planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their labor." The farmer plants and provides the labor, but at the end of the day, it is God who causes the tree to bear fruit. In the same way, we make our prayer requests known to God, but after that we are called to action. We just don't rub the magic God lamp and instantly receive the answer to our prayers. After we pray, we begin the process of actively waiting on God to answer our prayers. 

Actively waiting on God means that we go about the business of seeking His will, following His commands, and nurturing the seeds that God has planted in our hearts, minds, and body. We are called to action in our waiting, prayer is not a passive activity, and it is not a guarantee that the outcome will be exactly what we have prayed. With prayer there exists three responses, yes, no, or not right now. Having a personal relationship with our Maker is critical in understanding and accepting this truth. Through prayer and meditation we learn to discern our desires from God's plans, and we gain wisdom to understand that God's plans are bigger than we may ever see. Submitting to God's will is an action step in the waiting process while God works in us and through us. So just as the tree farmer must nurture the tree as it grows, we too must nurture our relationship with God in preparation for His will to come to "fruition" in us. 

Waiting, actively waiting is an ongoing process that doesn't stop when our prayers are answered. Just as the fruit tree farmer has to continue to prune and inspect the trees for any kind of infestation, we too must continue to increase and grow our relationship with God. "... The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." James 5:16. The verse doesn't say that the fervent prayer of a righteous person availeth much as soon as he prays, the promise isn't in the timing of God's action, but more about His promise to hear our prayers and then we submit those prayers to actively wait on God to fulfill His purpose and plans in us and through us. 

Two calls to action today. First, there is an ancient Chinese proverb that says the best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago, and the next best time is today. Plant a tree for your children's children. Second, as you plant the seeds of your prayers and concerns to God, set a course of action that won't have you passively sitting around waiting for God to miraculously answer your prayers. The fact that a tiny seed can become a mighty oak is amazing, just imagine what God has in store for you! 

Coach Carter