First of all, I want to apologize to all of you who absolutely don’t care about the iPhone.  I confess that I lined up this morning amidst the mindless masses who march to the beat of Steve Jobs’ drum.  I went to buy the iPhone 3g.  I did it because we were about to buy Pam a smartphone anyway, so why not just give her my current iPhone and let me get the new one?  (I’m so generous.)

So I bought the phone and the first sign of trouble was when they couldn’t activate it in the AT&T store.  So I was told to go home and activate on my computer.  Fine.  I get home, and I can’t do it.  All of Apple’s activation servers are down (globally) and I am stuck with two dead iPhones.  They were about as useful as coasters.  Frustrating.

I won’t bore you with all the gory technical details, but suffice it to say that several hours later I finally am up and running with my new phone.  Apparently, the problem was that Apple decided to release critical software updates and launch a new phone on the same day at the same time and their computers just couldn’t handle the load.  Bad show, Apple.  But at least they got it fixed.

I’m sure that we will know more about the Apple debacle later on, but
it sure seems that they weren’t prepared for the crowds.  They hyped
the iPhone and wanted everyone to get it, but when everyone responded -
Apple wasn’t ready.

So what does this experience have to do with leadership?  I kind of relate it to another experience I had a few years ago as a pastor.  My first Easter Sunday at River of Life we had a record attendance of 181 people.  I remember thinking – “this is it!  They’re here!”  The next Sunday – back to 110.  Then it hit me – what would we have done with them if they stayed?  We say that we expect peope to come into the church and we are looking for multiplication – but what will we do with it when it comes?

That’s from the standpoint of a pastor.  But the lesson is applicable in other spheres as well.  If you have a sense of destiny in your life about something, what are you doing to prepare for it?  Are you going to be ready for it when it happens or are you going to be scrambling on that day?  Have you gotten the education/training you need?  Do you have the resources you will need ready to go?  Have you prepared your family, your schedule, your finances, etc?

As a Christian, I believe that God has created a world that rewards people who live in faith.  It is an act of faith to set goals, but it is an activation of faith to take steps to prepare to reach those goals.