Initiative is seeing a problem or an opportunity and doing all you can about it as God enables you. In other words, it is always actively looking for opportunities to do something positive and then using the opportunities God gives you.

NOTE….looking, it’s an active process, its taking an idea and ACTING on it.

    “An idea is worthless unless you use it—–John Maxwell

“If I had to sum up in a word what makes a good manager, I’d say decisiveness. You can use the fanciest computers to gather the numbers, but in the end you have to set a timetable and act.”

— Lee J. Iacocca

“Be willing to make decisions. That’s the most important quality in a good leader. Don’t fall victim to what I call the ready-aim-aim-aim-aim syndrome. You must be willing to fire.”

— T. Boone Pickens

And my personal favorite……. If you aren’t making mistakes, you aren’t doing much. 

Taking initiative.

 Someone said there are three types of people in the world:

1-    Those who do not know what is happening;

2-    Those who watch what is happening;

3-    Those who make things happen.

Initiative will always involve action. We will see a problem and act on it. We don’t just sit passively and wait for opportunities to come. We prayerfully take actions….part of why I say your relationship with God has to be solid.   When faced with a problem, or a need, we go to God, seek wisdom, and then takes a piece of paper, and begin to consider her/his options. What should I do Lord? What do you want me to do? And then take action.

It makes sense doesn’t it? If you have a problem, you take action. What else is there to do? Unfortunately, not many people, followers of Christ, included, do it. This perverted human tendency causes the writer of Proverbs to warn us of laziness. Instead of taking action, the lazy person does nothing. Instead he or she sits passively, watching, waiting for something to happen.

The Book of Proverbs call people who live by this philosophy as sluggards. A slug is a slimy snail like creature that has no shell. It walks so slowly and without direction.

“So how long are you going to laze around doing nothing? How long before you get out of bed? A nap here, a nap there, a day off here, a day off there, sit back, take it easy – do you know what comes next? Just this: You can look forward to a dirt-poor life, poverty your permanent houseguest!” Proverbs 6:9-11 (The Message)

A final challenge to taking action is making excuses. The lazy person always finds a reason to do nothing.
The sluggard quoted in Proverbs 22:13 comes up with a great reason for not going to work. Proverbs 22: 13 The lazy person is full of excuses, saying, “If I go outside, I might meet a lion in the street and be killed!”

If there is a lion in the streets….we should join the lion hunt! The truth is there will always be “lions in the street. There will always be frightening responsibilities. There will always be overwhelming challenges. There will always be heartbreaking disappointments. But only the sluggard will make excuse after excuse in the face of life’s demands.

Think about your own life. Do you make excuses for lack of performance, lack of diligence, lack of discipline, lack of good thing? Look at the fruit of your life now. Are the fruits giving you joy or do they make you sigh in sorrow?

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