The Hope QuotientSample

It’s amazing how the expectation for “what could be” seems higher in the secular world than the Christian world.

Steve Jobs revolutionized how the entire world experiences computers, telephones, and television, and launched a digital revolution. How did he do it? Sky-high expectations. 

Apple engineers called Steve’s belief that obstacles could be overcome Steve’s reality distortion field. Most of us have a reality discouragement field.

One story about Steve’s pushback against impossibilities came while creating the iPhone. He wanted the front of the phone to be covered in a durable, scratch-resistant glass, not plastic. Two problems: Glass-like that didn’t exist and he needed it fast. On the advice of a friend, Steve called Corning Glass CEO Wendell Weeks. 

Weeks told Steve they’d invented something called Gorilla Glass in the 1960s but never manufactured it. “Fine,” Steve said. “In six months, I want enough of it to make a million iPhones.”

Weeks argued, “We’ve never actually made it. We don’t even have a factory to make it.”

“Don’t be afraid,” Steve said. “Get your mind around it. You can do this.”

Corning Glass did. Within six months, a glass that had never existed was in six million iPhones that flooded the world.

The secular business community is believing that impossible things are possible at the very same time the Christian community has stopped believing in the impossible. The secular world has discovered the power of raising their expectations at the same time the Christian world has lowered ours. Could this be why Apple flourishes as churches decline?

When did business executives get more faith than those who base their lives on the resurrection? When did believers in Christ stop believing that every good thing is possible? 

Expectations matter. Great people expect more from life, and they almost always get it. 

Think Up:

Your expectations for your future are driving you straight to that future. Is that the future you want?

What can you do to raise your expectations? (Read on).