Many Christians in business feel stuck between a rock and a hard place. They feel called to business, not ministry, but then they go off to church, which is all about ministry. Many feel lonely and isolated in the church environment.
Anyway, that is an entirely different subject matter for a different article. It’s a matter close to my heart though, and my new book tells my story of being a Christian in business. I have been in business for all of my adult life, and I would love to share with you how I personally mix work, as well as a reliance on God to open doors, bring provision, and generally make it all work. It is this:
Work like it all depends on you, and pray like it all depends on God.
That is my mantra for work. Working like ‘it all depends on you’ is essential, as you have to be doing the hard work to get the results. You have to make those calls, follow up leads, do the work – and do it well – and be excellent at what you do. This is essential. Excellence and skill still play a key role for a Christian in business. We cannot omit these key components and just expect God to bless us.
Or if you’re unhappy in your career and you want to change, then you need to do the hard work of gaining new skills, additional study and potentially new qualifications, as well as the uncertainty that comes from changing industries.
Once I have done all I can, and there are end of days and weeks where I collapse on the couch at the end of the day because I have given it my absolute all, I then rest in God and His Word. This is the part where I pray like it all depends on God.
I can only do so much. I have 24 hours in a day, and like you, I have a lot of other things to attend to to keep my life balanced. I want to stay happily married, I have four children that I want to spend time with. I have a few hobbies I want to still be able to find a little time to enjoy. I want to have friends around for a barbeque and enjoy time with others.
But I have the pressure of my work, and the mouths it is responsible for feeding, in the back of my mind. I read the Bible and I am filled with faith that God is with me, that He will open doors, and that I am highly favored. I walk in that realm where I know things will happen. But going back to it, I cannot shirk the work and ask God to compensate for my laziness.
You see, God has given us perfectly functioning brain;, we have arms and legs, eyes and ears, and we have all we need to perform our work. We have to perform it well, though. This part cannot be overlooked.
I was at a conference earlier this year and the speaker said, “You can tell who are the Christians who are really in business. They are all the cranky ones.” The crowd all laughed, me included, but the bottom line was that he is right. He then went on to explain about the other group of Christians in business who have big smiles on their faces and walk around like they are floating. He went on to say that these are the ones not actually doing any work, but just ‘waiting on the Lord’ for something miraculous to happen.
Work can make me cranky. It is not easy and I daily come up against roadblocks. I am working for God, but that does not negate the fact that I need to spend the hours at my desk and put in the work it takes to see the business remain successful. I must still do the work.
The best recipe for a Christian in business is to do all of the hard work, and then some, and then go back and rely on your Creator to weave His way through your work. If God wasn’t that interested in our work, then He wouldn’t have set up this world around work and finance. We could all just float around the place all day, going from prayer meeting to prayer meeting, and we’d all have big smiles on our faces. But instead we must toil and put the hard yards in if we want to reap the rewards
So in closing, work like it all depends on you, and pray like it all depends on God.
“Do you see someone skilled in their work? They will serve before kings; they will not serve before officials of low rank.”
Proverbs 22:29
Matt Danswan is the CEO of Initiate Media, publishers of Christian Woman. He also blogs at www.mattdanswan.com. His new book NOT Business As Usualdocuments the story of the building of Initiate Media debt-free.
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