The Most Important Business Lesson I Know…

Would you like a real big secret for success?

I mean a really big one? I just downloaded some of it a few minutes ago after asking the Father for revelation. It really helped me and I am going to try to help you with it NOW.

It came as I was replying to an email from a close friend who said he thought he had more faith to raise the dead than to get a good deal on a house purchase. And that really bothered him. He is lacking faith for something that seems easy, but believes he has faith for something truly miraculous.

That’s because he didn’t understand the “carrot principle”. That’s the one where the horse or the mule is pulling the cart and the driver is dangling a carrot just in front of the horse or the mule. The horse or the mule labors on, believing he will very soon catch up with the carrot and enjoy it. It’s just a little ways off – in the future. But the action he is taking will never allow him to reach the carrot.

But the Bible tells us in Psalm 32:9 not to be like the horse or the mule. They have no understanding. They don’t know how to take hold of the carrot. And we, like the horse or the mule, operate with little or no understanding in realms of faith. Of this I am certain, simply because of the lack of commonplace, irrefutable evidence of mountain moving faith.

It has to do with the concept of “NOW”. It’s easy to believe for something far off or that is not directly in front of us. We struggle with the NOW. We can believe for a bright future, someone to get saved, etc., but when we step into the NOW at the hospital to raise someone from their sick bed, we most often fail. Why?

We don’t operate in the now…

Jesus told His disciples NOT to say that the harvest was 4 months off. He said it was NOW. It’s ALWAYS NOW. But we are like the horse pulling the cart. We chase the future. We believe in the future, but God wants us to take the future into the present moment (the NOW).

Faith operates in the NOW. HOPE believes in the future, but FAITH believes the future promise or hope, is NOW. Not tomorrow. Not in some imaginary scenario. It only operates in the NOW. NOW is the day of Salvation. NOW is the day of deliverance. NOW is the day of revival. Quit putting the move of God into the future!

NOW is also the time for witty inventions! NOW is the time to succeed in your business or perhaps to launch it. NOW is the time for taking territory. Operate with a NOW MINDSET and take action NOW. Hesitation Valley is a place where hope springs eternal, but faith is nowhere to be seen. They have circled the wagons, built their bonfire and sing songs about their faith and the bright future they are hoping for. That’s Hesitation Valley. It looks good, sounds good, but will be the end of you, just like it was for Abraham’s father Terah when he remained in Haran. The time to leave Hesitation Valley is NOW.

Victory is determined in the NOW moment…

It may be manifest in a future moment but it must take place in the NOW. You will know when you believe that the victory you’ve been hoping for has moved into the NOW because you will take action. Word of caution here… Not only must faith have action, but also action must have faith. Otherwise, you will sink. Let me illustrate…

Peter had faith to walk on water and took action. While executing that action and actually walking on water, he took note of the wind and the waves and reasoned that you can’t walk on water when it’s windy and the seas are rough. Faith departed, and when it did, he was left with only his action and therefore he began to sink.

Hope plans for the future and gets excited about it. Even tells people about the future, but faith, brings it into the now. That’s why faith has “works”, and faith without works is dead. (James 2:17) Faith REQUIRES action and without action, you are not operating in faith. At best, it is hope. Action by definition and by observation of the obvious, can only be accomplished in the NOW moment. Actions are always accomplished in the NOW.

Doesn’t the Bible say in Hebrews 11… NOW, faith is… the SUBSTANCE of things HOPED for… the EVIDENCE of things not seen? Faith ALWAYS has substance. Noah had faith and the substance was the ark he built. Abraham had faith and the substance that was seen, was him tying Isaac to the woodpile for sacrifice.

Every example of faith in the Bible had an observable action with it. By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come. Isaac’s faith was demonstrated with an action in the present moment, though the fruit of his faith was manifested in later years. Same was true of Joseph who gave instructions (an action) concerning his bones after he died.

We must move from HOPE to FAITH.

We must quit being satisfied with the carrot in front of us and start seizing the NOW moment. NOW IS THE DAY OF OPPORTUNITY. NOW is the day to act on what we say we believe. Tomorrow is hope, and that’s good and necessary, but TODAY we live by FAITH in the NOW.

Every successful entrepreneur I know of, transitioned from hoping they would one day succeed, to having the faith to act. And that involved risk. Risk is a very real component of faith, because we can experience setbacks and failures while walking in faith. I will go into that another time. You will never experience the success or victory you dream of, by mere talk or even just by declaration. You must take action.

What does that look like?

When I was in my twenties and dead broke after losing my daughter to death, my first real business, my marriage, my homes and car, etc., and was staying at a friend’s home for survival, I was desperate to see God rescue me. One evening, I went to a home meeting where another young man was asking for prayer for his knee. After folks prayed for him, they broke for coffee and cookies.

I was pretty cynical at that time and thought to myself, if he really had faith to be healed, he would jump up and do what he couldn’t previously do. At that moment, the Holy Spirit challenged me to do the same kind of thing regarding my finances. I was two months behind on a bank loan payment and oddly enough they wanted paid and kept calling me.

I felt like the Holy Spirit challenged me to do what I was critical of the young man for not doing. I was to take the action corresponding to my “belief” that God would help me financially. So I determined that first thing the next morning, I would drive to the bank, ask for the loan officer handling my account, tell him I had the money for payments (roughly $1,500), and then open my wallet and start counting out the cash.

What made this idea particularly challenging was that I had NO CASH in my wallet, or anywhere else for that matter. But I determined to do exactly that, knowing that I would appear to be either a fool or a deceiver if I told the loan officer I had the money in my wallet, opened it up to pay him, and there was nothing there.

The next morning without telling anyone my predicament or intentions, I headed off to do just that, stopping by the place where I was crashing to change clothes. While there, my good friend Rick said that he had been seeking the Lord that morning and was supposed to give me a check. It was for $2,000. I carried on to the bank, cashed the check and made my $1,500 payment.

Say what you want, but I remain convinced that God responded to my faith in a very unexpected way and that need was met. The point here is the same, hope for the future must transition to faith in the NOW and that is always and only demonstrated by corresponding action.

I’m just as challenged by this word as you may be, so let’s be wise, take action, and make the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. (Ephesians 5:16) God bless you!

For more information on how you can grow your business God’s way, visit the International Christian Business Institute where students from five continents come to learn HIS ways for doing business.