A little over a year ago, I was taking my dad back to the airport after a long visit. While he was here, he was able to have a peek into my life. He got to see the pace I was moving at, along with the responsibilities I carried. No one else has ever really gotten to see that. My girls go to school, Kent goes to work, and I work from our home. I had a team for each business, but there was no crossover, so they didn’t know what I was doing outside of my work with them.
I knew I was “busy,” but I had gotten use to it. I thought it was okay. I knew I was tired. I knew I was always pushing deadlines, and it was getting harder to remember things, but I chalked that up to the struggles of running multiple businesses. I am an entrepreneur, isn’t this how it’s supposed to be?
My dad was so sweet. He never said anything negative about my work, but I knew he was concerned for me. So in the car on the way to the airport, somehow, this came up: my schedule, my full plate, and all of the people and businesses counting on me to show up day in and day out.
At that time, I had one business that I was ready to walk away from. I had been contemplating it for over a year. In justifying my schedule, I told my dad that I hadn’t walked away from that business yet because I didn’t feel like God had released me.
It sounded right. I had heard other believers talk like that. I followed that up by sharing how badly this business was draining me, and what a gigantic burden it was on my family.
That’s when my dad, who isn’t a business man, gave me some of the best business advice I’ve ever received:
“Somer, you realize God gave you your brain, right?”
Duh, Dad.
“Well, He expects you to use it when you’re conflicted and looking to make a big decision.”
Well, why hadn’t I thought of that?
So simple, but I hadn’t considered that God may just be telling me what to do, rather then just doing it for me.
God could have closed the door on my business in a supernatural way, but He didn’t choose to work in my life like that. He made me be the one to “close the door.” He asked me to have faith and obey. And I’m so incredibly grateful that He did, because my faith was strengthened throughout the process in ways that I still can’t explain.
When I walked away, the business was still profitable, so to most, the decision did not make sense. But to me, it made all the sense in the world.
Why was it so clear?
Because God had control of my thoughts. You know, those thoughts that were trapped up there in that brain that my dad advised me to use. [Insert face palm emoji.]
Now, let me quickly say, this is one way that God can choose to move. That’s why His Word instructs us to “stay in step with the Spirit” (Galatians 5:25). Sometimes, we should wait. Sometimes, He will close doors for us. Sometimes, we’ll have confidence that He hasn’t released us from an assignment.
But sometimes, we have to have faith to take a scary step. It won’t always be obvious, and our brains are required.
And those brains, the ones that He gave us in order to be reliable resources, must be fully submitted to Him. We must fill our minds with His truth. We must renew our minds daily in Him. When we are doing those activities, we ensure our minds are meditating on Him.
Fast forward to now and I’m so happy to share that, although I walked away from a successful, profitable business with no real plan of what was next, God quickly rocked our world.
Within 6 months we replaced the income, but more importantly, God taught me SO much about obedience, and about how important it is to abide 100% in Him.
Here are four things to remember when you feel stuck in a situation…
1. God talks about our brain in His Word.
He created us to use our minds to love, honor, and obey Him. “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your MIND.” (Matthew 22:37)
2. We are made in His image, and thus are not robots.
Our loving Father gave us a mind + free will for a reason. He also gave us the Holy Spirit to guide us, ALL of our being, including our mind.
3. Waiting for God to close the door on something, in a literal way, may not happen.
He may choose to direct us in a situation, rather than to just direct the situation. Be prepared for both!
4. Faith moves aren’t always made using the gas pedal.
The breaks can be just as important.
“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what the will of God is, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:2)
