Being in business for yourself is a bit like riding a roller coaster. You coast along and you seem to be riding a high when the bottom drops out and you crash to the ground with a lurch.
For our family, this constant riding of the roller coaster was making us dizzy and giving us vertigo! We wanted off the roller coaster! Or as I also expressed it, we wanted off the merry-go-round as we were going round and round because it seemed like we were going nowhere fast and there was NO WAY we could get off!
What did that practically mean? Well, my husband was getting little to no work, and the work he did get was small and the clients were cheap and didn’t value him. My business was all but invisible and until HIS business was stable, I could hardly even breathe, let alone concentrate on building mine up!
I felt like a failure. I felt like it would never end.
But you know what, it IS ending! We are finally experiencing the breakthrough that we’ve been needing after many years of struggling, praying, and barely getting by. He is now working on his highest paid contract, using his gifts and skills as a creative building designer, and my business is finally getting noticed so there’s opportunities opening up like never before!
How did this come about? I’m going to share some practical steps that helped us in hopes they will help you, too!
- Focus on Jesus. Be like Peter, walking on the water. DON’T put your eyes on the wind and waves of life! Keep your gaze on Him! That means spending time with Him daily, reading Scripture, praying, filling your MIND with His goodness and NOT junk! And certainly not news ‘cuz that will make you sink faster than I can say jack sprat!
- Make Jesus the boss of your life. He says jump, you ask how high and then do it! No, seriously, deciding to commit your whole life, every single part of it, to the Lord Jesus is so important to achieve any goal. Actually, it’s important just to navigate this life in these times! It will keep you from letting those wind and waves drown you. Hold onto Him. He’s a good God and He loves you. He’s FOR you! I mean, come on—He died for you!
- Believe in the callings and destiny He has for your life. He doesn’t make junk! He gave you talents, gifts, skills, experiences so you can share those with a very needy world. Don’t bury those talents—get them working for the Kingdom! Realize that HE BELIEVES IN YOU! So you better believe you better believe in yourself!
- Trust that He will take care of you. He’s the good Father, the shepherd. He is Jehovah Jireh. He is the Lord God your provider. He owns a thousand cattle on a hill. It is not your job to provide. That is God’s job! Your job is to faithful to Him and show up. He will do the rest.
- Find the seeds that are in the barn that God can grow into a harvest. That means if you have some product or service you can sell, get it out there! Nurture it, water it, feed it, weed the soil around it, and watch it grow! Because God is the one who does the growing! Don’t have a seed? Then make one and start!
- Have a goal, a destiny. God has one for you. What is it? What does your “Promise Land” look like? Do some imagining. I like to think of my Promise Land as mountains I desire to conquer. And there’s several of them. These dreams don’t have to be in just one category—you can have as many as you want. As many as He puts on your heart. They can be dreams that will take you a lifetime and dreams that will only take you a month. Variety is best so you are motivated. These will become your “whys” to keep going when the roller coaster does drop out and you are sinking.
- Never stop fighting. There may very will be giants standing in the way of your Promise Land. Take them on! Combat them. If you are lacking knowledge, find out what it is, and then apply what you’ve learned. Keep trying. If something doesn’t work, try again. Combat the spiritual giants (the powers and principalities) that stand in your way through spiritual warfare and prayer. Tell that mountain to move in the name of Jesus! Tell your problems you’re not going to take it anymore! These giants may look huge to you, but to God they are mere shadows. But even though He could take them out in a flash, He wants to build your faith muscles. He KNOWS you can do it with His help. He wants you to experience the thrill of victory! So fight!
- Speaking of victory, you’ve got to BELIEVE that you can TRIUMPH! You have to see yourself as a winner, not a loser. It doesn’t matter what anyone else says about you. God gave you this path so you will get to the other side! You already have His approval, so what do you have to lose?
Now after all these radical ways of living in this world, you may still experience the roller coaster. But hey, invite Jesus in and it’s going to be a FUN AND THRILLING RIDE!
