026 - I Lost My Business Because I Couldn't Hear God's Voice

"God, why can I hear you in life, but not in business?"

I asked Him this as I was driving to Bible study one winter night in 2020.

His response cut me to the core.

It set me on a journey that is changing everything (more on that in a bit).

His response; "It's because you're trying to control it."

You see, my business was my baby.

It was about me.

And, because I was trying to control it, my own selfish ambition got in the way of clearly hearing God's voice.

It was like a radio station that was too far away. You know when it's static or there are 2 stations competing over the same radio wave?

That's what was happening.

I was tuned into my OWN selfish motives and so God's voice was static.

They were competing.

Therefore, it didn't feel like I could hear His voice.

This applies to both LIFE and BUSINESS.

Whenever I'm in state of self focus, God's voice grows dim. I lose sight and slowly "life" takes over.

However, as soon as I tune back in, He's always there cheering me on, making things clear.

When I realized this, I went on a journey of giving up control of my business.

It wasn't easy.

In fact, I had to completely LOSE my business before I could GRAB hold of it again.

That happened at the end of 2021.

All of my contracts dried up at the same time and I was left with no work and no money.

Then, God told me to go work for a local marketing company.

At first, I argued with Him. I didn't want to.

But, I did it.

And it was really good for me.

I gave my dreams and my business to God.

Over the next year, He taught me different things that I needed to learn.

Ultimately, He reset my focus back on Him.

When my clients started coming back to me at the end of 2022, I was wired differently.

I didn't want to just do my own thing anymore. I wanted to build something with God for the people of God.

Here's the biggest things I'm learning about doing business with God.

1 - It's not about me

This is a big one. We think life revolves around us. Our desires. Our failures. Our... you name it.

But, it doesn't.

When we realize this, we find ultimate freedom.

When we give up our desires, our failures, our needs... and we simply lay it at His feet, fully willing to let it go for good, that's when we can actually take hold of the things that matter.

In fact, only until we lose our life, will we find it.

But, when we find it, we find the best version of it.

A version where we're completely free and can create without the hooks of the world within us.

You see, most of what we think we want and what we think our issues are, are only a facade of what's really true.

We must LOSE ourselves to see past the facade.

2 - I can trust God to lead

Believe it or not, God is actually really good at leading you into fullness.

He's better at business than you are.

And when we trust Him, He leads us beside the still waters. He takes us through the green pastures. He satisfies our souls.

Things start to flow.

We find the things we really LOVE to do.

Here's a couple things that happened as I started to trust God:

• I started to believe in my own abilities again. (Bye, bye, imposter syndrome!)
• I got clarity on what I REALLY wanted - not what the world was trying to tell me I needed.
• I gained compassion for the people He was calling me to serve.
• I started to show up more consistently, with more passion.
• I started thinking bigger, believing bigger, wanting to produce more transformation.

Simply put, by putting all trust in God, I found myself - the ME I was created to be.

Joy returned and life became more happy.

3 - God is your best strategist & promoter 

In that place of trusting God, people I could have never tried to get in front of, sought me out.

Clients came that I never tried to get.

There was an ease to it.

Things fell in place.

And, all I did was practice Strategic Goodness. Where I took time to show up for the people in front of me.

Identifying where they're actually at. Meeting them there with full empathy. And giving them the best things for them in the moment.

That's it.

A heart to serve people.

And God brought the promotion (and the strategy to go with it).

For example, recently, as I was worshiping, I saw this vision of myself in front of my computer screen teaching and making videos.

So, two weeks later, I started making weekly videos to put on YouTube.

Another time, I met with someone in business that I immediately clicked with. We ended up partnering for a 5-day challenge.

It turned out amazingly.

And, I would have probably never done it had I done it myself.

God knew that and put someone there to push me forward.

He truly is the best strategist & promoter.

Conclusion:

Through all of this, I had a period in the middle of this year where my eyes were off of God again.

My emotions were in the way and I shut Him out for a couple months.

It was a hell of my own making.

But, when I let go of the emotions I was feeling and GAVE them to God, He was right there, waiting.

He never stopped believing in me.

And even though I messed things up, He is better at righting my mistakes than I am at messing them up.

Even though there are things that didn't go the way I hoped, He restored hope.

And, the future is brighter than ever.

His best is always there chasing me down. All I need to do is to let it catch me.

I'm excited to see what I build with God over the next year.

And, if you're reading this, I'd like to build with you.

Somehow. Some way.

Let me know.

How can I help you build a simple advice-based business with God?