(The following was originally published at CareyGreen.com)
No matter your role in business (owner, entrepreneur, solopreneur, sales, marketing, human resources, management) you will face your share of trials and difficulties. The sale that doesn’t come through, the account you lose unexpectedly, the client who decides you’re not the right “fit” for them.
There are all kinds of tough times waiting for us out there. It’s going to happen. You need to be ready.
How should you think about those kinds of things? Too many people give up, quit, let it discourage them and get them down. But as a follower of Christ who is active in business, you don’t have to respond that same way. You have a certainty behind the circumstance that you can count on that will actually enable you to have joy in the circumstance.
I find great encouragement from James 1:2, when James wrote:
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds
What?! Consider it all JOY?!
YES!
Think about it – if we are to count it all (even life’s toughest moments) joy, it is a mindset issue. It boils down to how we are supposed to think about life’s processes. James goes on to describe what it is that comes from us “counting it all joy”…
…for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness… (James 1:3)
The Bible tells us that our endurance and consistency will grow as our faith is tested and we “keep on keepin’ on”. These are the things we need in business if we are to succeed. Because, in many ways, it’s merely a numbers game: If you make enough calls, make enough contacts, and follow up with enough new clients, you’re going to succeed.
It’s a numbers game. Therefore, we need the kind of steadfastness that comes from God in order to make it happen.
But, James isn’t done there, he continues:
…and let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing (James 1:2-3)
Isn’t that what all of us want – to be complete, mature, and lacking in nothing? Then we will be able to conquer this thing called “business”.
You see, if God has called us to business, it is our responsibility to be steadfast. And, James is telling us that when those hard times come, you should actually set your mind in a different place than normal. You shouldn’t get discouraged. You shouldn’t get down on yourself or feel defeated. Instead, you should realize that success is right around the corner if you remain steadfast.
As an individual, your endurance will make you mature, complete, lacking in nothing. This is going to make you stronger and even better at your job than you are today.
And, I believe that this principle is what leads to success in business: continual steadfastness.
So, this New Testament passage is truly a MINDSET passage! It’s all about how we are to think when tough times come our way. We are to count even the roughest seasons of our lives as joy! Because these are the moments and things that God is going to use to make us better at what we do, make us more mature and complete in our faith, AND it’s what He will use to bring success to us!