The Process Not The Project

AND GOD BLESSED THEM. AND GOD SAID TO THEM, "BE FRUITFUL AND MULTIPLY AND FILL THE EARTH AND SUBDUE IT, AND HAVE DOMINION OVER THE FISH OF THE SEA AND OVER THE BIRDS OF THE HEAVENS AND OVER EVERY LIVING THING THAT MOVES ON THE EARTH." - GENESIS 1:28

Profit, revenue, sales, positive cash flow, and increased market share are all outcomes that businesses seek. And they should if they want to stay in business. But I'd like to submit for your consideration another perspective. What if God wants more out of our work than just earthly success criteria? If you shatter sales records and profit margins but lose yourself along the way, what good is that? Jesus asked that very question in Mark 8:36. "For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?" God cares about the perfection and production of your character. And ladies and gentlemen, the shaping of your character is most definitely a process.

God wants us to embrace the process, not the project or target in progress (whatever it may be). We seem to quickly forget that God controls the outcome. If God wants your sales to spike, He'll do it. If He wants them to plummet, He'll do it. He wants you to learn lessons along the way so that you become more Christ-like. Remember, if we call ourselves Christians, "Christ" is the root word.

Work is more complex than it's ever been because businesses are setting out to solve more complex problems in the marketplace. The day to day grind of work can produce weariness, fatigue, and a lack of faith if we're not careful. Take the story of Noah, for instance. He built an ark that took years for a weather pattern that had never existed before. When God finally sent the rain, Noah was 600 years old! Years of manual labor, 40 days of flooding, and 150 days of floating at sea. Weariness was an understatement. But God blessed Noah because of his faithfulness, devotion, and obedience.

There are tons of other scriptures that speak of the sanctification (maturation) process.

Hebrews 12:11: "For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it."

James 1:2-4: "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing."

Romans 8:18: "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us?"

The maturation process is timely and strategic. For example, think about how wine is made. Before you get to the sweet, smooth, or earthy taste you know and love, clusters of grapes first had to be picked. The season in which the grapes were grown and the kind of soil they were cultivated in points to timeliness. The crushing, fermentation, and temperature in which the grapes are aged in points to specificity.

What you do (vocation) matters to God, but how you go about it (sanctification journey) matters even more to God.

This has been an excerpt from my book, "Fortify: Being Rooted in God's Plan For Work And Business." Find the book HERE and the companion workbook/journal HERE.

For more about integrating faith and business, listen to The Fortified Life Podcast HERE. Live Wednesday nights @ 8:30pm ET and On Demand (Apple, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Amazon Music, Audible, Google Podcasts, Spreaker).