Waiting on God’s Timing in Business: Trusting the Process

Early in our Christian walk, we are told that the Lord’s timing is always perfect. Even if it doesn’t align with what we want it to be or pray for.

But how do we wait?

How do we wait without messing everything up? How do we know it is God’s perfect timing, not a message to us that seems wholly black and white, that you need to move on?

God could be telling you that this isn’t the plan, couldn’t He?

Then: Sometimes it feels like a ping pong game, and you’re the ping pong ball, right? This business is the plan. This work is what you are passionate about. This business was a God thing . He told me to do it. I am sure.

Now: This business needs to take off. I am not gaining traction. If it is a God thing, wouldn’t He make it work? Should I do something else? How can I fix it? Maybe I need a partner. Perhaps I need to add services.

Maybe it never was a God thing.

It can be downright confusing.

How exactly do we sort through it?

I have always used a dual approach. I use the prayer, ask, wait, listen, hope, and keep praying method for business start-ups and growth. Then, I add in the foundational business building blocks to stay on track and not mess it up while waiting on God’s perfect timing.

We can also add in the praying-that-I-don’t-mess-it-up part. Praying not to make things worse is sometimes the straightest path to waiting patiently for God.

Here are some fundamental components of moving forward and waiting. (Yes, these are not always mutually exclusive in God’s kingdom!)

Why Did You Move Forward to Begin With?

This is the it was totally a God thing part. Really, I believe God gives us everything—even our vision for our business . You need not only to remember what made you want to start your business to begin with, you need to capture it. You need to write, draw, and tell the story of how your vision and business came to be.

When did you know it was going to happen? When were you completely positive that you were going to quit your job or quit looking for a job because this is what you were meant to do in this season of your life?

Capture this moment in whatever creative way you can and keep it forever in front of you. Your “why” is not only what you must remember for yourself as you wait to grow traction; this is what you must share with everyone else – your prospects, your customers, your team, and never, ever forget your family. Whether they are called or not, they are in it with you.

When was the last time you revisited your ‘why’ for starting this business? How can you remind yourself of that purpose today?

What Does the Work Look Like?

What does the work look like if you are fulfilling your God vision ? What does this work, product, or project look like if you glorify God?

This is the crossroads . This is the crossroads of idea and business. If we don’t execute in a crazy, focused, I-want-God-to-be-so-proud-of-me-while-I’m-trying-so-hard-to-glorify-Him way, we are leaving a good idea to dissipate into the small business graveyard.

We must execute if we are ever to build traction in our business. We have to do the work even if it is only for a few customers at first. We have to put our whole heart into it, even if we give it away initially. We must do it like we would if we had perfect success. Why?

• This excellent execution is what will make your business stand out from the others. Great implementation is what will create raving fans and word-of-mouth growth. Creating raving fans is what businesses that last do. They do the work. They do the same job for one that they would do for many.
• Our hard work and full heart show the Lord and the world our passion. It shows others that you really believe that God’s timing is perfect, that your business is a God-vision, and that He will not forsake you.

What Do We Do While We Wait?

We can wait and move forward. We can. In God’s kingdom , these concepts are not mutually exclusive. I know the parable where Jesus talks about building your house on rock and not sand pertains to our spiritual foundation. However, I also like to visualize it in the business arena. We want to build our business on a foundation of rock.

A rock-strong business foundation is built on Christian values and sound business building blocks.

While you are not slammed busy, you can implement systems and processes to handle more customers and employees. We always hesitate to spend time on processes and procedures when we are a one-person show. Who is going to follow them? Me?

I believe in planning for success. Why would we start a business if we thought it would fail? And if we believe it can thrive, we need to put the foundation in place to be ready for that momentum.

We can get busy doing things, as long as the doing things is not the messing things up kind of activity.

What Does It Look Like to NOT Mess Things Up?

Anything that is taking you away from your God-vision is messing things up. Staying focused is the antidote to not messing things up.

Messing things up can be wide and varied:

• Lose focus on your vision/mission – add services and customers who do not match your ideal client just to make money.
• Waste money and needed capital on unnecessary expenditures that will impact your cash flow and ability to wait on God’s timing.
• Lose faith and worry and fret over everything. Anxiety will show up in how you treat people, your confidence in selling your product or services, and your relationships, including your relationship with God.
• We enter agreements to hurry up the process rather than waiting on God.
• We are doing low-quality work or using low-quality materials or labor to save on costs.

The best thing we can do to avoid messing things up is to remember why we started our business. Find the heart of our purpose and focus with all of our heart on executing it without concern for the results. I know it sounds wild. I know it is almost impossible. But even if it is for a few hours during the day, focus on the vision and the work.

And trust that God will provide what you need. And trust that His timing is perfect.

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