Yoo hoo, fellow business owner? Yes I’m talking to you this morning.  Sometimes we stress ourselves out, thinking we should be more, do more, should have done better, don’t compare to someone else and their stats for the same time period… and we get angry.

I received our business sales statistics this weekend. It was a huge blow. I thought our team was doing so much better than that! Maybe not first place. Maybe not even second. I could even see fourth place. But NINTH?

Commence with eye rolling and anger. Anger at myself (why didn’t I advertise more? Why didn’t I market better, partner with more people, be more aggressive, get less sleep, yada yada yada.) Anger at my situation (why can’t I do this job full time?) Did I mention anger at myself? Why didn’t I work harder and put myself out there?!?

That’s what my 2 am Facebook message/rant to a friend looked like, anyway. What is the matter with me? We could have done so much more! 

Monkey Backpack as I call her, Lord I cherish her. She reminds me ever so lovingly, “Didn’t you tell me that God asked you to step back?”

I had forgotten. I’d forgotten that He’d asked me to step back and that day after day, the Holy Spirit would whisper in my heart, “Don’t spend any money on marketing, just take care of those I bring to you.” I’d forgotten that it made no sense at the time and was the exact opposite of what I’d wanted to do but I did it anyway.

I’d forgotten how much my family had needed me last year and how many hours I’d spent each night doing homework with my son and encouraging my daughter during some heartfelt pre-teen discussions. I’d forgotten how we’d moved twice in one year and probably couldn’t have handled much more business than we did anyway. I’d forgotten that most of the past year had been crazy but I’d stepped out in faith and listened and followed and dropped all our nets and even jumped into a different boat and headed off to a different sea altogether. Most of all, I’d forgotten that God was in control.

He used my friend to remind me this morning that I didn’t need to be angry or disappointed with myself.

We forget sometimes. We forget that God doesn’t have sales goals, but desires that we make relationships through those sales. We forget that God doesn’t consider our success by what rank we fall in, but by whether or not we followed Him when He asked us to put down our nets, even when it makes no sense to do so.

We forget that no matter how much marketing we do, it is God that does the providing, not our marketing savvy. Yes, He gives the ideas, but ultimately the verses hold true:

Every good and perfect thing comes from above. James 1:17

My God will meet all your needs. ~ Phillipines 4:19

Ask and it shall be given unto you. ~ Matthew 7:7

The Lord does not let the righteous go hungry but he thwarts the cravings of the wicked. ~ Proverbs 10:3

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work in us, to him be glory forever. ~ Ephesians 3:20

We limit ourselves to what we see through our tower binoculars, forgetting that God has an amazing view if we step back and look at the big picture.

Today, let’s worry less about our statistics and more about what God wants us to do with them. Be less angry at yourself at what you didn’t accomplish and see the bigger picture of who loved your time with them this month, who needed your healing touch while they were sick, or who needed a good snuggle on the couch. See the big picture, and press on towards your goals, knowing that your heavenly father is steadily working on an amazing plan for you, just beyond the view of your binoculars.

Cheering for you,

~ Karen