“You are hitting boulders,” he said. And, boy, was he right. It seemed I was hitting so many obstacles in the way. I would remove one boulder and a little farther down the path, I’d hit another one. I knew I was in the right field and doing the right thing. But those boulders just kept turning up as I plowed. And I knew I would have to remove them in order for the work to be successful.
Of course there is always the option of just plowing around the boulder. But the consequences of that may not be good. I would lose time and maybe never get back on the track to keep the plowing straight. And when all the plowing is done, those boulders still stick up their crusty tops for all the world to see.
Like many businesses, one of the boulders in my path was the boulder of personnel constraints. I didn’t have enough help to handle memberships, add resources, work on the web, etc., etc. I could only do so much and felt I was laboring really hard and not getting the results. If the boulder wasn’t removed, the plowing couldn’t really proceed. And that boulder was plopped right next to the boulder of financial constraints. I needed to hire someone but also needed the money to pay for that person.
And I couldn’t hire just anybody. I needed someone who fit my job qualification, i.e., understood the tasks at hand, was spiritually sensitive, had energy, and also carried the vision for KBA. I didn’t want to replace one boulder with another boulder by bringing in the wrong person. I had written a job description and was going to post a job opening, realizing that the type of person I was looking for would be hard to find—especially for the minimal pay I could offer. God would have to do something here.
Then along came Jason Hoerr. I knew Jason because he had helped at KBA in the past while still teaching full time. I never imagined he would be available. But one day he asked me about the possibility of working full time. It seems God had been speaking to him about KBA. He hadn’t seen my job description and the job specifications I had created. But I quickly realized how perfectly he fit the position. We worked out a financial arrangement with incentives that could solve the pay issues.
So at the beginning of 2010 I hired Jason Hoerr to work full time as marketing director. Some boulders had been broken up. God had helped. (And God even sent some marvelous volunteers to do also help.)
The plowing could continue.
So, one word I have to Kingdom business people is that as you are working in your part of the Father’s vineyard out there in the marketplace, He knows there are boulders. He will help you remove them as you look to Him.
But I also have a second word that I believe is important.
There is another type of boulders that is even more crucial for us as Kingdom business people to remove. Let me explain by giving an example.
A while back I met with a business person. I was wearing my “business coaching” hat and was listening to see if there were any areas where he needed specific assistance. He told me about his business. He had built it through hard work. He had hired good people and had a good reputation with his clients. He was doing many things right. He kept talking, and I kept listening. He wanted to take the business to the next level, he said. He described how deep the desire was to succeed. And then he said something that got my attention. I heard him describe a huge boulder in his path.
But what was really strange was that he didn’t know it was blocking his success.
He said he would “exaggerate” at times. He would be going along just fine and then he would tell a lie to someone about his success--how well the business was growing, how he was really making some good money, etc. He would even to that with his wife. As he described this character quirk, he shared with me in a way that indicated he didn’t understand the significance of what he was saying.
It was obvious to me that he had plowed around this boulder his whole business life. It was in the field for everyone to see, but he didn’t think it was significant. As he talked, it was apparent he had never considered that he had lost some customers because he sounded like a bragger. And he might have lost some of his own employees or at least their commitment because they couldn’t quite trust what he was saying. The boulder had stopped him from plowing a straight row and had sidetracked his forward progress.
I knew that for his business to go to the next level, this boulder, this spiritual obstacle, would have to be removed.
I explored why he had this boulder by asking questions about his past. To make a long story shorter, we came to realize he had a great desire to be recognized as successful because of some sad things that had happened to him when he was much younger. He began seeing his “exaggerating” as a way of compensating for hurts from the past. He also now saw that this was a real boulder, blocking his path to success as a kingdom person in the marketplace.
As we talked, I had the privilege to share how deeply our Heavenly Father really cared for him and was cheering on his success. God recognized him. God was offering security. After all, this precious man was going about his Father’s business in the marketplace.
As a Kingdom business person, you may still have some spiritual boulders that you haven’t admitted (or possibly recognized) are in the field, blocking your success. If that is you, I want you to know that your Father isn’t condemning you. He is there to remove the boulder to make what you do easier, more enjoyable, and more successful. After all, you are laboring as a loved son or daughter in your portion of His vineyard, restoring the Kingdom and growing some great things. Because He’s such a loving Father, He will help you bust some boulders so you can plow a straight row and plant good seed for a great harvest.
John Boneck is the Director of the Kingdom Business Association. He is a business coach and has served in management in a $100M division of a corporation.
