I was/am a missionary!

The thing is...I'm a missionary.

Does that also mean that I cannot be an entrepreneur?

I must admit that it took me a looooonnng time to get past my missionary mindset to the point of being able to reconcile the two. Even though I truly felt the calling to be both a missionary and an entrepreneur, it definitely caused some conflict inside.

And I believe strongly in this double calling just like the Apostle Paul who went about preaching the gospel, while supporting himself by his profession of making tents.

But I definitely had some of the "what will people think" and "what will people say" mentality. I hung unto that one for way too long and used it as one of my excuses. I am, after all, the Queen of Excuses!

Even though, as "faith" missionaries, we saw God provide for us in miraculous and amazing ways over the years, we definitely had that poverty mentality. Yes, we gave in so many ways, but our ability to give monetarily was extremely limited. And although we never actually went hungry, our budget was often very tight.

I'll never forget the time we were on a furlough and living with my husband's parents. Neither of us were very good with putting together a wardrobe that would be acceptable in Dallas. In fact, all the clothes we brought back with us from the mission field were very dingy, faded and inappropriate for use outside the 4 walls of our home!

So we asked our mission's local home office to help us with our wardrobe. I think the person who came to see what we already had was pretty shocked at what she saw. We were forthwith each given a "shopping trip." I learned so much from that experience. For one thing, I learned that clothes determine whether you "fit in" and are accepted - or not! I also learned how to dress for the classic look using things that would always be in style!

But I digress!

Inside of me was always that burning desire to be more, do more, contribute more!

I eventually and mostly because I had no choice, abandoned the missionary mindset and excuse and became an entrepreneur! It took many books, much training, and a great deal of personal mentoring, among other things, to break old habits and ways of thinking and adopt an abundance mentality rather than a scarcity mentality!

Photo by Ben White on Unsplash

If any of this makes sense to you and if I can help you in any way, I'll be happy to do so!

Sharon
Queen of Excuses

P.S. If you have a desire to build Kingdom wealth that will enable you to give more both financially and in many other ways, please feel free to download this book, BOMBSHELL - Recruiting on Autopilot written by my friend and mentor, Tim Darnell.

P.P.S. In compliance with law, I must let you know that any links you purchase from could result in my earning a commission.

Abundance in the Midst of Scarcity!

I look all around me and see such abundance. It's everywhere! All you have to do is open your eyes and look.

So in the midst of the 2020 Coronavirus panic and the dire predictions of gloom and doom and failed economy, etc, what should be our posture? How should you and I position ourselves as entrepreneurs? And how should we be thinking as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ?

It's really all about mindset. You can either see abundance or you can see scarcity and the choice is really up to each one of us.

As I thought about writing this blog post, a story from II Kings, chapters 6 and 7 came to mind. (Because everything I do goes through the grid of my faith.) I had to go back and read it to refresh my memory. Go ahead and find a Bible and do the same because this story will encourage you.

The story begins in II Kings 6:24 (NIV - New International Version).

24 Some time later, Ben-Hadad king of Aram mobilized his entire army and marched up and laid siege to Samaria. 25 There was a great famine in the city; the siege lasted so long that a donkey’s head sold for eighty shekels of silver, and a quarter of a cab of seed pods for five shekels.

The city of Samaria, under the king of Israel, was under siege from the Arameans led by Ben-Hadad their king. The situation was so dire that the people were killing and eating their own children. The king of Israel began to blame all the trouble on God and on His prophet Elisha. In verse 33, this is what he says:

The king said, “This disaster is from the Lord. Why should I wait for the Lord any longer?”

Isn't that so typical of all of us in the midst of difficulty? We normally look for someone to blame.

But in spite of all of this unbelief, scarcity and despair, the prophet Elisha responds with this in verse 1 of chapter 7:

Elisha replied, “Hear the word of the Lord. This is what the Lord says: About this time tomorrow, a seah of the finest flour will sell for a shekel and two seahs of barley for a shekel at the gate of Samaria.” 

Since the king had given up on getting any help from the Lord, you can just imagine how little hope and little faith the people had! In fact, this is what the king's officer said:

2 The officer on whose arm the king was leaning said to the man of God, “Look, even if the Lord should open the floodgates of the heavens, could this happen?”

“You will see it with your own eyes,” answered Elisha, “but you will not eat any of it!”

What can we learn from this? For one thing, we need to be able to see beyond the scarcity and adversity and with the eyes of faith, look to see what God is doing. None of this current situation with the coronavirus took Him by surprise, just like none of what happened during this siege was unknown to Him. We have to trust in the promises that He made to us. He is the one whose name is Healer, whose name is Provider, whose name is I AM. He is the one we need. And in Him is abundance!

The rest of the story is pretty remarkable - almost unbelievable. God used 5 lepers who were starving to step out in faith and go to the camp of the enemy. They were starving anyway, so why not take their chances and maybe find some food. What they found instead was an empty enemy camp. The Lord had routed the enemy and they had fled in terror and haste.

Even the king didn't believe it when the lepers came to the palace with the good news. After he checked out the story by sending 5 men out to see what had happened, the whole city rejoiced. The abundance in the enemy's camp was so great that there was plenty for everyone.

When Elisha said there would be abundance, this was what the king's officer had said (and the Bible repeats the earlier conversation:

19 The officer had said to the man of God, “Look, even if the Lord should open the floodgates of the heavens, could this happen?” 

Wow! What unbelief! Here is the end of the story:

The man of God had replied, “You will see it with your own eyes, but you will not eat any of it!” 20 And that is exactly what happened to him, for the people trampled him in the gateway, and he died.

Our God is the God of abundance and of provision. His ways of providing for us and for all those who trust in Him are often beyond our understanding. And His timing is His alone. I'm sure He could have orchestrated all of these circumstances sooner, if that had been His plan.

God is still on His throne. I, for one, am looking forward to the great good God is going to bring forth through this world wide Coronavirus pandemic.

What mindset are you choosing to have? That of faith? Or that of unbelief? Are you trusting or are you casting blame?

Blessings,
Sharon Reece

P.S. If you're looking for a way to create residual cash flow that can literally be God's provision for you no matter if you lose your job, have a health crisis or whatever, click here for more information. I'd love to show you how.