Being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. — Philippians 1:6 NIV
When God gives you a vision, He doesn’t just give it to you. I believe He gives a particular idea to many people because He knows just how creative and ingenious He’s made us. But I also believe that the level of success we experience when it comes to bringing an idea or vision to life is directly related to our obedience.
God is waiting to see who will be obedient to His call. Who will pay close attention to how and where He is leading them.
I know without a doubt that there were plenty of other businesses creating and selling natural hair products when I started Mielle Organics. I wasn’t reinventing the wheel as much as being obedient at every step of the journey as God guided me toward a larger dream He had for me — one I couldn’t have even imagined when I was simply surviving as an entrepreneur. God was preparing me to thrive but wanted to make sure that I would follow His voice.
This reminds me of the story of Esther in the Bible, who at first glance seemed destined to only serve in the harem of King Xerxes’ court. But God chose her to become queen of Persia and to save the Jewish people — her people — who were being held in captivity. When Esther questioned God’s prophet and her cousin, Mordecai, about this — uncertain as to whether she was fit to approach the king — Mordecai reminded her that her own life was at stake and that her purpose was to step up and speak out.
For if you keep silent at this time, he told her, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this? — Esther 4:14
Did you catch that? The destiny of the Jews was to be saved. God was going to use someone to do it. He called Esther, and she eventually gathered the courage to answer, knowing that if she didn’t, she, her family, and many of her people would have died. However, God would have accomplished His purpose whether she answered the call or not.
This is what we must remember when we find ourselves hedging on a dream, vision, or idea God has given us. If you are an entrepreneur, being in constant survival mode early in the journey — worried about the next dollar or how the next product will get made or what that other company in the same industry is doing — can often muddle your vision, narrow your capacity, and cause you to forget that God might be using you to accomplish a greater plan. It could be a plan that will come to pass regardless of you accepting your role in it.
- To thrive, we must choose to see the bigger picture and be willing to say “Yes, God!” no matter what our present circumstances look like.
Thriving, for me, has never been just about building a successful business. It’s about finding balance and joy in every area of my life, including the personal. One way I see myself thriving now is through the household I’ve created for my family. It’s not perfect — we have our disagreements and misunderstandings — but I’ve been intentional about building a home that represents peace. My family and I choose to communicate with each other even when things might seem hard. We’ve worked hard to create an environment where we can talk openly, listen to one another, and work through challenges together. That kind of safe space is something I know God is pleased with.
The story of Esther resonates with me because even as a teenager, I felt called to be an entrepreneur. The pull on my heart and mind to have my own business, control my own schedule, and make my own money was strong. I answered that call many times before starting Mielle. Even when the multi-level marketing opportunities didn’t pan out and I decided to root myself in the medical field as a nurse, I was still carrying that entrepreneurial yearning. I even wrote a business plan to start a nursing agency, thinking I could combine all my skills into my business.
God blocked that too.
See, this is what happens when you are just going through your days, not listening closely to the details of the vision God placed deep into your heart, or worse, deciding that you know how to execute that vision on your own. That resistance will have you in constant search mode with faulty motivations. You’ll try all kinds of things hoping that you will get to some arbitrary million-dollar end goal, not realizing that the dream God gave you could be worth one hundred million dollars. Sure, not allowing God to guide your vision doesn’t mean you won’t have and grow that dream. But it absolutely does mean that you will end up selling yourself short.
Thankfully, though, God doesn’t throw His people away. Even when we wander from the path, God is so good that He will use what we’ve learned in all our searching to help bring us back on the path.
When He begins a good work in us, He will be faithful to complete it.
But it’s still up to us to not miss God’s will by not being willing to be open to the process, whatever it might look like.
In whatever endeavor you are called to pursue in this season, I encourage you to not settle for something “pretty good” when God has something great on the other side of your process.
Dear Lord, thank You for the vision that You place within us, a vision first to follow You and then to pursue Your good, pleasing, and perfect will for our lives. Amen.
Written for Devotionals Daily by Monique Rodriguez, author of The Glory in Your Story.
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Your Turn
What is God guiding you towards? What has He put on your heart? Pay attention to the no’s, listen for the yes, and then move forward and obey! God has something great in mind for you! ~ Devotionals Daily