My business partner and I logged in many hours of prayer for our business. We have a Christ centered business so we prayed that the Lord would bring us wisdom, discernment, and allow us to represent Christ properly and conduct our business in a way that honors the Lord. Of course we prayed for open doors of opportunity. We were constantly looking for any signs God was throwing our way to advance our business. With discernment and sometimes a heavy heart we turned down distractions disguised by opportunities. Finally what seemed like opportunity threatened to throw us off course and put a wedge in our partnership.
It happened while planning our first big event for our little company. We were wooed by another Christian company into forming a partnership for our event. When I say wooed this is not reflect on the company as much as our own hearts. The company is solid and conducts business properly on all fronts. We were just starting out and no one had heard of us. So when a company approached us claiming we had the same ideals and wanted to partner with us on our project we were overjoyed. We felt it was just the opportunity we needed to succeed. Could this be the answer to prayer?
While we prayed about partnering up with a company for our project to give us a boost this was not the opportunity we were praying about. I began to have misgivings the more the opportunity was outlined to me by my partner. We had worked so hard for a long time on our project and partnering up with this company would mean dropping all of it and doing it their way. Each step in the process we prayed about and each step we were blessed. My partner disagreed and felt this was what we were waiting for and for the first time we were in disagreement. Then she read the contract and realized the confinement of it would not align with our plans. Yet, she still felt this may be an opportunity not to pass up.
So what now?
Thankfully, my partner and I have respect for one another and instead of arguing we decided to stop and pray. After praying for wisdom we were both back on the same page. The opportunity was not for us. It promised to be an amazing thing for our company but in the end to maintain our course we had to turn it down. It is hard to turn down a promising opportunity. We often think God is behind anything that sounds promising or with a Christian name so we jump in feet first. After all we are always praying we are directed to opportunities.
My tips:
Pray first. Pray second. Pray third.
If you have a partner and you disagree then pray. Do not allow for an argument that will profit you nothing. Stop and pray and see where the Lord is directing your company. If you are still in disagreement then maybe it is time to compromise or time to pursue a few projects separately.
Remember that some opportunities are simply distractions in disguise.