Fruitfulness in Midst of the Storm

“I’m the true vine, and my father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.” – John 15:1-2

Do you operate your business based on kingdom principles? How do you handle life’s pressures when storms come?

Imagine planting a garden in your backyard with strawberries, tomatoes, blueberries, and so on – great fruits and vegetables that your family can enjoy. However, after spending months watering and caring for them, a bad storm appears out of nowhere and destroys all of your hard work. Worst of all, imagine you were a farmer and you depended on these fruits and vegetables to provide for your family and now all of your hard work is destroyed. This makes you wonder whether God truly cares. Is He concerned about your daily needs? If He is, then why would He allow a storm to come and destroy all that you have worked so hard for?

This is how many kingdom business people around the world feel at times. Many of them worked hard to build a business that would honor God, meet market needs, and expand the kingdom of God. However, market crashes and economic storms come and causes major damage to their business and for some these unfortunate circumstances completely threatens to shut down their entire industry. They wonder whether God can cause them to be fruitful in the midst of these challenging times. Of course He can. There is no greater time for God to demonstrate His power and sovereignty.

Although the world’s macro-economy is in jeopardy, this is nevertheless the best time for God’s micro-economy to thrive and provide solutions. Unfortunately, because we are in the world, we will suffer along with the world as these are the consequences of sin and man’s mismanagement of God’s resources. However, this does not have to create permanent damage to us nor destroy us. We can be fruitful in the midst of economic storms.

A kingdom business is fruitful when its productivity results in an acceptable net profit margin while manifesting the fruit of the Spirit. Financial gain without spiritual increase (evidenced by the presence of the fruit of the Spirit) is a net loss in God’s economy no matter how wide the margin of profitability. Though it is acceptable to experience temporary financial net losses, as you seek to be fruitful you cannot afford to compromise the fruit of the Spirit. That is the difference between a kingdom business and other businesses. Can we profitably steward resources in tough economies without becoming a victim of the works of the flesh? The fruit of the Spirit is evidence that we are indeed operating by the Spirit and not by the flesh (Galatians 5:16-26). I continue to be convinced that making a profit in business is not difficult—it all depends on how wide the gate is through which you are operating. It becomes difficult when you must operate within the boundaries of kingdom principles—this is the narrow way. As Jesus stated, it is difficult. With man, it is impossible for it to be achieved, but with God, all things are possible (Matthew 7:13-14, Matthew 19:23-26).

My prayer for you today is that the Lord would help you operate through the narrow gate even when it gets hard, and that you will steward your resources in good and bad times.