In addition to our own wrong turns, God uses the mistakes of others in our lives to assist us as we develop. There are many around us who have tried similar paths or ideas that we may be contemplating. Given this, they can lend insight into their experiences. Some have ended with positive outcomes as well as ones they wish they could do it all over again. Making mistakes in business is bound to happen, but they can be less impactful by gaining insights from others. Through listening to them and learning from our own past wrong turns, we can make better mistakes as we face tomorrow.
Nothing is New
As we live out our business life, consider that all of the issues we face have likely been incurred by others. As the Apostle Paul outlines in 1 Corinthians 10: 11-13, there is nothing that can tempt and overtake us that is not common to others. We all face similar temptations to steer off course from the business vision God provided, or side-step an issue. The Word of God teaches us those various temptations we face are not new, and have likely been faced by someone else. Consider the first five books of the Old Testament. They outline the story of the Israelites, their journey and continual pattern of mistakes of their leaders. The real leadership story was their pride and its subsequent impact on them and the people they were leading. The good news is that expressed in Psalm 86:15 and Psalm 145:9, despite our mistakes, we serve a loving, compassionate, and merciful God.
We serve a Merciful and Forgiving Father
Moses is an example of a leader who, despite making mistakes, God still used him in great ways throughout his life. Following his serious mistake of killing the Egyptian as outlined in Exodus chapter two, Moses was not able to enter the promise land. However, he did not let this wrong turn keep him down forever. As he acknowledged his mistakes and focused his life on the Lord, Moses lived an impactful life as a leader until his death.
Monday Morning- Consider your stakeholders
We will not live perfect lives, nor should that be our focus. However, know your enemy, the evil one, his goals and tactics. His desire is to tempt, sidetrack and destroy us as leaders in some way. He does not want us positively impacting others for eternity. In business, this likely involves making decisions that could negatively impact us, our family, our company and all its stakeholders. Our stakeholders include employee’s, vendors and customers, and subsequently everyone they influence. Gaining input from other like-minded peer advisors reflects your heart’s desire. A desire to consider the weight of any such decisions and the lives of everyone it may impact. This includes both today and the future, including eternity.
To learn more about the concepts of gaining wisdom and insights from others as you journey through your business, do not hesitate to reach out to me at randy.earnst@we-r-stewards.com, texting me at (717) 448-0996 or visiting our website at: https://we-r-stewards.com/about/