(NOTE: I intended this for my monthly devotional newsletter to dentists. But business is business and so I've edited it to be of help any small business owner who values Biblical principles.)
Whether you're dealing with the devil or the economy, as a business person you need to keep three key realities in mind:
- Both have a lot of power. As such, they are forces to be reckoned with.
- Both can trick you into falling for things you'd never even consider in stronger times.
- Both get more credit than they deserve.
FORCES TO BE RECKONED WITH. As it relates to our adversary, the devil, we know that he "is a roaring lion...seeking whom he may devour (1 Pet 5:8)." The Archangel contended with Satan over the body of Moses. But even in all his power, Michael turned Satan over to God for rebuke. A beloved pastor, now with God, once remarked about difficult people in the church saying, "What you've got to remember is this: When you come to those big stumps, you've just got to plow around them."
We can't ignore this economy. Likely, we can't take it on single-handed either. The solution is not to give up but to press forward in spite of it. God does not want us walking around in fear of Satanic forces. Similarly, living in fear of this present economy can paralyze or even kill a business. But be careful because, like Satan, it can...
TRICK YOU INTO DISASTROUS MISTAKES. When Jesus was physically and emotionally drained after 40 days of fasting in the desert, Satan came to Him with a few tricks up his sleeve (Matt 4:2-3). In each case, Jesus went back to foundational truths of God's word to respond to Satan's temptations for the extraordinary.
Remember Mr. Haney from the 60's comedy, Green Acres? He would come out Mr. Douglas' farm in his truck with every gadget known to man, promoting a product to solve any problem. He could be living vicariously through sales and marketing representatives today. Know this: This economy is playing for keeps - it's not the time to resort to gadget-y approaches to either marketing or business. Now more than ever, the basic principles of good business are your bedrocks. While you may need innovative ways to put the basics into practice, this is fundamentally different from resorting to tricky new inventions that could lure you into loss.
Perhaps you're too close to your own situation to see the forest for the trees. If so, an objective third-party opinion could be what you need. Mr. Haney was not an objective consultant. He had a vest interest in the sale. If you've built your business on sound business principles and an ethical philosophy, don't abandon them for the simple sake of moving outside the box. Finally, remember,
THE REAL ENEMY LIES WITHIN. Bobby Jones said golf was largely a game that was played on a 5-inch piece of real estate, the distance between a man's two ears. Zig Ziglar agreed when it came to business. He was known to say that the economy isn't bad over here or over there, it is mainly bad between our two ears. Let me offer some evidence from one of my clients, a dentist.
In the Republic of Ireland, the government gave a 3-week notice that they moving from subsidizing all dentally necessary procedures with no annual limits to paying for only one dental exam each year. Dental insurance is virtually non-existent in Ireland. Practices throughout the country depended on patients who prided themselves in using their free government benefits.
I was with my Dublin client when the government's announcement was made. I looked him square in the eye and said, "You wanted to increase the amount of private treatment you deliver. The government just announced they were going to help you do it." I was being neither glib nor facetious. Further I told him: "Dentists who learn to help patients accept treatment for private pay will be the ones left standing in the end." In the intervening time, most practices have cut back; many have closed. The Irish Dental Association reports practice revenues down 30-40% nationwide.
Meanwhile, my client is enjoying an almost 20% increase. He's doing 50-60% better than his contemporaries. Instead of blaming the economy, he is taking control of what he has power to change. The surprising news is that he is actually making more while working less!
When we deal with sin, we would be fooling ourselves to blame God. "God cannot be tempted with evil; neither does He tempt anyone. But each person is tempted when he is drawn away by his own lust and enticed " (James 1:13-14). We obviously can't blame God for our sin. Regardless of Flip Wilson's mantra that "the devil made him do it", we can't blame Satan either.
2 Cor 10:5 urges us to "take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." Instead of blaming the devil for putting a thought in your head (which I personally think is a theological impossibility for a believer), we should take control of that 5-inch piece of real estate where sin originates -- our own sinful hearts and minds. Blaming our sin on the devil will leave us tired and defeated. Taking responsibility for our actions will lead us toward the Power to change.
When a business owner places the blame "outside" his business, it decreases his ability to develop effective strategies. Because he is focusing on something that is happening somewhere else, he is spending his energy on things he can't control. What the business owner does have control over is what happens after he and his staff walk through the door each day. He has complete control over what happens internally within the business. It is in this realm that he should focus his energies.
If you can keep these three principles in mind, neither the devil nor the economy will be able to sidetrack you from good and godly goals in business or life.
