Hearing The Voice Of God In Business
May 9, 2010 by Matthew Gillogly
There are common questions from our reader and listeners. There are many different ways this question is stated, but it revolves around the basic theme of…
How Do I Hear God, Establish Goals & Plan?
If I wanted to confuse the heck out of you, I could give you all the nice little scriptures about man and God’s planning. But frankly, I find those kind of useless when it comes to implementing day in and day out in business. So let me share with you, where I am in this journey. This is not a fool proof way, but it’s where I am. In the end you need to sort this out with God, but maybe my sharing will speed you along this path. This may take a few posts, but what the heck.
Okay, lets start first and foremost with the biggie. Your Dreams.
Huh? My dreams? What does that have to do with planning and goals and day to day work? It has everything to do with all it and you can’t start this discussion until you understand dreams.
For the record, I’m not talking about your night dreams. I’m talking about the dreams in your heart. To illustrated this, I’m gonna get personal.
When I was the age of 9 or 10 (can’t remember exactly) I used to play a ton of golf at the country club. One day, I’m out playing late in the afternoon, the Fitzgeralds come up and join me on the 5th hole. They ask me who my father was, the standard questions.
Then they ask the biggie. “Matt, what do you want to be when you grow up?” My answer (and I can remember it as if it just happened) was… “I’m going to be the second Irish Catholic President of the United States of America.”
Fast forward a few years to 6th grade. My goal? To be a US Senator or President of the United States.
Throughout my life, I’ve been class President, Alumni Association President. Always been in a place of leadership. However, always in a place of leadership where I’m rebuilding or resurrecting something. Never in a place of taking over a thriving situation.
Couple this with all through my youth, as young as 13, I had plans and dreams to own my own business. First an importing company, then a record label. I’d write mini business plans at the age of 13, come up with numbers to make it work.
When I applied to get into the Golf School at Ferris State University, my essay needed to include goals. They were.. “Become a GM at the age of 30 ( a full 15 years ahead of the average), own my own golf course, or golf schools or be in a place of ownership.”
Can you see the trend? The dreams God has placed in my heart for as long as I can remember have been about leadership, ownership, doing great things in business.
To this day, I dream about running successful companies, to do ‘great things’ in business.
I love business. Always have. Can’t help myself when I look at a business to reinvent it, or figure it out.
God has placed this dream in my heart. Even when I didn’t know Him personally, it’s been a dream. Today, with my life totally given to Him, my dreams are still the same. Never has it been about missionary work or being a pastor. Never.
It’s always about resurrecting businesses, turnarounds, getting into something and making it work, then moving on. It’s never been about staying in one place doing one thing for 40 years.
It’s why, when my last company failed and others are suggesting for me to get a job or put out my resume that I balked. A few times, going to the computer, getting ready to apply for job and litterally hearing God say… “What are you doing? Why are you applying, that’s not what I have for you.”
For the record, he didn’t tell me what he had for me. He just told me what it wasn’t.
God perfectly made you when you were conceived. You are perfectly made today. Your dreams, no matter how crazy or nutty or off beat they are, are perfectly made.
The voice that comes to you in the day, while you are driving, the things you fantasize about that are good and pure, are from God. Those your dreams. That is him speaking to you. He wants you to step it out in faith.
When God speaks, he doesn’t speak like Charlton Heston or in a big booming voice. He speaks in quietness. With you, alone in a car, or on a plane, train or at the kids baseball game.
If you are lost right now as to what God wants you to do, I suggest you look at the track record of your life. He has prepared everything for you in the form of training over your life.
I see it in my life. My dreams have ALWAYS been about business. Never about serving in the mission field or being on a church fund raising committee. They’ve always been about leading a business enterprise and seeing it work well.
For years, I tried to suppress this desire. Thinking that there had to be something more noble. In the end, God showed me that my dreams are just as important to Him as the dreams of a song writer to write great songs sung by millions. Or the actor who desires to be in great films, the pastor who leads millions to Christ.
They all matter to God.
Grab hold of the dreams in your heart. They can only be placed there by one ‘person’ and that is the Lord our God. Embrace them, walk them out and live in faith, that even when things crumble down, God is using that to take you to a new place of new heights in hearing Him.
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I am with you on the whole notions of our God placed dreams. It makes great sense from the perspective of a created being in the image of God. He imagines great things and creates nothing without purpose.
I lose you at the point of getting un-lost by looking at our life’s track record. For some (me included) that is a dark proposition. There are some (self included) that had dreams dismissed and desire quenched to the point that their very existence is questioned.
In my case, I have a notional belief that dreams and desire are core part of our lives as God declares it in His word and demonstrates it in the hearts of others. However, i do not know it to be true as it is not part of my experience.
Up until 10 years ago, i had been a consistent achiever in business and technical pursuits for 25+ years until i broke down. I was working out of a profound shame and a twisted need to prove myself. In that respect, i could have excelled in anything but it would have not been sustainable as it was not natural.
Things and people not functioning according to design/purpose can only do it for so long until something gives. Try using a crescent wrench to drive spikes; You can get a few in until it breaks and makes a mess of the job.
I have managed to stop working out of shame and hate what i do. What makes it worse is the profound haunting that there is a dream to requite and an abundant life to live. But there is no desire for anything, no dreams to call up; just an ominous pressure to return to my old vomit and get comfortably numb some how.
So what of the folks that have no memories of their dreams and desires?
I suppose “asking God” is the first answer that rolls out the lips but that is a given without much results.
Any ideas?
Ken, I have some very serious ideas. I know exactly how you feel, because this is what I’ve personally experienced. Here’s what Bob and I will do, we’re going to do a podcast this week on this subject. Most likely Wednesday of this week around noon Eastern. If you miss it, no biggie, we’ll have the replay up for you.
I agree it starts with dreams, but I also think it helps to keep asking GOD for help in this matter. I do alot of research with materials and Arcs that look like large lightening bolts. The two verses that have been very helpful to me are Isaiah 48:17and Proverbs 25:2-5. Maybe these are more for me because I am in the dark most of the time and searching for the light literally. Also I have realized that I have to do things and listen to things in three’s so as not to get off track and gain experience in what I am to do. God gave me a Vision of the end goal and this keeps me on track. I sort of know what I am suppose to make in the end and manufacture it .
Did you ever hear the expression, ” The devil is in the details!” Well the details between the beginning and end is all hell breaks loose.
Thank you for your post.
Paul, great items to remember. As things come to me, my tendency is to jump right on it. However, now I take a new idea, or ‘vision’ and put it on the shelf for a minimum of 30 days. If I’m still excited about it, and it is still ‘attractive’ or it keeps coming up, then we pursue it further.
Thanks Matt!
Excellent, inspirational stuff.
The single verse that’s been most helpful to me in business since 1996 is this: “Be still, and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10).
I find that, the harder I chase after answers, the faster they often recede into the distance. But when I’m still, quiet, and patient, the answers come. Maybe not today, but always, eventually.
Prayer never fails to deliver some sort of answer. When we silence our own voices, we can hear it.
K