We see opportunities daily.
What are you and your business currently facing?
Sometimes a moment presents itself as exciting and hopeful in addition to profitable.
Other opportunities come in the form of a dire situation where disaster looms if nothing changes.
No matter the circumstances, the right moments, when seized, ultimately lead to transformation for you and your business. Our approach is often determined by whether we anticipate that the transformation is positive or negative.
No matter our choice, there is value to our actions and cost to our inactions.
In Luke chapter 19, Jesus shares with His disciples the parable of the ten minas. In the parable, a king gives 10 of his servants an amount of money and tells them to, “Put this money to work until I come back.”
The servants now have an opportunity. Some of the servants used the circumstances to prove themselves.
One was afraid and treated the situation as a circumstance where they could potentially lose everything.
The perspective of each servant guided their approach.
After some time, the king requests an account of what they had gained with the money.
The servants who used their circumstances to leverage the opportunity were able to report to the king that they had earned multiples more than they had received. The king rewarded them for their stewardship and blessed them with even more.
However, the servant who determined to approach the opportunity with fear was afraid and hid the money away so that it would not be lost. The king punished the servant and stripped him of his stewardship.
What is the difference between success and failure? Two things:
- Perspective
- Approach
Those servants that were successful chose to perceive the opportunity with faith and approach the circumstance with action.
The unsuccessful servant chose to perceive the opportunity with fear and embraced an approach of inaction.
This leads to a revelation: There is value to our actions, and there is a cost to our inaction.
There is both tangible and intangible value created by taking action.
When you identify areas of opportunity in your business and take decisive action, there are both direct and indirect positive impacts.
These often result in a financial benefit to your bottom line. We see the servants faithfully blessed with more because of their decisive action.
Conversely, there is a cost to our inaction.
When we embrace our circumstances with inertia, consequences will follow.
This creates direct and indirect negative impacts on the bottom line resulting in financial loss. The servant that perceived their opportunity through fear made a choice not to act. They were unsuccessful in their endeavor and ultimately lost everything.
Daily we have an option to make a choice.
Will we see the future through the lens of faith or fear?
I challenge you to reflect on the circumstances in front of you.
Are they exciting and profitable ventures or dire circumstances?
Does your lens of faith or fear affect how you perceive them?
I believe that when we start with faith, the transformation that we see in ourselves and our businesses will be profitable and, most importantly, honoring to the king that entrusted us with the opportunity in the first place.