God Centered Success | Faith and Business

I've struggled with self-reliance my whole life. Growing up, I learned early to count on myself. And the world cheers that on. It applauds hustle, control, and making things happen.

What the world doesn't applaud is waiting on God.

In this episode I share one of the hardest seasons of my walk with Jesus. I waited on God for years in an area then I hit this point where I grew impatient and took matters into my own hands. I went back to self reliance. 

As a daughter of the King self reliance doesn't make sense when the one who created us and has great plans for us wants us relying completely on him. 

And here's the thing. God was answering that prayer the whole time. I just couldn't see it yet.

We'll look at Abraham and Sarah, who took matters into their own hands. We'll look at the Israelites, who turned an 11-day journey into 40 years. And we'll look at Job, who praised God even after losing everything.

I close with four scriptures to speak over yourself when the enemy whispers, "Did God really say?"

If you're growing weary in the waiting, this one is for you.

Timestamps

• 00:00 Why self-reliance has been my lifelong struggle
• 00:27 The world applauds self-reliance, not waiting on God
• 00:54 Trusting God when the timeline doesn't match ours
• 01:21 Unanswered prayers in love, family, and finances
• 02:44 Abraham and Sarah take matters into their own hands
• 03:37 The enemy's lies go all the way back to the garden
• 04:07 My story: years of waiting on God in singleness
• 05:30 The season I went my own way, and what it cost me
• 06:27 It's not about the business or the relationship. It's about your heart.
• 07:24 God was answering that prayer all along
• 08:14 "Did God really say?" How the enemy chips away at our faith
• 09:39 Delight yourself in the Lord
• 10:34 Seek first the kingdom of God
• 11:33 Sometimes the wait is about the journey, not the answer
• 12:27 The Israelites: an 11-day journey that took 40 years
• 13:24 Job praised God through it all
• 14:41 My four years off track and the gap in this podcast
• 16:34 The take-home: don't go into self-reliance
• 17:59 Letting God's Word, not our feelings, tell us who He is
• 19:28 Perspective from our persecuted brothers and sisters
• 20:57 We were never meant to cling to this world
• 23:18 Four verses for staying in God reliance
• 23:38 Proverbs 3:5-6
• 26:10 Isaiah 40:31 and Philippians 4:13
• 26:37 2 Corinthians 12:9-10
• 27:34 He's enough, so we don't have to be
• 28:58 Fight back with scripture, just like Jesus did
• 29:55 Closing encouragement

Key Takeaways

• God's timing won't match the world's timeline. If we're waiting on Him, our journey will look different, and that's okay.
• Doubt makes self-reliance look smart. When time passes, the enemy whispers that God isn't coming through, so we might as well do it ourselves.
• Taking matters into our own hands costs us. Abraham and Sarah made a mess. So did I. God still keeps His promises, but we miss out along the way.
• Our attitude in the waiting matters. The Israelites' complaining and unbelief kept a generation out of the promised land.
• Praise is always in our hands. Job lost everything and still worshiped. We can choose thankfulness no matter what.
• It was never about the answered prayer. Our relationship with God is the point. Everything else is a bonus.
• Keep this world in perspective. It's temporary, and where we're going is so much better.
• We don't have to be enough. He is enough, and that takes all the pressure off.
• Answer the enemy with scripture. Jesus did it three times in the wilderness, and we can too.

Scriptures Referenced (NKJV)

Proverbs 3:5-6
"Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths."

Isaiah 40:31
"But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint."

Philippians 4:13
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

2 Corinthians 12:9-10
"And He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

Psalm 37:4
"Delight yourself also in the LORD, And He shall give you the desires of your heart."

Matthew 6:33
"But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you."

Philippians 4:6
"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;"

Proverbs 22:7
"The rich rules over the poor, And the borrower is servant to the lender."

Genesis 3:1
"Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, 'Has God indeed said, "You shall not eat of every tree of the garden"?'"

Genesis 16:2
"So Sarai said to Abram, 'See now, the LORD has restrained me from bearing children. Please, go in to my maid; perhaps I shall obtain children by her.' And Abram heeded the voice of Sarai."

Genesis 21:1-2
"And the LORD visited Sarah as He had said, and the LORD did for Sarah as He had spoken. For Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him."

Deuteronomy 1:2
"It is eleven days' journey from Horeb by way of Mount Seir to Kadesh Barnea."

Philippians 2:14
"Do all things without complaining and disputing,"

Job 1:21
"And he said: 'Naked I came from my mother's womb, And naked shall I return there. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; Blessed be the name of the LORD.'"

Job 42:10
"And the LORD restored Job's losses when he prayed for his friends. Indeed the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before."

Ephesians 3:20
"Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,"

Romans 8:28
"And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose."

2 Corinthians 4:18
"while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal."

Matthew 4:4
"But He answered and said, 'It is written, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God."'"

Your Next Step

Pick one of the four verses from this episode and write it somewhere you'll see it every day. The next time the enemy asks, "Did God really say?" answer him with it.