I often hear the words: "Sales, no thank you, not for me. I don't like being under pressure!"
I am no different, which is ironic because I am a Sales and Marketing Manager. People normally look at me with empathy when I mention my job title, because they know it's not always easy.
Sales pushes you around. You can't afford to have a comfortable day at work. There is always something or someone chasing you. When you make yourself a cup of coffee, you feel guilty for not calling a potential client, the one thing you want to ignore when your motivation is low. Your monthly sales target constantly shouts in your ear, and new markets seductively lure you from the front. The anxious breaths of your boss keeps you on your feet, even though you never feel you have solid ground to stand on. One promise today is a rejection tomorrow. One glimpse of hope today becomes a "deal gone bad" tomorrow. For you to survive in the cycle of sales you need many creative strategies, a good attitude and a lot of guts!
When I first started my career I didn't understand why God wanted me in a Sales environment. I always wanted to learn the discipline of peace, yet my reality at work seemed contradictory to my desire for rest. My job forced me to constantly venture out and demanded me to change, which made me feel unsettled and confused. When negotiations didn't seem to go my way, I felt the pressure of not achieving my personal goals, which made me feel worthless. In every situation I had to learn to rethink, adapt, change, let go, take hold......whatever was expected of me to save the day.
Over the years I learned to do everything in my own strength. Needless to say it didn't work. Not even my outgoing and persuasive personality could stand the test of sales. I thought it could, I was convinced, yet I found myself hoping for a better job and a new season of security. I was overwhelmed and scared. Everything in me wanted to fight, resist, run away, quit - anything to make the storms of instability and discomfort stop. Peace was far from me, and at one point I didn't know whether God listened to me. It seemed as if He didn't care, as if He was asleep in the boat while the storms were raging. I was a desperate disciple using a bucket to get all the water out of the boat, running around frantically in the spirit. Every day felt like a national disaster, every failure a wave crashing down on me, and it felt as if God didn't do anything.
I received a powerful word of wisdom from my husband that changed the whole direction of my life - a word that only the Holy Spirit could reveal to me, a word that was God inspired and life-giving.
My religious mind had to hear it a few times before it actually made sense, but when it did, I experienced complete freedom and joy. I didn't fully understand the word in a practical way, but my spirit immediately jumped when I heard God say:
Let your circumstances break your outer man so that My Spirit can be released.
WOW!
It took a while to sink in.
When I first heard the words it sounded as if God wanted to punish me, but the more I thought about it, the more it made sense.God was not saying that He wanted to break me. God is a God of love and will always lead us into victory. No, He wanted to break the outer shell that was limiting the Spirit to flow, almost like when a seed falls to a ground and die to release a new plant. He wanted to use my circumstances to free me from the false identity I was holding on to. He wanted me to understand that He is God even if I feel He is asleep, and that I should start letting Him carve away all the things I try to control, so that I can come victorious out of the pit of fear and failure - with singing and dancing, and with a solid faith in God's goodness and wisdom.
It was a life-changing revelation.
The revelation caused me to surrender to God wholeheartedly. My soul still wanted to rebel because I had fear in my heart that everything would fall apart. It was scary to step out and allow the circumstances to happen, to not fight it or try to make things better, but to actually just let it happen. Our culture teaches us to not give up, yet God wanted me to give up. He wanted me to embrace circumstances, even if it was scary, so that the experiences I had could break the outer man, the falseness, the "no-substance", exterior, fear driven, victimised man.
In that moment of revelation I came to realise that I took the place of God. I was the master of my destiny and not God. My blueprint of life was much more prominent than what God had in mind. And it made me discouraged. I had to humble myself under the Mighty hand of God. The day I told God that I was willing for the pressure of my job to break me so that He could reveal something precious and beautiful to me, was a painful day, but strangely enough a calm peace came over me and settled in my heart. Fear disappears and was replaced with a deep knowing that God would rescue me from everything - because I was willing to make Him the Master of my every waking moment.
Some circumstances that I have feared still happened, yet I found myself peaceful and unshaken by words and actions. I saw everything happening to me as a tool God used to release more of His Spirit in me. God's plan was to restore peace in my life - and He could only do that if I allowed Him to take control of the disruptive and ungodly fear-driven behaviour that kept the Spirit of God captive in that area. I had to willingly give my life to God again and again.
Many of us experience "sales environments" in our lives where we feel trapped, devalued, scared and restless. God's Kingdom is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. I've discovered that in the areas where I'm not experiencing God's kingdom, God is not reigning.
The breaking of the outer man is necessary, because it creates space for the Spirit to be released, and you will be able to function in your calling as a son or daugther of God. Romans 8:14 says that "those who are led by the Spirit, those are Sons (or daughters) of God."
Partnering with God taught me valuable spiritual lessons that shaped my career, gave me a fresh understanding of God's love and made me rest in the knowledge that God is not asleep, I should just go to the place of peace, the place where God reigns and my flesh surrenders.
Col 3:15 And let the peace (soul harmony which comes) from Christ rule (act as umpire continually) in your hearts [deciding and settling with finality all questions that arise in your minds, in that peaceful state] to which as [members of Christ's] one body you were also called [to live].
Allow the Kingdom of God to reign in your life through peace, you are called to be Spirit led!
I am no different, which is ironic because I am a Sales and Marketing Manager. People normally look at me with empathy when I mention my job title, because they know it's not always easy.
Sales pushes you around. You can't afford to have a comfortable day at work. There is always something or someone chasing you. When you make yourself a cup of coffee, you feel guilty for not calling a potential client, the one thing you want to ignore when your motivation is low. Your monthly sales target constantly shouts in your ear, and new markets seductively lure you from the front. The anxious breaths of your boss keeps you on your feet, even though you never feel you have solid ground to stand on. One promise today is a rejection tomorrow. One glimpse of hope today becomes a "deal gone bad" tomorrow. For you to survive in the cycle of sales you need many creative strategies, a good attitude and a lot of guts!
When I first started my career I didn't understand why God wanted me in a Sales environment. I always wanted to learn the discipline of peace, yet my reality at work seemed contradictory to my desire for rest. My job forced me to constantly venture out and demanded me to change, which made me feel unsettled and confused. When negotiations didn't seem to go my way, I felt the pressure of not achieving my personal goals, which made me feel worthless. In every situation I had to learn to rethink, adapt, change, let go, take hold......whatever was expected of me to save the day.
Over the years I learned to do everything in my own strength. Needless to say it didn't work. Not even my outgoing and persuasive personality could stand the test of sales. I thought it could, I was convinced, yet I found myself hoping for a better job and a new season of security. I was overwhelmed and scared. Everything in me wanted to fight, resist, run away, quit - anything to make the storms of instability and discomfort stop. Peace was far from me, and at one point I didn't know whether God listened to me. It seemed as if He didn't care, as if He was asleep in the boat while the storms were raging. I was a desperate disciple using a bucket to get all the water out of the boat, running around frantically in the spirit. Every day felt like a national disaster, every failure a wave crashing down on me, and it felt as if God didn't do anything.
Now looking back, I've realised that God was actually listening to my prayer and orchestrated everything in my life to reveal His place of peace to me. But at that stage I was blinded by fear and failure.
The results of doing things out of my own strength was life-wrecking. The expectations of people always made me feel worthless. My own work ethics and need to show the world that I was "called for business" was a slave driver that kept me bound in Egypt making bricks. I was constantly at breaking point, burned-out or sick. The stress started effecting every area of my life. Until one day.....
I received a powerful word of wisdom from my husband that changed the whole direction of my life - a word that only the Holy Spirit could reveal to me, a word that was God inspired and life-giving.
My religious mind had to hear it a few times before it actually made sense, but when it did, I experienced complete freedom and joy. I didn't fully understand the word in a practical way, but my spirit immediately jumped when I heard God say:
Let your circumstances break your outer man so that My Spirit can be released.
WOW!
It took a while to sink in.
When I first heard the words it sounded as if God wanted to punish me, but the more I thought about it, the more it made sense.God was not saying that He wanted to break me. God is a God of love and will always lead us into victory. No, He wanted to break the outer shell that was limiting the Spirit to flow, almost like when a seed falls to a ground and die to release a new plant. He wanted to use my circumstances to free me from the false identity I was holding on to. He wanted me to understand that He is God even if I feel He is asleep, and that I should start letting Him carve away all the things I try to control, so that I can come victorious out of the pit of fear and failure - with singing and dancing, and with a solid faith in God's goodness and wisdom.
It was a life-changing revelation.
The revelation caused me to surrender to God wholeheartedly. My soul still wanted to rebel because I had fear in my heart that everything would fall apart. It was scary to step out and allow the circumstances to happen, to not fight it or try to make things better, but to actually just let it happen. Our culture teaches us to not give up, yet God wanted me to give up. He wanted me to embrace circumstances, even if it was scary, so that the experiences I had could break the outer man, the falseness, the "no-substance", exterior, fear driven, victimised man.
In that moment of revelation I came to realise that I took the place of God. I was the master of my destiny and not God. My blueprint of life was much more prominent than what God had in mind. And it made me discouraged. I had to humble myself under the Mighty hand of God. The day I told God that I was willing for the pressure of my job to break me so that He could reveal something precious and beautiful to me, was a painful day, but strangely enough a calm peace came over me and settled in my heart. Fear disappears and was replaced with a deep knowing that God would rescue me from everything - because I was willing to make Him the Master of my every waking moment.
Some circumstances that I have feared still happened, yet I found myself peaceful and unshaken by words and actions. I saw everything happening to me as a tool God used to release more of His Spirit in me. God's plan was to restore peace in my life - and He could only do that if I allowed Him to take control of the disruptive and ungodly fear-driven behaviour that kept the Spirit of God captive in that area. I had to willingly give my life to God again and again.
Slowly God started revealing His Word to me - He used His access to my heart to teach me wonderful and amazing business strategies - plans that were born from the Spirit and not from myself. Every morning I found the courage to speak a blessing over my work. He created time for me to pray before I went to office, and it left me empowered. I was now partnering with God, working with Him to see His kingdom established, and it wasn't through my own efforts, but through His Spirit. The time I've spent with God helped me to find the place of peace where God reigns. This place you can only find in His Kingdom. His peace surpasses all understanding, and breaths courage into your Spirit. When I allowed the Holy Spirit to help me deal with life, I came to the understanding that God was never asleep, He was only in the secret place of peace.
Many of us experience "sales environments" in our lives where we feel trapped, devalued, scared and restless. God's Kingdom is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. I've discovered that in the areas where I'm not experiencing God's kingdom, God is not reigning.
The breaking of the outer man is necessary, because it creates space for the Spirit to be released, and you will be able to function in your calling as a son or daugther of God. Romans 8:14 says that "those who are led by the Spirit, those are Sons (or daughters) of God."
Partnering with God taught me valuable spiritual lessons that shaped my career, gave me a fresh understanding of God's love and made me rest in the knowledge that God is not asleep, I should just go to the place of peace, the place where God reigns and my flesh surrenders.
Col 3:15 And let the peace (soul harmony which comes) from Christ rule (act as umpire continually) in your hearts [deciding and settling with finality all questions that arise in your minds, in that peaceful state] to which as [members of Christ's] one body you were also called [to live].
Allow the Kingdom of God to reign in your life through peace, you are called to be Spirit led!
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