Sitting on my Toilet

Had the opportunity to enjoy few beers, meal and laughters with bunch of local entrepreneurs and investors.  First impression – wow, everyone is so…normal! Quite contrarary to what I had imagined.  As the night went on, I got to learn more about each person (some of them, I knew well).  Almost all of them have made their share of ‘success’ in financial realm but also very proactive at finding new opportunities to multiply as well as to help people. 

I didn’t get one sense of arrogance, or pride in any of them.  But rather, humility and passion in what they did.  No one squanders their money in clothing, car or toys.  They talked about mistakes just as normal person would.

It was really an eye opener for me in the recent weeks as I walk through this journey of stepping into the entrepreneurial walk and start up life, you don’t have to be an annoying bastard to be successful.  Quite frankly, those who are annoying bastard, loaded with money and treat people like crap, ends up on the bottom.  You reap what you sow.  Very true.

…when black won’t be asked to get back, when brown can stick around, when yellow would be mellow, when red can get ahead, when white can embrace what is right…

…we will extend our hands, if you would unclench your fist…

I came across this illustration and thought it was thought provoking and spoke to me personally.  Especially in these economic down turn times, where is our trust?

There is those of us who placed our trust and hope in the job and ultimately in the money.  Though many would say, money doesn’t bring happiness.  But if you were to ask, if you had $1000 more each month, would you be happier? Usually the answer is Yes.  We relied on our own hands and knowledge to produce and go on about  feeding the different compartments of our lives. 

and some, we trust and believe that God is the provider.  We pray hard and seek his provision in our finances and jobs.  Though I wonder do we limit how much influence God has in our lives.  Do we trust that He can provide for us with finance, but then we place rest of our trust in job and money again? Does having Money and Job bring peace and comfort knowing that if car was to break down, or health was to deteriorate, we can deal with them?  Or that the house’s value drops, but if there was money in the bank, then we don’t have to worry?  Seems that some what our trust is still in the money and job.  When layoffs come, does that mean God can no longer provide for you?

God said to look at the flowers and birds, and not to worry about what to eat or what to wear.  For worrying won’t add a second to your life.  God knows all our needs – house, hobby, relationships, toys etc.  Sure God may use job as a channel for His blessings to come to our lives.  But He also could provide in each of these compartments directly. 

In these toughest time in our generation, perhaps God wants our trust and hope back to Him and Him solely. 

For those of us who either lost jobs or on the blink of not sure how to make the ends meet, the future seems dim and uncertain.  The ‘whys’ of the past happenings may not yield useful answers or answers at all.  Let us ask ‘What’, what can be learned from this.  ‘What does God trying to teach us’ may be a better question that would affect the future.

Rather than ask ‘Why did you hurt me to a friend?’, let us ask ‘What can we do forward to restore the relationship?’. 

I don’t know what the future holds.  But I do know who holds my future.