Written by: Kristen M

Published on 7/23/2024

Have you ever felt like the rest of the world is blowing by at maximum speed? Do you feel like you or your business has been missing out on something big because of extenuating circumstances in your life? Are you a Christian business owner who’s been wondering how you can balance your small business goals, while also staying in line with God’s will?

There’s been something weighing heavily on my heart lately, and I knew before anything else, this was the first thing I wanted to share coming out of a really chaotic season. In the last few months, I’ve felt every single one of these struggles. If we’re being honest, I even wondered if God was telling me this business of mine wasn’t something I needed to pursue anymore.

This post is actually one I have really thought through and prayed over. One of my goals for this year within my business was to center it more around Christ, and to go to him with more of my business decisions than I had before. Lo and behold, this year has been one of the more spiritually challenging ones for me.

“To me, what it means to center my business around the Lord, is to trust Him when life gets chaotic around me. When life interrupts my plans, I can look to the One who’s in control already and know that He’ll bring me through it. As long as He has given me this platform to share on and use, I will continue to trust Him with it and give Him the glory along the way.”

This current season we’re coming out of, chaotic as it’s been, has also been such a learning lesson on slowing down and meeting God where He is. We’re often quick to forget that the Lord is not in a rush. His timing is not our timing. While we’re hustling and bustling through life (and yes, I do believe there are definite hustle seasons), God does not exist in a rushed fashion.

“But do not forget this one thing, dear friends; With the Lord, a day is like 1,000 years, and 1,000 years is like a day.” - 2 Peter 3:8

The last few months has given me very little time to work on my business and it’s growth. I have so many plans and dreams for where I want this business to go. I’ve spent a lot of moments wondering if, because I feel so behind, this must mean this isn’t God’s will for me to continue to pursue. I’ve thought of what it would look like to put it all away and take a step back. And let’s be honest, the thought of that didn’t feel good. There’s still a huge part of me that wants to continue designing new patterns and creating fun content for our crochet community. I really don’t want to let it go.

So I decided along the way, while I didn’t have the time to work on growing my business, that I would replace those thoughts with what I did have control over instead. I didn’t know where God was leading me, and I’m still not 100% sure where the future of my business lies, because I don’t think we ever do. But I do know that God has me where I am for a reason, and that means instead of looking around and feeling discouraged because other’s might be growing faster - it’s a much more satisfied and fulfilling presence to choose to trust God with where He has me right now.

To me, what it means to center my business around the Lord, is to trust Him when life gets chaotic around me. When life interrupts my plans, I can look to the One who’s in control already and know that He’ll bring me through it. As long as He has given me this platform to share on and use, I will continue to trust Him with it and give Him the glory along the way.

And friends, if you choose to open your eyes and see how God is working in your life, you will not be disappointed.

When we started our big move from Alaska to Florida, I wasn’t truly prepared for all of the lessons in patience the Lord was about to teach me. From driving 3,000 miles in a car with two young kids constantly asking for snacks and what felt like a million, “are we there yet’s?!” - you’d think that would be enough. Fast forward to arriving in our new hometown after 15 days of travel, and we still didn’t know when our belongings would arrive.

We spent 14 more days in a temporary home, driving back and forth to our new house to clean and paint the the inside. We ordered a new refrigerator during that time, only to have the company come back with technical difficulties, canceling our order and delivery date, and reordering/scheduling another delivery date for many days past the original. At this point, we had just left the temporary home to officially live in our new home and were now waiting several more days in an empty home for our refrigerator to be delivered.

The last few months have felt like we have constantly been waiting on things. Waiting to schedule our movers, waiting and preparing for our moving day, waiting to arrive in our new hometown, waiting a few more days after we got here to close on our new house, waiting to start exercising and eating more healthy again, waiting in temporary housing since we don’t have our belongings yet, waiting to begin business projects I’ve been dying to work on, and finally waiting for our refrigerator to arrive. When the week came that we were expecting our belongings to be delivered, we got a call saying it would be one more week. To say we were discouraged would be an understatement, but I honestly wasn’t too surprised if we’re being honest.

And throughout all of this time, the idea that my business was dwindling had been laying so heavily on my heart.

Waiting. Waiting. Waiting.

*“We should be praying that the Lord gives us a* ***persona of patience.*** *However, we can’t become this way in our own doing. We need the help from Jesus.”*

Are you feeling the frustration of a waiting game too? There are many different scenarios that might have you fighting for time with your business goals. Maybe you’re about to add a new baby to the family, or going through transitions with foster care and adoption. Maybe you’re wanting a child and it just hasn’t happened yet, so you’re trying to dive into your business while you wait. Maybe you’re like myself and going through a big move. Maybe you’re waiting on your financial situation to get better. Maybe you’re struggling with ongoing health issues that make it feel impossible to continue to grow. Perhaps, you’ve recently gone through a significant loss within your family or community, and feel as though your mental health can’t handle much more than just surviving.

I’m here to encourage you to rest in God’s timing. Ask him to help you dig inside and rest in His patience. He has enough for all of us, and we can’t do it without Him.

God spoke to me in some really big ways at a recent local church service we went to. We’ve been looking into different churches in our new area, and although we aren’t sure if this church will be the one we stay in, I have no doubt it was where God wanted me on that Sunday morning.

Can you guess what the pastor’s message was on?

That’s right…the message was on PATIENCE. And I really don’t believe this was just a coincidence. I firmly believe this was a Divine invitation.

The pastor spoke about the Bible story of a man who ran through crowds to meet Jesus as his last hope of coming back to heal his dying daughter (Luke 8:40-56). After he reached Jesus and got his attention, on their way back through the crowds, Jesus felt someone touch the hem of his robe. He stopped to minister and heal the woman along the way, which probably really frustrated the man who’s daughter was so close to dying. How could Jesus do this? Did He not care about this little girl too, and could He not see how urgent the need was?

After speaking with and healing this woman of faith who believed just by touching Jesus she would be healed, the waiting and distraught father received a message saying his daughter had passed away. Can you imagine the devastation??

However, Jesus turned to the man and said “Do not fear; only believe, and she will be well” (Luke 8:50). Jesus went to the man’s daughter and brought her back to life.

Jesus wasn’t only exemplifying patience, he WAS patience in His being. He carried a persona of patience that was lasting and abiding through every circumstance.

The pastor continued preaching on how much our faith in Jesus can make a difference in the way we view patience. As Christian’s, instead of praying for patience in certain areas of our lives, we should be praying for the Lord’s help in giving us a patient heart in all circumstances. We should be praying that the Lord gives us a persona of patience. However, we can’t become this way in our own doing. We need the help from Jesus.

When you have a patient heart and full faith in the Lord, only then will you be able to take that deep breath you need and lay your burdens about the growth of your business in His hands.

And don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a journey without it’s mistakes. We won’t be perfect when it comes to patience, because of course, God is God and we are not (as the pastor of our old church always said). But we can grow, and by growing in faith I truly believe God’s blessings will look like a fulfilled and patient heart.

It’s the lesson I’ve learned about the practice of being patient as a small business owner who really tries to center her decisions around Jesus. How even in the tough circumstances that force you to slow down and take a break, God is still working. Maybe it means you need to take this time to shift your business model and write down ways you want to improve when you have the time later. This time could honestly be a blessing in disguise for your business if you truly allow it to be. You might not be able to change your circumstances, but you can control your attitude surrounding them and whether or not you’re going to continue trusting in the Lord’s plan.

If you’ve shared these struggles with me, I hope this message was encouraging. If you’re reading this and maybe have questions, or don’t know who Jesus is, feel free to send me a message and I’m always more than willing to chat about my faith. It’s by no means a perfect one, but one that has held me through my darkest of times and given me in an inexplainable joy and peace.

If you’re wondering what the future of your business holds, I’m right there with you friend.

Except now, I’m choosing to rest in the fact that God is not in rush, and for that reason, I don’t need to be either.

Let’s connect!