(First posted 10/19/20) In the Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, back on February 5th, 2012, we see an interesting set of readings beginning with Job, who had it all and lost it all.
Job then found the real "all."
With that discovery, Job's successgrew twice as much.
Job was "blameless and upright...who feared God and avoided evil," which attracted evil to test him.
And test him, satan did.
From that high point, satan took it all away.
All except God's love and protection.
In the midst of these great trials, Job experienced God's healing promise, which provides us an example of how we are to live when we receive God's healing.
In Chapter 7, Job is lamenting the "drudgery" of man's life. It is reminiscent of Adam's misery, which befell him as a result of his original sin.
But in Psalm 147, we are reminded that God heals the brokenhearted, and we are to praise Him for it.
Finally, in the Gospel of Mark, we see an example of the Lord's healing.
In Mark Chapter 1, Jesus takes the hand of Simon's mother-in-law, who was afflicted with a fever, "raised her up," and she immediately showed her appreciation by serving Jesus and all who were present.
Trials and tribulations can hit any of us at any time despite our best-laid plans.
How you react to them is what defines you and will set the tone for the level of your future successes or lack thereof.
See the story of how I navigated the floods of Hurricane Harvey to bring aid to Houston.
So stop trying to accumulate MORE and seek to serve more because all things will pass in your universe EXCEPT your soul and the love God has for you. Those will both live forever.
The late great Tom Hoobyar encountered challenges in life, which led to his creation of the "12 Laws of Life."
In #2, he reminded us to
Keep your balance. Stay centered. Expect surprises."
So if you find yourself out of balance or sinking or knocked down and unable to get up on your own...
Once Job saw the error of his ways and accepted the will and the blessings of the Lord, Job then interceded on behalf of his friends that let him down, and he was blessed with double what he had before.
To grow in your business and personal life, seek first to serve.
Maybe that means you watch less TV at home and help cook dinner or do a load of laundry despite having a long, hard, grueling day at the office.
In business, it means you seek not to merely "satisfy" your clients but actually WOW them to the point of amazement.
The days of exchanging a product or service for a buck or two and keeping the client for generations are over.
If you find any aspect of your life out of balance, ask yourself who it is you have been seeking to serve.
If it is not God, Family, Client, Self in that order, you have the answer to your dilemma.
As the wise Zig Ziglar tells us,...
You will get all you want in life if you help enough other people get what they want."
Or just contact me, and we'll set a time to speak.
Market like you mean it.
Now go sell something.