In today’s blog, I am sharing “A Word, A Song and A Laugh” to stir up all of you entrepreneurs, wanna-be entrepreneurs and marketplace go-getters!
A WORD:
And he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debt; and you and your sons live on the rest.”
2 Kings 4:7
I want to encourage all of you that are … in business, entrepreneurs, idea people, inventors, innovators, creators, strategists and people-oriented! I want to cheer you on in your entrepreneurial pursuits!
For many years, I’ve been cheering, encouraging, exhorting and doing my best to inspire people to “reinvent” their lives and businesses to their max potential!!
And, I’ve said many times that if you were called to the marketplace, you should devote your heart and soul to have maximum success in order to be an influence for Christ and very generous towards the Body of Christ and the gospel cause!
I’ve always felt that if you were called to the ministry, you should reach people for Christ, make disciples and build His Church with 100% of your heart, energy and time — and we did that very thing for 40 years with no deviations.
>> Both callings — to the ministry and to the marketplace — are valid and needed!
In our case, with good conscience, we can say before the Lord we didn’t get distracted or sidelined in our ministry calling, but had our feet on the gas on for 4 decades and we loved every minute of it! Our foot is still on the gas when it comes to being an ambassador for Christ and when it comes to teaching the Bible basics, but ever since we passed the leadership baton of the church we founded, to our son and daughter-in-love, we’ve had more margin and have really enjoyed this new, fun season of being active-retired! We’ve kept our hearts open to whatever the Lord had in store for our next “assignments” might be. Recently, the Lord has encouraged me to “reinvent” a bit and while I am still actively engaged in The Bible Basics With Beth, I have felt God’s pleasure to pursue a new area of entrepreneurship — something I always desired, but was willing to forgo in light of the ministry calling and demands. (More on that in a minute!)
So, today, I want to encourage those of you who are already in the marketplace — to suggest you “reinvent” in some fresh ways by asking the four reinventing questions we find in the story of 2 Kings 4. (If you’ve followed me for very long, you know I wrote “Reinvent,” a book devoted to unpacking the entrepreneurial maven found in 2 Kings 4.) Here’s the story…
A certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, saying, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the Lord. And the creditor is coming to take my two sons to be his slaves.” 2 So Elisha said to her, “What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?” And she said, “Your maidservant has nothing in the house but a jar of oil.” 3 Then he said, “Go, borrow vessels from everywhere, from all your neighbors—empty vessels; do not gather just a few. 4 And when you have come in, you shall shut the door behind you and your sons; then pour it into all those vessels, and set aside the full ones.”
5 So she went from him and shut the door behind her and her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured it out. 6 Now it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said to her son, “Bring me another vessel.” And he said to her, “There is not another vessel.” So the oil ceased. 7 Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debt; and you and your sons live on the rest.”
2 Kings 4:1-7
Notice, there are 4 questions embedded in this story. Four questions every entrepreneur should ask from time to time.
Question #1: What do you want?
Question #2: What do you have?
Question #3: What will you do?
Question #4: Why will you do it?
All of these questions are important and the answers to these questions are essential! Today, I want to focus on Question #3: What will you do?
When it comes to “What will you do?” in this story, the widow woman was in need of finances to pay her debts — she needed big money! And she needed it now! Money didn’t grow on trees then any more than it does now — so she had to get God’s wisdom and He led her to become an entrepreneur! (I hate to give a shameless plug, but really, read my book, Reinvent to get the whole picture.)
After the widow woman had followed the guidance of Elijah the prophet, she found herself as a single mom with two boys and a garage full of inventory — oil vessels to be specific! Now what? How was she supposed to turn all of that oil inventory into the money she needed to pay her debts? Elijah told her. He said, “Go sell the oil.” (Re-read that phrase.)
This was a big key! She needed to get good at sales, marketing, interacting with people, managing her inventory and enjoying her profits! In fact, Elijah told her that as she sold the oil she would be able to pay her debts and enjoy life with her sons!
What’s the application for us? If you are a business owner or entrepreneur with a product, business, skill or service — you’ve got to “sell the oil!” You’ll have to listen the Holy Spirit’s wisdom and get busy marketing and selling the oil. Your biz, products, skills and services won’t sell themselves.
That means you may need to learn a few new skills.
>> Maybe you need to figure out how to leverage social media and get a better understanding of Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and the like. (I know it can be a beast, but it may be necessary to learn and leverage it, if you want to sell the oil!)
>> You may need to take a class to understand SEO (search engine optimization) so that your webpages move to the top of Google searches.
>> Perhaps, rather than run from it, you need to run towards the Ai bandwagon (artificial intelligence) to learn how it can help you sell the oil.
>> You might need to revisit old-fashioned direct mail, phone calling and door-to-door sales methods to sell your oil.
Whatever the method — you will likely need to put yourself out there to sell the oil. (And by the way, you will be your own worst critic and you will have to overcome fear. Others may criticize you, be jealous, show zero support and question your motives. Stay the course. Wink! Sell the oil!)
But for those who stay focused on selling the oil … it’s sweet victory! I love watching people succeed. It makes me happy. I can think of several people in our church who’ve stepped out in faith to launch a business, write a book and offer their services. They are shining brightly for the Lord — they decided to sell the oil and God has been blessing and multiplying it!
I think of Ben and Tori. As a teen and young adult, Ben was on our Valley Family Church (VFC) staff for many years; after he was married, he and his wife Tori felt called to launch their own construction business — B+A Homes. So, they did. They build beautiful custom homes and have been featured in our local Parade of Homes for several years. They sold the oil!
I think of Malena Jean. She has served as a volunteer leader in the VFC Middle School ministry for several years, while also teaching middle school locally. Her love for the Lord moved her to write a book, The Truth About Christmas, to explain the Christmas story when her children began asking questions about Santa, Rudolph and Baby Jesus. She helps kids understand the real Christmas story in a way that makes sense and while keeping the wonder of the Christmas season alive. Her book just launched and she’s selling the oil!
I think of Jaila Rykse. She, and her husband Josh, served as our Student Pastors for many years. She is a gifted photographer and several years ago, she felt God’s leading to focus on developing her photography business — Jaila Rixie Photos. She is an incredible luxury wedding photographer and has been featured in numerous magazines. I love what Jaila said in a recent interview with Voyage Michigan, “It’s been a whole lot of hustle, endless abundance of the Lord’s grace, much joy, sweat, and tears; I am thankful to be where I am in this journey of entrepreneurship.” She is selling the oil!
In my own life, I was recently presented with the opportunity to become an Amazon Influencer, so I pulled the trigger and applied (and got approved!) This means, not only am I still passionate about The Bible Basics With Beth, but I am thrilled to launch The Lifestyle Basics With Beth through my very own Amazon Influencer Storefront: www.amazon.com/shop/bethjones. I am on a steep learning curve, but I am enjoying it and figuring out how to sell the oil!
I could tell dozens more stories of amazing people, called by God to shine His light as they serve as entrepreneurs in marketplace ministry and give generously to His cause.
Our daughter and son-in-law launched their own business, Bros Doughs and just opened up their second location. They are selling the oil — well donuts, but deep fried in oil!
Two of our ministry Board Members are very successful entrepreneurs in their respective fields. Frank Mumford, as the owner of Sir Home Improvement for the past 43 years and Todd Bradfield, with 22 years as a top producing real estate agent, now with eXp Realty. They have both embraced their calling to be ambassadors for Christ in the marketplace. They have successfully learned to “sell the oil” and have been very generous towards the cause of Christ!
So, what about you? Do you own a business? Do you have an entrepreneurial desire? Do you sense God’s leading to the marketplace? Is there a business-to-be-born in you? Do you long to reach your greatest God-given potential to serve the cause of Christ with your success?
Do it! Sell the oil!
