What Does Faith Have to Offer Entrepreneurs in Times of CrisisEsimerkki

Elisabeth, an entrepreneur of a beautiful international company, once told me, ‘As a Christian, I do not live or do business based on the circumstances, but based on the promises and the hope that God provides.’

In the same way, Paul does not look at this world from what he sees either, but from the viewpoint of God’s promises. He compares the suffering in this world with the pains of childbirth (Rom. 8:22). This means that in this suffering, through the crisis that we experience, something new is born. He is convinced that this newborn life cannot be compared with our present suffering (Rom. 8:18). But as this new life is not yet revealed when we are amid suffering and crisis, Paul calls this ‘hope’.

This ‘hope’, the new life that God provides, is not yet visible in times of suffering and crisis. Yet, this hope is real for Paul, for it is grounded in the fact that God has raised Jesus from the dead (1 Cor. 15:4-18). This proves that God and Jesus are more powerful than death, the strongest power threatening life that we as human beings cannot conquer ourselves. But God is stronger than any power that may threaten our lives. This is why every human’s end may be a new beginning for those who believe in God and Jesus.

This reminds me of a conversation with Maurits, an entrepreneur with an international retail chain. Circumstances and personal mistakes caused the entire management team to quit so he had to take over operational leadership. This way he found out that the figures did not match and the business had fallen victim to fraud. Supplies were valued higher than their actual value and had disappeared, the accounts were balanced fraudulently, and some other similar cases. In short, his company was all but bankrupt. He was angry and desperate at the same time. He did not know what to do anymore.

He started thinking about the worst that could happen in this situation. That would be complete bankruptcy. When thinking about the darkest scenario, he also realized that he would retain all that was valuable: his family, his health, his talent, and his capacity of starting anew. He began to design a new company from the worst starting position ever. Next, he did away with everything of his old company that did not suit the new business he had in mind. Shops were closed, supplies and real estate were sold, and new people were hired. This is how this entrepreneur started all over again. A new future was dawning. A future that had begun with an unwished-for crisis and personal mistakes of the entrepreneur himself. The new situation now seems better than the old one. Although he wishes to never experience such crisis and despair again, it was a necessary step to make him move in a new direction.

Question for the day
What is your greatest fear? Do you still have a future, if this fear comes true?