Thursday, August 14, 2014

TCOGB: Taking Care of God’s Business


“Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this…and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.” – Malachi 3:10

The manual for new recruits I was writing has been stuck on Step 3 for weeks. The prospects list I had been planning to fill up has remained an untitled Excel file. This week, I thought I’d finally have time to input the data needed for my business. All the family and community events I had to organize were done.

Then a rush project for the Media Ministry landed on my lap – the Tithing Bulletin. It was needed this Sunday to cap the Tithing Challenge issued at The Feast. The thing was, only 2 testimonies were submitted on the deadliest deadline I gave. That was not enough, so everybody was pressured to search out people with stories to tell. We were deluged with 8 more testimonies. I even had to reject two because of time constraints.

I was tasked to interview a couple of sharers and write the articles. I also had to rewrite or edit the other submissions. It was crunch time and I didn’t want to waste time hunting down my members I can delegate the tasks to. I only roped in my trusty Associate Editor, Bern, to help me proof and do additional edits. 

“There goes the manual and my prospects list again,” I thought. My business mentors have always stressed we need to do something every day or at least every week to take a step towards success. I’ll be missing that chance this week. Or so I thought.

Bro Arun Gogna, our Senior Feast Builder, says this prayer every time we have a Servants’ Assembly: “Lord, bless your servants. Please take care of their business because they are taking care of yours.” Many times in the past, I could only sigh and add my supplication to his prayer. Last Wednesday, this prayer was very clearly answered.

In the midst of all the rush, I got a call from one of my prospects. She said she was ready to purchase the products we were selling and asked if I can meet her in the office. It was unexpected. I didn’t even have time to follow-up on her yet. Of course, I agreed and hurriedly texted JB, my upline and mentor, to ask if he can go to the office for 2 things: for the interview for the Tithing Bulletin and for support with this prospect. By God’s grace, his very busy schedule was open. 

But I hit a snag. JB was delayed and my prospect just wanted to buy on retail instead of signing up as distributor and getting a complete package. I tried to convince her because there was just a small difference in price but she said she had no use for the other items in the package. Being a greenhorn in the business, I failed to convince her otherwise. 

Downhearted, I lined up at the counter to purchase her items. Then out of the corner of my eye, I saw JB at the door. My hope leaped and I was amazed by God’s perfect timing. I hurriedly introduced him to my prospect. And, to make a long story short, he found a way to convince her to sign up as an independent distributor instead. 

After my new recruit left, I interviewed JB. His story and mine where one: when you give your time, talent and treasure, God will always out-give you. When you take care of God’s business, He will take care of yours.