God Is Not a Compartmentalising God

If you walked into a room of a hundred Christian business owners and told them God wants to speak into their next big decision, half of them would smile politely and think you'd lost the plot.

I know, because I was one of them.

The four walls problem

We've quietly worked out a deal with God. He gets Sunday. He gets our soul, our morals, our eternity. We take Monday to Saturday — the quotes, the hires, the cash flow — and we handle those ourselves.

Then we tick the box. Family to church, done, been a good Christian this week.

You've heard people say they wear different hats depending on the time of day and who they need to be. I understand the sentiment, but it doesn't hold. God is one. He doesn't file your spiritual life in one box, your business in another and your family in a third. He sees the whole thing as a single life — yours.

Praying more wasn't the answer

For a long time I genuinely believed success would come through praying more, reading more, fasting more. They were the only tools I knew.

So when the business struggled, I'd go to my pastor. Are you praying enough? Fasting enough? Reading enough?

You only discover the limits of that advice when you hit a wall it can't move. I was working harder than I'd ever worked, doing everything I'd been told, and going nowhere.

He shows up where it hurts

Look at Abraham. God addressed him right in the middle of the thing that wasn't working — no children — and said I'll make you a great nation. The exact opposite of his lived experience, spoken directly into it.

Think about it as a parent. When your kid is passionate about something, no parent says that's not important to me. You're all in on every part of their life. So why would our Father be any different about the thing we spend fifty hours a week on?

If God can get your attention at your place of work, that's not a distraction from your faith. That's evidence He's paying attention.

The flip

Here's what changed everything, and it wasn't more hours.

I stopped praying God, bless what I'm doing and started asking God, what are You already blessing?

That's a step back rather than a push forward. Where are You already moving? Because that's where I want to be. I handed the business over — He's the owner, I'm the number one employee, and I take my instructions from Him.

Every Monday morning I have a business planning meeting with the Holy Spirit. It's a to-do list. What do we get to do this week? Some of it I want; a fair bit of it I surrender.

I once asked whether I should turn some Facebook ads back on. The answer was if you want to. I said I didn't really want to, I just thought I should. He said that's fine. It's a dialogue, not a set of orders.

Start small

It doesn't take hours. Five minutes. You're not conjuring up a feeling or proving your affection — you're recognising He's already in the room and turning to face Him.

Ask Him two things: What do You love about me? and What do I do really well?

Then notice what you see, what you hear, what you know and what you feel. He wired all four. He'll use whichever one you're listening on.

🎧Listen to the full episode