Never Waste A Crisis

"Never waste a crisis" has become a mantra in Washington. Irrespective of your political persuasion, it’s an important truth: crises bring opportunities not only to change ourselves, but the world around us in ways that can bring benefits we never imagined. The Joseph story in Genesis shows us how a series of crises provided Joseph with the opportunity to not only change his life but the world around him using faith and some entrepreneurial thinking.


Crises are never pleasant. They are often accompanied by pain and disappointment. But how often do we think about them when we remember the Joseph story? Perhaps the first images we recall are those of the favored child in his coat of many colors or the grand ruler of Egypt. But it was what happened in between those two images, the crises, that hold the greatest lessons in our current difficult circumstances.

Joseph was both exceptional and favored as a child. At an early age he showed a gift for prophecy, but it was accompanied by pride, a pride that kept him from seeing clearly what God’s true plan was for his life. One can’t help but detect a hint of arrogance in his telling of his early visions. You get a sense that he’s saying: “It’s all about me,” and any of us who have gotten this far realize that it’s not about us but about God and serving the people around us.

And then the crises came, and what crises they were: betrayal by those closest to him, enslavement, imprisonment. But we all know that these crises were meant for good, though I doubt Joseph may have thought so at the time. Like him, some of us may be experiencing painful events in our lives that make no sense, and like him in the midst of his pain, perhaps we can’t see clearly what God’s plan is yet because all our circumstances seem so unfair.

But there was a larger plan at work, and the terrible events that Joseph experienced clarified them for him. The plan began to emerge when Joseph began to listen to the calling of his heart. The psalmists remind us that understanding comes from the “utterance of the heart,” (Ps.49:3) and when Joseph listened to his heart, it became clear what he had to do.

Joseph had a desire in his heart to save his family, his people, and the people of Egypt, and it was only through a series of crises that he had the opportunity to do so. And how did he do it? By using the special gifts that God had given him as an administrator. It was the desire of his heart combined with the use of his gifts in the service of God and others that produced amazing results. Notice that Joseph didn’t do it with any desire to get rich or powerful. But consider the results: his family reconciled, the nation of Egypt saved, the house of Israel established, and his firm (the house of Pharaoh) enriched, owning all of the land in Egypt.

Now consider your own circumstances. Despite how difficult things appear, what is it that you can do now that you couldn’t do before this crisis? What are you free to do? Like Joseph and the instruction of the psalmist, God has planted a desire in your heart and it is from that desire that understanding will come. Listen to it. Don’t judge it because you can never tell what wonderful results it will lead to. Do you love cars? Do you love cooking or technology? What is it that you would love to do with your time if you had all the money you needed?

If you think that following the desires of your heart is impractical and that it really can’t lead to anything think about Joseph. Do you think that he thought that a series of adolescent dreams and wanting to reconcile his family would save the world and establish the house of Israel? God put a passion in your heart for a reason just as He did with Joseph and it’s His good pleasure to give it to you (Ps. 37:4). But you have to do your part. God likes to work through human agents like you and Joseph; He likes partners. He gave you your unique talents for a reason: to use them fully in His service and the service of others.

What do you love? What are you good at? What do people need? Where these three things intersect is where you’ll find God’s plan for your life and where faith based entrepreneurship begins. You see, faith based entrepreneurship is just actualizing God’s plan for your life, serving Him and blessing others, but what it takes is faith, knowing that God keeps His word and knowing that you have both the responsibility and the privilege of living it. And it’s practical. If you read leading business thinkers like Jim Collins and Seth Godin, you’ll see that the most successful people and enterprises come from doing what you love and what you’re good at, giving people what they need, and doing it extraordinarily well. Never waste a crisis.

Live in faith,
Live your life,
Take care of one another.

Leonardo

Next Blog: What is Faith Based Entrepreneurship? and a preview of our free online entrepreneurship course.