Becoming what you believe
Shannon Thieneman
Will you allow God to inform your beliefs? God is for you; He is crazy in love with you.
There are three ways we typically receive our identity: what people think of us, what we do, or how much we have. What if you were never limited by any of these three factors? What if you knew who you were created to be, and you were confident in your destiny?
I want to tell you a story of how hearing from God completely changed the lives of one family, and in turn, the lives of many others. This gentleman was a worship leader in a church throughout his 20s and mid-30s. In 2013/14, he heard the Lord tell him, 'I will provide, not the church.' He thought this was going to be a side job.
Over the course of the next few years, he prayed for God to show him what that would be. Then he had the idea for a meat company. The furthest thing from his mind. He had never cooked steak. He knew nothing about agriculture and never wanted to be an entrepreneur. If anything, he thought he was going to be a pastor, and he wanted to start a church. ‘Meat company’ kept coming to his mind. Someone should do this. He heard the Lord after worship one Sunday morning – loud and clear – “You do this”
He told his wife, “I think God just told me to start a meat company,” fully expecting her to say, “We don’t have the money, we don’t know how to do that.” She told him, “If you heard God, then I trust you”. The most empowering words anyone had ever spoken to him. This was 2017. They had just had their first child.
He started selling meat out of the back of a truck in a parking lot, kind of like pop-up stands for fireworks. He thought God was giving him a way to make money to start a church. The first year was very successful. Then they expanded to more trucks in 2018 and 2019. God said, “Sell meat, not start a church”. COVID hit, and his company exploded. They had about 25 trucks. That gave them the resources to start selling online. Shipping perishable items online is complex. His saying early on was, “God goes before us,” because everything always lined up in the right way.
Proverbs 16:3, “Commit your works to the Lord (submit and trust them to Him) and your plans will succeed (if you respond to His will and guidance.” The trucks were profitable, but selling online was not. Then the Lord said, “Shut down the trucks and go solely online.” At that point, they had sold $ 220,000 online and $7 million with the trucks. God said, “Sell the trucks and sell online”. So, they did. They grew 400% in the first year online.
Now, they are feeding over 100,000 households. The meat comes from over 100 farms. His name is Ben Spell, and he is the CEO of Good Ranchers. They are connecting the American family to the American farm. The interviewer asked him, Do you feel like you went backward in your calling?” He said by year three, he had done more ministry in the business than he did in 15 years in the church. Not all of their employees are Christians, but most say this is the best job they have ever had.
This story is not an indication for everyone to leave the ministry and start a business. It’s about hearing from God. His knowledge is greater, His creativity is unmatched, His timing is perfect, and his wisdom cannot be exceeded. He is crazy in love with you and wants the best for you and the Kingdom. You don’t have to be in ministry to do work in the Kingdom.
Each of us has an identity given to us by the Lord. It is unique to only you, and it is your gift to the world. Identity is the timeless essence of your truest self. You also have gifts and talents that are unique to you. The most crucial to all of this is being able to hear from the Lord and put those gifts and talents to work in the Kingdom. That’s the pinnacle of serving God, which is really serving others.
Our life is called to honor God in everything we do. Jesus came as a servant. He was meeting the needs of the people. When we meet those needs, that is ministry. Whether it is in a church, in a business, on a football field, baseball field, in the grocery store, in your extended family, whatever you do and whoever you meet.
When we stand before the judgment seat of Christ, we will see the number of people that have been impacted by our obedience to God. This is a time of rewards, not condemnation. Some might say, well, I’m too old; this is all I’ve ever done, so I guess I’ll just stick with this. However, age is not a limiting factor. Hud McWilliams said so himself. Allow me to provide some examples….
· Abraham, at 75, was called by God to leave Haran
· Moses started his ministry at age 80
· Aaron, age 83
· Colonel Harland Sanders (KFC Founder), age 65
· Peter Roget (physician and scientist) created the thesaurus as a retirement project, at age 73
· Nola Ochs proved it’s never too late for education; he became the world’s oldest college graduate at age 95.
· John Pemberton invented the original Coca-Cola formula in 1886, at the age of 55.
You have the mind of Christ, which is powerful. It’s the most powerful thing in the universe after God. We are created in His image. When you hear from God and know your identity, you are unstoppable. You are Kingdom Kings and Priests. Never underestimate your power to do good and share the light of Jesus with those in your workplace, your family, or with those you meet along the way. You are the only Bible that some will ever read.
