My wife is an artist. She makes mosaics, using cut or broken pieces of stone and glass to create beautiful works of art, full of color, texture and motion. I can see the fingerprint of God on what she does. He is the creator, making astoundingly beautiful things. Mosaic art is a great representation of His heart for taking broken things in people and situations and putting them together to create beauty. God is an artist.
Reclaimed Beauty 2018. Candice Klopfenstein
A friend of mine is a doctor. I can see the imprint of God on what she does – a healer with endless compassion. Another friend is an author. I can see the mark of God on what he does – communicating complexity and resolution through narrative. Another friend works in government. I can see God in what he does – effectively administering justice and serving the people under his authority. The same could be said of parents, musicians, farmers, teachers, and all sorts of people. They carry a piece of God’s heart in what they do.
So, I was asking Jesus the other day, If God is an artist, doctor and author, is he also a business person? I know he loves business people (He loves everyone), but is there some part of Him that actually is a business person? If so, maybe I could connect with that part of His essence to be better at what I do.
I discovered a while back that He loves to answer my honest questions, and He is answering this one. I have come to a better understanding of how God is a business person, and I got there by asking Him what a business person actually does, and how He brings His essence into that.
He was happy to show me a whole bunch of places in the Bible where He was a business partner with someone. For instance, Abraham was not just a herdsman, but ran a large, successful agricultural enterprise. In many of the examples of Godly business people in the Bible, there was a common outcome – blessing other people. Abraham is a great example of this. In Genesis 12:2, God tells Abraham that He will bless Abraham and make his name great, so that Abraham will be a blessing to others. The point of Abraham’s vast business enterprise was not to get rich, or to make a bunch of money and give it away, but to bless others.
So, what is God’s fingerprint on business people? There are probably many, but one that I think is significant in this context is that we do what we do in order to bless other people. We bless them by creating jobs, supporting families, providing financial security and teaching everyone we meet the importance of honoring people. Business – like the Kingdom of God – is built by building people to accomplish a greater goal. That’s what God does with all of us, and it’s His fingerprint on each of us. I came to understand that in addition to being an artist, doctor and author, God is also a business person.
For me, the implication of this is that doing business from a Kingdom perspective is not just inviting God into our day-to-day work lives, it is much greater than that. It’s not about what we are supposed to be doing, but about who He is, and how that mark of heaven is on display in and through us. When we understand this, we are no longer focused on ourselves, but on His identity, and how that leads to blessing others. Now that’s a good day at work.