I’m convinced that most believers still live a life of fear.
We are told in Scripture that fear has to do with punishment. And that perfect love drives out fear.
We fear the unknown, but we know that God is in control of the future. He is all-powerful.
And we know from Romans 8 that nothing can separate us from the love that is in Christ Jesus.
We also know from Ephesians 2:10, that we were created in Christ for good works that God has prepared in advance for us to do.
I wonder how much of the works that we were called to do, we are actually doing or have done or will do because of fear keeping us from moving forward.
Not everyone is called to work in a corporate job or a nonprofit or government job.
Some of us have been called to ministry at random, unscheduled times.
All of us have been called to do God’s will all the time.
I’m not talking about being hired by a church or a parish church organization.
I think there are some of us that are specifically called to work for themselves or in a startup, small business capacity.
How do we know what we are called to do?
I have learned it is simple, but not easy.
As with any call, there is a caller.
When your phone rings with a phone call or a text message, we know that there’s somebody on the other line that is looking to communicate with us.
And we know from scripture that God wants to communicate with us.
So how do we know if we are called to be self-employed?
We need to get to know ourselves.
We need to hear the calling of our heart.
God has given us skills and abilities that can be used in a j-o-b position.
But I also think he has called us to so much more.
When you are self-employed, there are a lot of risks that can be scary for people. And I’ve written about risk before.
But to me, one of the opportunity risks I run into is what if I don’t do what God wanted me to do?
I know His will cannot be thwarted.
But I also know that I can live outside of His will even as a believer.
I truly believe in every situation. God is calling us to do something.
Some things are 100% that we do. Other times, we might only do 90% of what God wanted us to do in a situation.
I’m trying to get those numbers up to 100%.
Finding Freedom
I have found freedom in self-employment.
I have found financial freedom through self-employment that allows me to provide for my family the lifestyle that fits us.
I have found the ability to help more people because I have the freedom to use my time to do what I’ve been called to do.
I can go to the store in the middle of the day to buy groceries for a widow and deliver them to her.
I no longer need to worry about requesting time off to drive a friend to the airport or pick them up or ask permission to take time off to visit somebody who’s sick at home or in the hospital or to go to a funeral.
I have time freedom if I want to spend a week helping out at Vacation Bible School.
I can do that and not have to ask my boss.
But the only reason I have this freedom is that I overcame my fear of becoming self-employed.
I laid the decision at God’s feet asking him if I should go full-time self-employed.
How Calling DOESN’T Happen
I wish I had the same type of experience John the Baptist had where clouds rolled back and God spoke to me.
In my version, God would speak in a James Earl Jones voice, “Eric, I want you to go become self-employed. And I want you to do this, that and the other thing.”
It didn’t happen that way.
I got confirmation through my wife and her encouragement and the fact that after doing my side hustle for nearly five years that I knew I could do it.
And it was confirmed to me within three months, as I was able to get back to making a living where we didn’t have to live off of savings.
Being Committed
I am reminded of the events of Daniel 3 when Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego faced being thrown into the fiery furnace for not denying their faith and worshipping him.
They said to King Nebuchadnezzar, “our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”
They were going to be faithful to what God had called them to do.
That was me stepping out in faith when I was convicted that I was being called to self-employment.
I might burn up and come crashing to the ground. But I can always go get another job.
And yet what I found was, He was there with me through the whole process, working things out for my good and my family’s good.
Removing Fear and Anxiety
Feel like you are being called to something which currently scares you? Be strong in the Lord.
Remember that we are to cast all our anxieties on Him as we are told in 1 Peter 5:7.
What if we put away fear and trusted God when we feel that calling to go do something on our own?
Fear and anxiety will slowly pass away as we take one step after another. As Martin Luther King, Jr. said. “Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.”
Remember, in very few instances are we called to make a complete leap of faith.
Most of the time, we are called to build a bridge towards where we are going.
And then once the bridge is built, we cross it. For some of us, we are called to burn that bridge and never to go back.
To build that bridge to self-employment, take the first step and see where you are financially now and how self-employment can bring you to the lifestyle you want.
