I’ve been pretty hooked to this incredible cooking competition show on Netflix called The Final Table and it’s been hard to not leave jaw dropped each time the chefs present their creations. It’s almost mysterious how they’re able to consistently create a technically balanced dish with just a few ingredients and just an hour of cooking time. I mean it takes me nearly an hour just to cut up some peppers, onion and garlic and by then I’m already losing motivation and feeling tempted to UberEats an entree of Panda Express.

What I’ve loved the most about the show has actually been less about the dishes they’ve created but the mini bios that they put together sharing the backstory of each chef in the competition. They dig into their upbringings, where they trained and all the sacrifice that goes into being the best. It’s taken them decades to slowly build up a pretty unshakeable foundation, even when put to the test with a competition like this.

As I reflect on my 20’s so far, I’m simply in awe of how God continues to build up a foundation that’s based on His Word, His Promises and all the grace, love and power that represents Him. It’s a foundation that’s been tested, refined and slowly getting polished for it’s debut in the future when I start a business that I know will change lives and have an impact for His Kingdom. It’s truly only by His grace that I’m even able to build a foundation that I know will serve me and the people I serve well when things get tough but also when things are amazing. To think that God continues to whisper dreams of starting a business to an ordinary, pretty untalented guy like myself will never cease to dumbfound and humble me. Amazing.

I’ve written quite a bit about this in sporadic bits and pieces in the past but as I was going on my afternoon stroll with Hapa (my pup) this afternoon, I felt led to tie it all together.

Without further adieu,

THE FOUNDATION

(aka, Truths To Lean On When I Finally Go Full-Time Into Entrepreneurship).

Morning Quiet Time 

Perhaps the one time of the day where my attention is completely focused on connecting with God and receiving whatever He wants to share that day. It’s the time where I can truly seek after His presence and recenter on what this is all about in the first place. It’s taken years to perfect a morning routine and I am only starting to get a tiny glimpse of the power that comes from having it.

It’s also the place where the Enemy seeks to attack the strongest so protect it and make daily choices to make it happen. Be disciplined. Everything starts here.

Powered By Grace

We don’t deserve this opportunity to have the gifts, the sources, the connections, the opportunities that we have because we’re all connected by our brokenness and sin that’s overtaken the world. We’re forever indebted to Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross and his willingness to lay down His life for ours that we get to do what we do. \

We get to live freely and see all the opportunities we have with a completely new filter of thankfulness, praise and worship.

For His Glory, Not Mine

So much about building a Christ-centered business is upside down and contradictory to what the world says.

The world says that it’s about you. It was your hands, your sacrifice, your efforts to led you to success so you deserve all the glory. It’s your pride, your ego, your identity, your purpose, your bank balance and your status that gets elevated. It’s about you!

But as Christians, it’s backward. There’s an eternal perspective knowing that there’s so much more to what and who we do this for that can’t have it’s nexus around the Self.

Surrendering It All To Be His Vessel 

Perhaps one of the toughest things to do and balance as an entrepreneur. To carve out space to let the Holy Spirit speak first but also knowing that faith requires action.

It’s living a disciplined life studying His word, being in community and praying but also putting in focused work and making smart decisions. It’s surrendering not just time but also my bank account, my standard of living, my purpose, my time, my plan and my talents.

It’s a balance that might never be solved and probably better that it doesn’t. It’s a dance that allows the Self to reach the end of itself in order to desperately seek God but also one that requires bold faith and effort.

Letting Go Of Control 

God is a miracle worker but He can’t do anything if you have a vicor grip on everything. Let go and trust that He is a good Father who will provide.

Understanding Who God Is

It’s hard to surrender something when you don’t know who you’re surrendering to. God is infinitely more than anything that we can imagine but the Word gives us some glimpses into who He is. Take the time to seek to understand his character. Dare to ask what’s on His heart.

If we were made to bear the image of Christ, would it not be worth the time to understand what image looks like in the first place?

Starting a business will stretch me in more ways than I can imagine but I know it’ll give me some of the greatest opportunities to also be transformed from the inside out to be more like Him., That is, if I choose to.

Trusting Him In the High’s and the Lows

My mom engraved a saying to me when I was growing up everytime I had a job interview. “Albert, make sure you praise Him no matter what. If you get the job, praise Him for blessing you. If you don’t, praise Him for opening up another door that’ll be even better.”

I love Paul in themes like these. He was able to be content in the worst of situations and still find a way to praise God despite all that was happening. He had faith knowing that what he was experiencing in this life was temporary and that He had a Father that will outlast, outpower and out-love all of His persecutors was stuff of legends.

Giving Generously Financially

There’s so much to say about this but this is the one area I’m most excited and scared about. The Bible has so much to say about God and money and there’s obviously a reason for it.

The best way to combat all the temptations that come with starting a successful business and the greed, ego, pride and all the nasty things that we’ve all heard and seen is to give.

The Bible talks about a cheerful giver and a conviction of knowing who my provider is in the best and the worst seasons in life.

So that’s it!

Everything starts with Quiet Time, getting a direct download from God and recentering all that’s happening that day around Him. The river starts to flow when we make a daily choice to build a relationship with God by trusting Him, getting to know Him, praising Him in the high’s and low’s and if we put in the work too, we’ll see it overflow into every area of our lives – in our families, our communities and of course our businesses.

I hope that blesses you dear reader in some way.

God bless,

AL