The Perfect Business Plan- Getting Off Course

If you have ever driven along the coast of California, you know of it's majestic beauty from the northern tip to the southern tip. As beautiful as it is, the winding and cliff hanging roads can offer opportunities for distraction that lead to disaster. If we loose our focus, we can end up in the ditch, or even worse, off one of the cliffs.     

When God called out Joshua for the special task of conquering the promised land, He selected him because he had been a faithful servant for many years. As Joshua began the task of implementing the plan, God continued to encourage him to be strong and courageous at every turn of the journey. He was to rely on the word of God and was to keep his focus on the goal of staying on the path and not getting into the ditch. This faithfulness led Joshua to victory in the battle of Jericho as he followed faithfully on God's perfect plan. As long as Joshua was obedient, God granted him His grace and favor. If, however, he turned from the plan of God and focused on the distractions, God would remove His presence and His blessings. 

The degree to which we tolerate known sin in our lives is the degree we separate ourselves from God's grace and favor. Such is the case of Israel. God had given specific instructions in the conquering of Jericho that the people were not to have  certain portions of the spoils of victory.  These "devoted things" were to be given over to the work of the Lord's Kingdom. But sin entered into the camp. Achan, unknowing to Joshua, has taken a portion of the gold and silver from God's treasury and hidden it for himself. As a result, the "Lord's anger burned against all Israel." Joshua, in turn, made the mistake of assuming that since God was with him at Jericho, He would also be with him at Ai. He went to battle before going to God. When the forces of Israel faced their battle with the city of Ai, God withdrew His blessings and Israel was mightily defeated.       

The beauty along side of the road in the marketplace can be extremely distracting. It's not that God does not want us to take part in it, He just does not want us to loose our focus and dependence on Him. God has so many blessings in store for us. We see the beauty and attraction of the temporal world that success in business can bring and we loose the vision of the eternal world. God gives us instructions in His Word that apply to our business as well as life in general. He will not allow us to substitute the things of the world for His principles. Achan had made this mistake, he coveted the treasures of the world. He got off course from God's plan for success and drove Israel into the ditch.

As a person travels down highway 1 along the coast of California, it is okay to glance over at the beauty once in awhile. It is even okay to stop for awhile and spend some time enjoying the beauty. But at some point, we have to get back in the car and continue the journey. It is not the beauty along the way that gives us the ultimate prize, it's  reaching the end of the journey staying true to His plan while enjoying His blessings along the way. We have been faithful to God's purpose and principles in our business. At each curve or distraction in the road, we may have stumbled for awhile, but with our  commitment to God in hand, and with confession and renewal, we continue to move forward, "forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, (we) press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called (us) heavenward in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4: 13-14)