Big day

Today I will be negotiating the biggest contract of my life. I am facing a superior force in that their company is hundreds of times larger than mine, they have much more experience at this sort of thing, and they have enough money to tell me to take a hike and write their own system if an acceptable deal cannot be negotiated. I have made a fair offer, but they want more to the point it is a bad deal for us. I must hold firm while realizing that our company has invested truck loads of money in the hopes of getting this deal. We have worked hard for a year to get to this point, and in my mind, we really need this deal, because the lives of everyone in our company will be affected by today’s outcome favorably or unfavorably.

As I went to God today and asked Him to give me strength, clarity of vision and wisdom during today’s negotiations a thought occurred to me.
Although this is a big deal to me, how big is it really? I thought about the current Mid-Eastt crisis, September 11th, the war in Afghanistan that is producing new casualties every day. Is my deal that critical in the big scheme of things? I thought about the parable where Jesus described a rich man who made plans to build bigger barns to store all of the bountiful crops that he expected to reap from his fertile land. In his mind he would build the bigger barns, store his bountiful crops and live the good life for many years to come. You can read his analysis of the course that he laid out for his life and then what Jesus had to say about it below.

It is not much different 2000 years later, we plan and work and decide ahead of time what course our lives will take, only to realize that it really isn’t up to us. God’s plan for our lives will take its steady course and I will march to his drum beat. I will give it my absolute best today, but in the end I am prepared to accept today’s outcome whatever the yield. To know God’s exact plan for our lives is not easy, because he does not send us an e-mail, or call us up on the phone and tell us what He wants done. Accepting what happens throughout our lives can be difficult as well, “unless”, we trust Him implicitly. That is what faith is all about. God has been faithful to me throughout my life. He helped me through the dark times and the good times and has blessed me enormously. I have no reason to doubt Him now. Somehow I no longer dread today’s negotiations. No matter how it turns out today, God’s hand remains on my life. I will spend eternity with Him and the entire family of God. Eternity is forever! This deal with all of its consequence is only temporary and will soon be long forgotten by all concerned.

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Luke 12:19
And I will say to my soul, “Soul
you have many goods laid up for
many years; take your ease; eat,
drink, and be merry.”
And God said to him, “Fool! This
night your soul will be required of
you; then whose will those things
be which you have provided?”



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