Bible on BusinessSample

Failure

Job is considered by many to be the earliest-written book in the Bible. Yet here in Chapter 19, Job has a “special” revelation from the Lord that is the MOST CLEAR teaching in the Old Testament on a bodily & personal resurrection for those who trust in God.

Abraham, Moses, David, the prophets – none of them communicated as clearly as Job does here about their understanding of life after death. In the midst of Job's failure God reveals to Job that he would one day see God with his own eyes! His personality and spirit will continue beyond death and one day in his resurrected flesh, Job WILL see God.

This incredible revelation went against the current spiritual and scientific thinking in the Middle East. I am encouraged by Job’s experience -- we have SPECIAL permission to ask God WHEN we are going through massive failures: “…God give me a special and high-quality revelation through this failure…”

In business we all have failures; I have had many failures among the 25+ mid-size businesses that PRI has started or acquired in China and Central Asia in the last 25+ years. The primary reasons for failures include poor business & personnel judgment by our leadership (including me), some significant changes in external market & technology conditions, some just plain evil done by others, etc.

From these failures I’ve gone to the Lord and asked Him, not just one time but many times, to specifically and explicitly teach and reveal to me what I can learn from these failures.

Looking back over the past couple decades (overall very profitable both financially and spiritually with fruit among unreached cities and peoples), I have learned more from the failures than from the successes.

During the failures and immediately afterwards, I’ve learned more of God and His eternal truths, because God seems to have a special heart for those who are suffering through failures and desires to reveal Himself during these humbling and difficult times. God comforted and blessed Job (and me) with special insights & revelations of Himself and His character and His will.

Dwight Nordstrom is the Chairman of PRI Management Consulting in Beijing, China.