Is God Calling Me to Start a Business?Mfano

Searching for Those Who Can Help: The People

If you’ve followed us through Ecclesiastes, you’re hopefully beginning to grow familiar with The Teacher. Like we said earlier, he’s a critic. And as we see throughout this book, he’s constantly pointing out everything that is hevel.

Hevel is a Hebrew word that means smoke or vapor. Here, it’s translated as “meaningless.” And in this passage, The Teacher tells us that working on our own, or working solely for our own gain, is hevel. This type of labor is the equivalent of trying to grasp smoke—it’s not just frustrating and difficult, it’s impossible. 

Maybe that’s you today. Maybe you’re sitting in your cubicle and thinking, “That’s exactly how I feel every Monday to Friday, 9-5. That’s why I want out of here.” Of course, meaning and purpose can be found in any job, but if God is calling you to create, then that’s something you have to consider. So, before you pull the plug on your day job and jump into a startup, answer this question: Who will you work with next?

If entrepreneurship sounds like an exciting adventure because you get to be your own boss, you don’t have to work with certain people, and you get to be in control of your own wealth, this might be a sign that you’re trading one form of hevel for another. 

Complete autonomy may sound great, but you’ll never make it far on your own. And if being an entrepreneur is what God wants from you and you do start to grow and experience success, then you’ll eventually bring in other people.

So, as you think about the future, as you discern how God might use your entrepreneurial spirit, think about the people. Who shares your vision? Who is someone that wants to talk late into the night about this same idea? Who do you know that has complementary skills to you? Who can see your blind spots?

All of these questions are worth answering as you consider following God’s call to start a business. A cord of one strand is quickly broken. Who do you want to tie yourself to? 

Further Thought 

• What’s the most attractive thing about entrepreneurship to you?
• Who are some people that you would invite into your own entrepreneurial journey? What are the blind spots in your personality that they can balance out?
• What are the important characteristics of people you want to work with? Who is someone you know that shares your vision?