What Does Faith Have to Offer Entrepreneurs in Times of CrisisНамуна

It is peace and quiet that are the most important things we can receive in times of crisis and adversity. Paul sees the peace that God gives us as the desired result of prayer in times of anxiety and crisis (Phil. 4:6). What makes this peace from God so special, that Paul sees it as the ultimate solution?

Paul is looking for an external source of peace and quiet. He finds this peace and quiet in Jesus Christ, who wants to live in our hearts and provide us with strength and power so that we get to know the love of Christ (Ephesians 3: 16-17). It is in knowing this love of Christ, that surpasses all knowledge, that we find peace and quiet. It is Jesus who wants to work powerfully in us with his love and ‘who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think’ (Eph. 3: 20). The peace provided by knowing Jesus in this way is incredible power in times of crisis and anxiety. Jesus himself says, ‘Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid’ (John 14:27).

At the start of the Covid-19 crisis, I talked to Olivier, an entrepreneur. The world had turned upside down. The turnover of his company had dropped overnight by 80%. Panic everywhere. In that first week, nobody knew how things would turn out. All orders were cancelled. ‘Yet, I experienced an internal peace’, Oliver said. It was this peace that helped him to consider all the options and activities necessary for the viability of the company in that first week of the crisis. It was this peace and his faith in God that enabled Olivier to donate a large amount to others in that first week of the crisis. Money that he actually could not miss. But Olivier told me, ‘If I provide for the people that God puts in my way, God will also provide for me.’ In the subsequent weeks, the windfalls followed. A big order that had been postponed was put through after all. He received an unexpected subsidy, as the government decided to give financial support to companies. When he gave away the money in the first week, Olivier did not know all this, but the peace and quiet he had in Christ made him capable of doing just that.

When I talked to him later in 2021, Olivier testified with the words of Paul, ‘God is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think”(Eph. 3: 20). He heard about the beautiful things that happened with the money he donated in the first week of the Covid-19 crisis. In addition, he told me that he made more profit in the corona year of 2020 than the year before.

Question for the day
Where do you find peace and quiet in times of suffering and crisis?