Blue Elevator Blog

What’s Next?

What’s next?  It’s June 2020.  We have been through the Coronavirus lockdown, murder hornets, and protests/riots/looting.

Sometime mid-March 2020, the Coronavirus rolled into town — and summarily into just about every country around the globe [Although, as of this writing, some healthcare professionals believe exposure may have been much earlier…e.g., in California].

History will reveal the true nature of this pandemic.

• Was it a natural mutation from a wet market in China (e.g., happenstance)?
• Was it a mistaken release (e.g., a mistaken release from a study lab)?
• Or, was it bio-engineered and released for nefarious purposes?

Only God knows. And we may never know.

The Marketplace

Here in California, we were placed on “Stay at Home” orders. And, throughout the U.S., other states have had similar responses and retrenchments in varying degrees.

• In Fortune, on April 23, 2020, the headline read as follows: “Real unemployment rate soars past 20%—and the U.S. has now lost 26.5 million jobs.” Further, the article goes on to highlight that this eclipses the 2008 financial crisis high of 15.3 million jobless Americans.
• Additionally, as of this date, the government has spent a lot of money to combat the effects of the virus. Congress has authorized $2.2 trillion under the CARES Act. This is the biggest rescue package in U.S. history. Plus, congress just authorized an additional $484 billion.
• In California, as of early June 2020, 4,626 precious lives have been lost to this virus (out of a population of 40 million people). Across the U.S., there have been approximately 112,000 deaths attributed to the virus as of this date. Some circles believe these stats may be “over-reported” due to liberal classification protocol. Others believe it may be more.  Again, God only knows.

There Before the Grace of God Go We

What does the future hold? Will the economy fully-recover? If so, when will it recover? What will things look like? Will there be massive inflation due to the spending? Only God knows.

So, there before the grace of God go we.

I don’t know about you, but here’s what I’m banking on:

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” — Romans 8:28

Consider This

It’s tough being the leader of an organization. It’s no small thing feeling responsible for employees, vendors, customers, etc.  Pastors are in a similar boat — and it’s lonely at the top.

The backdrop of this current interruption is the Coronavirus. But, you can fill in the blank with anything that disrupts the normal pace and patterns of business.

Whatever the case, anytime there is a disruption, it begs the question: What’s next?

CPR

If you are a Blue Elevator® member, you probably know I always (and firstly) recommend CPR.

• Commit your situation to God
• Pray for God’s deliverance and direction
• Read God’s Word (The Bible)

If this is new to you, I invite you to read the article Go To Plan.

But, what’s next?

The PPP & EIDL

Specific to the Coronavirus, congress has rolled out a couple of programs. As of this date, many business owners have availed themselves of various relief programs under the CARES Act.  This includes the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL). If you are a business owner, you may have applied for these loans. And, hopefully, a portion of those loans will be forgiven depending on how they are used.

Practical Steps

So you’ve done CPR. And you’ve done what immediately comes to mind.

Still, you may ask, what’s next?

I’ve been blessed to spend many years “jungle fighting” — that is, working in and through very challenging economic time periods. I can say that God has blessed me to dodge many and any number of bullets. And I’ve seen countless financial miracles — like “loaves and fishes” types of miracles.

But my deliverance didn’t have anything to do with my financial prowess. It was surely by the grace of God.

But, I did learn some things in the process.

Jungle Fighting

What is jungle fighting? It does conjure up hand-to-hand combat in dense jungle settings.

And, that’s exactly what it felt like to me. I remember describing some of my struggles to a CPA friend of mine, to which he responded, “So, it seems like you’ve been doing a lot of jungle fighting.”

I spent days, weeks, months and years — off and on — staring at “cash requirement” forecasts and comparing that to “cash on hand.” And, much of the time, the “cash needed” exceeded the “cash on hand.”

This left me in an endless state of “fight or flight” mode. It was and is wearying, to say the least.

Maybe you find yourself in a similar situation — where the needs exceed the means.

Jungle fighting isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be.

Fight On!

I’d be lying if I told you we can avoid the struggle altogether. But, in difficult times, sometimes we have to fight.

In my case, seemingly, that’s all I did. I fought, fought and fought some more. As most business owners know, even when you leave the office and turn off the lights, the problems seem to follow you home. For me, jungle fighting became a 24-hour focus.

And, it left me battered, bruised, and weary. God had it all worked out. But, by illusion, I had convinced myself that it was my burden to bear and I had to single-handedly wrestle every bear that came into the camp.

But, there was (and is) a better way: BFR.

Hindsight is 20-20

They say hindsight is 20-20. So, after you do CPR and you’ve wrestled a few bears, God willing, here’s my three-pronged approach on what’s next:

(Remember, this was borne out of what I “should have” done during those challenging years.)

Be encouraged to BFR!

BFR

• Build
• Fight
• Rest

Build

What can you build? Blue Elevator® members recognize this as innovate. And, they are familiar with the phrase Innovate, Accelerate, Replicate®.

What is God calling you to innovate? Many of us have had to refine our processes to allow for “at home” work and/or workers. Do you need an office? What about a smaller office? What product or service can you create to fill a need? Necessity is the mother of invention, so they say.

In candor, I spent so much time jungle fighting, I failed to innovate and begin building upon the future.

Pray and ask God what He might be calling you to build or innovate.

In candor, my failure to innovate cost me a lot of time. Had I innovated during the tough times, I would have been further ahead after the recovery.

Consider Nehemiah, a story from the Bible. They had to simultaneously “build” and “fight” at the same time.

“Those who carried materials did their work with one hand and held a weapon in the other, ¹⁸ and each of the builders wore his sword at his side as he worked. But the man who sounded the trumpet stayed with me.” — Nehemiah 4:17–18

Fight

As I mentioned, you will seemingly still need to fight. There will likely be “cash crunches.” Maybe some financial skirmishes. But for God, there will be plenty of situations that will require your direct (and uncomfortable) involvement.

But, remember this: Our fighting is just an illusion. For the believer in Christ, it is God who fights for us.

“The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.” — Exodus 14:14

“So he said to me, ‘This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: “Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,” says the Lord Almighty.'” — Zechariah 4:6

Rest

Build, yes. Fight, yes. Rest? Most definitely.

Like I mentioned, I spent so much time jungle fighting, I didn’t take the time to build. And, I seldom allowed myself the opportunity to really rest.

What comes to mind when you think of rest? I think of physical rest. A good night’s sleep.

But, there’s also mental rest and spiritual rest.

Sadly, for me, I spent most of my time in a state of adrenalized stress. I went about thinking and believing that it was up to me, when, in reality, I could do very little. My deliverance came from God. And, it was a multitude of seemingly endless daily and weekly miracles that God sent to sustain me and the organizations I served and managed. Loaves and fishes.

And, despite seeing and documenting it happening, I didn’t really enter into God’s rest. I didn’t fully enjoy vacations, time with family, etc. My bad.

God willing, you can do it differently.

“The name of the LORD is a strong tower; The righteous runs into it and is safe.” — Proverbs 18:10

Conclusion

Remember, the battle is the Lord’s. Give it to Him. Do your CPR.

And, then BFR.

Contact me if I may be of any encouragement.