Expert Ownership Podcast
Expert Ownership Podcast
Embracing Your Egypt
Ever felt stuck in a challenging phase of life or biz and wondered if there's a purpose to it? Join us as we discuss how to navigate periods of struggle in business, relationships, or personal endeavors by focusing on improvement and living in the process.
Enjoy.
So today we are talking about embracing your Egypt, and David and I have found ourselves stranded in a hotel in Cincinnati, ohio, on Sunday we're recording this beforehand it's on Sunday. The tropical storms in Florida have set us here, yeah. So here we find ourselves in a hotel and we thought you know what? Hey, let's knock out a podcast. I was talking to David just about the incredible teaching that we've taught you guys. I think we've done it several times on the podcast before about your sweet spot.
Speaker 1:You know that everybody has a sweet spot for their life and that sweet spot is the place where your greatest talent and your greatest passion intersect. But it takes time to get there and on the journey towards your sweet spot, you've got to make your current spot sweet through contentment, so you don't just automatically end up in your sweet spot, like, obviously, when David and I were 20, let's say, 23 years old, I was already no wait, we were both in pro ball at that time and we knew that at some point we were probably going to be doing something different, like we knew, but at that moment we were right, where God wanted us to be, you know. And so, on your way to your sweet spot, where your greatest talent and your greatest passion intersect, make your current spot sweet through contentment. But there's also times in your life because we're talking about faith-filled entrepreneurs here there's also times in your life where you're in your sweet spot but something happens where your spot's not so sweet anymore and now you find yourself in a trial. It's a dark time, and it might not even be a dark time. It just might not be a super bright time, and it might not even be a dark time. It just might not be a super bright time.
Speaker 1:Maybe you're in business and you just can't quite get that breakthrough with clients, or you're really struggling with employees. Or maybe you don't have employees but you're really struggling with hey, you missed out on two contracts and now you're like gosh, should I go back into the workforce? What should I do? Or maybe you're in the workforce and you're wanting to start a business and you just can't quite get that breakthrough, or whatever it may be. Maybe you're in a relational rift. Maybe there's an issue with your marriage or your health, or something's going on with your kids and you find yourself in a dark place. That is actually an Egypt moment, and so we want to define what Egypt is, and we want basically to say look in the midst of Egypt, you can embrace that moment, you can thrive in that moment, because God is doing something great. We've all been there and maybe you find yourself there right now and you want to get into your sweet spot where your greatest talent and your greatest passion intersect, or your proficiency and your passion intersect, and at the same time, there's another third line, there's provision there. So there's provision for your family in the middle of your sweet.
Speaker 1:Live in the process, not in the results. Do not live in the results, don't sit there and go. I got to make every three. No, you live in the process of making threes and what that is is get your feet set, follow through, finish high. You know, it's just that simple. And when you live in the process, the results will take care of themselves. And I always have been telling my boys who are also in basketball I, the results will take care of themselves. And I always have been telling my boys who are also in basketball. I tell them celebrate improvement more than success. Like so yeah, you might not have won the game, you might not have had 25, which is what you wanted, but you lost the game and you had 14, but you played great defense. In the last game you didn't play great defense, so let's celebrate that improvement, so, but anyway, all those things help you when you find yourself in your Egypt.
Speaker 1:And in the Bible, egypt basically represents that temporary place that God brings us to for two reasons to protect us and prepare us. You remember the children of Israel, actually, when the 12 tribes, they were still alive, the 12 men who were the 12 sons of Jacob, actually, yeah, the 12 sons of Jacob, these 12 men, and they had about 70 people and there was famine in the promised land. So they were already in the promised land, so they were in Canaan at that time, but then there was famine that hit, and so where did they find themselves? They went to Egypt, where one of their other brothers who was already in charge there in Egypt, joseph, and they stayed in Egypt for how long? I think it was 430 years, 430 years, something like that. And what was God doing during that time? One, he was protecting them. He was protecting them from the Canaanites, because the Canaanites were a vicious people. They would have taken out the 12 families there, but he protected them. And two, he prepared them. It's interesting that slavery is what prepared those Jews to come back and inherit the land, the promised land.
Speaker 1:But now here's what you have to know While Egypt is a temporary place that God brings us to protect us and prepare for us, it's not meant to be permanent Now. That should be an encouragement to you. And, at the same time, it's very easy to get comfortable in Egypt. We're going to see that here in just a second. See, when God puts us in Egypt, it's often out of the blue and he doesn't tell us His reasons why. So, like David was saying, it could look like a strained relationship, a failing business, confusion on our purpose or something to where we're like I just don't feel like I'm where I'm supposed to be, but I don't see anything leading me away from this right now, or maybe it's even just, and I've found myself here before. You're just settling, there's no issue, there's no darkness, but you're just kind of settling and that is an Egypt moment. That's like look, it gets comfortable in Egypt. Don't get comfortable, because we've got to keep moving forward. Yes, that's exactly right.
Speaker 1:But you know what? This happened in the life of Jesus. Jesus, we know that he was supposed to be born in Bethlehem that the scriptures in the Old Testament had said something was coming out of Nazareth, which is crazy. But Jesus, as a young man, found himself having to move to Egypt. David read Matthew 2, verse 13. Did you lose it? Okay, here let me read it. Then.
Speaker 1:Now, when they had gone, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. So Jesus' earthly dad said Get up, take the child Jesus and his mother and flee to Egypt. Remain there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to destroy him. So Jesus was never meant to be raised in Egypt, but for a time, that's exactly where God had him. And if God did this with Jesus in order to protect him and to prepare him, why would he not do it with us? And he says this I don't know if you're going to read the rest of that, I'm not Go ahead. Okay, so it says this in verse 15,. And he remained there until the death of Herod. Hold on to that word until Until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet. Out of Egypt, I called my son. The word until.
Speaker 1:God is never just permanent, he's moving. He's always moving you. In Scripture, it's from glory to glory. It's making you more like him, he's preparing you and, ultimately, our ultimate promised land is heaven and earth is Egypt. But God is taking care of you in this season of life until he's ready. Okay, so here's the thing If you find yourself in your Egypt, what are you supposed to do? Okay, well, let me give you three reactions. Three reactions. The first two are not good. The third one is exactly what we should do when you find yourself in Egypt as a faith-filled entrepreneur. Okay, number one you can long to get out of Egypt.
Speaker 1:These types of people, they're always looking for their sweet spot and recognize that where they are, is not it? Therefore, they lack contentment necessary to learn all that God wants them to learn. They're constantly thinking I shouldn't be here, I got to be somewhere else, I don't want this job or I don't want to work with this client. Therefore, they're longing to get out of Egypt and they're not being all that. They can be right there in that moment. Remember, on the journey to your sweet spot, or, if God has removed you from that spot for a brief time, make your current spot sweet through contentment. See, god has an Egypt for all of us, and maybe even a few Egypts actually. But we need to know that God is protecting us and preparing us for what lies ahead. So we need to be patient and let him lead us as he sees fit in his own time. So we do not want to long to get out of Egypt.
Speaker 1:When the children of Israel first went to Egypt, I'm sure that they probably had some struggles with that. They were longing to get back to their land in Canaan. Of course, 430 years later, they found themselves now experiencing a different type of longing and this is point number two longing to remain in Egypt. Now these people are the ones who grow so comfortable being outside their sweet spot that the thought of moving toward their sweet spot involves too much work. It's almost like people that are really, really unhealthy, have never experienced what true health is, and so they're just content just to stay sick. Yeah, yeah, I'm saying as loud as I can, but that's exactly right. It's a good example, in as long as I can, but that's exactly right. It's a good example. They've gotten so comfortable in this place that for them to move into this new area where they know that God would want them, it's just too hard, it's too much work, so they get lazy. They don't want to do the things necessary to move to the next phase in life.
Speaker 1:This is what happened to the Israelites. They found themselves very comfortable in Egypt, even though they were in slavery Okay and even though they knew that this isn't where God wanted them, even though they knew that they had promises that they should go to the promised land, like they knew these things, they still didn't want to go because it was going to be too hard. You know it is. It's so true. It's a good example. It's like I know that I can lose weight and I should lose weight, but geez, that's just too hard and it's just too comfortable, and I'm just addicted to popcorners. We've all been there and I am addicted to popcorners. By the way, those things are amazing. I have to tell Tori, don't go buying those bags of chips. Popcorners are the best chip on the planet, but anyway.
Speaker 1:So for these types of people, they had to learn to trust God, to fully rely. Rely on him and stop using their own understanding to guide them. It takes faith to leave your Egypt. Of course, it's going to be tough along the way, but when our faith intersects with God's faithfulness, it'll change our lives forever. This is where the power of vision comes in. If you're finding yourself comfortable, reignite that vision. Spend some good time with the Lord, ask him what he'd have you do, and then embrace the suffering that it requires to move to the place of your vision. Yeah, the vision is so. It's motivating.
Speaker 1:Vision is like it's the you've heard us say this before. It's the lid on the puzzle to the jigsaw box. Right, it's that without that vision, all the pieces don't just fit together. And sometimes you're sitting in your Egypt, you're like I don't know which direction I'm supposed to go. I like I don't know which direction I'm supposed to go. I feel like I'm stagnant. I feel like this is terrible, it's dark or whatever it may be. Well then, just go right back and visit your vision. What has God called me to do? Who has he called me to be? Where am I currently at in my life? Right now, you might be married with three small little kids, that's. You know what. Your vision might not be this grandiose thing that a 70-year-old can accomplish, but it just needs to be. Hey, over the next six months, here's what I want to be as a husband and as a father and then as a provider right, whatever that may be, you can tweak it.
Speaker 1:All pilots on their takeoff and on their landing, and even up in the cruise altitude they're constantly making little adjustments along the way. That's what a good pilot does. You don't just set it and forget it. But a good pilot means you're making adjustments all along the way. So look at your vision, make some adjustments if you need to, but keep that thing moving forward. That'll bring fuel to you in the midst of Egypt.
Speaker 1:So when you're in your Egypt, you can long to get out of Egypt. You can long to remain in Egypt, or you can do the third thing, which is what you need to do Embrace Egypt while you're there, but let it go when God moves you. Embrace it while you're there, but let it go when God moves you, these types of people, and who you are, is the type of person that recognizes Egypt for what it is. It's a temporary stop along the way to my promised land, with the intent to get me ready for my sweet spot, to bring me back to my sweet spot, okay, to bring me back to my sweet spot, and in that place where you are. Yes, it's hard. Yes, it's difficult, it's bewildering, but you know what. God is protecting you and God is preparing you.
Speaker 1:So don't rush out of Egypt. Fully embrace it and make the most of it. Okay, that's exactly what God told the children of Israel when they had to go for 70 years into Babylon, and he told them through the prophet Jeremiah don't try to leave Babylon. Yeah, it's not the ultimate place where you're going to be. I'm going to bring you back to Israel, but what you need to do is seek the welfare of your city. You need to build businesses, you need to build houses, you need to get married, you need to plant gardens. You need to do good work. Do that while you're there and in time, I will move you. And when God moves, get up and get going and don't look back.
Speaker 1:Don't long for Egypt, don't long to get out of Egypt, and typically God will move. You know that God is moving. Oftentimes, when there's a push and a pull. There's a push from where you are and there's a pull to where you need to be and there's a pull to where you need to be. That's God moving you to possibly a new sweet spot right. And when God pushes and he pulls, don't just move when he's got one, move when he's got both. Okay. Again, this isn't a fail-safe rule, it's just a principle that it's a rule of thumb that 99% of the time, if there's a push and a pull and when God does, then move and you'll find a new sweet spot and it'll be a beautiful thing. So there you go, embrace your Egypt right where you are.
Speaker 1:All right, guys, that's it. Short, sweet, simple, to the point. Hopefully you're listening to this on probably 1.5. I don't know, maybe 2x would actually be speed. When, when you're listening to me talk this is David you can listen at one one, one X or 1.5 X, but when, jason, you just go ahead and put it on two X and that'd be great. Yeah, hey, we got a couple spots left for our mastermind in September. Any dude that wants to come, reach out to Deb at Benham companiescom. It'll be fun talking about it. We're not calling it a mastermind, actually, we're calling it a master's mind. We want to get the master's mind on your business and your family. All right, that's it. We'll see you, guys, next week. Peace.