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The Family Business

by | Fri, Jun 16 2023

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What prevents you from stepping out into the fullness of God’s plan for your life? Is it a fear of sacrifice? Of failure? Fear for your personal safety, or the safety of others? For most of us, being afraid of the unknown can be a very real and challenging thing.

Author Geoff Peters uses a modern day story to help readers bridge the gap between what God designed them to do and their everyday lives. Geoff also serves on the International Leadership Team of Operation Mobilisation, and is director of the Mission Gap Project.

The book, The Family Business, is a fictional parable, told by unwrapping the story of Jesse, who is the father figure in the story. Jesse has a successful family hardware store business that he has nurtured from the ground up.

The book unfolds as each one of his five adult children wrestle with an invitation their father has given them. There are challenges and fears, as they contemplate taking over the hardware business. How do they step into the work of their father in the family business with the fullness of their lives?

Geoff says his research for the book included existing Christians, whose daily lives are greatly influenced by the Bible. But it was the fear of failure, and the fear of safety and sacrifice that kept coming to the surface. It’s actually something that readers can identify in themselves.

Conquering our Fear of the Unknown

‘Fear of the unknown is a very real thing,’ says Geoff. ‘Yet it’s also an opportunity for us to grab hold of God’s hand, and recognise that He will be with us for what He’s directed us to do. In a post-covid world, how significant is your story in this? Do you understand what God made you to do?’

We’ve heard a lot about the great resignation and the evaluation around what we are doing with our lives. Is there a better fit for what God has shaped us to do? These questions go directly to the source of our personal identity.

‘Have we put all our eggs in a basket that is based on personal wealth and personal success?’ says Geoff. ‘Is this a time to reassess, to re-evaluate and recognise what we all feel? I believe when we are not doing the things we were created to do, we aren’t living the life God intended for us.’

Geoff believes there is comfort in realising that at no point in human history has God ever let humanity have the last word. His keeps pursuing us and loving us. Despite the horrible circumstances that have occurred throughout the pandemic, God is still on the throne.

‘The fictional story rubs up against our theological understanding of the way God works,’ says Geoff. ‘The Holy Spirit works in every one of us. As we step into the things that we’re afraid of and say yes to God, we take one step forward after the next.’

‘That’s when we really see that God is with us.’

Listen to Geoff’s full interview on 20Twenty below:

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