You Need to Look Deeper

I don’t know about you guys but I am quick to assess a situation and offer a probable solution. This is just the way I am wired. What is this assessment based on? My life experiences and my perspectives. Wow, the word “my” is used a lot. How many times have we looked at someone, heard a comment they made, and wrote them off? I often hear God say, “I need you to look deeper.”

When a new ministry group approaches The Marketplace for a potential partnership, we ask a lot of questions. We are looking to see the heart of the ministry. Once we establish like hearts, we now look at the income generating side of the ministry; what does the business model look like, how is the organization run, what product do they make. This is where it gets dicey. Missionaries will often tell you they don’t know how to run a business. Often times I want to back away. This will require a lot of work, consulting, and the product is not very marketable. This is when I hear, “You need to look deeper. I need you to see them the way I see them. Don’t look at it from you perspective, look at it from mine.” Oh my goodness, this is going to take some time! Yep- building relationships take time, they are messy, and it often requires seeing things from someone else’s perspective. Not an easy task but if done right, it’s so worth it.