Is That you god?

Nearly ten years ago, I decided to open a retail boutique in the heart of Danville. My mother was a fashion model and actress and my father was in fashion sales for over thirty years, so I guess you can say it was in the blood. The original Edge Shop for Men was a hip and trendy men’s only shop but over time it morphed into Edge Boutique, a small neighborhood boutique offering celebrity-inspired, yet affordable fashions for both men and women. About five years in, and after much thought and prayer, I felt compelled to pivot our business model and dedicate 100% of all net profits from the shop to charity. We were coming out of the recession and I was feeling optimistic about the future of Edge. I had also felt recently challenged around this time period, to be more generous and so I felt this could be a step toward obedience in this area for me. I distinctly remember driving to Lake Tahoe with my wife for a quick little anniversary getaway and processing all of this with her. I told her that I had been praying about this and felt like God was challenging me with a new vision for Edge. Before I could even get to the point, Jill said, “I think we should give all the profits away.” I nearly ran off the road! It was full confirmation and I was so pumped to know that we were on the same page here. I couldn’t wait to get back home and start putting this plan into motion.

Here’s where this “warm and fuzzy” little story takes a gnarly left turn, leaving me somewhat perplexed and bewildered even to this day. I can’t begin to tell you how certain and excited both Jill and I was about this new direction for our shop. We envisioned multiple Edge Boutiques giving away hundreds, if not thousands of dollars each month to charity. It was going to be awesome! If I’m honest, and this is not something that I’ve ever shared publically, I’m humbled and embarrassed to admit that we have struggled ever since to find profitability since making this decision and any charitable contributions made by Edge over the years have come from our personal giving funds and not from Edge profits. Every year, we reconcile our books and every year, we come up short. 

Have you ever felt so certain that God was leading you into or out of something and it just didn’t work out the way you had hoped or planned in the end? For example, have you ever landed a job that you felt was going to be your “golden ticket” only to find six months into it that it kinda sucks? Or, have you ever met a girl who took your breath away and felt like “the one” at first, only to discover that she’s all sorts of crazy after all? How can we determine whether or not we actually heard God in these things or if it was just us talking ourselves into it?

I was processing my confusion around Edge with a friend of mine and he gave me a perspective that I had not contemplated. He said, “God told you to do this but He didn’t tell you it would be successful.” Wow. That hit me like a ton of bricks! The point being, all God wanted from me was obedience. He knew that I needed to practice generosity. He knew that the whole experience would develop other character attributes in me and He knew that even if it wasn’t “successful” in the world’s eyes, it was success in the grand picture of my life. 

In addition to obedience, I’ve learned something about peace. All of the big decisions I’ve made in life that were born out of an overwhelming sense of peace have always proven fruitful for me in some way and those made in a moment of spontaneity or under pressure usually end up giving me anxiety or stress and tend not to produce goodness in the end. Allow peace to be your internal barometer for your big decision making moments in life.

Helpful Bible verses to consider when making tough decisions:

"If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you" (James 1:5).

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight" (Proverbs 3:5-6).

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7)

Let’s go get it!