Bad Deals

Love you all, praying for you. 
 
I just love God’s Word, it is practical wisdom for the ages, it has no shelf life.  Its truth brought success in the first century to the twenty first century and as many centuries as God allows.  But I don’t think there will be another.  He promised to return, I believe that time is close.  Truth is timeless, and God’s truth is the only truth, fully accurate, trustworthy, proven by time, and will remain forever.  God speaks truth, but people can also discover it.  I had a former second level boss who shared some wise counsel.  I don’t know if he knew God, or put his faith in Jesus, but God let him discover a truth which he shared with me.  Bad deals don’t get better with time.  Two things that truth reveals.  #1 Do not enter bad deals. Decline them.   How does that usually happen? Ignorance, deception, impatience, haste, greed, not seeking God’s wisdom, or Godly counsel, feeling pressured to do something not the best, feeling you have no choice, (you do).  Better not to get into a bad deal in the first place.  The wise are circumspect – they view things from all angles before jumping in.  Joshua and the people made an agreement with a distant nation and agreed not to attack them.  Only they weren’t a distant nation, they were one of the next cities God was going to give them as their inheritance.  But they didn’t ask God, before entering this deal, and they were bound by their word.  That bad deal caused headache forever – to this day its effects remain.  Bad deals don’t get better with time.  Don’t be quick to make a deal.  God said don’t be unequally yoked with unbelievers.  Some people are bound to things they never should be bound to.  Debt probably number one.  God said don’t strike hands in pledge, its foolish.  If you lack the means to pay your very bed will be snatched out from under you.  But people don’t listen, they think they know better.  They think ‘this deal is different.’  It’s not.  Know God’s Word, get Godly counsel.  Use your PiVAT Decision Tool!  Don’t enter bad deals.  The wise don’t do it.  Bad deals don’t get better with time.  The second thing that truth reveals… #2 Learn to cut your losses.  One business owner said, “Fire quickly, Hire slowly.”  If you’re in a bad deal, cut your losses.  Don’t throw good money after bad.  If you made a mistake, take your lumps and move on.  Why multiply your losses of time and money and mental energy?  Some customers are best given to your competitors so unreasonable people can drain all of their resources not yours.  The King said to the prophet, “But what about all the money I paid?”  He hired mercenaries, instead of trusting God, and the prophet called him out on it.  He realized the bad deal he was in, but he didn’t want to fire them, he’d lose the money he spent.  No money is worth disobedience.  The prophet told him plainly. “God is able to give you much more than this.” Good counsel.  The King obeyed and fired the mercenaries – and it got ugly.  But if you’re obeying - the loss or negative consequence of exiting a bad deal, pales in comparison to the loss of continuing in it.  Learn to cut your losses.  The best time to exit a bad deal is yesterday, the second best time is today.  Lot made a foolish decision, didn’t he see what Sodom was becoming?  He did, but He did nothing.  He had too much invested, His wife loved it there, and rather than taking his family and leaving when it was obvious, he didn’t leave until it was almost too late.  Only by God’s grace or he’d have been destroyed with them.  He barely escaped, but he lost everything, everything, all his wealth, even his family.  Are you in a bad deal right now, financial, social, business?  We’re not talking about marriage.  That is a covenant before God and He can redeem it.  (Not abusive situations, selfish ones).  Sometimes bad deals aren’t bad deals, you’re just performing badly.  It sucks because you suck, you aren’t doing your job.  It’s not their fault, it’s yours!  Be honest, ask God, change your ways, and things will improve.  But for really bad deals, that God reveals and you now know you shouldn’t have entered...  Ask God for the way out.  He will tell you when, and He will tell you how.  Get His Word, Get in His Presence, Get Godly Counsel.  Be willing to cut your losses.  That means loss will occur, but not taking it, will incur greater loss.  Time won’t make this better.  You need to make a change.  Praying that you will never enter any deal, that God doesn’t tell you.  If you don’t have the peace of God, don’t do it.  Don’t drum up your own peace, if it’s not God, don’t do it.  If you aren’t in agreement with your spouse, don’t do it.  If God’s Word doesn’t support it, don’t do it.  If you have reservations, if God has given you pause, don’t do it.  But if you are in one of those bad deals, you will exit now, or later.  And later the loss will be far greater.  Ask God, Pray, Seek His Word, Seek Godly Counsel, and boldly obey whatever He tells you.  The last thing about bad deals that don’t get better with time.  Obey now!  Don’t kick yourself, prepare yourself – to do what God tells you now no matter what the cost.  And God can redeem the time, He can restore what the locusts have eaten.  He is able to give you much more than that.  You might not have obeyed then, but you can obey now.  Ask for wisdom, He will give it.  Then, take courage and exit when He tells you to exit.  And then, take the next step that He reveals from there.  He loves you, He will lead you. 
 
Love you all,
dad