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Now What Am I Going To Do?

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The Bottom of the Rut is Gone

It’s been a tough few weeks. With the truck transmission needing to be replaced and the customer shorting Gene $1000 dollars for the garage windows, Gene has felt like he’s stuck in the bottom of a muddy rut.

Even with all the problems, Gene has had a lot of work to do for his first year of self-employment.

Some of the projects have been very profitable.

Having a lot of construction projects is rewarding. It’s also one of the reasons he’s struggling to get proposals done and keep up with the paperwork.

To add to the busy, it’s time to get the tax paperwork gathered up. Gene needs to get it to the accountant so income taxes can be prepared. One more thing on the to do list that needs done. He’ll work on that next week after he gets this project that they’re working on finished.

After a couple weeks of late nights, Gene has the tax paperwork ready to take to the accountant. Another thing checked off the list.

On Monday, Gene starts the crew removing the kitchen countertops and cabinets for the current project. Once things are underway, Gene takes the paperwork to his accountant.

They look through the paperwork. As the accountant goes through the stack of papers he asks Gene a few questions.

There are a couple of things that he still needs.

Gene tells the accountant that he’ll get those to him later this week. The accountant says he will let Gene know if he needs anything else or has questions.

A few weeks later, Gene gets a call from his accountant that his income taxes are ready to be picked up. Gene looks at his calendar trying to find time to squeeze in a meeting. With all the construction going on, it’s hard to find time.

The thing is…April 15th is only a week away, so they schedule a meeting for next week.

—

Today’s the meeting with the accountant. After lunch, Gene drives to the accountant’s office to pick up the tax papers.

With this being Gene’s first year paying self-employment income tax, the accountant wants to go through the return with him. They sit down at the table in the conference room and the accountant begins explaining the different pages.

As they are going through the pages, Gene is beginning to feel a little nervous as he sees the numbers. Then the accountant gives Gene the return to sign and…

A voucher with $17,376 typed in the “Amount You Owe”.

Gene sits there quietly for a minute as he processes this number.

He looks up at the accountant with a distraught look on his face, “I don’t have that kind of money. I can’t afford this! How am I going to pay it?”

“You could borrow the money,” suggests the accountant.

“I already borrowed all I could to replace the truck transmission. Are there any other options?”

The accountant tells Gene that there is an option to set up payments with the IRS. Of course, there will be interest and penalties paying it off this way.

This would be better than pretending not to owe it.

Gene takes the paperwork and pays the accountant. It looks like Gene now has a new project to undertake.

After researching all the options, Gene contacts the IRS.

The process of setting up payments with the IRS was a nightmare and took weeks to get done. Now Gene has a monthly payment of $350 for the next 60 months. That’s five years and $21,000.

This is not how Gene pictured the first year of his dream business.

Now the bottom of the rut is not just deeper and muddy…it’s gone. Gene feels stuck. Like he’s got his hands and feet pressed against the sides of the rut without any way out.

Gene asks himself, “Why am I doing this? I could make more money and work less hours if I went back to work for someone else…”

If You Don’t Like How Things Are, Change is Required

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Or You Can Just Keep Doing What You’ve Been Doing 

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results.  

This common quote is attributed to a lot of different people. It doesn’t matter who said it. What matters is what it says. 

I think this quote is so popular because of the truth that it represents. 

I recently shared how change is hard. This seems especially true for people in construction but isn’t limited to them. 

Without intentional action, nothing is going to change. Things will just continue as they are.  

I know a lot about the struggle with change because…I’m one of those people who doesn’t like change.  

This was evident when our church was considering changing the hierarchy of our committees.  

As long as I can remember we had an Administrative Council to oversee other committees in different areas. These included finance, trustees, staff/pastor parish, nurture, outreach, witness, communications, memorial, and a whole lot of others. 

I thought this system worked just fine. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. 

Some in the church thought this system resulted in too many meetings. Many felt overwhelmed by the meetings. There were a lot of meetings. 

The suggestion was to reorganize and consolidate most of the committees into one larger committee. This might mean longer meetings, but fewer of them. It was voted on and approved to try the new system.  

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I was not for the change. I went kicking and screaming…okay, this might be a little exaggerated. The point here is there were some things with the old system that needed to change. And… 

Doing things over and over again expecting different results is insane.  

We made the change, and it seems to be working. 

If we aren’t open to change and trying new things, nothing will ever improve. We’ll just stay stuck in our rut. Walking back and forth as it gets deeper and deeper. 

It’s been said that a rut is grave with both ends kicked out. Don’t spend your life in a grave. There’s so much more for us if we just get out of the rut.  

Change is scary. We’re used to our rut. The change we don’t know is scarier than the pain we do know. This resistance to change could be because of the unknown. It could be the time the change is going to take.  

Another scary thing about change is that it’s not a one and done thing. Change is a continual process. We want simple, but that’s not how life works. The question is: do you want control over the direction of your life…or do you want to leave it to the world around you? 

We have the power of choice. We can choose to change or not.  

We also shouldn’t change just for the sake of change. Change should be intentional and based on knowing who you are, knowing what you want, and being true to these. 

Too many people drift through life without any direction or purpose. If this mundane rut is where you want to stay…just keep doing what you’re doing. But if you want to build a dream life…do something about it! 

“Change happens when the pain of staying the same is greater than the pain of change.” Tony Robins 

There’s Too Much to Do and Not Enough Time to Do It

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This is Where Delegation Comes in 

Having too much to do and not enough time to do it is a common situation. This is especially true for people in construction. 

Chasing my tail and trying to keep up is a good description of how this past week was for me. There were four different construction projects being done at the same time. This involved organizing multiple subcontractors and materials. 

In addition to this, there are six construction projects that are either waiting to be started, need to be scheduled, or need change orders done. 

Oh, and don’t forget the proposals that need to be made, payment applications and invoices for the week, and record keeping. 

Sounds like a pretty normal week in construction, doesn’t it? 

This week wasn’t necessarily any busier than normal. It was the need for my involvement in the construction projects that was the big difference. This required a change of focus. I need help! 

One of the things that I struggle with is delegating. By nature, I try to do everything. It is my business after all. Serving my customers well is my responsibility. But me doing everything can only work if I limit what I’m going to do.  

Over the last several years, I have been working hard to figure out who exactly God has designed me to be. What my strengths and weaknesses are.  

As I worked through this process, I have reached a conclusion. God’s intended purpose for me is to help as many people as possible find solutions for building their dreams. Even if they may not know they’re looking for them.  

There is a limit to how many people I can help by myself.  

In Exodus 18:13-26, Moses was trying to solve all the issues of all the people. There were so many people that needed help and he couldn’t help them all. His father-in-law saw this and recommended that he share the load and put his energy and focus on what God had designed him to do…not everything.  

If I am going to help more people and help them well, I must share my load, just like Moses. 

One of the problems of delegation is that too often sharing of the load is done without much clarity or planning. Positions are just filled with the first warm body that comes along and says yes.  

Rather than helping to carry the load, this often just makes it heavier. If you have ever experienced this, it makes it harder to share the load the next time. 

It’s taken me a long time to figure out how to share the load, but I think I’m getting closer. My busy week would have been busier, or less would have gotten done, if it hadn’t been for my Virtual Assistant (VA), Emily.  

I couldn’t have done it without Emily! 

This help became evident as I was talking with one of the subs. He was working on one of the construction projects this week and asked me how I was able to get so much done.  

I told him it was my VA Emily. He said, “I need an Emily.” I told him to find his own, because he couldn’t have mine.   

In construction there are always towering mountains that need to be moved.  

The key to moving the mountains is to share the shovels.  

I am going to be careful and intentional about who gets what shovel. I need to make sure that the shovel and the person using it are a match. 

Now…who’s getting the next shovel? 

Even if delegating is not natural for me. It’s needed if I’m going to fulfill God’s purpose to help as many people as possible find solutions for building their dreams.  

This is a revision of a previous post titled Sharing the Shovels.

How Deep Can a Rut Get?

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Pretty Deep When the Bottom is Mud

It’s been a few months since Tony pulled his stunt leaving Gene high and dry without any notice. Gene moved on…what else could he do?

Gene replaced Tony with Darin. Darin is less experienced, but at least he has shown up so far. Of course, this may be because Darin doesn’t have anything to drive, so Gene picks him up and takes him home every day.

Gene has been very busy. He’s had a lot of construction projects to do, not to mention trying to keep up with the paperwork. Things seem to be getting busier and busier. Maybe things are going to turn around for his business.

As Gene was on his way to pick Darin up this morning, the truck began to make a grinding noise and it was hard to shift the truck into second gear. It didn’t get any better after picking Darin up and going to the job site.

Then it happened…the transmission went out.

When Gene got to the job site, he couldn’t get the truck out of second gear.

This wasn’t part of Gene’s plan. After getting Darin started framing the walls for the garage addition, Gene went to check out the truck. After messing with it for a while it became clear that it was going to need to go to the shop.

Gene calls for a tow truck and has the truck taken to the mechanic.

Gene goes to work getting the walls of the garage stood. This needs to be done if the garage project is going to be ready for the trusses tomorrow as scheduled.

Midway through the afternoon, Gene gets a call from the mechanic. The transmission needs to be replaced. This is going to cost $3,800, and Gene doesn’t have enough for that.

Now Gene needs to figure out how to pay for the transmission. This means he’s not going to be able to set trusses tomorrow.

Gene calls his wife to see if he could get a ride home. So much for things turning around.

While Gene’s wife is taking him home, he explains the situation. He informs her that he needs to use her car so that he can go to the bank tomorrow. He needs to see if he can borrow the money to fix the truck.

The next day, after Gene drops his wife off at work, he goes to see the banker.

Gene’s credit score isn’t great. After a little pleading with the banker, he gets approved for a loan to get the truck fixed. Gene calls the mechanic from the bank and gives him the go ahead to get the transmission ordered.

The mechanic says it will take a couple of days to get the transmission and then a couple more to get it changed. This means Gene needs to find a vehicle, preferably a pickup, so he can continue working on the garage project.

Gene calls his dad to see if there would be a chance to use his pickup for a few days. His dad lets him borrow the pickup so he can go ahead and work on getting the garage project finished.

—

It’s been a couple of weeks. Gene got his truck back and the garage project is finished. He’s on his way to meet with the customer and collect the final payment…and he needs this payment. Maybe now things will turn around.

As Gene gives the final invoice to the customer, he can tell that something’s wrong.

“What’s the matter?” Gene asks.

The customer looks up and says, “This is more than I expected. Based on the bid you gave me and what I’ve already paid you. The balance should be $7,500. Why is this bill $9,100?”

“The bid didn’t include windows,” replies Gene. “But after we got started, you told me that you wanted a window on each side wall of the garage. The additional $1,600 is for installing those two new windows.”

“Yes, but I had no idea two windows would be that much,” says the customer. “The price I saw for windows at Lowes was $100. I was expecting to pay an extra $250 or maybe $300 for those two windows, not $1,600.”

“Those $100 windows are nowhere near the quality of the ones I installed,” Gene says. “It cost me more than $300 for each window.”

After discussing this situation at length…the customer agrees to pay $600 for the windows if Gene wants a check today. Otherwise, the customer would let his attorney handle it.

Gene feels like the customer knows that with the truck transmission situation, Gene would settle for what he offered. Gene could take the $8,100 today or get nothing today and fight for the full $9,100.

Gene takes the $1,000 hit and leaves.

When it rains it pours and now the bottom of the rut is muddy.

The Hits Just Keep on Coming

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And the Rut Just Keeps Getting Deeper

It’s Sunday afternoon and after getting home from church, Gene is back at his desk (the dining table) working on the third construction bid. He would rather be watching the NASCAR race, but there’s just not enough time for both.

Some people would say that getting three of the four bids done is pretty good. There are a lot of people in construction that wouldn’t sweat this, but it bothers Gene to not follow through on what he said he would do.

It’s getting late and the family has already gone to bed as he starts the next bid.

At 1:15 AM Monday morning, Gene decides to go to bed even though the bid isn’t done yet. He needs to get up in a few hours and do some actual construction work.

It’s Monday morning and Gene is on his way to one of the two projects that he has going. It’s 7:00 AM and he’s supposed to meet Tony at the first project at 7:30.

Tony works for Gene. He’s been working for him now for almost a year. He does good work and knows construction. This allows Gene the flexibility to split up and work on more projects.

Gene starts unloading the tools and getting the things ready that Tony’s going to need. This project is setting some new interior doors.

It’s 8:00 AM and Tony hasn’t shown up yet…Gene calls him, but there’s no answer. Where is he?

This job needs to be done this week.

Tony was supposed to pick up the new doors on his way to the job this morning. Gene calls the lumber yard, and they haven’t seen anything of Tony yet. Gene goes to work, removing the first door that’s going to be replaced, as he waits on Tony.

Still, no Tony, and Gene has three doors out. He calls the lumber yard and it’s going to be a couple of hours before they will be able to get them delivered. He doesn’t want to take out any more until the new ones are installed in these openings. It looks like Gene needs to go get some doors.

Gene heads to the lumber yard to go get the doors.

Gene’s hurrying down the highway in route to the lumber yard when he hears a siren. He looks in his mirror and right behind him are flashing red and blue lights. He looks down at the speedometer and wouldn’t you know it….70 in a 55.

He pulls over and starts getting his driver’s license and insurance information ready. The Highway Patrol Officer comes up and says, “Do you know why I pulled you over?”

“Yes officer, I was in a hurry to get to the lumber yard and get some doors for a job,” Gene replies.

The officer takes the license and insurance card back to his car and Gene waits. While he’s waiting, he tries to call Tony again…still no answer.

The officer comes back and gives Gene a speeding ticket for $150.00.

The day is not getting any better.

Gene makes his way to the lumber yard, gets the doors, goes back to the job site, and gets to work setting doors.

It’s lunch time, still no Tony and he’s still not answering his phone. He must be sick, Gene thinks. It looks like Gene is going to need to stay and work on this job today. He’s already called the customer of the second job to let them know that he’s not going to make it today.

It’s 6:00 PM and Gene got four of the seven doors changed. He’s loading up tools and picking up the job site. He never heard back from Tony, so he’s going to drive by his house on the way home.

As Gene pulls up, he sees Tony’s truck in his drive, so he must be home. He goes up and knocks on the door. As the door opens, Tony is standing there and he doesn’t look sick at all. He does look a little guilty though.

“So, what happened today?” Gene asks, “You were supposed to work on setting doors today.”

Tony looks down at the ground and says, “Ya, I know. I should have called you and let you know I wasn’t going to be there.”

“What happened? Why didn’t you show up or at least call me?” Gene asked.

“Well,” Tony said, “You know that big construction company that’s doing that big project out on the edge of town? I saw the production manager at the hardware store on Saturday and he offered me a job making two dollars an hour more than you’re paying me…and I started today.”

Gene looked him in the eye and said, “So, you took it and started today without even letting me know! I can’t believe you would do that. You knew I was depending on you.”

And the rut just keeps getting deeper and deeper.

A Blueprint for Building a Better Business

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You Need a Plan if You’re Going to Build a Successful Business.

STUCK IN A RUT 

It was late on a Saturday night and Gene was sitting at his desk in his home office (otherwise known as a dining table). This was the office of his construction company.  

He was working to get at least one more construction proposal done before going to bed. He had promised four different customers proposals this week. If all goes well, he’ll have this second one finished before midnight. As Gene crunched numbers, he worried that he might have forgotten something. This had happened before.  

He asked himself, “Why am I doing this? I could make more money and work less hours working for someone else. Heck, I’d be better off flipping burgers. This sure isn’t how I pictured my construction business five years ago when I started.” 

“I had no idea that running my own business would be this hard!” 

Gene rubbed his eyes and stretched his back and thought, “I must be doing something wrong.”   

It’s Saturday, and Gene was working like crazy all week, trying to keep up. With production crews not showing up, materials not delivered on time, cost overruns… There’s not enough time to do everything. This means not enough time to get the proposals done. Even if he works tomorrow, he’s not going to get all these proposals done in time. This means he’s going to disappoint at least one of the customers waiting on a proposal. 

This is not a very good way to run a business! “How am I ever going to turn things around?” 

When Gene finishes the second proposal and looks at the clock, it’s 12:40. It’s already Sunday and he still needs to proofread it, print it, and sign it.  

Something has got to change!  

“I’ve been leaving home early and getting home late all week. I’ve hardly spoken with my wife or kids for days. I can’t keep going like this!”  

“I’m tired of trudging back and forth in this rut with no clear way out.” 

Why Is Change So Hard?

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This Seems Especially True for Construction

Change is the biggest issue that the construction industry faces. Why are people in construction so bullheaded? They are some of the most stubborn and headstrong people. 

This starts at a young age. As children, we have fewer external experiences to draw from. This restricted resource limits our view. This is why young people think they already know everything. 

This narrow perspective then becomes our standard and we see no reason to change. 

I think this is why resistance to change is so prevalent in construction.  

We’re like little kids that started out working for someone. We learned how they did things by watching them. This is why when we start our own construction business, we think we already know everything. 

I was a dreamer at an early age. I had big ideas and plans for my life. A part of this dream was to have a big, successful construction company. I was going to build great things. 

So, I worked for a few different self-employed contractors and then started my own construction company… 

Because I already knew everything.  

As I grew up and those dreams weren’t happening as I had envisioned…I became disillusioned. I gave up on those dreams and accepted that they were just that…dreams. This is when the grind of life sets in. It was disappointing to accept that this is all there is.  

It was frustrating, just plodding along day after day feeling stuck with no way out. 

Then, one day I was smacked upside the head and had a life changing wake-up call.

In December of 2012, I was literally hit upside the head with a board among other things. We were installing wafer board boxing on the wall of a second-floor addition. I was standing on a plank approximately 8’ above the ground when…it broke. 

Fortunately, I don’t remember any of this ordeal from the time I was measuring until I woke up in the hospital three days later.  

Based on what I was told by the guys that were there when I fell, I hit my head on one of the ladders, then on the concrete slab, and then the board hit me on the head. It sure is good that I have a hard head. Seriously, I was fortunate that I came away from this accident with only a concussion. 

The point of telling you this is that it caused me to reevaluate what I was doing and how I was doing it. 

This incident made me aware that something was wrong and if things were going to change…I needed to change it. As I was looking to understand what was going on, I began to read. The more information I gathered, the more I learned about what needed to change. 

One of the first books I read was The Traveler’s Gift by Andy Andrews. This book teaches seven fundamental decisions for creating a successful life. It gives you a front-row seat for a man’s journey that changes his life.  

In the book, David Ponder lost his job and his will to live. He supernaturally travels throughout time visiting historical figures such as Abraham Lincoln, King Solomon, Anne Frank, and more.  

Each visit yields a Decision for Success that will change his life if he implements them. 

This book showed me that I, like David Ponder, had a choice.  

Was I going to keep doing things the way I had been…or was I going to do something different? 

I decided to change and do something different.  

When we’re young we think we have all the time we need. There’s no need to think about the future…we’ll get around to that someday. Then, one day we wake up and realize life has flown by and we haven’t done the things we wanted to.  

You don’t have to wait until you’re smacked in the head to make changes. 

I made changes to my life and my business. People who knew me before and after can see the improvement.  

Change is a choice, and you can choose to change. 

If you’re in construction and would like to learn more about some of the changes I made and how you can make those same changes, check out solutions for building a better construction business. You can also check out our business building tools and trainings or schedule a free 30-minute construction company consultation to learn more.

What Made You Start Your Construction Company?

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If You’re Like Most People in Construction, You Don’t Know…

Last week we discussed how 96% of construction companies go out of business within the first 10 years. This is a problem if you’re in construction.

As I was discussing last week’s post with a friend, he asked me why I do construction. Why would anyone want to start a construction company with odds like this? This question started me thinking about it.

Why is anyone doing construction if the chance of staying in business is so stacked against them? This question prompted me to reach out to some people in construction and ask them.

Why am I doing construction and how did I get here?

When I was growing up, I knew exactly what I was going to do. I was going to farm with my dad, just like he was farming with his. This was going well until those plans got changed.

When I was in my early thirties my dad died of cancer at fifty. This wasn’t a part of the plan.

At that point we were farming together, he owned some of the equipment and I owned some. The problem was, I couldn’t afford to buy his part so…I got out of farming.

In addition to farming, I had been doing some construction in the winter. I liked doing it, was good at it, so this seemed like the logical thing to do.

The problem was I knew construction…not business.

So, why are others doing construction and how did they get here?

To answer this question, I reached out to some people I know that are in construction and asked them the question…Why are you in construction?

I’ve known Doug Wright, with Wright Floor Leveling, for years and have used their company for a variety of projects over the years. They do foundation repair/replacement, crawl space repair, basement repair, masonry repair, new masonry, and more.

Here’s Doug’s story: he did not plan to go into construction…he planned to play football. Then he was injured in college, and it ended his football plans.

His dad was a stone mason and Doug needed a job, so he went to work for him. As things progressed, he became more entrenched in the business, and the prospects for change became harder and harder.

Not to mention that he wasn’t a fan of change.

So, Doug is doing the construction that he knows and is good at.

Chris Schovan is a painter that hasn’t been in business too long but is great at what he does.

Chris learned to paint as a young man from his grandpa who was a professional painter. His grandfather told him that knowing a trade would always give you something to fall back on.

He was working for a pole barn company and/or in manufacturing when the pandemic hit, and he got laid off. Then someone at church needed some painting done and asked him if he knew any painters. He ended up doing this project which led to other projects and he’s now as busy as he’s ever been.

He likes the freedom of schedule because he doesn’t have to punch a clock.

I use Chris because he provides great customer service and does quality work.

I’ve known Josh Dobbs of Flint Ridge Service and his family for a long time. Josh was a firefighter and planned to be fire chief someday until smalltown politics derailed that dream.

While considering what to do next, he was talking with some guys in real estate and the glass business who told him there was a need for someone to do handyman-type things. So, he started doing some odd jobs. As the demand grew, so did his business. Now he does a variety of construction, excavation, and fencing.

He had never done construction before he started doing odd jobs.

Josh uses the leadership skills he learned in the fire department and the ability to see a need and then figures out how to do it.

Leonard Mumford, of Mumford Contracting, is the owner of a full-service construction company. Leonard and I work together in a variety of different ways.

Leonard was in construction years ago and after going out of business, he swore he would never do construction again. He worked in oil field and sales but was miserable. Then he had the opportunity to do some construction work on the side and was making more money part time.

Then his son convinced him to go back into construction…which he swore he never would.

Now Leonard is doing more construction than ever.

The common thread in all these stories is that none of them grew up dreaming about going into construction…playing football or being a fireman, yes, but not construction.

Not everybody knows what their vocation is going to be. Things happen and we have to shift and make changes. These changes, some big and some small, lead us down paths that we didn’t plan for.

This lack of preparation and planning is why 96% of construction companies don’t make it past the 10-year mark.

Three of these five examples here have made it past that point, but trust me, this doesn’t mean that everything is smooth sailing.

All of them have expressed concerns about the business side of things.

This concern is common and why at Solution Building, we’re working to help construction companies with business tools and training to alleviate some of those concerns.

If you would like some help with your construction company’s struggles schedule a free 30-minute consultation.

Life Happens…It’s What We Do When It Does That Matters

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It All Comes Down to Choice

We’re all faced with a lot of choices every day. When situations happen, we can choose this or that.

Choice is the most powerful weapon we have.

Too often we make the wrong choices. Sometimes we make what we think to be the right decisions based on what we know at the time, only to find out later it was the wrong one. Then we can make a different decision.

The important thing is that when making decisions, we’re making them for the right reasons with the right guidance.

We need to be clear on what makes a decision right.

In 2 Kings 18:1-5, Hezekiah became king of Judah. He did what was pleasing in the Lord’s sight, just as his ancestor David had done. He removed the pagan shrines, smashed the sacred pillars, and cut down the Asherah poles. He broke up the bronze serpent that Moses had made, because the people of Israel had been offering sacrifices to it.

 Hezekiah trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel.

He was 25 years old when he became king. I don’t know about you, but I made some bad decisions when I was 25.

King Sennacherib of Assyria came and began attacking the towns in Judah. After which Hezekiah offered to pay Sennacherib if he would withdraw his armies. The king of Assyria demanded a settlement of more than eleven tons of silver and one ton of gold. To gather this amount, King Hezekiah used all the silver stored in the Temple of the Lord and in the palace treasury. Hezekiah even stripped the gold from the doors of the Lord’s Temple and from the doorposts he had overlaid with gold, and he gave it all to the Assyrian king.

Nevertheless, the king of Assyria sent his commander in chief, his field commander, and his chief of staff from Lachish with a huge army to confront King Hezekiah in Jerusalem. The Assyrians took up a position beside the aqueduct that feeds water into the upper pool, near the road leading to the field where cloth is washed. They summoned King Hezekiah… (2 Kings 18:13-18)

Sennacherib offers Hezekiah another deal telling him that no other kings can help him, and neither can God. He tells them to give up and become his slaves. It would be better for them than staying and starving to death. (2 Kings 18:19-37)

After the king of Assyria sent the message, Isaiah the prophet replied, “This is what the Lord says: Do not be disturbed by this blasphemous speech against me from the Assyrian king’s messengers. Listen! I myself will move against him, and the king will receive a message that he is needed at home. So he will return to his land, where I will have him killed with a sword.” (2 Kings 19:5-7)

After Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers, he went up to the Lord’s Temple and spread it out before the Lord. And Hezekiah prayed this prayer before the Lord: “…You alone are God of all the kingdoms of the earth. You alone created the heavens and the earth. Bend down, O Lord, and listen! Open your eyes, O Lord, and see! Listen to Sennacherib’s words of defiance against the living God.

“It is true, Lord, that the kings of Assyria have destroyed all these nations. And they have thrown the gods of these nations into the fire and burned them. But of course the Assyrians could destroy them! They were not gods at all—only idols of wood and stone shaped by human hands. Now, O Lord our God, rescue us from his power; then all the kingdoms of the earth will know that You alone, O Lord, are God.” (2 Kings 19:14-19)

That night the angel of the Lord went out to the Assyrian camp and killed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers. When the surviving Assyrians woke up the next morning, they found corpses everywhere. Then King Sennacherib of Assyria broke camp and returned to his own land. He went home to his capital of Nineveh and stayed there.

One day while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer killed him with their swords. (2 Kings 19:35-37)

Life happened to Hezekiah, he asked God for deliverance, and they received it.

We need to remember to go to God when life happens to us.

Deliverance comes from God…discipleship is what we do.

Being Called Out for Our Mistakes Makes Us Better

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But Getting Better Requires Change

Some people like calling others out for their mistakes. Others, not so much. There are different reasons people do this. Some are good and can be helpful. Some are more for the person doing the calling out, rather than to help the person being called out.

These differences have to do with our different personalities.

There are several different personality tests, but my favorite is the DISC assessment. This is a simple self-assessment tool that categorizes individuals into four personality traits: dominance, influence, stability, and compliance.

Knowing these differences between ourselves and others can be helpful when working with people.

This difference became apparent to me years ago when I asked my wife for her input about something I wrote. Of course, I thought it was perfect. She on the other hand made some corrections and changes.

This crushed me…how could she be so mean?

This was about the time I took the DISC assessment. It was very enlightening. I found out that she was among the 10% of the people who are dominant. This does not mean that she was mean or that she was trying to hurt my feelings. It just meant that she was honest and direct.

I, on the other hand, was among the 25% who are compliant. I’m resistant to change and can be rigid.

Getting better requires change.

Then you have people who are stable. This is the largest group at 40%. These people are loyal followers and slow to act. And then there’s the final 25% who are the influencers. These people are artistic and are continually coming up with new and different ideas and are easily distracted.

Pastor Lisa’s message on Sunday was about the prophet Elijah calling out Ahab, the king of Israel, for his worshiping of Baal and not God. Elijah must have been in the 10% of the dominant, take-charge people. With 90% of the people being in the other three personalities, they were following whatever the king told them.

In 1 Kings 18:16-39, Elijah calls out Ahab and tells the king that he is leading the people in the wrong direction. Elijah shows the people God’s power and Baal’s lack of power with a demonstration involving altars.

The pagan priests go through an elaborate process with their offering to no avail. Then Elijah prepares an offering, soaks it in water, and then calls to show the people that God is Lord.

 Immediately, the fire of the Lord flashed down from heaven and burned up the young bull, the wood, the stones, and the dust. It even licked up all the water in the trench!

And when all the people saw it, they fell face down on the ground and cried out, “The Lord—he is God! Yes, the Lord is God!”

Too often we’re led astray by just following the crowd and not being aware. Then, because we are followers, we lead other people astray because they are followers too.

Don’t be a blind follower or blind leader. We need to recognize our mistakes and change our direction.