Have faith in God.
Truly I tell you, if you say to this mountain, “Be taken up and thrown into the sea,” and if you do not doubt in your heart, but believe that what you say will come to pass, it will be done for you.
So I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
—Mark 11:22–24
Growing up in Clinton, Missouri, a small town 230 miles west of St. Louis, I lived on the wrong side of the tracks—literally.
Being only a stone’s throw from the railroad tracks, the small frame home on our family’s six-acre plot of land was in a perpetual state of vibration.
My parents raised my seven siblings and me in a house next door to my maternal grandparents’, a house that we have since torn down so we could build a new home for my mother, where she lives today.
I owe my strong work ethic to my father, who was a mechanic, a part-time janitor, and a trash collector.
He also moonlighted as a night watchman and a server at holiday parties for the town’s more affluent families.
We were poor, but I personally never felt like we were.
That’s because my parents always put food on the table for us, and there was always a roof over our heads.
Some of what we ate came from the few cattle and hogs that my siblings and I were responsible for.
Every morning before school, my farming chores included milking the family cow and making sure the hogs were slopped.
I attended Franklin Elementary School, on the other side of the tracks, where I was the only African-American boy in my class.
How we lived was quite a contrast to the lifestyle of the white kids.
Even so, my mother kept telling us that we should never resent anyone who had more than we had.
Again and again, she said, “You can do anything you set your heart to, son, and someday you’ll have all those nice things too.”
My mother always took us to church and made sure we attended our Sunday school classes.
Our small church was too poor to have its own minister so it had one that came once a month to conduct our Sunday services.
Our lay leaders held services on all other Sundays.
The adult members used to say to me, “Little David, play on your harp.”
I felt blessed to be referred to as David, the shepherd boy, because he was one of my favorite biblical heroes.
The members of our church believed in the Lord, and we had hope and faith that God was going to deliver us.
Even as a young boy, I knew all things were possible through Christ Jesus, who strengthens us.
So instead of being limited by my depressing circumstances, I looked beyond the confines of my small hometown and focused on my vision of what God had in store for me.
As a young boy, I knew someday I’d live in St. Louis, even though most people in our neck of the woods felt intimidated by “the big city.”
The few young people who left town migrated to nearby Kansas City or Springfield, small cities in comparison to St. Louis.
To make it in St. Louis was big-time—like the lyrics in the song “New York, New York.”
In my case, I knew if I could make it in St. Louis, I could make it anywhere.
During my teens, I frequently visited my older brother Phil in St. Louis, so, at an early age, I decided that was where I’d someday live.
When I was a youth, one of my favorite scriptures was the story about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the Book of Daniel.
These three Jews lived in a province of Babylon under the rule of King Nebuchadnezzar.
The king built a golden statue standing sixty cubits tall and six cubits wide and decreed that everyone must bow and worship this statue.
Those who failed to obey his mandate would be thrown into a furnace of blazing fire.
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to bow down to the statue, declaring that they would not worship a false god.
Their defiance enraged the king, who ordered them bound by the strongest guards of the army.
The heat of the furnace was raised sevenfold its normal temperature and the three men were thrown into the blazing ovens.
The intense heat killed the guards who lifted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego into the fire.
While witnessing what appeared to be a certain death sentence, King Nebuchadnezzar saw four men walking in the fire; one had the appearance of God.
When Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego exited the furnace, the king, his prefects, governors, and counselors saw that they had no signs of having been in the scorching oven.
Not a hair on their heads had been singed.
This prompted King Nebuchadnezzar to declare that the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego sent his angel to save his servants who trusted in him.
The king decreed that any people, nation, or language that blasphemes the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego would be torn limb from limb.
The king then promoted the three men to serve in high positions in the province of Babylon.
This story illustrates that all things are possible with a strong belief and faith in God.
Whenever I face adversity, I think of the unbending faith of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and I realize my own problems are inconsequential by comparison.
For instance, at one time, my company was unable to obtain financing from a standard bank.
In order to make a deal, we had to pay 22 percent interest on our loans—a rate that makes it difficult to profit.
Nobody would have blamed us for pulling in our reins and choosing not to grow our company.
But I had a vision to build a big business, and I wasn’t about to give up on my dreams.
Take Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
Had they bowed to a gold statue, they could have been spared the excruciatingly painful punishment that appeared certain.
When I thought about the test of faith those three men endured, high interest rates seemed trivial by comparison.
Most often, a start-up company has limited financial resources, so a small business owner must be innovative to survive and expand.
In a way, this is an advantage, because it forces one to be resourceful and creative.
A small business owner must be nimble and able to turn quickly.
This requires creativity, and when partnering with larger companies, a small company must differentiate itself from the competition.
When a small company is able to stand out from the pack, big companies notice.
As a small company grows, it goes through four different stages.
First, there is the start-up stage, followed by the entrepreneurial stage; next is the growth stage, and lastly, the mature stage.
Each stage requires a different set of talents; to expand a business, an owner must personally grow and recognize the importance of bringing the right people aboard, those with different and complementary skills.
If the owner can’t let go and delegate to others, the business will suffocate.
The downfall of large companies attests that deep pockets don’t cure all problems.
As a small business grows, so must its owner.
An entrepreneur can never become complacent and must continually learn new ways to improve business.
To survive and thrive, knowledge is a more valuable asset than money.
This lesson is emphasized in a story that appears in 1 Kings 3 telling about King Solomon dreaming he spoke to God.
In the dream, God asked Solomon what he should give him.
The king replied that God had loved his father, David, and that he was thankful to follow in his father’s footsteps and sit on his throne.
Solomon then asked God to give him the wisdom to discern between good and evil so he could govern the large numbers of people in the land.
God was pleased that Solomon did not ask for riches or for the life of his enemies, but instead asked for understanding to determine what is right.
The Lord granted Solomon a wise and discerning mind, as well as both riches and honor for all of his life.
God said that no other king shall compare with Solomon.
And on the condition that he walk in his ways, and keep his statutes and his commandments, as his father, David, did, Solomon would be granted a long life.
Like Solomon, people today who place the needs of others above their own will also prosper.
And, like Solomon, you can ask in prayer and expect results if you truly believe.
We are reminded of this in Mark 11:22–24 when Jesus said to his disciples: “Have faith in God.
Truly I tell you, if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and if you do not doubt in your heart, but believe that what you say will come to pass, it will be done for you.
So I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”
Every big achievement starts in the mind of a person who believes his or her dream is possible.
But just thinking big doesn’t automatically make things happen.
You must first have a positive image of yourself and others—and believe in yourself and others.
This lesson is told in Numbers 13, which tells about a time when Moses dispatched twelve spies to the land of Canaan to determine the strength of its people.
Upon their return, the spies told Moses that the Canaanites were huge people and so large that it made them feel as small as grasshoppers.
They were not giants, rather the spies thought of themselves as small.
To lead his people into the land of milk and honey, Moses recognized he must inspire them to see themselves worthy of possessing it.
Likewise, in today’s business world, success starts with the belief that one is worthy of success.