Elizabeth Spies

I grew up in a Christian home with a dad that could do anything! He was a farmer, a businessman and so much more. I dreamed of being an entrepreneur myself, but I had no idea of the challenges and responsibilities that would come with it.

My journey as an entrepreneur started in 2000. My business partner and I started a clothing factory in my house with two sewing machines. Our only goal at that stage was to earn a bit of extra cash and work from home, which was a dream come true. I loved every moment of it. Being at home with my son and being an entrepreneur was great. After a year our business had grown to the extent that we would need to move to new premises. We moved, bought four sewing machines and employed twelve people to work with us. We had enough work to run a day and night shift.

Without really thinking it through, or praying about it, we were buying more machines and employing more people. We kept on expanding and eventually I found myself at a place where the business consumed my whole life. This is when I started feeling uncomfortable. There were numerous challenges and I was in a bad place emotionally.

Through discussions with my church family and my Me2 group I realized that although this felt like an “emotional low”, I was in a good place. I could not rely on myself, I had to rely on God. I didn’t have to try and work it all out myself. Even with this renewed perspective, by the beginning of 2013 I did not want to continue with the business anymore. I poured my heart out to God, and cried out to Him for help, strength and vision.

For years people had been praying for me for a breakthrough and nothing had happened. All I ever heard was “wait”. Eventually, God gave me a scripture and told me that I must “keep on keeping on”. Nine months later the long-awaited answer to prayer came knocking on my door, but it not at all what I expected. I had the opportunity to run the business on my own. I walked around angry at God for days, because His plans were not at all the same as mine! I prayed for God to show me the way forward, wondering if I had heard Him clearly, because this was not part of the picture I had in mind.

I asked my mentors to pray with me - at that stage I felt like a problem child, always asking for prayer with nothing seeming to work out. After praying for two weeks God appeared to me in a dream. He told me that if He had given me an easy way out, then all the hard work of the past fourteen years would have been wasted, and thirty people would be jobless. I had to dream again, the way I had dreamt in 2000 about having my own business. He confirmed that I was where I needed to be and gave me Mark10:27 “Jesus looked at them and said, ‘with man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.’” In my dream I told God that I do not have the knowledge or finances to make this work. God responded that I should do what I can, and He would do the rest.

In 2015 we started many new projects. This brought lots of growth but came with new challenges that tested our faith more than ever.

Regardless of how I felt, I clung to the knowledge that I had heard His voice in 2014. Yet, I still asked Him for three confirmations within the next week because I was ready to run away! That same day I got my first confirmation, which I later doubted. Nonetheless, God was faithful and by the end of the week He had given me all three of the confirmations I had asked for. Three people came to me, unaware of what I had asked God, and told me that I should dream again. God wanted me to dream again!

I continued to trust God for wisdom and help. Between 2015 and 2016 we faced challenges that were humanly impossible. Everyone prayed and God was faithful. My most difficult year in business became the year of miracles. We received machines from the government that caused us to improve our production by leaps and bounds. Again, fear tried to grip me because growth in my world means more stress, bigger cash-flow, more people, nothing about growth made me excited.

At the beginning of 2017 I asked God for a scripture, I felt hopeless and alone. God gave me Jeremiah 43:18-19, “Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” This was very encouraging. After reading this verse, I was able to shake off any form of fear.

With fresh hope, and complete trust in God, we moved to a new building and signed new contracts. Cashflow was still a challenge though. I thought things would be more comfortable over time, but I need to remind myself constantly that God has always been faithful and will always be faithful. When fear grips me, I run to the Word. There have been many times where we had to trust God for weekly wages and monthly salaries, but it is with great joy that I can share with you that we were able to end our 2017 financial year with a profit.

I would never have been where I am today if it was not for the grace of God. What have I learned the past 17 years?

• Listen to the voice of God in everything you do, and He will carry you through all your challenges.

• Trust God to show you who can mentor you and walk with you. They will lift your arms when you can’t anymore.

• Trust in God’s timing. He knows best.

• When I worry, it is usually because I am trying to do it on my own. When I have peace, I know God is in control.

• People may say ‘no’ and circumstances might say ‘no’, but with God everything is possible.

• Do not trust in your own strength to fight against fear. Trust in the grace of God.

• Be grateful.

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Elizabeth and her family live in Stellenbosch, South Africa. She is part of the floursihing me2 Mentoring group at Paarl Family Church.