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Your business problem may not be a business problem.
The Estherpreneur Podcast examines what most business conversations miss: the condition of the builder behind the business.
Hosted by Edna Harding, Christ-Centered Business Architect and CEO of Favor & Wealth, this show helps founders identify what is actually limiting growth—strategy, structure, sales, leadership, capacity, identity, stewardship, or spiritual misalignment.
We question business advice that produces growth without wisdom, visibility without capacity, revenue without stewardship, and success at the expense of the person carrying it.
Expect biblical truth, practical business strategy, uncomfortable questions, and conversations about sales, money, leadership, spiritual warfare, emotional maturity, and building in obedience to God.
Because sometimes you don't need another strategy.
You need to identify what is actually out of order.
“By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established.” — Proverbs 24:3
Estherpreneur.com | FavorandWealth.com | EsthersOil.org
Edna Harding [00:00:03]:
Welcome to Estherpreneur, a podcast for entrepreneurs and leaders doing business and life God's way. Each week we discuss biblical and practical tips to improve your mind, business, spirit, relationships, and finances. Listen along as I speak with special guests on how to thrive in all aspects of life. Hi, I'm Edna. Like many of you, I wear many hats. I'm a military wife, mother, author, certified John Maxwell business and executive coach, trainer, and founder of Favor and Wealth, where we help the good guys win. So tune in as we bring on the light. Well, hello everyone.
Edna Harding [00:00:47]:
Thank you for tuning in for another episode of the Estherpreneur Podcast. My name is Edna Harding, and I'm nothing but a messenger of hope, life, and truth in the marketplace. And in today's episode, episode, we're going to talk about Paul and Paul, the Apostle Paul, who wrote majority of the New Testament, but specifically about what a CEO would notice watching Paul lead. So if this episode is your first time listening, in this episode, in this podcast, we talk about business and life God's way. And so if you're into learning how to apply biblical wisdom into your business, um, utilizing stories from the Bible, you're in the right place. It's one of the many things that I love to do. Um, so before we begin, let's just open up in prayer. Father, we just thank you for this day.
Edna Harding [00:01:43]:
We thank you for the Holy Spirit. We thank you for your word that never goes void. We pray, oh God, that you will use my voice to just break off boundaries and limits from your people. And we pray, oh God, that you would do exceedingly abundantly beyond all we could ask or think, in Jesus' mighty name. Amen. So I'd like to bridge timeless wisdom and timely methods. And so I was thinking, what would it be like if we had a modern CEO like you and I could sit across the room and observe the Apostle Paul leading his mission? I think the first thing that they would notice is not his theology, But we and they probably would notice something else, which is the strategy, right? The architecture that he was building with this movement, the way he multiplies leaders. Because remember, guys, Paul wasn't just preaching.
Edna Harding [00:02:50]:
He was building something that expanded across cities, across cultures, across political environments. With almost no resources. Zero. No buildings, no institutional power, no centralized infrastructure. Just a word from the Lord saying, this is what I want you to do. But yet, within a few decades, the movement he helped build had spread across the Roman world. So today I want to explore something different, okay? And that is, what can we learn from Paul's life as CEOs, right? And I want you guys to see things from that perspective, okay, today, okay? And I know we know Paul. I love Paul.
Edna Harding [00:03:45]:
He's, he's one of my, um, he's like one of the heroes of the faith, right? When you have someone that had a complete turnaround in his life and truly surrendered and was used and abused by, you know, the opposite camp, but still did some powerful things for the kingdom of God. So he's one of my heroes, um, aside from Jesus. I think he had lived an incredible life, has incredible testimony, and has done great damage to the kingdom of darkness, which is the reason why I absolutely love Paul. So let's just talk about the first observation. One thing I think that any modern CEO would notice is that Paul consistently built leadership ecosystems instead of personality platforms. Okay. And what, what I mean by that is he was very specific on who he put on his team. right? So, because in many organizations today, a lot of times everything flows to the founder, right? So decisions, relationships, and then visibility.
Edna Harding [00:05:02]:
But then when you read Paul's letters, you constantly see teams. He'll speak to Timothy, he'll speak to Titus, he'll speak to Silas, Priscilla and Aquila, Phoebe, Luke. Paul was not the center of it all. In fact, he was part of an expanding what I call decision makers networks, the people that he's entrusted to carry the mission. So what I love about this is that the mission moved faster than his personal capacity. And at some point, if you're scaling, eventually you'll face the same shift. So you really cannot build anything large if anything still if anything, if everything still depends on you and nothing can be done without you, right? You cannot, you cannot scale that way. There will be some hurdles, and that's something that I have to learn, right? Because quite frankly, in my heart, in my mind, I'm like, I don't really want to get big, Lord.
Edna Harding [00:06:08]:
I just want to stay where I am. I love like what I'm doing. I love the uncomfortable, because it's— I'm— we know we're good, we're content, our family is taken care of, you know, I love what I do, I have time, but the Lord wants me to build bigger, and that's hard for me, right? Because I'm like, but I really don't want to do that, it just sounds like a lot of work. And he told me, he was like, well, it's only a lot of work if you do everything yourself, but if you pray for a team to help you, they will help you. And so that's where I'm at right now. In all transparency, I'm like, a team? Uh, I mean, I have a team, obviously, assistants, but a team team, like a decision-making team, right? Not just a team that does whatever I tell them, but people who's going to help me make decisions for the company, right? And for the Favor and Wealth. And that right there is a stretch for me because I'm like, okay, God, I will do this. I have no idea what you mean.
Edna Harding [00:07:09]:
I don't even— I don't know what type of, like, decisions they're supposed to make. Because for me, like, I've been making all the decisions, um, with the help of the Holy Spirit. And, and it's, it's a, it's a bit of a different thing, right? I'm like, okay, well, in order for me to make a lot of decisions, or other people can make a lot of decisions, there has to be decisions to be made. And right now there aren't a lot of decisions to be made. So I'm like, so what is this going to look like? And I remember Um, a while back someone prophesied over me that I was gonna have a corporation and that I have all— I'm gonna be so busy and all these other things. And, and by mom, like, what is the corporation gonna be about? Like, what is this gonna look like, right? Because I don't even know exactly, because I'm like, I'm thinking, I'm like, okay, a corporation. I'm like, like, how is this gonna happen? I don't know how it's gonna happen, when it's gonna happen. I, I have no clue, but I do know that the instruction was very clear and real, and that he said he was gonna entrust me with an organization that I'll be a CEO of, and I just have to delegate decision authority-making things to people so that it's not all on me, and that's— that way I could still be present for my family and all this good stuff.
Edna Harding [00:08:30]:
But my point is I learned that from Paul. He didn't build everything himself. He delegated to people that had the heart of the Father. Observation number 2, and this is another thing that I think CEOs would notice about Paul's, is his geographic intelligence. See what he was very selective. He didn't just randomly travel. He targeted strategic cities like Rome, Corinth, Ephesus, Philippi. So if you guys don't know, these were commercial, cultural, and political hubs.
Edna Harding [00:09:06]:
Okay, Paul understood something founders understand instinctively, which is if you influence the right hubs, influence spreads naturally. Let me say that one more time, my friends. If you influence the right hubs, influence spreads naturally. Okay, so Paul wasn't just thinking about conversion, he was thinking about movement leverage. Right? He was playing chess, not checkers, my friends. So this is key. Where you open up shop, where you expand markets, all these things, like, you have to know, like, the reason behind it. You don't just expand and, and go where, where people are flowing, right? You ask the Holy Spirit, okay, where, where, where do you want me to build this thing? He didn't just build everywhere in their mamas.
Edna Harding [00:09:59]:
Right? Have you heard of people saying, hey, I'm going to build, you know, I have like 15 franchises and things of that sort, which is fine, I think, from a franchise standpoint. But when you're building something, when you're building something, I don't know, like it's kind of like it has to be a strategic build. It's not just to build just for the sake of marking territory, but it has to be a build that you're going to expand in that territory. For it's a twofold build. It's like a build to expand, obviously, your business and reach and influence, but most importantly, I believe, to expand God's agenda, to demolish strongholds in that particular area, and to set captives free in that particular area. Because you know what, what you'll find is whenever God's people set up camp, those people, those enemies, and those people, gods that are in that land, has to dissipate. They have to leave that area. And the good thing, the scripture talks about where the righteous rule, people rejoice.
Edna Harding [00:11:12]:
So when you have prospering, God-fearing businesses in that area, it's a domino effect. It will start prospering all the whole entire area. It's not just for that business itself, but that whole area, because darkness cannot stand light. All right, the third observation I think a lot of CEOs will see about Paul is he expected friction. You know, one of the most surprising things about him is how calmly he treats resistance, right? In fact, in 1 Corinthians 16:9, he writes, a wide door The door of effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries. Like, that's how, that's how happy he is. Yeah, there's a huge door for me, and there's gonna be a lot of enemy. Notice the logic, right? Opportunity and opposition appears together.
Edna Harding [00:12:07]:
And what happens today is that when there's resistance, it triggers doubt. But that's not what Paul did. Right? So we, as leaders, when we start seeing like, okay, well, there's a lot of competition here. People— I'm not an intellect. I think like for me, I'm just talking for myself, right? I'm not an intellect. I have no like experience in the, in the military or in the government. I am from a tech space. I'm not an engineer.
Edna Harding [00:12:33]:
There's even though I have brothers, siblings, family, and are engineers. I, my husband is in the military. So I have access to the basic stuff. But most importantly, I have access to divine intelligence, which is probably more important than the basic stuff, quite frankly. And what happens is sometimes, you know, the enemy would trigger doubt in me, like, oh, maybe this is not working, maybe I'm wasting— maybe this is the wrong direction, you know, maybe, maybe this is— it's all in my head, right? Maybe this is not what God wants me to do. But every time when I'm doing something else, I felt the push from the Holy Spirit saying, no, that is not where I want you to go. I want you to go here. Okay.
Edna Harding [00:13:15]:
And the thing about Paul is he understood something very strategic that I myself, I'm still learning, is that the larger the assignment, the more pressure appears around it. Okay. So imagine God is taking me to a place where he's like, I don't really have that much connections. Like the people I know are not in that field, right? They're in different places. And my— the people I currently know right now, They have access to a lot of other networking groups, but my audience is not there. The Holy Spirit made it very clear, your audience is not there. Your audience is in this particular space. Okay, and Paul, when he found out how much pressure and how much adversaries, he didn't panic.
Edna Harding [00:14:00]:
He interpreted it. He's like, okay, cool, you know, I'm gonna do effective work, and there's a lot of comp— like, a lot of enemies, but that's all right. I'm gonna do effective work. Like, He just like expected it to happen, right? All right, so number 4: Paul built governance before scale broke things. You know, so what I mean by that is a lot of times many founders wait too long to establish leadership structure, okay? But Paul consistently installed order early. I remember a long time ago I had a prophecy over me and said, get your get your corporation together. Get your corporation together. You need to get the structure together.
Edna Harding [00:14:42]:
You need to prepare. And I feel like I've been preparing for a long time, and I'm like, how big is this going to be, God? Because I've been preparing for a while, and mind you, I'm not done with everything, but he's just like, finish the rest of the things. I'm like, okay, that's a lot of other things from a corporation standpoint. Like, the other aspects of the business, as far as like dealing with my smaller businesses, things like that, that's ready. But I'm talking about from a corporation standpoint, that's the part he's like he wants me to finish building this season. And quite frankly, I don't have much time, okay? Which is why he's like, record all the podcasts today in one day. All the remainder— I think it was like, I don't know, 12 podcasts I need to record today, like get as much done. And, and that's a lot of faith for my end because I'm like, well, okay God, I'm trusting you.
Edna Harding [00:15:36]:
Um, and that's what I'm doing. I'm trusting God with the instructions he gives me, knowing that, okay, I've been seeking God, I've been praying in the spirit a lot. Apparently he wants me to move fast, he wants to move quickly, so I'm going to do that. But what I love about this, how he didn't wait until, um, till everything was like multiplication before he started building structure. In fact, um, 1 Titus— sorry, in Titus 1:5, it says, the reason I left you in Crete was that you might put in order what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town. Notice the language, put in order. So Paul understood that growth without governance eventually collapses. So he didn't just spread the message, he called people to build leadership structures or infrastructures that could stabilize the movement.
Edna Harding [00:16:35]:
Because great CEOs eventually realize the same thing, okay? Vision, yes, that you could get rah-rah, everyone's gonna be motivated to run towards the prize, but it's only governance that sustains it. So how can I sustain the thing he's telling me to build? And I remember people asking like, well, what exactly are you building? When I say people, I'm talking about me. I'm like, what are you building, Edna? Because there's a lot of moving parts and I don't really know the full picture. I just know he told me to build the temple, okay? Build the temple of God. And I'm like, okay, in my mind I'm like, okay, when the temple could be two things. It could be the body of Christ, which I'm already doing, and then the actual temple of God. That where Jesus is going to reign for thousands of years. Okay, so those are two different things, and those are two like big things, and that takes a lot.
Edna Harding [00:17:29]:
I'm like, well, how do we build infrastructure to do that? And I believe as I'm faithful with the little, as I obey God with this part, he'll give me the next step. But I just need to build the part he's telling me to build right now. Okay, hope this is making sense. Number 5, the last observation I think is that that people would notice for our CEOs is Paul was willing to be misunderstood. In fact, one of the most uncomfortable realities of, of, of being a mature, God-fearing CEO is that the larger the assignment becomes, the more misunderstood you may be. Because Paul faced a lot of criticism constantly. He was— he dealt with religious leaders, he dealt with political authorities. He dealt from people inside the communities he helped build, but he kept moving forward.
Edna Harding [00:18:21]:
And that is challenging for human being, period, to keep moving forward in spite of the naysayers and oppositions and the people calling you crazy and people think misunderstanding you and, and things like that. It's, it's not easy to do that, but he always moved with conviction. And I don't believe it's because he enjoyed conflict. It's because he had clarity about the mission that God gave him, and it outweighed the need of approval. Like, I'm getting to a place where I stopped caring what people think. I mean, I'm not gonna lie, sometimes I go on my LinkedIn, I'm like, oh, this message I thought was really good, it really resonated with me, it's not resonating with other people. And I'm like, okay, well It hurt. I'm like, okay, maybe this is too spiritual, maybe this is too deep, or maybe this is too this.
Edna Harding [00:19:11]:
And the Lord's like, stop watering down your light. Stop being something like you're not. Just speak whatever you want to speak, and then people relate, they relate. If not, that's okay. But don't lower your anointing, or don't lessen the gifting up inside of you to appease people, to make people want to like your stuff or engage with you. Right? And this is something many founders eventually face. You know, when we start scaling, it really requires the courage to continue building even when not everyone understands what you're doing. Even if you don't understand what you're doing, you know what I'm saying? Right? So if you look at Paul only through the spiritual lens, you see a missionary.
Edna Harding [00:20:00]:
But if you look at the way he did things, through the eyes of a CEO, you see something else. He is a strategist. He's, he's an architect of movement. He understood how to multiply influence across demographics, across different cultures, across different political systems, right, across different countries. Like, he didn't just simply build a message or spread a message He built structures, leaders, and communities that could carry the mission beyond him. And that's what he's asking me to do, and that's what he's asking you to do, my friend. And that probably is the most important instruction of them all. You have to stop thinking about yourself and maybe, you know, getting through the next few years so you can pay your bills.
Edna Harding [00:20:54]:
You have to start thinking eternal impact. If, if— how can I make sure that this business lasts for a thousand years? A thousand years? And now I thought you said it was the last of days. I know, I understand that, but I also know God loves people and he does not want anyone to perish. And if that is you, my friend, if you're a sinner and you have never accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, this is the perfect time to do it. Right now when you're still alive and breathing. Because yes, my friend, tomorrow's not guaranteed. I like to— I am always ready for when Jesus comes, like I'm always ready, but I'm also ready for when he doesn't come for another thousand years as well, because I want Jesus to receive his harvest. He died a painful price so that we could all have oneness and relationship with him.
Edna Harding [00:21:49]:
He does not want anyone to perish— not the murderers, not the drug addict, not the prostitutes, not strippers, no one. He doesn't want anyone to perish, okay? He doesn't. Sin is sin, I understand that, and there's no excuses for sin. But if you're alive and you're listening to this somehow and you have done some crazy things, you are not alone. Jesus still loves you regardless. He is such a loving God. And if you haven't experienced true love, I invite you to seek Jesus He's everything religion is not. He's real.
Edna Harding [00:22:32]:
He's authentic. He doesn't expect perfection. He just expects a willing heart, someone who's willing, someone who's trying, someone who's saying, Lord, help me, I can't do this on my own. My spirit is willing, but my flesh is weak. If you can get anything out of this episode, it's he loves you and he cares for you. And that's why Paul made sure that he created structures so that the gospel can be retaught over and over again through generations. And guess what? It has. And that's what you need to do too for, for your businesses, is think generations.
Edna Harding [00:23:15]:
Think, how can I make a lasting impact, not just from my business and the people my business is called to help, but to the impact for the kingdom of God. You know, the real question is not, can I build something successful? The real question is, can I build something that's gonna make a dramatic impact to the kingdom of God that will ultimately break down barriers so that people can come to know Jesus Christ? Because let's face it, the mainstream church isn't doing a good job. They're not. It's become a social club. It's become wishy-washy. It's become about religion when in reality God wants transformation. He wants a disciplined disciple, someone who's willing to work on themselves so that they could be more and more like him. And maybe God is going to use your business to be the church out there because the church isn't doing a good job.
Edna Harding [00:24:24]:
So create a space, create an environment, create a structure so that you're not just thinking about your business and as far as paying bills and building a legacy, but you're creating businesses because these are the real churches. The churches where the— those who need healing, those who need deliverance, those who needs, you know, just wholeness, who needs joy, who needs hope. They'll come into your spaces and they'll be like, wow, something is different. That they don't— they're not here to just solve a, a, a, a human problem, but it's a spiritual problem that they're to solve. Make your business a habitation for the Holy Spirit. That is my prayer for you. That is my prayer for me. As we build this thing that God wants us to build, that people would encounter him in a new way, his love in a new way, his heart in a new way.
Edna Harding [00:25:24]:
He is so faithful and he's so kind, and I'll be foolish and selfish if I don't share that with you, because I truly believe if you're listening to this and you've gotten to this portion of the episode, it's because God is drawing you close to him. He wants you to be one with him. He just wants to start a relationship with you. Just think of like dating God for a minute. You don't have to marry him yet. Just start dating him, get to know him. That's all it starts, but I promise you, you're not going to want to leave. He's the best thing that's ever happened to me, and I know he's going to be the best thing that's ever happened to you if you just listen and if you just try and give him a chance.
Edna Harding [00:26:15]:
Well, my friends, I hope this blessed you, and I hope this encouraged you to go after God. You don't have to love him yet, just get to know him. And watch him transform your life from the inside out. Well, blessings, my friends, and I'll talk to y'all soon. Take care. Thanks for joining us this week on Estrepreneur. Make sure to visit our website favorandwealth.com for more information on our services. While you're at it, if you found value in this show, we'd appreciate a rating on iTunes, or if you simply tell a friend about the show, that would help me out too.
Edna Harding [00:26:58]:
Also check out my book, The Ugly Side of Sales, available on Amazon, where I share 7 of my secrets on how to win and grow business the right way. Until next time, keep shining.