Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
The Estherpreneur Podcast is for faith-driven founders and Kingdom leaders who know they are called to build but refuse to do it disconnected from God.
Hosted by Edna Harding, Christ-Centered Business Architect and CEO of Favor & Wealth, this podcast is where biblical wisdom meets business strategy, leadership, wealth, identity, and spiritual alignment.
Here, we talk about what it really takes to build what God assigned to your hands: obedience, clarity, sales, stewardship, emotional maturity, spiritual warfare, and the courage to come out of striving.
Each episode will help you discern what is misaligned, strengthen who you are becoming, and build with excellence, favor, and wisdom.
Because you are not just growing a business.
You are stewarding an assignment.
And the leader God is forming in you matters just as much as what He is building through you.
Visit FavorandWealth.com and 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 light. In today's episode, we're going to talk about the 5 that shapes your life and business, because not everything that happens in your life is the will of God. And in scripture, we talk about different wills that is operating simultaneously and how to discern using God's wisdom which one you're aligned with. And so today's episode is going to be packed full of biblical truth, and I pray that as you guys tune in today, that the Lord will speak to you in ways that I can't do, but only the Holy Spirit himself. And let me start off by saying that there is a phrase believers use all the time, which is, it must be the will of God. So for example, it must be the will of God for me to have cancer. It must be the will of God for me to suffer.
Edna Harding [00:01:50]:
It must be the will of God xxx. Okay, what if not everything in your life that happened in your life or your business is the will of God? What if not everything that happens in your life is the will of God? Because if everything were God's will, the serpent deceiving Eve would be God's will. Pharaoh enslaving Israel would be God's will, correct? Or Judas betraying Jesus would be God's will. Does that sound like the character of God? And I want you to really be honest with yourself because let's just break off this myth that everything that happens in this world is God's will. It is not. The Bible reveals that multiple wills are operating in the earth at the same time, and that's why many believers suffer unnecessarily, not because God ordained it, but because they misidentify the source. You know, in Hosea 4:6, which is one of my favorite verses of all time, it says, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge." So it's not because of lack of prayer, not because of lack of faith, but lack of discernment. So today we're going to break down these 5 distinct wills so that you can see this like clearly in scriptures and how they affect your life, leadership, and business decisions.
Edna Harding [00:03:17]:
So before we begin, I just want to welcome you guys in this podcast. This podcast is all things business and life God's way. If you're new here, welcome, welcome, welcome. I've been doing this podcast for over 5 years, and I absolutely love sharing the nuggets I find, um, during my time with the Lord with each and every one of you. And those of you guys are tuning back, welcome back. All right, so first, let's talk about the first will, which is the will of God. This will of God is perfect. It's righteous and eternal.
Edna Harding [00:03:48]:
Romans 12:2 says that you may prove what is that is good, acceptable, and perfect will of God. So God's will is always life-giving. It's restorative. It's truth-centered, and it's aligned with righteousness. It doesn't go against God's word, period. It doesn't go against God's character, okay? It just doesn't. Jeremiah 29:11 says, for I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you, give you hope and a bright future. Let me just adjust my microphone here because my back is hurting.
Edna Harding [00:04:21]:
Okay, um, um, so here we have, you know, God's perfect plan, but then we also see Israel was in exile, right? Which teaches us this truth: circumstances don't always reflect God's will. Okay, so God's plan is to prosper, give you hope and a bright future, but then Israel was in exile. Okay, 3 John 1:2 says, I wish above all things that you may prosper, be in good health as your soul prospers. So God's will includes what? Prosperity, includes health, it includes inner alignment. Now, when believers are consistently living beneath those realities, the question isn't whether God is good. The question is what other wills are influencing the outcome. All right, so let's talk about the second will, which is the demonic will. Now, this is a will that directly opposes God.
Edna Harding [00:05:15]:
So if God says this, he does the opposite. So if God says you're going to be prosperous, he says you're going to be in poverty. John 10:10 says the thief only comes to steal, kill, and destroy. So that means he will steal, kill, destroy. What else would he do? Confuse, divide, and delay. In fact, in Genesis 3, God's will was life, dominion, and abundance. The serpent's— oops, sorry, I hope you guys hear me. Let me just— just in case you guys didn't hear me because I think I pressed the red button.
Edna Harding [00:05:46]:
Um, God's will was life. In Genesis 3, God's will was life, dominion, and abundance. Okay, the serpent's will was the opposite, which was deception, death, and separation. In fact, Job 1:2, Satan attacks Job's finances, family, and health. Now, that destruction did not originate in God's will, but it was allowed, but it was not authored by God. Okay, it was allowed, but it was not authored by God. So Jesus clarifies this distinction in Luke 13:16, where he speaks of a woman that was bound by sickness. And, um, and this— and he says, ought not this woman whom Satan has bound be loosed from his bond? Jesus didn't say that the sickness was God's will.
Edna Harding [00:06:32]:
He identified its true source. So for those of you guys who think that cancer, depression, anxiety, what else, kidney disease, I don't know, any type of disease or infirmity comes from God, that is a lie from the pit of hell. Okay, Satan is the one doing that to you, not God. Okay, the third will is the will of man. These are your personal choices. So the will of man refers to individual personal decision-making, because what God does, unlike the other gods out there, is he grants humanity free will. Okay, he doesn't force you to love him. He doesn't force you into a relationship with him.
Edna Harding [00:07:22]:
He gives you a choice. Where other so-called gods or other religions, if you're born in that country, they force you to believe that. So in the United States, you know, you don't have to be a Christian. He invites you to have a relationship with him. But other countries, what they do is they force you to bow down to their gods, right? That's the difference between our God and all the other gods, okay? The small little gods, okay? So in Deuteronomy 30:19, he says, I have set before you life and death, therefore choose life, which means Humans can choose against God's will. So for example, in Jonah 1, God's will was clear: go to Nineveh. But what did Jonah do? He said, I'm going the opposite direction. Okay, now the storm wasn't God's will.
Edna Harding [00:08:09]:
It was actually the consequence of misalignment. Because he disobeyed God, God cannot protect him. Okay, because he went the opposite of what God told him, What happens? There are consequences to his choices. In fact, Jesus expresses that heartbreak in Matthew 23:37, where he says, "How often I wanted to gather your children together, and yet you were not willing." So God was willing and people were not, and personal will always delays divine outcomes. So if we go against God's ways, We will delay divine outcomes, period. No ifs, ands, or buts. It's inevitable. Okay, the fourth will is human will, and that's a collective or cultural momentum.
Edna Harding [00:08:59]:
What does that mean? This is where many leaders get trapped. Human will is not individual, it's actually a collective choice. So if the will of man is personal choice, human will is a direction of the crowd that is moving. So for example, in Genesis 11, the Tower of Babel, the people said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city and make a name for ourselves." So this wasn't rebellion by one person. This was a cultural agreement without God. And if you look at today's society, would you, could you be honest and say that the people of the United States are after God? No, absolutely not. And it's not just one person, it's a group of people who's mocking God, is coming against God's ways and God's standards. It was a cultural agreement without God, okay? And when that happens, this is an issue because that means if you're in an area that there's a certain stronghold because they worship, I don't know, mammon, or they worship lust and everything, you're gonna deal with the consequences of that sin because you live in that area.
Edna Harding [00:10:09]:
Okay, um, there's another example where in Exodus 32 where the people pressured Aaron, says, make us gods that should go before us. So the golden calf itself was born from proud pressure, not divine instruction. Okay, and, and this right here, this human will where it's a group of people, this has an effect. And this— I think the Holy Spirit— if you think about the United States Because not everybody, not everybody's for God, obviously. And because people were sleeping, a group of people who was against God's ways took over the White House, took over certain things, and now we're— everybody's dealing with the consequences of those group of people. So if we live in a city where we were— majority of the people are against God, yes, we deal with the consequences. Okay, because we're in that group. Okay, which is why I truly believe we need to pray for a revival.
Edna Harding [00:11:10]:
We need to pray for a deep encounter with God's love for our cities and nations so that we don't have to deal with the consequences of the poor choices. Um, I forgot what country it is. Oh, I can't think. I know it's in South America somewhere. Where all the leaders, all the, like, the influencers, they've turned to Jesus. And is it Brazil? Is it Brazil? I think— I'm pretty sure it's Brazil. Where— it might be Brazil, I don't remember. One of my good friends, Paul Cooney, um, he ministered there, and everyone, the youth, all generations, returned to God, and there has been a big shift in that country because everyone turned to God.
Edna Harding [00:11:58]:
And that's what we need to pray for United States and all the other countries that have this, um, group of— group of people who are lost. And remember, guys, it's not them, it's a spirit. So our war isn't against flesh and blood, but against principalities, spirit of darkness, rulers of darkness, right? So deceiving spirits, understand that it's not them, it's a spirit. So until we are collectively seeking God, there are going to be consequences in our areas. That's just how it is. I mean, yeah, of course he protects— God protects people, but we, we, we live in a fallen world based on the decisions of humankind as a group, and that's just part of it, right? So for example, we're paying higher fees or paying certain things and dealing with the consequences of certain actions and certain laws because a group majority of people voted for that or wanted a certain way, right? This is so important. This is why it's so important that the church are united. And right now what we're seeing is that church is divided, right? A house divided cannot stand over policies that to me is black and white.
Edna Harding [00:13:15]:
Is it biblical? It isn't about preference or feelings. Right, or this person hurt this person's feelings, is what does the Bible say about this situation, okay? And, and this is a challenge, right? So you have brothers and sisters in Christ coming against each other, right? And I don't know why I'm going this way, but there's a culture war right now, and the culture war isn't against ungodly versus godly. It's between godly and godly, those people who call themselves righteous but yet are far from the heart of the Lord. Okay, I'm not going to go over that right now because that's a whole nother episode, but this is so important. Okay, there's a corporate will, a human— sorry, human will, collective will. Now there's a corporate will, and a corporate is basically an organizational direction. This is the decision-making direction of an organization or leadership structure. So this includes the government, businesses, churches, boards, partnerships, okay? So for example, in 1 Kings chapter 12, you have King Rehoboam receives counsel.
Edna Harding [00:14:23]:
The elders advised humility, younger advisors advised dominance. He followed the corporate will of the wrong voices, and then the kingdom divides. This is so important that— this is why it's so important that the leaders of certain sectors The need to be having wise counsel, and you need to pray for the counsel of the ungodly, okay, that the ungodly leaders will have godly counsel. You see, my friends, it's not about the decision makers. It's the people who's advising the decision makers that matter. That's what we need to pray for. In Acts 4:27-28, leadership groups conspire against Jesus. So that was corporate will at work.
Edna Harding [00:15:06]:
So what happened? A group decision produced a crucifixion. And yet even here, God's ultimate will still prevailed. Jesus still had— God had his way. He still had salvation, but it was the corporate will of leaders that affected the outcome. So this is why you need to pray for your leaders, good, bad, or ugly, okay? There was people that I didn't vote for that I still prayed for, that they will come to know the knowledge of God, that they will have an encounter with the love of Jesus, and that they will be set free from demonic strongholds. Because you know why you need to pray for those people? Because guess what, my friends? It affects your country, it affects your life, it affects your businesses, it affects your joy, it affects everything because you live here. Does that make sense? All right, so those are the 5 wills. You have God's will, which is God's will, demonic will, will of man, human will, and corporate will.
Edna Harding [00:16:09]:
And all these wills can operate at the same time, okay? But yet, even though all those wills operated, right, God still triumphs, okay? He's sovereign. He's the Alpha and Omega, and ultimately he will work all things for our good because we love him, but because we're called according to his purpose. But it's not always immediate. There's a process because there's multiple wills involved. And so sometimes you wonder why there is delay. It could be that's because there's so many moving parts. So we have to step away from our immediate circle or immediate bubble and step higher and see like all the moving parts. And when you feel like God isn't moving in your situation, my friends, you best believe he is.
Edna Harding [00:17:00]:
But because there's all these different wills operating, we have to be patient and trust that God will work itself out in his perfect timing. All right, so let us find 5 ways to discern which will we're facing. Number 1: Does this produce life or destruction? Because in John 10:10 it says God's will will produce life. Number 2: Check your obedience before rebuking opposition, because Sometimes the issue isn't warfare, it's misalignment. Read Deuteronomy 30:19. Number 3: Don't confuse popularity with permission. Because in Exodus 23:2, it says that cultural momentum can lead you away from God faster than persecution. So it isn't even the trials or the tribulation, but the peer pressure for you to go with the crowd versus to go with what God said.
Edna Harding [00:17:55]:
Okay, so for example, let's just make it plain. God is not for abortion and God is not for homosexuality. It's plain English. Okay. But yet we, because we don't want to ruffle the feathers, we say stuff that are very politically— what do you call it— politically correct so that we don't offend people. When in reality we need to speak truth in love. But we're so afraid about cultural pressure that what we do is we succumb to their ways and we don't stand boldly for his truth. And we're in an hour where people are looking for truth.
Edna Harding [00:18:42]:
And if God is— if you're not going to open your mouth and speak the truth, guess what? God doesn't have any use for you. He's going to pick someone else to do it. So if you have the pulpit, if you have a platform, if you have the area of influence and you're not using it for His glory, my friend, I would be worried because at any point He could take that away from you and give it to someone else. Just like that, with just one word. Number 4, examine the leadership and systems you're under because corporate will shape outcome, especially in business, which is why, my friends, I know, especially if you're a professional worker, if you're working for a team, Or you're working, sorry, you're working for a company. Who are the leaders? Are they Satanists? Are they people that follow the ways of Baal? Or do they follow ways of God? You know, money isn't the answer for everything. I'd rather take an average pay, a smaller pay, and work for a righteous man because you're protected under the covering of God versus an ungodly man who's definitely pushing the wrong buttons of God and be under the wrath of God. Do you hear what I'm saying? And number 5, return to God's will daily.
Edna Harding [00:20:02]:
Romans 12:2 talks about discernment. And when we are constantly asking God, "Let your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Holy Spirit, show me the way, show me the truth, lead me into the life that you have ordained," What happens is when we get transformed by the renewing of our mind and seeing things from His perspective, He will sharpen our discernment and we're going to make the best choice, not the good choice, not the gold choice, but the God choice. And so, you know, in closing, I want to say that remember, your life and business are not shaped by one will alone. And every day you stand at the intersection of God's will, the enemy's will, your will, cultural will, corporate corporate will, and your outcomes are determined by which one you specifically align with. Remember, in Psalms 84:11, it says, no good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly. So when you're aligned with God's ways, it unlocks provision. When you obey God, that unlocks God's favor.
Edna Harding [00:21:12]:
And when you discern which is the narrow path versus the, the big path, you protect your destiny. You protect your assignment and the vision God gave you. And the more clearly you understand the wills at work, the more confidently you can walk in the one that leads to life, that leads to you hearing the Father say, well done, my good and faithful servant. Well done, my good and faithful servant. All right, well, my friends, I hope this bless you, and I hope this encourage you to live a life of purpose and to live a life of joy. God loves you and I love you all. Till next time, keep shining. Thanks for joining us this week on Estherpreneur.
Edna Harding [00:22:02]:
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 iTunes, or if you simply tell a friend about the show, that would help me out too. 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!