In the Scriptures, we read that God promised His people that if they walked in His ways, He would give them “rain in its season” – and with it, the fruitfulness of the land (Leviticus 26:3-4). Not instant reward. Not on-demand outcomes. But blessing, in its appointed time, according to what was fitting, according to His divine wisdom. This truth still governs the marketplace today.

God does not operate according to our calendars or expectations. His actions are never delayed, never rushed, never misaligned. He moves in absolute harmony with His will, according to what is fitting in the scope of eternity. And that is deeply uncomfortable for us. We are trained to measure value by deadlines and deliverables. We prize speed. We reward early achievement. But God is not bound by our urgency. His promises are not transactions; they are covenantal promises. His timing is not mechanical; it is precise. And His movements are not arbitrary; they are appropriate.

This is the test of faith for every leader: Are we willing to yield not only our ambitions but also our expectations? Much of our frustration in leadership and life does not stem from failure; it stems from mistimed desire. We demand results on our schedule and call it “vision.” But what if the waiting is not punishment? What if it is preparation?

That is why patience is a fruit of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22). It is not a passive disposition. It is Holy Spirit-empowered endurance. God gives patience because He knows what we cannot see – how formation must precede fruit. How roots must deepen before harvest arrives. Waiting is not weakness. It is the strength to trust when everything in you wants to act. As Isaiah 40:31 promises: “They who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”

Daniel Tan, a Christian agricultural engineer in Malaysia, spent years developing a low-cost irrigation tool to serve rural farmers. He believed it was from the Lord, an innovation to restore dignity and open doors for Gospel witness. But for five years, there was nothing. Government delays. Lost funding. Silence in response to his prayers. Then, in year six, a non-government organization discovered Daniel’s prototype. Within months, the tool was in use across Southeast Asia, paired with biblical training on stewardship and the concept of hope. He later realized: The delay was not rejection, it was formation. God was not just preparing the product. He was preparing the man.

This is how God works. Always with precision. Always with purpose. “When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son (Galatians 4:4). Jesus did not appear early or late. He came at the exact moment when roads, language, and hearts were ready for redemption through the life-transforming message. Not a second too soon. Not a second too late. God moves when it is fitting. His timing is flawless.

So here’s the question every marketplace disciple must confront: Can your faith trust God’s timing? Can your prayers shift from “Lord, bless me now,” to “Lord, shape my life, my work, and my family until the blessing You’ve prepared actually fits who You’re making me to be”?

Are you willing to surrender not just your outcomes—but your calendar? The rain will fall. The ground will yield. But only in its season (Gal. 6:9).

The sooner we embrace this truth, the sooner our walk with God matures—from anxious hope to confident trust (Ps. 27:14; Eccl. 3:11).

© 2025. C. C. Simpson is dedicated to fostering a bold and triumphant Christian faith within the global marketplace, driven by a deep conviction in the Gospel’s transformative power. Before becoming President of CBMC International, Chris dedicated 28 years to a distinguished career in the public sector – as a Commanding Officer in the U.S. Marine Corps; and serving in the U. S. Secret Service, responsible for protecting seven American presidents and leading elite teams in complex, high-stakes international missions. With his wife Ana, a native of Nicaragua, Chris resides in Boca Raton, Florida. 

Reflection/Discussion Questions

1. Can you think of a time in your life or leadership when a delay turned out to be exactly what was needed – and even more fruitful than what you had originally hoped for?
2. Galatians 5:22 lists patience as a fruit of the Spirit. Why do you think patience is essential for spiritual maturity – especially in the marketplace?
3. Daniel Tan’s story serves to remind us of how God sometimes forms the person before releasing the mission. In what ways might God be shaping you right now for something He has not yet revealed?
4. Isaiah 40:31 says, “They who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength.” What would it look like for you to surrender not just your outcomes, but your calendar?

NOTE: If you have a Bible and would like to read more, consider the following passages: Leviticus 26:3-4; Psalm 27:14; Ecclesiastes 3:1; Isaiah 40:31; Galatians 4:4, 5:22

Challenge for This Week
This week might be a good time for you to consider how you are in terms of patience, especially when it comes to being willing and able to wait upon God’s timing. Are you currently waiting to have a specific prayer – or prayers – answered? How do you think He might be using this time to prepare you and shape you into the person He wants you to be? 

Share your need with a good friend, mentor, small group or some trusted advisors, asking for their wisdom and counsel – and for their prayers that you can remain faithful as you wait for God to answer your prayers “in its season.”

The inscription on my new tee shirt, a birthday gift from my daughter, read in big bold letters the Latin phrase, “PURGAMENTUM INIT, EXIT PURGAMENTUM,” an old Latin phrase I came across many years ago. On the shirt, beneath that inscription, it read in smaller red letters, “GARBAGE IN, GARBAGE OUT.” My children heard me state those same words many times as I attempted to influence what they watched on television or at the movies, the kinds of the music they listened to, and the books they read.

‘Garbage in, garbage out’ was a phrase popularized during the early days of computers, meaning that if faulty programming were put into them, faulty results would come out. This applies to us as humans, too.

The human mind is a wonderful and extremely complex computer. In fact, during the earliest days of space exploration, a dedicated group of African American women received the nickname of “computers,” since they were using their minds to compute very complicated mathematical formulas that would make launching men into space possible. Their story is told through the theatrical film, “Hidden Figures.”

Receiving daily input. However, as with any of today’s electronic computers, what comes out of the human mind is no better than the value or validity of what is programmed into it. We begin receiving data while still in our mother’s womb, and we continue receiving input – information of all kinds – throughout our lives. This vast collection of data shapes our development of the ways we think and respond to the world around us, ultimately our personal worldviews. One’s worldview determines values, and these values in turn influence one’s behavior. In spite of this reality, many of us go through life without ever considering the validity or truth of those things that have shaped our thinking.

Until I began to read what God, the Creator of all things, had to say in the Bible, I too had never taken time to examine what was influencing my thinking. Whether as a fighter pilot during the Vietnam War or a commercial airline pilot, I never paused to wonder, ‘Why do I think the way I do? What factors have served to influence and form my values, opinions, and the things I hold dear?’

Conformed to this world? However, after becoming a follower of Jesus Christ, I began to read the Word of God and discover statements like this from the apostle Paul, who wrote in Romans 12:2, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – His good, pleasing and perfect will.” Was the information I was taking in from the media in all its forms conforming me into the “pattern of this world”?

With the myriads of written publications, television, films, radio, and the Internet, we live in an era of information overload. We are constantly being bombarded with all kinds of data, some of it good, some of it not good at all. After reading Romans 12:2 and other passages from the Scriptures, I realized if I am to maintain clear thinking, my challenge is to sift through all of this information and determine which is valid and based on truth, and which is based solely on the shifting sands of culture and godless values.  

Finding the way to truth. To effectively make these assessments, I concluded that it is necessary for me – and I believe for all of us – to ensure that we are programming our minds, our ‘computers,’ with what we know to be true. As Jesus said, recorded in John 14:6, “I am the way and the truth and the life.” Knowing Him and seeking to follow His teachings in the Bible is the best way to avoid the trap of “purgamentum init, exit purgamentum” – garbage in, garbage out.

William “Fritz” Klumpp served as a pilot with the U.S. Navy, including numerous combat missions during the Vietnam War. He is a former commercial airline pilot, real estate executive, and Executive Director of CBMC. 

Reflection/Discussion Questions

1. When you hear the phrase, “Garbage in, garbage out,” what comes to your mind?
2. With all the information that’s available to you each day, whether through the print or broadcast media, the Internet or other sources, how do you decide the way you process that data and how it influences you?
3. What do you think it means to be “transformed by the renewing of your mind”? How does this differ from being “conformed to the pattern of this world”?
4. Jesus Christ claimed that He is “the way, the truth and the life.” How can or should this declaration affect how we approach each workday – the job assignments we handle, the people we meet and interact with, our overall goals and objectives, the way we assess truth?

NOTE: If you have a Bible and would like to read more, consider the following passages: 
2 Corinthians 10:2-5; Philippians 4:8; Galatians 5:22-23; Colossians 3:2-10; 1 Peter 1:13-14

Challenge for This Week
This week, find someone you can talk with candidly – a trusted friend or advisor, mentor, or accountability group – and together evaluate how you are doing in terms of “purgamentum init, exit purgamentum”: garbage in, garbage out.

Consider what steps you are taking to ensure that your natural computer – your mind – is being filled with the right kinds of programming, the right data to enable you to be and to become the person that God wants you to be.

What influences your decision-making? Is it determining how to maximize gains and minimize losses? Is it expedience, choosing what seems most advantageous for yourself, or for your company or organization? Is it based on appearances – what will present you in the best light to those important to you? 

In my years of working with executives and corporate leaders, I found many had at least one document that served as a rudder for guiding their companies. Most had a “mission statement” which articulated what they did – their purpose for existing. Some also had a “vision statement” that expressed where they saw themselves going. Perhaps most revealing of all was a “values statement” that stated underlying principles and values to undergird not only what they did but also how they would do it – and why.

Roy Disney was the brother of the late Walt Disney, the creative genius whose vision ultimately led to the multi-billion-dollar entertainment conglomerate of films, cartoons, TV shows and dazzling theme parks. As co-founder of the Walt Disney Company, Roy Disney stated, “When your values are clear to you, making decisions becomes easier.” To put it another way, in making decisions, pre-determined values should not only direct present and future operations but also serve to eliminate options and enticements that do not align with those values.

This sounds good, but how does articulating the values an individual or company embraces affect actions and decision-making in a practical sense? Values may differ from one person to another, or from one business to the next, but for people who seek to integrate their faith with the work they do every day, one trusted guide should be the Bible – the Word of God. For example:

For establishing priorities. Jesus Christ was asked, “‘What is the greatest commandment…?’” He replied, ‘“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: “Love your neighbor as yourself” All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments’” (Matthew 22:36-40). 

Considering what Jesus declared, how should our business practices reflect these two all-encompassing commands? How should an organization be operated to demonstrate love of God is first and foremost? And how should customers – employees, suppliers, buying customers and clients – be treated to show that we love them as we love ourselves?

For governing behavior. The Ten Commandments, stated twice in the Old Testament (Exodus 20:1-17 and Deuteronomy 5:6-21), itemize specific ways for loving and honoring God as well as interacting with other people in a godly manner. They speak of worship, avoiding idolatry, proper speech, avoiding overwork, reverence for parents, and prohibitions against such things as murder, sexual immorality, theft, dishonesty, and jealously desiring what other people have.

For valuing what God values. What does a godly business or professional person look like? One answer is to value what the Lord values, as stated in Micah 6:8, “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” Doing this may be harder than it sounds, but these summarize what He values.

© 2025. Robert J. Tamasy has written Marketplace Ambassadors: CBMC’s Continuing Legacy of Evangelism and Discipleship; Business at Its Best: Timeless Wisdom from Proverbs for Today’s Workplace; Pursuing Life With a Shepherd’s Heart, coauthored with Ken Johnson; and The Heart of Mentoring, coauthored with David A. Stoddard. Bob’s biweekly blog is: www.bobtamasy.blogspot.com.

Reflection/Discussion Questions

1. As you understand it, what is the difference between a mission statement, a vision statement, and a values statement? Does your company or organization have one or more of these? If so, how are they used – if at all? 
2. Have you ever sat down to articulate your personal values, those principles that guide and govern your own actions and decisions? What do you consider to be the values that are honored where you work?
3. Is it reasonable to think the greatest and second greatest commandments can be consistently observed and obeyed in the marketplace of the 21^st century? Why or why not?
4. How do you think today’s workplace would look different if everyone strived to align with the 10 commandments in their daily decisions and operations? What if the command to “act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God” were widely applied in work settings?

NOTE: If you have a Bible and would like to read more, consider the following passages: Hosea 6:6; Zechariah 7:9-10; Proverbs 21:3; Matthew 6:19-21,33-34, 23:23

Challenge for This Week
Try to take some time this week and think about values – your own and those of the company or organization you lead or work for. Can you clearly state what those values are? If not, try writing them down. Then evaluate how well you and your company are living out those values.

You might find it beneficial to discuss this with key leaders or employees. A mentor or trusted advisor might also prove helpful in clarifying important values and how they can and should be demonstrated through your life and work.