The one thing I kept hearing that weighed heavily on me was an attitude that can be corrosive--Fear. What kinds of fears?
The fear of client budgets being cut.
The fear of higher gas prices.
The fear for librarians' job security.
The fear that no one will buy books anymore.
The fear that the economy won't improve.
The fear that the best time in this business was five years ago and won't be back.
Sometimes these fears were front and forward in a conversation. Other times it crept in through comments.
Gumdrop has over 100 sales reps. I was one of four selected to a panel explaining how we had sales increases last year. They gave me a forum; I took advantage. The question was "What advice would you give a new rep for Gumdrop?".
My answer was simple, straight-forward, and blunt. I said, "You need to be so much of a resource for your clients that you are worth much more than what you charge them. Most everything you carry can be purchased from another vendor, sometimes for less than what you charge. You are the difference. Go into every sales presentation with a great attitude. It's contagious. Give your clients ideas that make their lives easier. When you do that, your clients will remember you and keep doing business with you."
It was the only answer during the hour-long panel that got applause.
What did I learn from that response? I learned that people want to have faith, they just don't know how to shake their fears.
Is it any different in our Christian life?
We want to have faith, but:
We fear about the health of a loved one.
We fear for the economy.
We fear about our job security.
We fear about the world our kids will grow up in.
We fear that we won't get things done in time.
We fear people won't like us.
It's easy to throw up our hands and give in to those fears. Fortunately, we have the Holy Spirit to give us a spiritual backbone to face our fears. Life will still happen; bad things will still happen. But we have within us a way to cope with anything life throws at us.
This Sunday at 9:50 a.m., Andrew will lead us on studying a lesson titled "Empowered". That's just what the Holy Spirit does for us. Our scripture passages are Ephesians 5:17-21, Ephesians 6:18, and Romans 8:26-27.
So if you need a shot of faith, be in your seat at ten 'til ten. You won't regret it.
Finish Friday strong. Enjoy Saturday with your family. See you Sunday!
Loyally yours,
Darren Bayne
“If a man harbors any sort of fear, it percolates through
all thinking, damages his personality and makes him a landlord to a ghost.” -
Lloyd Douglas
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