13 Oct 2013 by Natasha Kim CM-
“If you’re at the right place at the right time with the right people, the Holy Spirit will do something extraordinary,” shared Rod Winter (Vice President of FGB Australia) at a recent Full Gospel Businessman (FGB) meeting at Summit. He was happy to testify and talk about the goodness of God.
At the age of 21, Rod was crippled due to a serious accident caused by a combination of drug and alcohol abuse. “During that period of my life, I was a long way from God,” he said. When he encountered God, God had to shake him numerous times before he finally landed on his feet and accepted Christ. “I want to thank God that when I gave my life to Christ within a short period of tim,e I was miraculously healed of my spinal and back conditions,” shared Rod. He also faced a lot of issues in his life but he was emotionally healed and God transformed his life.
At that stage of Rod’s life, he worked as a lorry driver and his life consisted of eating, sleeping, and driving to distant places. He lived a very reclusive life. One day, the Lord challenged him to go into business in the insurance line, but he had his doubts because they had a really bad reputation in Australia in 1985. When he consulted his mother expecting her to say that it was a silly idea. But she said instead, “I think it’s very good.” He was baffled at her response and responded in joining the insurance line.
For this God is our God for ever and ever; he will be our guide even to the end.
(Psalm 48:14)
Bring God into your Decisions
Now, Rod did not know anything about the insurance business. “I just knew I had to trust God,” he said. He slowly picked it up and within 20 years, he had over one thousand clients who he had been servicing within the team that he built. “Being Christian, the Lord just impressed on my heart that we are blessed to be a blessing,” he shared.
As his business grew, Rod began involving himself in missions where he traveled to Africa and Papua New Guinea. There, he preached to tribes who had never heard the gospel. “We found that the further we went, the greater the manifestation and the presence of God,” shared Rod. He felt very blessed because through his ministry and his business, many of his friends and family came to Christ. Now he is the Director of the African Missions Organisation.
When God place you in the Marketplace, you are there to minister to the people. Rod mentioned that God always tells him to remember the reason he has been place in the marketplace. “There is opportunity every day to minister the gospel… One thing I’m learning is to watch and pray because the Lord will show us things when we are watching. When you get so busy you miss an opportunity,” he said.
Listen
If anyone has ears to hear, let them hear.
(Mark 4:23)
One fine day, Rod had a phone call from one of his clients, and it was a lady who shared that she had been abandoned by her husband because of another woman. “She was left with a little baby and she was very distressed, so I prayed for her,” he said. Right after that, he put down the phone because he was very busy. But the Lord spoke to him and said, “You need to get in the car and go to her right now.” He hesitated and answered, “Lord you know how busy I am. I have all these appointments.” Of course God knew that Rod was busy. Rod admittedly shared that he had the habit of telling God what he already knew.
Eventually, he got into his car and drove to the lady’s home, without telling her that he was heading there. When he got there and knocked on the door, the lady was surprised and wondered why he there. He told her that he just felt that he should come visit to talk and encourage her. Right then, she broke down and started weeping. After he had that talk with her, Rod got back into his car and left.
The Lord then said to him, “You still haven’t got it, do you?” Rod thought he understood why he was sent there and was happy that she decided to attend church. The Lord told him that he still didn’t get it because Rod was the lady’s last resort. If Rod hadn’t gone to see her then, she would’ve taken her life. The Lord told him, “You were actually the last person she rang. Nobody else cared.” It had obviously gotten to her that life wasn’t worth living at that point. It was a cry for help. Rod then said sorry to the Lord that he missed the signs. “I just thought it was another opportunity to minister,” he said.
Through that experience, he now pays close attention when the Holy Spirit speaks to him. “Listen very carefully because a lot of people won’t tell you just like she didn’t tell me that she was going to take her life,” he said. He shared that now, he tries to tune into the radar of the Holy Spirit because the Holy Spirit knows all things about everything and everyone.
Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger
(James 1:19)
Unity and Intercessors
And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
(Colossians 3:14)
Through life lesson,s Rod learned that he should always listen to his wife and encouraged the men to do so too. “There is power in unity. A lot of people do not pray with their wives,” he said. Currently in Australia, there are a lot of business men and women whose businesses are collapsing. “When they come to me, the first thing I ask them is, 'How is your relationship with your spouse?' Then I ask, 'How is your relationship like with your family?' And lastly, 'How often do you pray and read the Word?'” he shared.
“For those of you in business, let me share something that the Lord really gave me a revelation on. It is important to have intercessors,” said Rod. He knows a powerful intercessor who has a powerful global network of intercessors. All they do is intercede and pray for businesses. They shared with Rod that in all the seven mountains, the Business Mountain’s weakest link is intercession. However, it is also important to remember that you need to have intercessors praying for your family for the enemy will always try to attack the family first.
“If you want to revolutionize your business and if God has placed you in the marketplace, it is critical that you have intercessors praying for you and your family. I can’t stress that more. If you do not know where to go or who to go to, pray to the Lord to give you the names of people who will help you and give you covering,” shared Rod.
I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought.
(1 Corinthians 1:10)
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