Faith at Work | Shifting Focus on What God is Doing

“I try each day to live out my faith in the workplace,” says Terry, who works as an insurance agent seeking to live out his faith in a secular environment as an act of sharing the Gospel. “I am in sales and try to put the needs of the client before mine. The biggest challenge to this is to get myself out of the way and only focus on the need of the person in front of me,” he said. “My word of the year is SERVE. My vision is that the example I set daily will give hope to those who know and who do not know Christ, and that by example, they can see Christ through me.”

When Terry drifts from his vision, he finds his focus again at the Summit. “It reminds me that I need to go where God leads me to do His will. Life can be hard and difficult when I focus on the here and now. The Summit allows me to change my mindset to an eternal vision to handle the day to day.”

The Summit session that impacted Terry the most was when they talked about a challenge to have a life verse. After much prayer and thought, Terry chose Luke 9:23:

Then he said to them all: Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.

“Very easy to say, but very hard to do each day,” says Terry. “But it gives me the solid foundation to stand on. To know that it is not about me, but those I serve and come into contact with each day. It’s not a philosophy, but a way of life.

The Summit has helped me realize that I may face battles each day, but the war has already been won. It’s easy to get caught up in what I am doing, not what God is doing. It’s easy to lose leadership focus, but this verse serves as my compass and brings me back. The GLS also makes me realize I am not alone. We’re all facing our giants each day, but we are all part of a great story and we each have our part to do.”

Terry’s vision to live the Gospel goes further than his workplace; he’s also a servant in his community. He’s a volunteer making a difference in local schools, a mentor to students and is focused on serving his family as well. When it comes to serving the people God brings into his life, Terry and his wife are obedient to his call. “My wife and I are raising two children whose parents cannot care for them. They have been with us for almost three years,” he says. “I used to think I would follow my passion and God would always align my passions with what needed to be done. I now believe that it’s best just to say to God, ‘What do you have for me to do?’ And then do what He wants. Total Surrender.”

Terry, like many leaders, has had his leadership rocked by what God whispered to him at the Summit. Shifting his mindset toward servanthood with a single life verse has challenged and changed his life for the better. He and his wife desire to see the GLS spread around the world to challenge and inspire more leaders in their vision. “My wife and I support several charities and outstanding causes, but nothing in our opinion can impact the world more than a bunch of fired up leaders working throughout the world do God’s will. The WCA does that better than anyone and we are very happy to be a very, very small part of a very large story—His Story.”

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