Author: Henry Murphy

Phylicia grew up in the projects. Throughout middle school and high school, all she could think about was, “I hate the way I live, and my kids will never live like this.”

Ambition sparked in her heart at an early age, and she became determined to change her circumstances.

She was one of those people who didn’t just talk about what she was going to do. She actually did it, and she wasn’t going to quit.

By the time she was 25, she had opened her first restaurant, then her second, then her third.

Eventually, she got into real estate, too. She figured, “I might as well own the property my restaurant is operating in.”

You know, that McDonald’s kind of thinking.

But something else happened along the way.

She didn’t just become ambitious for herself. The people who worked in her restaurants became ambitious, too. They started investing in real estate and owning properties instead of renting.

Everything she had dreamed of was beginning to happen.

But this is where ambition became dark.

She started living her life based on whatever she accomplished next. She never stopped to celebrate. She never took a moment to recognize that today was an amazing day.

Even on the days when she accomplished more than she had written down, she still felt like she could have done more.

AMBITION IS A GOOD THING. BUT WHEN NOTHING YOU ACCOMPLISH EVER FEELS LIKE ENOUGH, SOMETHING IS WRONG.

You can spend your entire life chasing the next thing, checking off goals, building businesses, and accumulating wealth without ever stopping to enjoy the fruit of your labor.

And if you never learn to appreciate where you are while you’re working toward where you want to be, you’ll spend your whole life chasing something else.

You’ll never actually enjoy living.

AND IF THAT HAPPENS, WHAT’S THE POINT?

I was sitting down recently, just having a raw conversation with the Holy Spirit. In that quiet space, the Lord brought something back to my heart with fresh weight: how essential it is to actually read the Word every single day.

His Word is TRUTH.

The more we take it in, the deeper it sinks into our spirit and subconscious. We store it away, and when the storm hits—or when we suddenly need wisdom—the Holy Spirit can bring it back to our remembrance.

For some reason, that hit me completely differently today as I was sitting with God.

I didn’t start reading at Job 1 today. I jumped straight into Job 38.

I’ve always been amazed by God’s response to Job. Job had suffered unthinkable loss, and in his pain, he was talking a little recklessly. Let’s be honest: most of us can relate to that.

When life falls apart, our human tendency is to demand answers, defend ourselves, and question what God is doing.

But when God finally showed up in the whirlwind, He didn’t give Job an explanation. Instead, He reminded Job of who He was.

God started asking Job questions—simple, humbling questions that put everything back into perspective.

7 QUESTIONS GOD ASKED JOB THAT PUT EVERYTHING INTO PERSPECTIVE

1. WHERE WERE YOU WHEN I LAID THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE EARTH?

Job 38:4

Were you there to mark off its dimensions or lay its cornerstone?

2. HAVE YOU EVER COMMANDED THE MORNING TO APPEAR?

Job 38:12

Have you ever told the sun when to rise or assigned the dawn its place in the sky?

3. WHO SET THE BOUNDARIES FOR THE SEA?

Job 38:8–11

Who told the crashing waves, “This far you may come, but no farther; here your proud waves halt”?

4. HAVE YOU WALKED THE DEPTHS OF THE OCEAN OR ENTERED THE STOREHOUSES OF THE SNOW?

Job 38:16, 22

Do you know the secrets hidden beneath the waters or where the storms are kept?

5. CAN YOU BIND THE CHAINS OF THE STARS?

Job 38:31

Can you guide the constellations across the night sky or control the laws of the heavens?

6. WHO GIVES FOOD TO THE RAVEN WHEN ITS YOUNG CRY OUT TO GOD?

Job 38:41

Who provides for the creatures that humans completely overlook?

7. WHO GAVE THE EAGLE COMMAND TO BUILD ITS NEST ON HIGH?

Job 39:27

Did you teach the birds how to soar and find safety on the rocky cliffs?

When you sit with those questions, you realize quickly: WE ARE NOT RUNNING THIS UNIVERSE.

It’s good to be reminded of who God is.

Our hearts are often far more wicked, proud, and self-righteous than we care to admit. After God laid all of this out, Job didn’t argue. He didn’t try to justify himself anymore.

JOB REPENTED.

He basically said, “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eyes see You. Therefore I retract what I said, and I repent in dust and ashes.” (Job 42:5–6)

Seeing God clearly changed Job’s perspective. His pride was broken, and his heart was humbled before the Lord.

THEN GOD TURNED HIS ATTENTION TO JOB’S FRIENDS.

These were the men who had spent chapters offering horrible, condemning counsel. Instead of comforting Job in his suffering, they had made assumptions about him and his relationship with God.

God called them out and told them they needed Job to intercede for them.

And what did Job do?

He didn’t hold a grudge. He didn’t gloat. Job prayed for his friends.

He prayed for the very people who kicked him while he was down. And the text says that when Job prayed for them, God accepted his prayer.

JOB PRAYED FOR HIS FRIENDS.

And then…

GOD RESTORED JOB.

Scripture says God gave him twice as much as he had before.

A lot of times, modern church culture loves to latch onto that catchy Christian lingo: “God’s gonna give you double for your trouble!”

Man, we’ve got to get past the surface-level clichés.

There is something so much deeper happening here than financial or material payback.

Job’s restoration didn’t start with a bank account or more livestock. His story takes us through suffering, a confrontation with God’s greatness, repentance, and prayer for the very people who had wounded him.

Think about that for a moment.

It happened after Job was confronted with the greatness of God and the limits of his own understanding.

Job repented instead of continuing to defend himself.

Job prayed for the people who had wounded him with their bad counsel.

Job’s understanding of God moved beyond what he had heard to a deeper, personal encounter with Him.

The “double” wasn’t simply a prize for suffering. Job’s story reveals the greatness of God’s mercy and reminds us that our understanding of Him is often much smaller than we realize.

SO, WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR US?

When life presses in and you’re tempted to speak recklessly, get into the Word.

Let it sink deep into your spirit. Spend time with God. Allow His Word to shape how you think, how you respond, and how you see the people around you.

Remember who laid the foundations of the earth.

Lay down your defenses.

Be willing to repent when God reveals something in your heart that needs to change.

And forgive those who misunderstood your pain.

Let God be God.

I got the same information back in 2013 that people are getting right now.

Name the brand. Create the logo. Create a tech pack. Go find a manufacturer.

After years of making mistakes, losing a lot of money, and having to figure things out on my own, I realized that’s not the right order of things.

Let’s unpack this for a minute.

Let’s say you name your brand and create a logo. Then you start putting that name on bags, neck tags, and shirts. You might even put it on your office door or a company vehicle.

There’s only one problem with that.

YOU DON’T OWN THE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY.

Now, that should make you pause.

But most people overlook it like it’s nothing. You could spend years building a clothing brand, creating a name for yourself, and building a following, only to have someone come along and take that name from you because you never protected it.

Now, let’s talk about going straight to a manufacturer.

You haven’t proven the concept yet. You have no idea whether anybody actually wants what you’re selling.

So you go back and forth with manufacturers, work on samples, and spend time and money getting everything ready. Then you finally put the product on the market, and it misses.

You try again, and it misses again.

There’s nothing wrong with missing. But what if you could test your idea without carrying inventory?

That gives you time to get your message right, collect reviews, and make 48 sales to people who don’t know you.

THAT’S PROOF OF CONCEPT.

And proof of concept isn’t something you do just once. It’s something you use over and over again as you grow.

You build an audience, learn what matters to them, and use what you learn to decide what to manufacture. Your product should transform their lives, and their response helps you make better decisions about what comes next.

NEVER ATTEMPT TO BUILD A BRAND WITHOUT PROOF OF CONCEPT.

He shows up every day, reminding me of the promises I made to myself and what I need to do to reach the goals I set for myself.

The days I want to sleep in, he reminds me that I need to get up and sit with the Lord.

The days I want to be lazy, he reminds me that I need to get outside and take a walk. He reminds me that health is wealth.

The days I don’t want to read, he reminds me to plug in my headphones, open the Audible app, and find a book that will challenge me and grow me.

The days I don’t want to create content, he reminds me that this is my outlet to the world with the click of a button. All I have to do is get in front of that camera and talk about my convictions, what I’ve lived, what I know, and how I live in a way that serves someone else.

The days I don’t want to eat right, he reminds me about balance. More fruit. Less processed food.

He’s always reminding me that he’s not here to ruin my life. He’s here to make it better.

Because I know I can’t accomplish what I want without him. Without him, my goals are just dreams.

HE’S DISCIPLINE.

The fact that he pushes me every day, and the fact that I actually listen, sometimes makes me want to give him these hands. 😂

But I know he has my best interests at heart, and he’s a blessing from the Lord.

Some of us grew up poor. Some of us grew up rich. Some of us were born in other countries. Some of us were raised in neighborhoods where there was peace, and some of us were raised around violence.

Everyone has a story about how they were shaped. What they love and what they don’t love. How culture has affected them. What music they grew up listening to. What artists and authors they like. What they enjoy doing and what they like to eat.

We came into this world not knowing any of these things about ourselves, but God knew everything.

Acts 17:26 tells us that God determined the times set for us and the exact places where we would live.

Think about that for a moment.

God knew when you would be born. He knew where you would grow up. He knew the culture you would be exposed to and the world you would live in.

YOU ARE HERE RIGHT NOW, IN THIS TIME, FOR A REASON.

This is what I know: We are supposed to love God, serve people, and multiply the gifts He has given us.

That makes me think about why I’m here right now, in this particular season of history.

We live in a time when social media allows me to communicate with people all over the world at any time. All it requires is discipline and a skill set.

I can create something from my home, press a button, and share it with someone on the other side of the world.

Think about how incredible that is!

And I have to ask myself, why am I here right now, in this time and in this age? What am I doing with everything that’s available to me to bring glory to God?

Esther 4:14 makes me think about this even more. Mordecai asked Esther who knows whether she had come to her royal position for such a time as this.

And 1 Chronicles 12:32 talks about the sons of Issachar, who understood the times and knew what Israel should do.

IT’S NOT ENOUGH TO RECOGNIZE THE TIMES WE’RE LIVING IN. WE HAVE TO UNDERSTAND WHAT WE’RE SUPPOSED TO DO WITH THEM.

Social media is just one example. The point is bigger than a platform.

What gifts has God given you? What experiences have shaped you? What knowledge have you gained? What can you do with what’s already in your hands?

And how are you using those things to serve people and bring glory to God?

You have a story. You have experiences. You have gifts and abilities that were shaped by the life you’ve lived.

Don’t waste them.

God knew when you would be here, now you have to decide how you’re gonna store your time

I was on TikTok yesterday, checking my notifications and responding to people who left comments. I ran across a guy who shared a story about one of his students.

The student said that posting one time a day for a year didn’t work.

The guy went on to explain that the student had gained 5,000 followers. Now, that’s 5,000 followers from basically nothing!

But here’s the problem. The student only followed back maybe 60 of those people.

That’s when the guy drove home his point.

YOU DIDN’T EVEN STEWARD THE 5,000 PEOPLE YOU WERE GIVEN.

You didn’t build relationships with them. You were chasing a number you had in your head, and you weren’t taking care of the people who were already following you.

Now, I don’t know about you, but let me tell you what that did to me.

I’m a pretty ambitious entrepreneur. I’m always trying to elevate my mindset and improve everything I’m doing.

But sometimes, when you’re so focused on reaching the next number or hitting the next goal, you can miss the opportunity that’s sitting right in front of you.

So I don’t care if you just got started and you’re getting three likes on a post, or you have 15 people following you.

WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH THE PEOPLE WHO ARE ALREADY THERE?

Are you building relationships with them?

Are you supporting what they have going on?

Are you leaving comments and encouraging them because they took the time to follow you, like your post, or leave a comment?

Or are you so busy chasing more that you’ve forgotten to appreciate and serve the people you already have?

I also want to leave you with this thought.

Have you ever spoken in front of 5,000 people before?

If you haven’t, consider this: that’s potentially the size of the audience you have on your social media platform.

When you think about it like that, it’s a wild moment.

Stop chasing more long enough to steward what you already have.

I was reading Think and Grow Rich many years ago, and Napoleon Hill said something that took me by surprise.

He talked about how, when men turn 50, that’s when everything changes in their lives when it comes to finances.

The first time I heard that, I actually thought it was ignorant. My first thought was that a lot of Black men don’t live to see 50. Of course, I was basing that on my own bias from growing up where I did. I saw so many people die young.

But now that I’m older and over 50, I get it.

I made some good money when I became an entrepreneur, but I knew how to make money and not how to keep it.

Why? Because I didn’t understand the rules of engagement.

I didn’t know much about investing. I didn’t understand how to let my money make money and then let that money make more money.

For the last four years, I’ve been studying finance, and I’ve learned that money is meant to be in motion. It needs to be put to work instead of just sitting somewhere doing nothing.

I didn’t understand that I could open a brokerage account through Charles Schwab or a Roth IRA through Fidelity.

I didn’t understand that I could’ve opened a custodial account for Arie and started building wealth for her while she was still young.

I didn’t understand REITs and how they can pay dividends. I didn’t understand index funds or ETFs.

There was so much I didn’t know about putting my money to work.

I knew how to make money. I just didn’t know how to make my money make money.

If you want to build wealth, you have to start asking better questions.

Why should I have a business even if I still work a full-time job?

Why should I consider investing in real estate?

Most people buy houses just to live in them. There’s nothing wrong with that. It’s honorable to own your home.

But if your business is making real money, owning real estate may offer opportunities to build your portfolio and potentially benefit from certain tax advantages. I’m not against investment properties. I think they can be a good addition to a portfolio.

I’m an intellectual property guy. I create online businesses.

One of the reasons I got caught up with the IRS was that I didn’t understand how to offset my income properly.

I just didn’t know what questions to ask. I didn’t understand the rules of engagement.

My job had me making $50,000–$60,000 a year, but when I started making money as an entrepreneur, I didn’t have the financial knowledge to manage it the way I should have.

And I can’t blame anybody else for that.

I didn’t have anyone in my life to show me, but there are too many books out here. There are too many mentors available. We are way too grown to keep blaming everybody but ourselves.

We have to take responsibility for what we don’t know and make the effort to learn.

ASK BETTER QUESTIONS. LEARN THE RULES OF ENGAGEMENT.

Especially when it comes to starting a business.

Because knowing how to make money and knowing how to build wealth are two different things.

I’m a Marvel fanatic. I was actually watching Iron Man 2 last night when Tony Stark interacted with the little boy who was imitating him. Then, at the end, when he saved Pepper Potts, it triggered something in my brain about being rescued.

But in real life? Nobody is coming to save you.

A good friend of mine, Christopher Smith, made a post yesterday that got me thinking.

What age were you when you realized nobody was coming to save you?

I was probably 18. I dropped out during the second semester of 12th grade. It wasn’t because of my grades. I just had a lot going on in life.

I realized then that I was going to have to figure this thing out.

My mindset was simple: If I get some help along the way, cool. If I don’t, cool. I still have to make some things happen.

Fast-forward to today.

My wife and I had just arrived in Vietnam, and we were tired. We almost got hustled by some cab drivers, but that’s a story for another day.

We finally made it over to the area where we could use Grab to get a car. My wife was having difficulty getting everything set up, she was getting frustrated, and it was raining.

I looked at her and said, “Nobody’s coming to save us. We gotta figure this out.”

She took a breath, realized she hadn’t added a payment method, and once she did, we were on our way.

Life is like that.

Sometimes, we have to slow down, process things, and figure out what we want to do, who we want to become, and how we’re going to get there.

Then we have to put in the work.

Nobody is coming to save you.

There’s something about the realness of that phrase that should wake you up if you’re sleeping or keep you going if you’re already pursuing something.

I’ve learned to PRAY AND MOVE.

I pray because I need God’s grace and direction. Then I move because that’s what faith requires.

I read. I learn. I apply.

I keep adding skill sets to my toolset because, at the end of the day, those are the things that can pay you. Then you rinse and repeat.

God gives us the ability to get wealth. He gives us imagination, creativity, and grace.

But we still have to do our part.

Just the thought of it is humbling to me. 😂

Maybe it’s the way I grew up, but I’ve always been a fan of a fresh pair of sneakers.

Let me also say this: if I ever saw a man walking around in some Crocs, he was getting checked. 😂 But it’s funny how life will humble you.

I told my wife I was thinking about trading my Jordans for some Crocs, and she looked at me in surprise. Because, yeah, those words would usually NEVER come out of my mouth.

But now that I live in Southeast Asia, I really think I need a pair.

I’m definitely not a flip-flop dude. My mom and dad both had bad feet, so let’s just say I inherited double the ugliness. 😂

And here’s another thing. Before you enter certain places here, it’s customary to take your shoes off. I’m not about to untie my Jordans every time I walk into a place. My wife has gotten to the point where she doesn’t even let me wear my shoes in the house anymore.

Then there’s the weather.

It’s tropical here, which reminds me of Florida. It’ll rain for 30–35 minutes out of nowhere, and then the sun comes right back out like nothing happened.

Meanwhile, I’m out here trying to protect my sneakers from getting ruined every time I get caught in the rain.

So at this point, Crocs are starting to feel less like a fashion choice and more like a necessity.

And even though we’re in Vietnam right now, we plan to visit Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Singapore, and Indonesia. These are all places where taking your shoes off before entering certain spaces is part of the culture.

So I might as well get with the program. At least a little bit. 😂

We passed the Crocs store the other day, and I actually looked inside.

But I kept walking.

I’m just not quite ready yet. I’m considering it, though.

Y’all pray for me. I might be trading in my Jordans for some Crocs before it’s all said and done. 😂