A Salesman’s Tale of Integrity:
The salesman began reading his Bible on his lunch break. A certain verse caught his attention in the book of psalms from chapter ninety verse twelve which read, “Teach is to number our days carefully so that we may develop wisdom in our hearts”.
The salesmen bowed his head and prayed, “Father, I take for granted everything you’ve given me. Do your work in me, through me for your glory. Allow me the insight to understand and respond accordingly to this verse that is tugging at my heart. In Jesus name alone I pray… Amen”.
The salesman received a call two days later from his boss, Mr. C who wanted to ride along with him on Friday and visit clients. During the ride along Mr.C expressed his appreciation of the salesman’s hard work. After all, he was number one in sales for the month. When the ride along was completed, Mr. C asked the salesman,”So, how can I help you”? The salesman replied,”offer any constructive criticism or coaching advice that will help me to be more efficient in what I do daily”. Mr. C responded simply saying,”Ok”.
The salesman enjoyed his weekend with his family. However, on Sunday Mr. C text him to let him know he wanted to ride along on Monday. During the ride along Mr. C inquired about several new projects that were passed by driving to the next appointment. The Salesman let on that he wasn’t aware or had any information on those projects. At lunch time, Mr C viewed the salesman’s logged appointments on his laptop. Puzzled looking, he asked the salesman,”why are these clients uploaded for today and we haven’t seen any of them”? The salesman replied,”I upload all of them a week ahead of time and pick off each one before the end of the week. Mr. C looked disappointed with the salesman and let him know he was being dishonest.
The salesman and Mr C visited several clients in the afternoon. Mr C observing closely noticed that the salesman seemed nervous in his delivery from start to finish. Before the ride along ended Mr C let the salesman know he was unorganized, dishonest, and delivered poorly with several client visits. Mr. C however, offered clarity and good advice on each of the issues he pointed out.
The salesman arrived home finally with his ego smashed to bits and plainly feeling defeated. He told his wife he was verbally beat down today. Later that evening, the salesman recalled the psalm he read and prayed about the following week. He realized the psalm was being played right before his very eyes. Before bed, the salesman text Mr. C and thanked him for all he shared that day.
Psalms 90:12
(Teach us to number our days carefully)
When we ask God to teach us like this salesman asked his boss for constructive criticism, we often need to be met with a rebuke to understand the error of our ways and then receive the clarity on how to fix it in order to respond accordingly.
(So that we may develop wisdom in our hearts)
God disciplines those whom he loves dearly. If we are to develop wisdom we need to allow him to tear us up inside in order to build us up. Just like Mr C had to shake this salesman in order to make him wiser in his organization, Integrity and delivery.