August 24

9 comments

Tough Times Don’t Last – Tough People Do

By Michael Q. Pink

August 24, 2022


“Where can I park?”

I was downtown Vancouver, British Columbia in 1983, driving an old Dodge Duster stick shift. It was early morning with a chill in the city air, a welcome reprieve from the constant West Coast rain.

I was headed to a business appointment, all dressed up in suit and tie, but what I needed most was a parking spot on a hill, facing down, with no parking spaces in front of it.

“Why?” you ask.

The only way that car would start was if you jump started it. For that, you really needed to be on a hill with no chance of someone else parking in front of you.

I had gotten used to the rainwater collecting inside the car when it rained and sloshed about when you accelerated or applied the brakes. Hence, a lot of wet shoes when driving.

I could deal with that, and even found that old car could provide overnight shelter when needed.

Times were tough back then. I was struggling to find a break. Any break would be nice. None seemed to come. At age 27, I remember envying a homeless man because I assumed he was flat broke. I on the other hand was flat broke AND owed $227,000! (A sum equivalent to about $700K in today’s money)

My half brother and business partner had filed bankruptcy and went to work for the competition. He was signed on the loan with me, but bailed.

Filing bankruptcy is a personal choice, and certainly legal, but the way I looked at it, paying off those debts would require a lot of ingenuity and divine wisdom. It would be like a very expensive education. Seeing as how I had already paid the $227,000 “tuition”, I figured, I might as well stick around for the education. What I would learn and the man I would become going through it, would make the investment seem like a bargain!

I’m not telling you or anyone else what to do. But for me, it was my chance to learn things I would never learn if I side-stepped the responsibility.

Plus, you get to see God at work because He loves it when we don’t give up and are determined, against the odds to somehow make it.

Later that day, on the way back to a friend’s home where I was temporarily staying, (having lost the two homes I had previously owned), the car engine blew up on the freeway. Beyond repair.

I did what any sane person would do on the side of the freeway. With no phone or cash, I remembered the impossible situation of Jericho and simply marched around my car, praying in the Spirit a total of 13 times.

It must have been quite a spectacle to see a man in a suit marching around his broken down wreck of a car, hood up, on the side of the freeway, praying loudly and passionately. Someone gave me a ride and I traded that car for a 30 day rental vehicle. (Bartering at its finest.)

I used that opportunity to take a ferry to Vancouver Island where I was closing down our office there. But the strangest thing happened…

I parked my car and walked on the ferry to save money but my eyes were drawn to a burgundy Cadillac. It stood out among the hundreds of cars as if it had a neon sign on it. Having recently owned a Lincoln, I was not impressed with the car, but inexplicably drawn to notice it.

After closing down my branch office on the island, I returned via a Ferry that can hold 2,100 passengers. I was very heavy hearted and wanted to speak to no one. However, I noticed another businessman and during the two hour ride back to the mainland, we seemed to bump into each other quite a bit.

Every time I saw him, I turned away to avoid even the possibility of a conversation. For some unknown reason, of the roughly 2,000 other passengers onboard, he stood out to me and I couldn’t seem to avoid him.

As soon as the ferry docked, I walked briskly to my car, as did hundreds of other foot passengers, including the man I was trying to avoid. As it turned out, he was the owner of that burgundy Cadillac and when he saw me get in my car, he came over to talk with me.

He could tell I was very distressed and offered to pray for me. I told him that I owed nearly a quarter million dollars and I didn’t think a prayer would do the trick. But he persisted.

He reached in through my window, took my hand and prayed for a miracle. Then he left. I never saw him again. But 90 days later, my debt load had been reduced by roughly that amount!

I had sold my company to a man who told me he would never pay the six figures I was asking for it. But 90 days later as he handed me the final payment, he realized he had paid me every penny I asked for.

That period of my life was like living in a crucible. But boy oh boy, did I learn a lot!

Then God made a deal with me, or maybe it was the other way around… that He would open up His Word to me and I would tell everyone what I discovered, as long as He actually did what it says He would do.

It’s been about 40 years and God has given me a wealth of wisdom and understanding from His Word (and from creation) that I have applied to business with simply stunning results.

Last December, the Lord prompted me to make what I have learned, accessible to the countless tens of thousands who need that help but might not have 40 years to figure it out. Instead of only making it available to clients who paid me large monthly retainers, I was to write it down and offer it far and wide.

My intention was to write a normal sized book with maybe 7 key ideas to convey. But the 7 secrets rapidly became 101 of what I call, God’s Best Kept Secrets. And tomorrow night (Thursday, August 25th) at 8 PM Eastern, will be the worldwide premiere of this 4-book series, where I will be sharing things you most likely have not heard elsewhere.

It is by far, the most important work for the Body of Christ I have ever written and I will be making it available at a 40% discount off of the current price on Amazon. If you can’t make the event tomorrow evening, you can go here now and place your order.

Thursday night, I intend to share with you some of the best of what God has given me that helped me excel in sales with a nearly 100% success rate, sell hundreds of thousands of my own books, transform a sales team of three into the 16th fastest growing privately held company in America on the INC 500 and much more.

Plus, I’m going to make an ever bigger offer for just $1 more. Don’t miss it if at all possible.

Be sure to register for Thursday night’s World Premiere LIVE event online here

Michael Q. Pink

About the author

Michael is America's leading authority on applying Biblical Wisdom and Natural Law to sales and business and has authored 19 books including The Bible Incorporated, Selling Among Wolves and God's Best Kept Secrets. Using that knowledge, he has helped thousands of professionals and entrepreneurs experience radical transformation in their lives and careers, including helping a start-up with 3 struggling sales reps turn the corner and become the 16th fastest growing company on the INC 500 list. 

  • I look forward to what you will be teaching although I’ve never been a business person. I’m 84 years old, twice widowed, mainly been a missionary in the past, now I’m mainly a Prayer 🙏 . I love what I have read of of your insights.

    • Hello dear sister in Christ… Thank you for your comment. Judy and I really covet your prayers for what God is releasing through this work. Please keep praying!

      Blessings, Michael

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