Thursday, July 22, 2010

'Dragons Den' God moment?

OK so you are mildly but not wildly interested by the title, anything to get a few readers, no, I'm serious, I had a moment the other day watching the Dragons Den that I can only describe as a 'God moment'...
A young lady, aged 24, appeared before the snarling, fire-breathing dragons, all ready to devour another 'wanna-be' entrepreneur'ling! What bright idea had this one come up with?! What followed stunned me and reminded me so much about Father God's heart, stunning, absolutely stunning...
The young lady gave a humble 'pitch' seeking investment of £65,000 for 15% share of her enterprise. She had developed a healthy alternative to ice-cream, a dairy free frozen yoghurt type product that would also be accessible to many people seeking a healthy alternative. She had appraoched Tesco, the supermarket giant, and had been given great encouragement by orders promised to her. Her presentation was simple, her sincerity shone through. The Dragons seemed stunned. In a 'Susan Boyle' moment you could sense impending cynicism just melt away on a wave of admiration that manifested in awed silence and open-mouthed amazement. The questions came gently, somehow mirroring the momentum of admiration that instinctively they felt for this young lady, 'Had anyone helped her on the project?' 'Surely she had not done this all by herself, had she?' The humble retort was affirmative. She had worked two and a half jobs as a single Mother developing her business sideline in her 'spare time'...Three Dragons made her an 'offer' and she ended up leaving the Den with her 2 preferred Dragons and the dream deal in the back of her pocket. Stunning! They had looked beyond her frailties, her lack of experience, the fact that she was a young single mother, her lack of pedigree, and saw the awesome resonance of potential being pursued, the innocence of a young one who believed almost naively that the impossible COULD happen. Here was an underdog who was actually getting a break.
I felt emotional and shed some tears as this encounter unfolded. Its amazing how an event like this can produce such a depth of emotion in us. Where did the tears come from? I know instinctively this was a response that came forth as a result of experiencing something so much like our Father's Grace! Have your ever noticed how emotional you feel in a 'Susan Boyle' moment? How honour stirs something deep within you that you know instinctively is from a 'higher agency', something transcendant that raises its head above the mundanities and ordinaries of life.
I thank God today for a God who favours the underdog. A God who wants to bring dignity for shame. A God who sees the treasure buried deep within us and allows us pass through the furnaces of life to bring forth pure gold. A God of opportunity and second chances. Do you know Him?

1 comment:

Graham John Dean (Spinach) said...

Lovely story Jaybo. Our God is the God of compassion. He is beautiful!