The First Door-to-Door Entrepreneur in Scripture: 3 Golden Business Lessons

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Have you ever noticed how the richest business wisdom sometimes hides in the most unexpected places? Tucked away in seven short verses of 2 Kings 4 lies what might be the first documented door-knocking entrepreneur in scripture—a desperate widow who transformed her crisis into opportunity through divine guidance and practical action.

This episode unpacks three golden lessons from this ancient story that remain strikingly relevant for today's kingdom-minded entrepreneurs. When faced with crushing debt and the threat of losing her children to creditors, this widow didn't receive a miraculous handout. Instead, she received something far more valuable: a divinely-inspired business model that not only solved her immediate financial crisis but provided sustainable income for her family's future.

The first golden lesson centers on mentorship—how the prophet Elisha saw potential in something the widow had dismissed as worthless. Like many entrepreneurs today, she needed someone with greater perspective to identify the opportunity hidden within her limited resources. The second lesson focuses on starting with what you already possess rather than waiting for ideal circumstances. Too many business owners delay action until conditions seem perfect, but this biblical example shows how God's provision often follows our initiative rather than preceding it. Finally, we explore the power of teamwork—how this single mother created an efficient production line with her sons that multiplied their effectiveness. As your business grows, remember that a team will always outproduce an individual, regardless of how talented that person might be.

Ready to apply these timeless principles to your own entrepreneurial journey? Visit CoachMartinShow.com to connect with us and discover how these ancient truths can transform your modern business. Don't keep this wisdom to yourself—share it with fellow kingdom-minded entrepreneurs who need this message today!

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to the Coach Martin Show.
Where faith meets strategy andpurpose fuels profit.
This is Coach Martin, and thisis the space where bold
believers, kingdom-mindedentrepreneurs and visionaries
like you come to grow, getinspired and build businesses
that glorify God.
Each week, we'll dive into realconversations, practical wisdom

(00:26):
and divine insight to help yousteward your calling in the
marketplace, whether you're juststarting out or scaling up.
This is your reminder you'renot building alone.
Let's align your business withGod's blueprint, because kingdom
business isn't just what we do,it's who we are.
Let's get into it.

(00:49):
This podcast will start in 3, 2, 1.

Speaker 2 (00:54):
Hey, everybody, welcome to the Coach Martin Show
.
I'm your host, Coach Martin.
Today's session we're going totalk about three golden lessons
from the first door-knockingentrepreneur in the Bible.
Now you're probably thinkingwhere is this guy getting this?
From A door-knockingentrepreneur in the Bible?
Yes, so it's seven short versestucked away in 2 Kings 4.

(01:17):
And I know you probably haveread it.
If you haven't read it, youprobably have heard it and maybe
you've read it a couple times,and you've heard the story a few
times.
But I'm going to probably giveyou some tidbits from it that
you just haven't even seen,right.
So I'm going to give you threegolden lessons that are
important.
Before I do that, I want tokind of frame it.
So you have a widow who lost herhusband.

(01:38):
Her husband was in profitschool, so sort of like the
University of Profit, so he waspart of prophet school.
He ended up dying, left behindthe wife, and they had two
children.
Now, uh, the bible says that,um, he was in debt because, um,
the debtors were about to comeand take um, the two children.
Because that's kind of how itworked if you owed somebody

(02:00):
money you weren't able to pay it, you can go to debtors prison,
or they can come get you kind ofbe a, and then you have to work
that off.
So this widow goes to a prophetand says hey, you know my
husband, he was a man of God.
You know he died.
We have no money and mychildren are about to go to.
You know they're going to betaken away.

(02:22):
Like what do I do?
Now I think about.
It's funny because his answerto her was you know, what do you
got in the house, you know?
And her response was well, Idon't have anything of value in
this house except for a smalljar of oil.
Now I kind of want to jump intoit.
So basically, what he told herwas okay, go out and get vases

(02:43):
as many as you can find.
And then he goes I want you topour the oil in the vases.
And then, ultimately, the storyis she went home, her two kids
went out, they got as many vasesas they could find.
She stayed home, she poured theoil in the vases.
Basically, when they ran out ofvases, the oil stopped flowing.
And then she went back to himand he says now go sell the oil

(03:06):
and pay off your debt and thenlive off of the excess.
Now I framed it, but I kind ofwant to jump in here.
So the first, the first lessonto learn is now you're thinking,
okay, well, how you know?
How was you know this personentrepreneur?
Because, think about it, thiswas a person that God didn't
give her money, god didn't giveher a handout.
What God gave her was abusiness.

(03:27):
So, instantly, she didn't evenknow it, she became a business
owner and her children went andknocked on doors to get the
actual basis.
So that's when I tell you thatshe was the first entrepreneur
that knocked on doors, the doorknocker.
If you're wondering where thedoor knocking started, that's
where it started.
So I kind of want to jumpthrough three important points

(03:48):
that you're going to want tolearn.
Number one.
Number two you have to getmentors.
So if you're thinking aboutbuilding something special, you
can't do it on your own right.
She didn't even see the thingsthat were in the house that she
was able to monetize.
She had to have Elijah be ableto show her things that she

(04:11):
didn't even see.
So having mentors, somebodythat can see things that you
can't see, is super, superimportant.
So in life, in business, youwant to get mentors.
Surround yourself with peoplethat have already done it, that
know more than you.
And no disrespect regardingyour friends, but if your
friends aren't successfulbusiness owners, then stop
getting advice from them, right?

(04:32):
So, number one you have to getmentors.
Number two she used what shehad.
So a lot of times we asbusiness owners are like, well,
like we'll do it when fill inthe blank, when we create this
or this product or this idea,whatever the case is.
But basically in her situation,she used what she already had.

(04:56):
So start with what you got,right, what do you got?
What product do you have?
What's what you know?
What service do you have?
Or what idea do you have?
Start with what God's alreadygiven you.
Don't wait until cause.
This is what happens all thetime, at least in our space.
We get business owners thatcome on board and they'll be
like well, you know, coach, I'mgoing to wait until fill in the
blank.
Well, you're never going to doit.

(05:16):
So just start with what you gotwhere you're at, move your feet
and watch what God does.
Think about this for a minute.
Right, god partnered with her,but he didn't partner with her
until she fill in the blank,until she went and got the vases
and brought them back andfilled the vases with the oil.
That's when God came in and didhis part, but he expects us to

(05:37):
do our part Now.
I'm going to give you a freebie.
This is the interesting part.
I can't prove this, it's athought process.
So when the prophet asked herwhat do you got in the house?
And she says I have nothing inthe house except for the oil,
the miracle came through, theonly thing that she actually
seen.
Now what if she was able to seemultiple things?
Maybe there would have beenmiracles from multiple items.

(06:00):
I'm just saying so it'sdefinitely important what you
see.
Sometimes we may not thinksomething's valuable, but it is
valuable.
So we got to open our eyes alittle bit and take a look at
all of it.
And if we're not finding valuein that, having a mentor look at
it, he or she's probably gonnabe able to find value that we
can't see.
So that's number two.
It's super important.

(06:21):
Now the third piece is utilizea team.
Now think about this for aminute.
She was a widow.
She lost her husband.
Her husband was pretty muchprobably the sole income
provider, probably didn't have askill set, probably never
worked before.
Now there was debt.

(06:41):
So she had to pay this debt off.
She was going to lose her kids.
You know what I mean.
So then the prophet said hey,you know, go, you know, get the
vases, fill the vases with oil.
But this is interesting becausethe sons went and got the vases
and brought them back, andwhile they were bringing them
back, she was filling the vaseswith oil.

(07:01):
So it was a team effort, itwasn't just an individual effort
.
She actually not only got abusiness, but she actually had a
team.
It was a family business.
So now she had a familybusiness where the kids were
bringing the vases back.
They were probably knocking ondoors borrowing the vases,
they're bringing them back.

(07:21):
So you got a production linegoing.
She's filling the vases withoil, right, they're going to get
new vases.
And then ultimately, once it'sdone now they had to go sell it
and they probably sold the vasesor the oil to the people that
lent them the vases in the.
A wise man told me one time ateam will always outproduce an

(07:42):
individual right.
So don't, if you're thinking ofdoing a business, or maybe if
you've been doing a business butyou kind of have been doing it
as a lone ranger, stop, stopToday, end that.
You're going to want to utilizea team.
Well, coach, you know you don'tunderstand.
Maybe I don't have money forthat.
Listen, there's a lot of waysto be able to bring a team in so

(08:05):
you can learn, so you can fasttrack the process, so you can
kind of navigate through trialand error a lot quicker.
But an individual will neveroutproduce a team.
You're going to want to have ateam, right, we have a team that
we use a very, very skillfulpeople.
You're going to want to makesure you have people like that
in your circle.
Trust me when I tell you soquick recap One you're going to
want to get mentors.

(08:25):
Can you imagine if she didn'tgo and get that mentor?
Could you imagine when wouldshe have been right?
Number two use what you got.
So something you have a product, a service or an idea already
that's been deposited in you.
Use what you got.
And number three utilize theteam.
Stack a team around you.

(08:46):
Get people to help you, youknow, make it a community effort
and leverage and use that tohelp you grow and scale your
business.
So those are three pieces ofgold that I promise you.
If you utilize them, they'regoing to help you not only pay
off the debt like the widow, buthelp you literally live the
rest of your life from theprofits of that business that

(09:08):
got deposited in your heart.
So if we could be of help inany way, shape or form, make
sure you visit us.
Visit us at CoachMartinShowcom,reach out to us.
Please do us a favor, make sureyou share this, like it?
We're sure that you havefriends that need to hear this.
So do us a big favor and sharethis Until next time.
I'm Coach Martin, have anamazing week and we are out.

Speaker 1 (09:33):
That's a wrap on today's episode of the Coach
Martin Show.
I hope you're leaving with afresh insight, renewed faith and
a fire to move forward in yourcalling.
If this bless you, share itwith somebody who needs it and
don't forget to subscribe, rateand leave a review.
It helps us reach more kingdomminded leaders just like you.

(09:54):
Until next time, keep buildingwith boldness, lead with purpose
and remember when God is yourCEO.
Success looks different andlegacy lasts forever.
Be blessed and we'll see you inthe next episode.