In 2014 I was in Kenya helping my friend Boaz start a tea business when I heard God say that I would reap a hundredfold in a single year, like Isaac did.

Isaac planted crops in that land and the same year reaped a hundredfold, because the Lord blessed him. – Genesis 26:12

It was so out of nowhere that I decided it must be God. So I believed him.

But then I got to thinking: a hundred times what? Hard to picture the tea business growing by 100 times in a year! What then? Children? Houses? Cars? Money? Everything I multiplied by 100 didn’t make any sense. (Try it. Think of something you have. Imagine 100x that.)

A few months later I was walking our dog when I felt like I needed a life-defining prophetic word. This doesn’t happen to me every decade! The next day Heather arrived home from a trip to the US and announced that right when I was walking the dog, the speaker at the conference said to her, “Tell your husband to stop. It’s not going to work.”

I don’t get mad at God very often, but that evening, after letting him know I still loved him, I was angry. The things I was involved in were all because of him. I was actively pursuing the fulfillment of what he had promised me, following his leading into risky, faith-filled ventures. And…. he didn’t even tell me what to do instead. I was not happy.

The next day I began the process of ending a business, a charity and my consulting with Boaz. These were the vehicles to receive the promises of God for my life. More like Abraham than Isaac!

By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” – Hebrews 11:17-18

Then I did… well, nothing. Waited. Sometimes grumpy. Sometimes numb. Sometimes content. No plans. No attempts to make plans. No idea when it would end.

Four months later, or rather…. Four. Months. Later. I was surprised by an invitation to interview for the job I’m in now. That’s a whole other story.

But the crazy thing is that I was sitting in a budget meeting when I found out what I was responsible for. I realized it was 100x as many people and 100x as much money as when I heard the promise. In a single year.

The point is, I didn’t work for it. In fact, I stopped working for it. How hard do you have to work to double your productivity? If we let it go and believe God, we get a hundredfold.

Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. – John 12:24

And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. – Matthew 19:29