God often uses people from non-traditional backgrounds to make a kingdom impact.
Sometimes people get into the mindset that they aren’t called into ministry because they are a banker, lawyer, doctor or some kind of profession other than an ordained minister.
For Barry Meguiar, he was a third-generation business leader who had no idea that the Lord was going to use his business as a form of ministry.
“We were selling [car wax] to body shops and car dealers, when God inspired me back in 1969 to take the business into retail,” Meguiar shared in a Charisma News exclusive interview.
“I didn’t know what I was doing but I came out of a Christian college with Proverbs 3:5 in my heart.”
Proverbs 3:5 reads: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.”
“I said ‘God, that’s easy. I have no intelligence! I don’t have a clue what I’m doing in retail.'” Meguiar recalled. “So, I just trusted Him, and I’ve done that for 50 years. We’re the number-one selling car wax in America, and in countries all over the world.”
Yet even as Meguiar was leading a successful business with God at the center, he had no idea what God had planned for him as far as ministry went. He was even willing to leave his business if it meant remaining obedient to the Lord.
One day, when Meguiar was praying about going into full-time ministry or not, he had a fateful encounter with someone the Lord sent his way.
“A guy walked into my office from my church, he was a missionary kid about my same age. I never talked to him, never exchanged a glance with him, but I recognized he’d been around the platform a couple of times,” Meguiar recalled.
After catching up briefly and explaining to the man, David Nutt, that he had been sharing his faith with people recently, Nutt exclaimed, “Boy! God’s given you a wonderful ministry here, hasn’t He?!”
Meguiar was caught off guard with the statement, not seeing how his business in the automotive world had anything to do with ministry.
“The people you’re reaching, a pastor couldn’t reach,” Nutt explained. “But as a businessman, you can. It’s obvious your business is your pulpit.”
Taking this stranger at his word, Meguiar has lived a life from his pulpit: the automotive industry, with Jesus at the center of it all.
“This is what life is all about. Life is about redemption! And so, He gives us an opportunity to understand who He is, [and] in the rest of our time it’s to get on His team and find your position and play it out to the best of your ability,” Meguiar revealed.
“Then everything else works. It’s not like my business failed because of that. But it’s also secondary to living for God’s purpose. And when you do that, it ignites your life.” {eoa}
James Lasher is Staff Writer for Charisma Media.
