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The first weeks of the pandemic were a rollercoaster for everyone, but maybe especially for people in the hard-hit restaurant business.   

 

“The emotional high to low—the rapidness of it all—was just, was almost overwhelming,” says Peter Demos, President of his family’s Demos’ and PDK Southern Kitchen restaurants. 

 

But what Demos already knew going into the pandemic was a lesson he’d learned during a 2018 business failure: in times of anxiety, wholeheartedly trust God. 

 

“I would say, ‘God, I trust you.’ And that’s really what it ultimately falls down to, which is: I trust him, and when I trust Him, I’m going to be thankful.” 

 

Not that this kind of trust comes naturally.

 

“So many times I want to give Him the remote control and then tell Him what channel to turn to,” Demos chuckles. 

 

Remarkably, it’s not courage that we need in the face of this bewildering health and business crisis, he says.   

 

“The opposite of fear is not courage,” Demos says. “The opposite of fear is actually trust. If I’m afraid my wife is cheating on me, that means I don’t trust her. And so if I’m afraid I’m not going to get through this circumstance, that means I’m not trusting God.” 

 

And when we find it difficult to trust, we can tell God that.    

 

“We just have to be honest with Him, and just let Him know that and say, ‘God, I don’t trust you in this circumstance. I need your help to help me get through this.’ And the Holy Spirit will help you through it.”  

 

We feed that trust by learning what the Bible says about God’s love for us.   

 

“It boils down to that trust and knowing that He’s going to take care of us. And just keep relying on it,” Demos says. “And say those verses out loud over and over again.” 

 

Learn about Peter Demos’s book Afraid to Trust here.

Read the Christianity Today article that prompted this conversation: “The Challenge of Being a Faithful Boss When a Pandemic Nearly Kills Your Industry” here.