LIFE LESSON: I do not worship God so he could fulfill my personal desires
I grew up believing the reason God wants me to worship him was so that he could fulfill my personal desires. My posture towards God also reflected this belief. For instance, I went to church because I wanted my plans to be blessed, I prayed only when I was in trouble so God could help me get out of it, I obeyed only the commandments that suited me so I could earn his favor.
When I started reading the Bible and spending more time in his presence it became clear to me that I have had the wrong end of the stick and my understanding of who God is and why he wants me to worship him does not line up with the Bible
God's plan
Throughout the Bible I am learning that God has one plan on the earth and that plan is to reunite with his people and he wants to work to fulfill this plan through those who accept his invitation of reunification.
God wants to work through his children to fulfill his plan and his motivation is that it is for their good so that through them he can bless others and his glory can be put on display. The story of how Joseph became the Prime Minister of Egypt to me demonstrates this point very well.
For the good of his children
Joseph was put in prison for a crime he did not commit. He refused the advances of his boss’s wife who wanted him to sleep with her. In reaction to Joseph’s refusal Potiphar’s wife accused Joseph of an attempt to rape and that is how Joseph ended up in prison. Joseph refused the sexual advances of this woman in honor of God and his boss Potiphar. In other words Joseph was sent to prison for doing the right thing in the eyes of God.
Joseph woke up one day as a prisoner and went to bed that night as a 2nd in command to the king of the most powerful nation at the time. He achieved this because he was able to interpret Pharaoh’s dreams after all the other experts in the field were unable to interpret them. He was so successful in his new job that even people from other nations outside of Egypt benefited from his success.
I believe Joseph was successful in his job as Prime Minister because he was able to discern the voice of God, a skill he learnt in prison. So in retrospect we now know that Joseph sent to prison was part of the process to prepare and empower him with the skill that will enable him to succeed in his God ordained purpose, even though Joseph did not know it at the time he benefited from the process because he cooperated with the situation he found himself in as there is no record in the Bible that Joseph made attempts to escape this situation or even rebelled against God for allowing this to happen to him. The other thing he did was to serve fellow prisoners by interpreting their dreams while he himself needed to be served.
So by doing the following 2 things Joseph benefited from a God ordained process on his life
He cooperated with his circumstances even when he did not deserve it as he understood that God is in control and if he allowed this to happen there must be a good reason
He was faithful to his calling as he continued to serve others even though it seemed there was no benefit to him.
My take away from Joseph is that if we follow his example on how to act when we face difficult times for doing the right thing, God turns those difficult times to be for our good.
Blessing to others
According to Joseph’s interpretation of Pharaoh’s dream the world was facing 7 years of plenty and 7 years of famine. Joseph’s responsibilities in his new position was to ensure that Egypt saves enough during the 7 years of plenty so that when the famine starts they do not run out of food. He was so successful in his job that in the 7 years of famine other nations outside Egypt came to Egypt to buy their food. Through his job not only did the tribe of Israel who were the chosen children of God benefit but the Egyptians and many others who were worshiping other gods also benefited.
This then tells me God wants to make a difference in the world. He wants to bring solutions in the world through his children, solutions that will not only benefit those that worship him but solutions that benefit even those who do not believe in him or have chosen to believe in other gods. He therefore assigns his children to a community so that through them he can bring the solution to a problem that specific community is facing. He assigns his children according to the gifts he gave them but the pattern of the assignment is as follows. He gives his children
A passion to solve a problem that impacts the lives of both believers and none believers
A mission to draw none believers to God
A ministry to encourage other believers.
So the takeaway here is that God wants to work through his children so they can be a blessing to all people who worship him and those who do not worship him. In other words God wants his children to be a blessing in the world to believers and none believers.
His glory
When Pharaoh had the dream that bothered him he consulted all the experts in Egypt to help him interpret the dream but none of them were able to do it , until one of Pharaoh’s servant who at one time was in prison and had his dream accurately interpreted by Joseph, remembered him and he recommended him to Pharaoh. Joseph was able to interpret the dreams and through that Pharaoh and his government made him their Prime Minister.
God’s power was put on display when Joseph was able to solve a problem after everyone else had failed. The glory of God in Joseph was recognized by Pharaoh and his government who were worshipers of other gods that they promoted him to the 2nd highest office in the land.
My takeaway here is that when the children of God allow him to work through them his glory in them will be recognized by those who do not necessarily worship or believe him.
