Theme of the Week: Don’t Just Exist
Bible Verse: “So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. He made me father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt.” Genesis 45:8
Scripture Reading: Genesis 45:4-11
This week I’d like to share with you seven experiences when I have felt reborn, like something significant had happened and my outlook and approach to life changed.
The prayer meeting had gone like prayer meetings go. Normally. It was in a large house that had been converted into a church; there was a fenced backyard. But when the meeting ended, we heard panicked shouts. A two-year-old who had been playing in our backyard was missing. The mother fainted. We began to search frantically.
Presuming the worst, I scanned the backyard, thinking there was no way a two-year-old could’ve climbed the fence. Nothing. I kept praying and headed toward the nearby park. Seeing nothing, I walked farther, hope was dwindling.
A man I met along the way hadn’t seen the boy either. But he offered me a ride and we drove up and down some side streets. I spotted the boy scared and helpless standing in the road. Scooping him up, my emotions threatening to overwhelm me, we reunited him with his overjoyed parents.
The toddler probably would’ve been found eventually. But God used me to find him. I was positioned to be his man for the situation and to do good. In Genesis 45:8, Joseph was God’s man for a particular purpose: “. . . it was not you who sent me here, but God. He made me father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household.”
God would use Joseph on a grand scale, saving Egypt from famine and even “all the countries came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph” (Gen. 41:57). God placed Joseph in that position for God’s own purposes. I believe he positioned me to be able to find the boy.
Maybe you can fix cars and fences. Perhaps you are independently wealthy. Whatever skills and resources you have, they’re not yours by hard work alone; they’re bestowed upon you by God in his wisdom to bless the world with.
My experience taught me that God could use someone like me and make a difference if I only started moving. We don’t just exist for ourselves; we exist to do good in this world.
Prayer: Lord, thank you for my time, talent, and treasure. Forgive me when I live for myself. May you count on me to be your man in every situation to do good to others.
Reflection: Where are you positioned to do good in your world? What is stopping you from moving and seeing what God will do?
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