"In this way the man grew exceedingly prosperous and came to own large
flocks, and maidservants and menservants, and camels and donkeys." -
Genesis 30:43
Jacob left his homeland after
suffering a broken relationship with Esau for stealing the family blessing. He
went to work for his uncle Laban where he stayed for 20 years. It came time for
him to leave, but he had no physical assets to show for those years under
Laban. Laban had taken advantage of his nephew in every way. (In some ways,
Jacob was reaping the seed he had sown his entire life as a manipulator and
controller.) Nevertheless, God's hand was on Jacob, and He had plans to prosper
him. However, Jacob had one problem - he had no resources of his own. For Jacob
to launch out on his own, he would need resources. In those days, resources
often meant large flocks of animals. God gave Jacob a dream that resulted in a
strategy for creating wealth by multiplying his sheep. Even though Laban sought
to thwart Jacob's efforts, God overcame the evil in Laban to allow Jacob to prosper.
There are many important lessons for
us in this story. First, when God decides it is time to move you into a larger
place of His calling, He has the ability to provide the resources you need to
support the call. God gave Jacob a dream that resulted in a strategy never used
before to build wealth. It was totally from God's hand. It was creative and
new. God called Jacob to move out after he had demonstrated his faithfulness in
20 years of serving Laban. He learned to live under authority and served Laban
faithfully, even though he knew he was being taken advantage of.
God will do the same for you and me.
However, a word of caution: Be sure the strategy is born from above, and not
from self-effort. The difficulty for most of us workplace believers is to learn
the difference between the strategies born of God versus the strategy of
self-effort.
No comments:
Post a Comment