Favor Of God That Surrounds You

Genesis 47:6’ The land of Egypt is before thee; in the best of the land make thy father and brethren to dwell; in the land of Goshen let them dwell: and if thou knowest any men of activity among them, then make them rulers over my cattle.

7 And Joseph brought in Jacob his father, and set him before Pharaoh: and Jacob blessed Pharaoh.’

The media that hailed Sachin Tendulkar and called him ‘god of cricket’, now tells that his magic is not working any more and they want him to quit at the age of 39, but today I want to talk of a man of God, whose life started at the age of 30 and he rocked the affluent land of Egypt in his late thirties. Listen friend, when God starts His work in your life, age ceases to matter! Are you there? Sit up for a powerful and prophetic message!

Chapter 37 of the book of Genesis opens with the life history of a man, whose name evokes gasps of awe, wonder, delight, admiration and what not! It is here the enthralling story of Joseph begins! In my own personal life, my Bible reading portion comes to this chapter every time I go through severe crisis in my life, and I get comforted, charged and energized through the awesome life of Joseph and his perseverance. Dear friends, I know each one of you are going through different phases in your life, some of us may be in the period of draught, some may be going through long periods of uncertainty, some stuck in the dark, some may be in the middle of a miracle, some may be in the brink of miracle and some may be celebrating victory; whatever, let us understand God’s perspective during the sufferings in our life; let me warn you, we can never, ever understand God’s ways with our unconsecrated eyes! We need spiritual eyes to view spiritual things! Apostle Paul prayed: ‘…the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints.’(Ephesians 1:18)

Right from the beginning of his life, we see Joseph standing apart from the corrupt lives of his brothers. At this juncture, I want to point out that his father Jacob gave him an extra ounce of love because Joseph had lost his mother during the birth of his brother Benjamin. Joseph naturally turned to God and grew up to be the ‘apple of God’s eyes’ because his step brothers hated him and he had nowhere else to go. At times, abandonment turns to be a blessing in disguise which propels us to fall into the lap of God! From the age of seventeen, the calamities and misfortunes that Joseph encountered in his life is astounding; but still we see the tangible presence of God leading him. From the time he is thrown into the prison on false accusation, through the period of languishing in the prison for several years, we read about a young man who withstood storm and tournedos pretty bravely without buckling to pressure. Surely, youngsters need to read chapters 37 to 50 of the book of Genesis, to equip themselves with rich learning from the life of Joseph. What hundred seminars on ‘stress management’ cannot do, a meticulous reading of the life of Joseph from the Bible, would pull you from slumber and lethargy. Aptly king David said: “The LORD is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid?” (Psalm 27:1) This is a sure challenge? Come on friends, do not feel weary and depleted, you have the big God with you! Amen.

Now, this is a prophetic message coming to each one of you today! Just read it prayerfully! If you are going through financial instability, problems relating to health, marriage or children and also uncertainty and blurred future, this is message is for you to search your hearts for disobedience, lethargy, spiritual barrenness and set right your life in the light of His Word and open your life for the ‘fountain of God’s blessings.’ If you have prayed, fasted and read His Word immensely but still you find yourself facing a fuzzy future, then I recommend you to be still in front of God and wait for His deliverance.

These words of Jesus baffled me: Luke 14:26 "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.” I repeat the underlined words again… yes, and hate his own life also! These are too profound and weighty to understand with an unconsecrated heart! I had read these scriptures umpteen times in my life, but when I read it recently, while going through some rough terrains in my life and ministry, I paused and wept and surrendered my life once again to Him. I said, ‘Lord, I do hate my own life and will follow you wholeheartedly!’ Someone very dear, close to me called me one night and asked tearfully, ‘Did you resign your job to work among the street kids? Why are you spending the cream of your life, slogging it out with those kids?’ She asked me much more…..with lots of love, though; however, I could not sleep that night; finally, I had to crucify my passions, my dreams and go to sleep with the thought to live for Him – not easy though.