To what type of person does God give success? What kind of person is God able to empower and use in a mighty way? Is it the man or woman with the most talent or skill? Are looks or leadership ability the necessary traits? Is a high IQ essential to do great things for God? Obviously, the answer is “no.” The characteristics I just reeled off are the criteria we use for success.
Let’s think for a moment about the Bible heroes who God used in a significant way. What did they all have in common? Noah, Moses, Rahab, David, Esther, Nehemiah, Mary, John the Baptizer, Peter, Paul the Apostle. All of these people impacted their world. They honored God and saved other people either physically or spiritually. What did they all have in common? Humility. They were all humble people. Humble doesn’t mean poor, wimpy, or weak. Biblical humility is strength under direction. In the Beatitudes Jesus said:
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Matthew 5:5
Meek is the same as humble. The Greek word paints the picture of a strong stallion that has been broken by its owner. If you know anything about horses, you know that there’s nothing wrong with a broken horse. It retains all of its strength and beauty, but its will has changed. It allows a rider and can be directed. A horse that hasn’t been broken is of absolutely no use to its owner. All it can do is consume and perhaps kick and bite if you get too close. But a broken horse, a meek, humble horse can plow a field, pull a wagon, give a ride, or win millions in the Kentucky Derby.
The more God can direct you, the more He can use you. He wants to take all your skills and talents and experiences and personality, add in his supernatural power and give you His kind of success. But it only happens to the degree that He can direct you. Therefore, if you want to be used by God for more than going to church and serving on a committee, if you desire more than a get-out-of-hell-free card, if you want to make an impact in this world before you leave it and do something significant and lasting for God, you must learn total reliance. The more complete your dependence on the Lord, the more He can direct you. The more God can direct you, the more He can use you.
No where is this more evident than in the life of Joseph. He was a man unusually gifted with leadership and managerial skills. He was good-looking and smart. God brought tremendous success to Joseph, but not because of his personal qualities. God used him because he could direct him. Joseph learned total reliance on God during his incarceration in Egypt.
The Conditions for Complete Dependence
Joseph learned at a relatively young age, something that it took his ancestors much longer to master:
Refrain from controlling God’s plan
Abraham tried to control God’s plan for a child by having a baby with Hagar the slave girl. Isaac tried to make Esau the leader of the clan even though Jacob was God’s man for the job. Jacob tried to make himself leader by swindling his brother out of the birthright and the blessing. Seizing the reins from God was a family trait. Joseph attempted it too.
After interpreting the chief cupbearer’s dream and revealing a positive outcome, Joseph attempted to use it to his advantage:
“But when all goes well with you, remember me and show me kindness; mention me to Pharaoh and get me out of this prison.” Genesis 40:14
There was nothing inherently evil about Joseph’s action, but I think this is one of his few missteps in the story. He knew that God was with him. The work of his hands was blessed time and again. Every time evil people knocked him down, God lifted him right back up again. He should have been content to wait for God’s way and God’s time. But at this point he attempted to seize control. Who can blame him? He’d been unjustly placed in prison and had served there for at least a year and maybe longer to this point. He was desperate and his desperation led him to try to make something happen. The result of his self-extrication?
The chief cupbearer, however, did not remember Joseph; he forgot him. Genesis 40:23
How could that happen? How in the world could you forget someone who restored hope? How could you not remember a person with such a powerful supernatural gift? The chief cupbearer had a two-year memory lapse. It makes no sense unless God caused him to forget.
The text never says this is the case, so it’s purely speculation on my part, but it looks to me like God erased the memory file from this guy’s mind because Joseph was not yet ready. He had learned much, but he apparently needed a couple of more years in prison to bring about complete dependence on God. Joseph would eventually be entrusted with the might of the most powerful nation on earth of that day. To wield that kind of power in a godly manner, he had to be totally reliant on God. He could not attempt to seize control of God’s plan or he would inevitably have misused his position.
But Joseph learned this lesson well. By the time he interpreted Pharaoh’s dream he was able to refrain from seizing control. Notice how different his words were the second time around:
"And now let Pharaoh look for a discerning and wise man and put him in charge of the land of Egypt.” Genesis 41:33
Joseph didn’t ask to be put in charge though he knew his destiny was to rule. In fact, he gave Pharaoh the entire strategy for surviving the famine before any promotion had been granted. Joseph didn’t even ask Pharaoh to let him out of prison. Rather than interject himself, Joseph allowed God to maintain control.
Back when I was still with the United Methodist Church, I sensed strongly that I was supposed to start a new church. With that call was also an understanding that I should let the group of people who would probably form the core group call me as pastor and initiate the process. The group met in my living room one evening and we had a good time getting reacquainted and talking. When it appeared to me that the conversation wasn’t going where I wanted fast enough I dropped the bomb, “So do you guys want to start a new church?” There was immediate agreement and all seemed well. Several weeks later, while still serving as a UM pastor, but meeting with this core group on the side, I met with my district superintendent to tell him that I’d be leaving my appointment and the UMC at the end of the appointment year. He was very concerned and grilled me about who I was meeting with, where the church would be located, and why we were doing it. When he found out that I had initiated the process and that some of the folks in the core group were members of a former UM church he told me in no uncertain terms that I was in violation of denominational rules and must cease meeting with these people. For several months I was unable to gather with this group to lead. It wouldn’t have happened if I’d refrained from attempting to control God’s plan. As always, though, I learn things the hard way.
Even if God has made His plan clear to you, do not attempt to seize control. It will come back to haunt you. Trying to take control will delay or damage what God wants to do through you. The more God can direct you, the more He can use you. Don’t try to direct yourself.
Having said that, let me add something to bring balance. I’m not suggesting that you be passive. There is a time to take initiative. That time is after God has given you the green light to go. The second condition for complete dependence is …
Respond to God’s initiative.
When God brought the opportunity, Joseph took it. When the door opened Joseph stepped through. God brought the dreams to the chief cupbearer and Pharaoh. He initiated and Joseph responded.
The people and the churches who are able to do this will be used in a significant way by God. They will send their time, energy, and finances effectively as they are responding to God’s direction. Therefore, it’s important to learn to listen for His voice and look to see what He’s up to. In his book, Experiencing God, Henry Blackabe says that our task is to find what God is doing in the world and join Him in it.
Many of you know that Laura and I are in the process of being licensed to foster to adopt. We weren’t sure what agency to go with, so we started checking them out. The first two looked like possibilities, but we didn’t get a green light to go with them. Somewhere along the line a friend gave Laura a brochure for a new Christian agency called “Love Links.” The brochure was cheaply made and the name sounded kind of like a dating agency, but we decided to check it out any way. We met with the woman who founded it over lunch and when she told us her story, we were impressed. It looked like God was bringing this thing together. At that point I think we were the second confirmed couple looking to foster or adopt and a third was mildly interested. We sensed a real call to throw our lot in with “Love Links.” By the time the first class started in January there were 9 couples participating and they’d just received their state license. Still needed are funds to operate and a social worker to oversee placements. Both of those are in the works even as we speak. I have no doubt that by the time the first couple is licensed all will be in place. We see that God is doing this thing and we’ve joined Him in it.
Responding to God’s initiative will not make you a passive person. One reason is that He’s already told us many things that we’re supposed to do in the Bible. We know we’re supposed to share our faith. We know we’re supposed to help people in need. We know we’re supposed to stand up for what’s right and against what’s evil.
I knew a guy who was unemployed. He was essentially waiting for the perfect, God-ordained job to come along. His wife was supporting the family and he was doing virtually nothing. It was killing his marriage. His pastor told him in no uncertain terms to get off his butt, look for a job, and provide for his family. God has already spelled it out in the Bible. A man is supposed to provide for his family. There’s no need to be passive.
On the other hand, I went through a period of unemployment and, strange as it sounds, within me I discerned God telling me not to look for a job. I did it anyway and landed one of the worst jobs in my life. What He wanted me to do was wait for the job that eventually took me to Qatar. I could have probably started it a month early had I not ventured out on my own. When that job was done, I still heard God telling me not to look for a job. Just when Laura and I thought we could stand the waiting no more, God brought me a teaching position.
As followers of Christ we’ve got to both refrain from controlling God’s plan and respond to His initiative. The more God can direct you, the more He can use you. Once you’ve mastered these two the next condition is easy:
Relax in God’s providence
Joseph learned total reliance on God. Because of this God promoted him to second in command of Egypt. He was publicly honored and people knew that they were supposed to make way for his chariot. He married into the upper class of Egyptian society. He organized the rescue plan which saved thousands of people from starvation. As good as that was, God was not finished. If you can remember back a few weeks ago, the dreams that God gave Joseph had not yet been fulfilled.
In the dreams Joseph saw his family bowing down to him. He saw himself taking a prominent position in the family line. Although he had been highly elevated there was more to come and he knew it.
I want you to think about this for a moment. If you’d been in Joseph’s shoes – kidnapped, separated from family, sold into slavery, longing for home, and finally promoted to powerful free man – what would you have done next? I don’t know about you, but I would have taken the next chariot home to see my dad and kid brother. When I stepped into their presence, dazzling with the garments of Egyptian royalty, I would have expected them to bow down. Hugs would have been extended to father and kid brother. I would take immense satisfaction in watching my lowlife older brother quake with fear. That’s what I would have done.
Joseph did nothing. He accomplished the work God had given him to do in Egypt, but he did not attempt to fulfill the original dreams. Instead, he relaxed in God’s providence. Joseph knew without a shadow of a doubt that the Lord who delivered him from the pit to slavery to the prison to the palace could reunite his family too. Don’t imagine that Joseph had no desire for this. He longed for his family, but he did nothing to try to make it happen. Instead he relaxed in God’s providence. He made note of this in what we take to be an insignificant comment after the birth of his firstborn son:
Joseph named his firstborn Manasseh and said, "It is because God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father’s household.” Genesis 41:51
Joseph was able to wait because God enabled him to forget. He soothed the pain of homesickness. He gave Joseph’s heart the means to persevere until the time was right. It would be nine more years before the dream came to pass and Joseph was reunited with his family. He simply relaxed in God’s providence. If God could direct the heavens and the earth, he could direct Joseph’s dream to its appointed end.
Joseph had all the conditions of complete dependence. He refrained from trying to control God’s plan. He responded to God’s initiative. He relaxed in God’s providence. The more God can direct you, the more He can use you.
Of course the one who did this perfectly was Jesus. Although He was God in the flesh, Jesus allowed the Father to direct every part of His life through the Holy Spirit. The book of Philippians puts it this way:
Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death – even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:5-11
Want to be used by God? Follow the example of Jesus. He was strength under direction. The more God can direct you, the more He can use you.
