Word of the week
Phil 4:11 GNT
“And I am not saying this because I feel neglected, for I have learned to be satisfied with what I have.”
I will focus on the b part. Phil 4:11b says, ‘for I have learned to be satisfied with what I have’.
I want you to know that appearances can be deceptive and the perfect picture does not exist.
And I will tell you why.
I was in a hotel room a few days ago and I wanted to shoot a video.
There was some clutter around me but I wanted to create a good environment. So, guess what I did? I moved the clutter to another location inside the hotel room.
So, the location where I was shooting the video from was pristine for the camera angle.
That was when it dawned on me that this is how life is.
There is a deceptive nature to life sometimes.
People move stuff around in their lives and show you an immaculate portion of their lives.
Some deliberately use the immaculate portion of their lives to stir up envy and discontentment inside of you.
I want to encourage you: don’t go yearning after other people’s lives. Don’t put yourself under any tension because of other people’s lives. You have not seen the full picture. You only see what they want you to see.
There was a time I used to wish I didn’t grow up in a polygamous home. I felt it damaged me somehow.
But one day I got an epiphany! I was where I needed to be. I grew up in the exact location conducive to my life and destiny! I stopped being a child when my mates were still children. To the glory of God I became wiser than my age at a very young age.
Don’t blame anything for the way your life is.
Don’t say ‘I wish my life was like so and so’s life’.
The question is: Would you like to have the challenges that the person you are comparing your life to is going through?
My husband said something humorously one day: he said ‘if they say everyone should bring their problems and put it on the table. He said after looking at what others are going through, you will of your own volition pick up your own trouble and go your way.’
Learn to be content with your life.
If you want more, pray and God will give you more.
But don’t use the lives of others as a yardstick for your discontentment.
Concerning your life, God knows what He is doing and you will laugh last in Jesus Name.
Message of the week
Genesis 41:15-16 NLT
Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream last night, and no one here can tell me what it means. But I have heard that when you hear about a dream you can interpret it.” “It is beyond my power to do this,” Joseph replied. “But God can tell you what it means and set you at ease.””
Joseph was extraordinarily gifted in dreaming and interpreting the dreams of others.
That was what ultimately brought him before Pharaoh.
But you must know that when you stand before great men, there are usually written or unwritten tests you need to pass.
The first test that Joseph faced was to hide his relationship with the God of his father.
I thought Joseph would have been scared. Pharaoh was not worshipping that God. He relied on magicians, enchantments, divination, sorcery etc. Despite that, Joseph did not hide his identity or fail to acknowledge the God of his father before Pharaoh.
That was a risky thing to do. Pharaoh could have been upset. He could have sent Joseph back to prison. Even nowadays there are some people that can’t reveal their Christian identity to their work colleagues let alone a very high ranking man such as their CEO.
The second test that Joseph faced was the test of taking the glory for the gift God has given him of interpreting dreams.
When Pharaoh said ‘I have heard you can interpret dreams’, Joseph said ‘it is beyond my power to do this. God will tell you what the dream means and set your mind at ease.’
Joseph immediately returned the glory of the gift he had of interpreting dreams to God.
My dear friend listening to me, nothing in this world belongs to you. Nothing whatsoever. How do I know this? I know that nothing in this world belongs to you because you were born naked.
So everything you now have; fame, wealth, clothes, degrees, houses, etc, you acquired them all in this life. If you have any gift or talent, it is a divine endowment.
Because Joseph passed those tests, God gave him the glory he could not imagine, and Joseph had that glory till he died at a ripe old age of 110.
So, the conclusion of the matter is: always give all the glory to God.
No man can determine your fate. Your life is not in the hands of anybody.
Always honour the God that has your fate and your life in His hands.
