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Learning The Hard Way

The Only Way to a Life of Impact

God is watching over you. What you can’t always see is that he is always at work. What may look like a mistake, a deal breaker, and major disaster, God is managing for his purposes in your life. God is leveraging you—your circumstances, your mistakes, your life—to fulfill his plan for the ages. You will have to learn some lessons the hard way, but keep your heart right with God, and you will graduate your school of hardship to the life of influence and impact that God has destined you for.

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The Journey// Focus: Exodus 2:12,-14-16

After looking in all directions to make sure no one was watching, Moses killed the Egyptian and hid the body in the sand. …Then Moses was afraid, thinking, “Everyone knows what I did.” And sure enough, Pharaoh heard what had happened, and he tried to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in the land of Midian.

Arguably, Moses was the greatest leader the world has ever known. Think of the accomplishments of his term of service as deliverer, visionary, lawgiver and guide over Israel during their forty-year exodus from Egypt to their unprecedented resettlement in Canaan. His résumé included unmatched feats such as:

  • Facing down the world’s most powerful leader, Pharaoh, and convincing him to let a two million strong labor force of Israelites leave the land—and leave Egypt’s economy in shambles
  • Leading two million plus unorganized, strong-willed, grumbling Hebrews for forty years through the Sinai desert
  • Parting the Red Sea so that Israel could escape from Egypt, then un-parting that same Red Sea to wipe out the world’s most advanced fighting force when they gave chase
  • Calling forth water from the rock in the desert, then feeding the hungry masses every day for four decades
  • Organizing the Hebrews into a nation that endures still to this day
  • Rallying the people around the law of God and instituting their system of worship
  • And among other things, speaking face-to-face with Almighty God on behalf of the people

Some great leaders may think of themselves as God’s special gift to the world—a few of the swollen egos that have occupied our White House very likely would make that argument of themselves—but no one has ever come close to pulling off what Moses did. Yet Moses didn’t walk into his success without some leadership bruises along the way. He had to learn how to lead the hard way—starting with the catastrophe of killing an Egyptian overlord.

The fact that Moses was a prince of Egypt didn’t give him the authority to, on a whim, slay the abusive foreman. The fact that he first looked this way, then that way, suggests that Moses’ conscience was at work, telling him not to do it. But perhaps his anger, or his privileged upbringing, overruled his knowledge of right from wrong, and he murdered the man. Then, realizing that his dirty deed was known, and sensing that even those he did it for were not too appreciative of his help, as he expected, Moses came to grips with the fact that he had made a fatal error—one that would land him in prison or send him to the gallows—so he fled.

Moses learned the hard way. Through failure, then being a fugitive, and finally by living as a foreigner for the next forty years, God taught Moses how to manage his instincts—instincts that without an internal governor, led to disaster, but brought under control, would lead him to unparalleled accomplishment. What Moses didn’t know at the time was that God had given him enough rope to hang himself, but by that same rope God would throw him a line for a second chance. God was training Moses in the curriculum of hardship; Moses was being forced to learn, albeit the hard way!

So far, throughout the story of how God was developing a people for himself through Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph and now Moses, we have seen how time and again God has overruled human error in order to bring about his eternal plan. These human mistakes had dire consequences; they sidetracked God’s plans for a season—Moses’ mistakes cost him forty years of remedial education; Israel’s rebellion in the desert cost them forty years of wilderness wandering—yet God was always at work, sovereignly, managing his people and moving his plan along the timeline of divine purpose.

The point being, God does that with you, too. He is watching over you. What you can’t always see is that he is always at work. What may look like a mistake, a deal breaker, and major disaster, God is managing for his purposes in your life. God is leveraging you—your circumstances, your mistakes, your life—to fulfill his plan for the ages.

You will have to learn some lessons the hard way, but keep your heart right with God, and you will graduate your school of hardship to the life of influence and impact that God has destined you for.

Going Deeper: Whenever you find yourself, like Moses, looking this way and that, stop. Look to God. Don’t move until you hear from him. Then do what he tells you to do. Do that, and it will save you a ton of pain, and you will learn a lesson the easy way.

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Pre-Ordered Steps

God Directs the Steps of the Godly

King David wrote, “If you do what the Lord wants, he will make certain each step you take is sure.” According to that comforting psalm, we can trust that God himself has closely attended our journey on the path of righteousness—even when we didn’t see it. The Lord has been with us all along the way, and is there now, even in the smallest details of our lives, making sure that our journey will lead to where he pleases. What an encouraging thought: the very next step I take he has already directed.

The Journey: Psalm 37:23

The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives.

What is the best way to do the will of God, to always act in ways that please him and invite his blessings not only on the big decisions but on the daily details of life as well? It is simply to place before him the offering of a godly life. The Contemporary English Version translates Psalm 37:23 this way:

If you do what the Lord wants, he will make certain each step you take is sure.

Perhaps you have experienced, like me, that life has only gotten become more complex as the years go by. It is often very difficult to discern the will of God not so much between good and bad, but between better and best. Sometimes there is a gray fuzziness that clouds the right path where the road forks in our journey. And since we usually don’t hear the audible voice of God saying, “this is the way, walk ye in it!” or have his undeniable hand steering our every forward movement, we are left wondering, “what am I to do?”

According to the psalmist, we can trust that God himself has been closely attended our journey on the path of righteousness—even when we don’t see it. We have been guaranteed that the Lord has been with us all along the way, and is there now, even in the smallest details of our lives, making sure that our journey will lead to where he pleases.

What a comforting thought—that “the steps of a righteous person are ordered of the Lord.” So, since our steps are pre-ordered, when you come to a fork in the road, as Yogi Berra would say, “take it”. If you have been doing your part—praying, obeying, trusting and honoring God, being in fellowship with his people and accountable for your life, studying his Word—God has directed steps that have led you to where you are now. Now take the fork, God will have directed that as well.

Proverbs 3:5-9 reminds us,

Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don’t try to figure out everything on your own.
Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he’s the one who will keep you on track.
Don’t assume that you know it all. Run to God! Run from evil!
Your body will glow with health, your very bones will vibrate with life!
Honor God with everything you own; give him the first and the best. Your barns will burst, your wine vats will brim over.

Abe Poeman, a fourth-century Egyptian monk, said, “If you think little about yourself, you will have rest wherever you reside… If you are silent, you will possess peace wherever you live…To throw yourself before God, to not measure your progress, to leave behind all self-will—these are the instruments for the work of the soul…Give not your heart to that which does not satisfy your heart.”

In other words, delight yourself in the way of God and you will find that he has made your way delightful.

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A Simple Prayer:

God, I will closely and always follow you, and I am trusting completely that you will order all my steps to where you want me to go—even the very next step I take.
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The Tools of God’s Trade

He Works In Mysterious Ways

God works in mysterious ways. Sometimes the blessings he gives bring about the discomforts we try to avoid; sometimes those very discomforts are his blessings, albeit in disguise. That being true, establish in your heart as settled law that God uses everything—pleasant or unpleasant—for his glory and your blessing, and never let it be challenged when your circumstances take an unexpected and undesired turn. And when they do, keep your eyes fixed on the sovereign Lord, for though the wrong seems oft so strong, God is the ruler yet.

The Journey// Focus: Exodus 1:6-9

Now Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died, but the Israelites were fruitful and multiplied greatly and became exceedingly numerous, so that the land was filled with them. Then a new king, who did not know about Joseph, came to power in Egypt. “Look,” he said to his people, “the Israelites have become much too numerous for us.”

The purpose of Exodus 1 is to set up the story told in the rest of Exodus clear through the book of Deuteronomy—the delivery and birth of the nation of Israel. Specifically, this first chapter sets the stage for Israel’s misery under Pharaoh and the rise of their leader, Moses.

Now the greatness and power of God demonstrated through the deliverance of Israel from Egypt along with the incredible leadership skills that were developed in Moses through the life-changing encounters he had with God would not have been possible without chapter one of Exodus: The descent of Israel into Egyptian bondage.

Of course, that reminds us of an undeniable and sometimes uncomfortable truth about God: He works in mysterious ways. Sometimes the blessings he gives us bring about the discomforts we try to avoid; sometimes those very discomforts are the blessings, albeit in disguise. We saw this powerfully illustrated in Genesis, where God sovereignly preserved Jacob’s family from famine in Egypt only by first sovereignly allowing Joseph to be sold into slavery in Egypt years earlier.

We find in Exodus 1:1-14 that God has blessed Jacobs’ family in such an extraordinary way that they literally become a great nation. Yet those very blessings—their explosive growth and economic prosperity—are the things that threaten Israel’s host nation, Egypt, who ultimately responds by forcing the Israelites into slavery and bondage.

God’s blessings end up causing Israel great discomfort and hardship—but in all of this God is setting the stage for a deliverer, Moses, whose story we will read in Exodus 2.

So what is the greater point to all of this? God’s blessings sometimes bring discomfort. However, discomfort is often the seedbed from which God’s greater blessing grows.

We must come to understand, in spite of unwanted and uncomfortable circumstances, that God is faithful—always. We need to establish that truth in our hearts and minds ahead of time, never permitting that settled law to be challenged when our circumstances take an unexpected and undesired turn. We need to learn to keep our eyes fixed on the faithfulness of God during those times of difficulty. I love how the hymn-writer, Maltbie Babcock, so eloquently put it in his hymn, This Is My Father’s World,”

This is my Father’s world, O let me ne’er forget; that though the wrong seems oft so strong, God is the Ruler yet.

And not only is God faithful, he is also watchful. Even when the storms of life prevent you from seeing God, he sees you.

Furthermore, not only is God faithful and watchful, never forget that he is always at work. Even in Israel’s years of bondage and slavery, God is preparing to reveal his glory and his greatness at a future time in ways unmatched even to this day. So even when it seems like God is not in our circumstances, we can be assured that he is at work, setting the stage for a greater purpose that could only be revealed as a result of what we are experiencing in the present. As Henry Ward Beecher said, “Troubles are often the tools by which God fashions us for better things.”

Got any troubles at the moment? Just remember, they are God’s tool! And when he is through crafting you, you are going to make quite a fashion statement.

Going Deeper: Here is a prayer you might want to offer to God today: Lord, develop in me the faith to always see through my circumstances, no matter how difficult they may be, to see your hand at work, setting the stage to reveal your glory. Help me to obey, even when to obey would allow those circumstances to threaten my health or happiness. And Lord, open my eyes to see and receive your blessing when it would seem impossible that blessings could happen.

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Forgive

Take Your Hurt to the Great Repurposer

Without forgiveness, there is no future of divine blessing in our lives. Without forgiveness, there is only an endless recycling of resentment, retaliation and alienation. Without forgiveness, our deepest wounds will never heal. “He who cannot forgive another breaks the bridge over which he must pass himself.” (George Herbert)

The Journey // Focus: Genesis 50:19-21

But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.” And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.

The willingness to forgive is the most obvious of Joseph’s virtues, but given what his brothers had done, it is the hardest to relate to on a personal and practical level. How do you forgive those who were supposed to cherish, encourage and protect you, when instead, they betrayed you in the worst possible way? How do you forgive your abuser?

The key to Joseph’s forgiveness was an uncommon understanding and a radical commitment to the sovereignty of God—that God was in control of his life. He believed it was God who had allowed his brothers to sell him into slavery some two decades ago as a part of God’s plan to save their lives. He understood that it was God who had allowed the injustice of Potiphar’s wife as God’s way of arranging a meeting with the cupbearer in prison. He realized why God allowed the cupbearer to then forget about him, leaving him to rot in prison another two years: God’s timing wasn’t right.

Now keep in mind that God didn’t plan that for Joseph, but he planned for it. Big difference!

Joseph chose to interpret all the events of his life—even these incredibly hurtful events—as God’s perfect will for his life. He knew that if God allowed injustice or injury or inaction, it was for a greater purpose. Therefore, letting go of bitterness and offering forgiveness was the only wise thing to do.

That’s tough when we’ve been wounded. The last thing we want to do is forgive. But the only healing salve for the deep emotional wounds that get inflicted from time to time in our lives is forgiveness!

Now some people think forgiving is forgetting. It’s not! It’s precisely because of it, we can’t forget that forgiveness is needed. Some people think forgiveness minimizes the hurt. It doesn’t! It’s precisely because of the intensity of our pain that forgiveness is needed. Some think that forgiveness means forfeiting justice. Not true! It’s precisely, and perhaps most importantly, that because we ourselves deserve God’s judgment, we need to extend forgiveness.

That’s why Paul taught, “Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” (Colossians 3:13) That’s why Jesus said, “You can’t get forgiveness from God without also forgiving others.” (Matthew 6:15, MSG) Gorge Herbert said, “He who cannot forgive another breaks the bridge over which he must pass himself.”

You see, without forgiveness, there is no future of divine blessing in our lives. Without forgiveness, there is only an endless recycling of resentment, retaliation and alienation. Without forgiveness, our deepest wounds will never heal.

Harry Emerson Fosdick was right when he wrote that not forgiving someone is like “burning down your house to get rid of a rat.”

Maybe you have someone in your life that has hurt you deeply, and you have sworn to never forgive. Joseph would advise you to rethink that position. He would encourage you that with God’s help, you can take a step toward forgiveness, and with that step, take a giant leap toward a destiny of divine blessing.

Forgive! It allows what others meant for evil to be repurposed by God for your good.

Going Deeper: If only the truly forgiven are truly forgiving, then only the truly forgiving are truly forgiven. Who do you need to forgive today? Better get on it!

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Better Hands

There is a Predetermined Plot

God knows the final days—the outcome of human history. And without him, it looks bleak. But it is not without him, in an overarching sense, because he has inserted himself into the center of it as a Deliverer through his Son, Jesus the Messiah, King of kings and rightful ruler of the earth. And at the end of the day, those who belong to God will live under the blessings of God.

The Journey // Focus: Genesis 49:1, 10, 28

Then Jacob called for his sons and said: “Gather around so I can tell you what will happen to you in days to come. … “The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he to whom it belongs shall come and the obedience of the nations shall be his.” … All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said to them when he blessed them, giving each the blessing appropriate to him.

C.S. Lewis observed, “No doubt all history in the last resort must be held by Christians to be a story with a divine plot.” When you read the final words of Jacob as he prophesies over his sons, you could easily get the sense that he is letting loose with some pent up frustrations that he has held onto over the years. He is finally going after some of their bad behavior with a well deserved but long overdue rebuke:

Reuben: “Turbulent as the waters, you will no longer excel, for you went up onto your father’s bed, onto my couch and defiled it.” (Genesis 49:4)

Simeon and Levi: “Let me not enter their council, for they have killed men in their anger…I will scatter them in Jacob and disperse them in Israel.” (Genesis 49:5-7)

Dan: “Dan will be a snake by the roadside, a viper along the path, that bites the horse’s heels so that its rider tumbles backward. I look for your deliverance, Lord.” (Genesis 49:17-18)

Wonder what he would have said to them if he were really upset!

But to understand the positive message in what might seem like a prophetic utterance season with the bitter salt of rebuke, one needs to see the overall thrust of what Jacob is seeing. And what Jacob sees is what we have been seeing through the narrative of Genesis: that even with a creation that went off the rails, the Creator was still there—at the start, in the middle, at the finish—steering human history for his sovereign purposes. That is why I chose three specific verses at the beginning of this devotional—verses 1,10, 28—verses from the beginning, the center, and the end of the prophecy.

In Genesis 49:1, we find that Jacob is speaking about what will happen in the days to come. In Genesis 49:10, we see that at the center of this description stands a king, a deliverer who will come from the tribe of Judah—which we now know was the Messiah, Jesus. At the end of the proclamation, in Genesis 49:28, Jacob refers to the blessing that will come upon the twelve tribes of Israel, and by prophetic extension, all of those who are the children of God by grace through faith in his Son.

The point? God knows the final days—the outcome of human history. And without him, it looks bleak. But it is not without him, in an overarching sense, because he has inserted himself into the center of it as a Deliverer through his Son, Jesus the Messiah, King of kings and rightful ruler of the earth. And at the end of the day, those who belong to God will live under the blessings of God. He has positioned himself to bless his people, and that will not be denied. God is steering the ship of history. He is the Sovereign Ruler of the universe, and will bring his plan for the ages to the end that he desires and has foreordained. And since you are “in Christ”, you are tucked away into the fabric of that plan, safe and secure within his competent and caring hands.

Yes, if you are in Christ, your life is in Better Hands.

Going Deeper: If, like Jacob’s sons, you have done plenty to mess up your life, repent of your ways and begin to walk in his ways. There may be consequences you will have to work through, and even if you don’t, you have to live within the consequences of existing in a world broken by sin. But rejoice, at the end of the day, God has sent you a Deliverer, and as you put your life in his hands, nothing but blessings, some now, plenty in eternity will be coming your way.

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The Power of the Blessing

Speak A Preferred Future Into Your Child's Spirit

God has engineered every child with the seeds of greatness—the potential for a life of success, significance and satisfaction. But they need a parent to skillfully unleash that potential—to see it and prophetically speak it into their spirit. Your child needs you to understand God’s thumbprint for their life, then help them to understand what that could mean for them by painting a picture of it. As Larry Crabb said, “A vision we give to others of who and what they could become has power when it echoes what the Spirit has already spoken into their souls.” To speak God’s preferred future into your child’s spirit is to pass on to them the greatest of all blessings, and that will be a gift that will keep on giving through every season of their life.

The Journey // Focus: Genesis 48:14-16

Jacob put his right hand on the head of Ephraim, though he was the younger boy, and his left hand on the head of Manasseh, though he was the firstborn. Then he blessed Joseph and said, “May the God before whom my grandfather Abraham and my father, Isaac, walked—the God who has been my shepherd all my life, to this very day, the Angel who has redeemed me from all harm—may he bless these boys. May they preserve my name and the names of Abraham and Isaac. And may their descendants multiply greatly throughout the earth.”

If you looked up the words “dysfunction” in the Bible, you would find a footnote that said, “See Jacob’s family.” They brought disharmony, envy, rivalry, promiscuity, violence, estrangement to new heights —and that was on a good day. But over time, through some tough lessons, by making some strategic changes, and with God’s help, they turned a corner toward becoming a family of destiny.

Ultimately, God shaped this family into a nation—Israel, his covenant people. From Israel came the law of Moses, Levitical priesthood, the Davidic kingdom, the Messiah—Jesus Christ, and the Judeo-Christian heritage upon which American society was built. And we see how they began to turn that corner here in Genesis 48.

Jacob, now an old man does something for his children and grandchildren that every child wants and needs: He gave them “the blessing.” What do I mean by “the blessing”? Throughout the Bible, patriarchs of families and fathers would pass on “the blessing” to their children. It was a formal cultural occasion and a significant spiritual marker in the life of that child that shaped the rest of their life, even if it was an adult child when they received it. The father’s blessing would affirm the child’s value and give prophetic direction to their future…an impact that would last for generations.

We don’t do that much in our culture, but in truth, every human longs for both approval and prophetic guidance from their parents. Missing out on it leads us on a lifetime search for it in other ways…most of which are non-productive at best, and are destructive at worst.

How? How do you give them the blessing? Here’s what Jacob did—3 things:

First, you bless them by giving them meaningful touch. That is not easy in a culture that’s uneasy with physical contact…even in caring homes where parents, especially dads, tend to quit touching their kids once they reach grade-school. But notice what Jacob did in Genesis 48:10: “So Joseph brought his sons close to Jacob, and his father kissed them and embraced them.” Then, between Genesis 48:10-14, eight times there’s a reference to Jacob physically touching these two boys.

Throughout the Bible, “the blessing” was always accompanied by a meaningful touch. Jesus did this when he took the children in his arms and blessed them. God created us with 5 million touch receptors, and over 1/3 are in our hands. Jesus understood that touch communicates something powerful—that we’re loved and valued. It provides comfort, security, and acceptance.

Second, speak words of encouragement to them. Genesis 48:15 says, “Jacob blessed them and said, ‘May God bless these boys. May they be called by my name and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac, and may they increase greatly upon the earth.”

There’s tremendous power in our words! Mark Twain once said, “I can live for two months on a good compliment.” He may not have realized it, but he was echoing what the Bible teaches: “Death and life are in the power of the tongue…” (Proverbs 18:21) Words of affirmation are powerful communicators of love, acceptance and appreciation. Without them, kids often grow up looking for it in ways that are unhealthy. But not only does withholding encouraging words hurt, we do even more damage by the negative words we use. Rather than shaping positively, critical, angry, negative words shatter emotionally.

Someone has said that it takes 40 positive affirmations to overcome just one word spoken in a hurtful way. We need to be keenly aware of how powerful our words are, and how powerful the absence of words of blessing can be. The people in your life, especially your children, need to regularly hear words that bless them.

Paul said it this way in Ephesians 4:29, “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up, according to their need, that it may benefit those who listen.” You can set the stage for a household of destiny by learning to bless with meaningful touch and encouraging words.

Third, envision a special future for them. You give “the blessing” by helping them to picture an amazing future. We see Jacob doing this in Genesis 48:16,19 “They will be called by the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac…may they greatly increase upon the earth…Manasseh also will develop into a people, and he also will be great. But Ephraim will be even greater and his descendants will enrich nations.” (MSG)

God has engineered every child with the seeds of success—and it’s a parent’s duty to see and prophetically speak that potential into the child’s spirit. Much of what a child needs to reach their potential is an adult who understands God’s thumbprint for them and helps the child understand what that means by picturing it for them. Larry Crabb said, “A vision we give to others of who and what they could become has power when it echoes what the spirit has already spoken into their souls.”

One of the ways you can envision a special future is through word pictures that express high value. Notice Genesis 48:20: “Israel,” he is referring to a time in the future when the nation of Israel, “will use your names to give blessings: May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.” (MSG)

A word-picture expresses a child’s God-given worth in a creative & unforgettable way—and often becomes the prophetic momentum for them to become that vision. Do that for your child. Find a common object, one that they value, and use it to paint a word picture of their special value and their special future. Discern God’s thumbprint for their life and prophetically speak that into their spirit and you’ll provide them with a self-renewing blessing. Touch and encourage your kids, and paint for them a picture a special future—that’s the blessings

And what a gift that is!

Going Deeper: Touch, encourage and envision a future of promise for someone today—especially a child. You will be doing God’s work.

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Leave The Fingerprint Of Blessing In Your World

Blessed To Be A Blessing

Our assignment as believers is not to needlessly annoy the world, it is rather to leave the thumbprint of divine blessing wherever we go. Wherever we are, whatever we do, with whomever we are doing it, our life is to leave a witness to the grace of God in hopes that some will be left with a compelling call to turn to him, and if not, to leave them with compelling evidence of their rejection of that grace.

The Journey// Focus: Genesis 47:7-10

Then Joseph brought his father Jacob in and presented him before Pharaoh. After Jacob blessed Pharaoh, Pharaoh asked him, “How old are you?” And Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The years of my pilgrimage are a hundred and thirty. My years have been few and difficult, and they do not equal the years of the pilgrimage of my fathers.” Then Jacob blessed Pharaoh and went out from his presence.

Jacob blessed Pharoah, who had blessed God’s chosen people.

God’s promise to Abraham is now being fulfilled in the ongoing story of Joseph’s rise from the low ebb of his years in prison to the zenith of political power in Pharaoh’s palace. Through Joseph’s wisdom, clearly a gift from God, all of Egypt has been preserved from famine and Pharaoh has become even more powerful and firmly established in his position. What has happened: God has blessed the earth because of Abraham, and he has blessed those who have blessed the offspring of Abraham. (Genesis 12:1-3)

Nowhere is the divine pronouncement of Abrahamic blessing clearer than here, as the old patriarch, Jacob, is reaching out his hand to bless Pharaoh, who has blessed him. The man who represents the plan of God is offering God’s grace to the man who represents the quintessential enemy of everything God. And that, in a snapshot, pictures the journey of God’s people on Planet Earth.

As believers, we live in a world of paradox: We are strangers and pilgrims in a foreign land. Earth is not our home; we are heaven-bound. Because earth is currently enemy-occupied territory, and we belong to its rightful owner who is wrestling it back to his control, the world hates us. The god of this world wants to destroy us and eliminate the witness we bear of the Creator who seeks to redeem the world he created. To be clear, the world we live in is no friend of God, which means it is no friend to us. Friendship with this world for the believer, we are told by in James, means to be at odds with God. (James 4:4) We are to be in the world, but not of it, Jesus said. (John 17:16)

Yet we are called to be a blessing to the very world that despises us. We are to bless it, not curse it. We are to serve and strive for justice, and be living proof of a loving God to a lost people. The sense we get from Scripture is that our presence in our particular assigned place on the planet ought to leave a redemptive lift among those with whom we live. They ought to be better off because the people of God were among them. They ought to miss us if we were gone—at least the blessing they received because of our presence.

That is the paradox. We will be a blessing…we will be beaten!

The point being that the reaction we get from the world is not within our purview. How they treat us is above our pay grade. We are simply ambassadors for the true King, representing his interest on the planet he longs to reclaim. Now we can accelerate the world’s hatred by acting foolishly, displaying a “Christianity” that is beyond the bounds of Biblical faith, and being generally annoying believers for no good reason—and there are plenty of Christians who do just that. And the world will hate us.

We don’t need to help them along with that. That will hate us even if we are walking as Jesus walked. Our assignment is not to needlessly annoy, it is rather to leave the thumbprint of divine blessing wherever we go. Wherever we go, whatever we do, with whomever we are doing it, our life is to leave a witness to the grace of God in hopes that some will be left with a compelling call to turn to him, and if not, to leave them with undeniable evidence of their rejection of the grace that was offered.

The question is, are you leaving a fingerprint of blessing where God has assigned you—in your home, school, neighborhood or place of work. I hope so! You are a child of Abraham, living out God’s covenant promise to him to bless the whole earth through his seed. Make sure you are sprouting, and producing the fruit of blessing.

Going Deeper: How can you be a blessing to your world, leaving a fingerprint of God where he has placed you? Encourage the people around you. Serve the underserved. Love the unlovable. Show kindness and respect. And preach the gospel—even using your words, if necessary, as Augustine said.