But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth
Exodus 9:16
The above verse was God speaking through Moses to Pharaoh. Pharaoh was a king who treated God’s people brutally while keeping them in bondage in Egypt. And every means to appeal to him to let the Israelites go seemed to fall on deaf ears.
So reading the above verse recently was interesting to me as well as it is a reminder for me. Reminder of God’s word in Proverbs 16:4 – “that He has has made everything for His own purposes, even the wicked for a day of disaster”.
I find it very interesting that God said that He had raised Pharaoh for His own purpose although this purpose didn’t look beautiful in the eyes of the Israelites. They could as well have things the easy way and just break free from bondage immediately but God is God and His wisdom is way beyond our comprehension . Moreso, it may almost be natural for us to think that God has no absolute plans for a man as merciless as the king. The Israelites most definitely looked at the man as a wicked, brutal and heartless man. Well, he was! But he was a vessel(not unto honor) in God’s hands used to show to us the great wonders God is capable of doing.
Because of the Israelites ordeal with Pharoah, we learned about the great God who :
- Has the power to speak and do wonders through a stutterer, Moses.
- Has the power to divinely exempt His children from evil – God plagued the whole of Egypt multiple times but yet shielded His own children from the plagues who were in that same country.
- Has the power to divide seas e.g the red sea for His own to walk through while others perish in the same sea.
This verse(Exodus 9:16) got me thinking of seasons in my life and how God had raised and would still raise men and women both good and bad for specific purposes in my life with the ultimate purpose that His name may be glorified in my life.
This same way God had a purpose for Joseph’s brothers who sold him to slavery. That ordeal reveals to us that God can make man king even though he is a foreigner in a country and there are absolutely no boundaries where God is concerned. It was also great to see that Joseph recognized this as well. When his brothers finally got around to apologize to him for all their wrongs, he said to them that, “God had sent him ahead to save the world from famine” – Genesis 47:7-9
Still the same way God allowed the pharisees and co. to persecute, betray and crucify our dear Jesus Christ on the cross. God had a purpose for all of them, He used His hidden wisdom to confuse the devil by allowing everything play out the way it did. Because if the devil had known the whole plan of salvation, he definitely would have tried his hardest to stop Jesus from being crucified on the cross.
And the list of believers going through moments of hardship goes on till the end of day. Therefore, with that said, I believe children of God : men and women who have repented of their old ways and confess that Jesus Christ is lord should live our lives with the knowledge that, every single thing works together for our good who have been called unto His purpose. – Romans 8:28
Therefore as we discern & live our purpose here on earth, we should also learn to discern the seasons in our lives, and the things God allow to happen to us in those seasons and their purposes for our lives.
I believe that if we are able to discern that certain people who may have hurt us or did not help us when we needed them the most was all part of God’s plan. All part of God’s plan to reveal Himself to us in diverse dimensions, all part of God’s plan to train us to completely rely on Him always. All part of God’s plan to show us how fallible man is
This way we would be able to live better christian lives without grudges against anybody. For example, Joseph recognizing that it was all God’s plan for Him to go through all that He went through, made it easy for him to forgive his brothers.
Furthermore, I am almost sure that Joseph lived void of bitterness or anger towards his brothers. This is what recognizing the purposes of people and things in our lives does. For example when I know that God allowed me face rejection somewhere in order to protect me from future damages, chances are that I would move on from that rejection quickly and get rid of any form of bitterness.
I pray that the good Lord helps us to discern the purposes of things and people in our lives so that we can live healthy Christian lives while we fulfill purpose in Jesus name.
Amen! Praise to our all-wise and all-knowing God.