It seems part of our human nature to want to succeed and do well in life. We see this in our workplaces as people strive for promotion and go to great lengths to 'climb the ladder' in order to create wealth for themselves and improve their personal status. This often comes at the expense of others and means that people neglect God and family in order to be successful.
As followers of Christ, we only need to remember one thing when it comes to our success in the workplace: put God first and remember His promises. Getting things in the right order is so important and just knowing that God is with you even when things seem difficult is a great comfort. Trusting in His promises, even when others treat you wrong and going to Him in prayer about the day to day issues that arise, will allow you to see God at work in ways you wouldn't believe!
Jacob had been working under Laban for many years now and just desperately wanted to go back to the land God had promised his family. As was the pattern, Laban tried to keep him longer to take advantage of the blessing Jacob had brought to his accumulation of wealth:
After Rachel gave birth to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, "Send me on my way so I can go back to my own homeland. Give me my wives and children, for whom I have served you, and I will be on my way. You know how much work I've done for you."
But Laban said to him, "If I have found favor in your eyes, please stay. I have learned by divination that the Lord has blessed me because of you." He added, "Name your wages, and I will pay them."
Jacob said to him, "You know how I have worked for you and how your livestock has fared under my care. The little you had before I came has increased greatly, and the Lord has blessed you wherever I have been. But now, when may I do something for my own household?"
"What shall I give you?" he asked.
"Don't give me anything," Jacob replied. "But if you will do this one thing for me, I will go on tending your flocks and watching over them: Let me go through all your flocks today and remove from them every speckled or spotted sheep, every dark-colored lamb and every spotted or speckled goat. They will be my wages. And my honesty will testify for me in the future, whenever you check on the wages you have paid me. Any goat in my possession that is not speckled or spotted, or any lamb that is not dark-colored, will be considered stolen."
"Agreed," said Laban. "Let it be as you have said."
That same day he removed all the male goats that were streaked or spotted, and all the speckled or spotted female goats (all that had white on them) and all the dark-colored lambs, and he placed them in the care of his sons. Then he put a three-day journey between himself and Jacob, while Jacob continued to tend the rest of Laban's flocks.
Jacob, however, took fresh-cut branches from poplar, almond and plane trees and made white stripes on them by peeling the bark and exposing the white inner wood of the branches. Then he placed the peeled branches in all the watering troughs, so that they would be directly in front of the flocks when they came to drink. When the flocks were in heat and came to drink, they mated in front of the branches. And they bore young that were streaked or speckled or spotted. Jacob set apart the young of the flock by themselves, but made the rest face the streaked and dark-colored animals that belonged to Laban. Thus he made separate flocks for himself and did not put them with Laban's animals. Whenever the stronger females were in heat, Jacob would place the branches in the troughs in front of the animals so they would mate near the branches, but if the animals were weak, he would not place them there. So the weak animals went to Laban and the strong ones to Jacob. In this way the man grew exceedingly prosperous and came to own large flocks, and female and male servants, and camels and donkeys."
Genesis 30: 25 - 43 NIV
It's great to see the way God blessed Jacob in the midst of a difficult situation because of the promises He had made to Jacob in Genesis 28:13-15 and the covenant made to Abraham. Although Laban sought to come out on top in this situation, instead things turned out in Jacob's favour.
It's good for us to reflect on this passage and remember that all blessings come to us from God, not because of anything we have done but because of the covenant God has made with us through Jesus and the promises He has given us in His Word. Jacob trusted God and it seems God gave him insight into how to obtain the best flock. He didn't see the results overnight but in time, it became evident that Jacob was in possession of the strong flock and this created greater wealth for him.
Prosperity came to Jacob while he wasn't making wealth his goal. He worked hard for Laban before his own wealth increased. Note that he first worked hard to increase his employers wealth, which brought him great success in the end.
Prayer:
Heavenly Father,
Thank You for the many promises that are mine in Jesus. Please help me to always put You first in my life, especially in the workplace and to trust You to provide for me as I work diligently. Help me to be focussed on serving You! Thank You for being with me in everything I will do today!
"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving." Colossians 3:23-24 NIV
Today I commit to working with all my heart as if I were working directly for You!
In Jesus' Name and for His glory,
Amen.
"For you are the fountain of life, the light by which we see."
Psalms 36:9 NLT
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Light and Life for Today
SpiritualA daily devotional for your time alone with God. In an increasingly dark world, more than ever, we need to look beyond what we can see, past our present circumstances. In order to see the light and experience life as our Heavenly Father intended, I...
