GENESIS 45:4-8
I continue to give God thanks for the opportunity to serve, even 25 years after being ordained as a deacon in the Anglican Church. Over the past few years, I have been asked numerous times how I feel about being a clergyman. My response was usually short and simple: “Blessed.” I am grateful.
But blessings come in different kinds and sizes. In actuality, we frequently fail to recognise them. We may still go through hardship even when we are doing everything we believe God wants us to do. Sometimes we are taken aback when God responds differently than we expected or when His timing seems off.
This is evident in Joseph’s life. Humans would assume that God had completely forgotten about them. Joseph suffered for more than ten years. He was abandoned in a pit, bought as a slave, wrongly charged, and wrongfully imprisoned. But when he was elevated to the position of ruler over Egypt and prevented hunger for a large number of people, God’s support for him was finally made clear to everyone (Genesis 37–46). According to C. S. Lewis, “When we lose one blessing, another is most unexpectedly given in its place.”
We each have a reason for being where we are, like Joseph. So do not get discouraged yet! Serve, and keep serving.
▪️🎶It pays to serve Jesus, I speak from my heart;
He’ll always be with us, if we do our part;
There’s naught in this wide world can pleasure afford,
There’s peace and contentment in serving the Lord…
__ EIl G. Christy
