Genesis 37:8
And his brothers said to him, “Shall you indeed reign over us?
Or shall you indeed have dominion over us?”
So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.
When he had the first dream of his assignment for the future, and shared it, the Bible said, his brothers HATED him for this. When The Lord repeated the dream for him in a greater way and saw the sun, moon and eleven stars bowing to him, His father interpreted the dream straight away:
Genesis 37:10
10. So he told it to his father and his brothers; and his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall your mother and I and your brothers indeed come to bow down to the earth before you?”
From thenceward, his persecution and troubles began. The calling and the visions had provoked afflictions, persecutions and troubles. The next verse read that his brothers ENVIED him the more. Then, in verse 18, when they saw him coming to them, the Bible said, they CONSPIRED against him to put him to DEATH, in order just to ABORT THIS DREAM.
They said: “We shall see what will become of his dreams!” Genesis 37:20c
Next, they STRIPPED HIM NAKED and after that, CAST HIM INTO THE PIT, and sat down to eat the food he had probably brought for them. Then, in verse 27, the final move came when they declared: “Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites” And they sold him away to get rid of his visions of future assignment. That was what his vision and calling brought him.
They hated him for his dreams.
They envied him for his dreams.
They conspired against him to abort his visions.
They stripped him naked for his visions
They attempted to even kill him for his Visions.
They sold him away for his visions.
and separated him from his loved ones because of his Visions.
DO YOU KNOW WHAT ALL THESE MEAN? Hatred, Envy, Jealosy, Betrayal, Persecutions, Hunger and thirst all always trail behind Visions and Calling. Visions provoke persecutions and afflictons. When God gives you a calling and vision to fulfill a purpose for Him, be ready to fight for it, because all Hell would be let loose after you. Therefore, to abandon that vision and calling is a bad option.
In I Samuel 25, can you imagine the man anointed by God to lead Israel as the next King after Saul, going about begging for food for him and his group members? That was what happened to David, when he sent his men to go and beg for food from Nabal, the husband of Abigail. He still met with disappointment from the man, whose shepherds his men had helped while with them in the wilderness. Nabal chased David’s men away.
Can you imagine the man anointed and called by God to lead Israel living inside caves with his entire family and the people following him. And the man called by God to rule in Egypt becaming a slave and a prisoner?
Some times ago, when my wife and I came into a terrible financial adversity and everything around us was completely dry. I would go to my wardrobe and begin to search pockets for any long forgotten money. I would search all drawers for whatever amount of money I could get. I became so depressed for this financial lack, that one evening I sat on the verandah of my house, and I began to ask The Lord:
“Have You forgotten all my past financial sacrifices? Have you forgotten all those sacrificial givings and sowings You commanded us to make and we made? Or didn’t You accept our Offerings? You had troubled our spirits to give to people, why can’t You now trouble some people’s spirit to come and give to us? Don’t You answer our Prayers again?” We had so many debts to settle. So many pressing needs to meet, but there was no money to do them.
I was so frustrated and depressed. This was not so long ago. In ministry, there comes a time of mountains and valleys, harvest-times and seed-times, dry and wet seasons: yet, God permits them all.
My wife and I were once traveling out of the country for a programme we were invited for. After passing through the immigration, we came to the Custom Officers who asked us how much money we carry with us on our journey. My wife and I glanced at each other and looked back at the Officer. I said: Fifty dollars. the officers looked at us with a surprise. He would wonder how a couple whom people were greeting left and right would be traveling to US with only $50 in their pocket. We had depended on the food on the plane to sustain us till we got to Dallas.
This is Paul’s submission, about the dynamics of ministry:
Philippians 4:11-13 KJV
[11] Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.
[12] I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.
[13] I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
The Lord who visited the land of Egypt with astounding signs and wonders and did an inexplicable miracle at the Red Sea and brought waters out of the rock for millions in the desert was and still is God of Israel. He transformed Himself to cool pillar of cloud in the day and warm pillar of fire in the night.
He deliberately suppressed the whole of nation to Manna everyday till the Israelites were fed up with that one kind of food. He could give them varieties. He could give them a buffet daily. He could give them Oriental, African, and Continental dishes everyday. He could give them assorted meat and with various fried chicken and roasted fish every day. This Master of the Universe could provide for them cakes, ice-cream, fried rice, salad and turned the water from the rock to sweet fruit wine for them.
Oh! This King of the whole World, who created the world with the words of His mouth could command and a dinning table of Chinese Buffet would appear before the people every day. But, He did not do so.
He supply them only with one type of food every day. Manna. Not for one week or one month. FOR FORTY YEARS. Can you eat Rice alone for one week? Can you eat your best food alone, morning, noon, evening for five days. But God decided to give these people no options of food but only one: Manna. For Forty Years. No option of drink, but Water.
For Forty years. No tea, no Sprite, Coke, Fanta, Maltina. No Five Alive or but Water. For Forty years. It is true, water is good for the body. But is varieties not the spice of life? And why did He chose to do this to His chosen people?
Deuteronomy 8:2-3
2. And you shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.
3. So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which
you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know
that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that
proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.
That is the answer to this puzzle of calling and ministry. He could do it, but did not do it. He made them walk in the wilderness to humble them and test the intents of their heart whether they would keep His words or not. HE ALLOWED THEM TO HUNGER AND THIRST and fed them with only one stable food for those long years to humble them and make them know that you don’t live for comfort and delicacies alone, but by every Word The Lord commands from time to time.
What are you passing through that makes you begin to doubt the call and the visions of the work you have received? That the Lord called you and anointed you for His service does not mean that you will not face a lot of financial lacks at times. That you have answered the call of God into service do not mean you will now begin to have everything easy for you, because you will continually be tested for your faith.
God would not use a man He has not tested and proven. He will not commit into the hand of a man He has not prepared in the furnace of afflictions. No one can graduate from the School of Wilderness. Because even in Canaan Land, there are some dry ground there; though it is the land flowing with milk and honey, but it contains mountains too. No amount of prayers would make you escape from lacks absolutely, there will always be greater visions to accomplish for the Lord. Because, before The Lord would give you Ten Million naira, He must have given you an assignment that would gulp Twenty Million, so that, while thanking Him for the ten million, your face will still be looking up to Him for other supplies. That is the Psychology of Ministry.
Is your heart fainting already because of financial lack in your ministry? Is your heart doubting the call of God because things have not been easy? Are you contemplating dropping this calling and ministry because of a lot of unpaid debts and embarrassing unmet needs? That is part of the game. The first test Satan gave to Jesus was to turn stones to bread. The first test Satan gave to Eve is to taste the fruit. The first challenge that faced the Israelites in the wilderness was what to eat. But, Jesus said in Matthew 6:31-33
31“Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’
32. For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
33. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
If you are planning to drop your ministry dreams and visions, HOLD IT! After every examination is always a celebration and graduation. Have you dropped the calling and faced something else? No! It is like jumping out of the boat into the sea. Get in the boat again.
YOUR CALLING IS YOUR MAIN ESSENCE FOR LIVING…
THE PURPOSE FOR YOUR CREATION…/
THE REASON FOR YOUR EXISTENCE.
Are you passing through some difficult times in ministry? Press on. Joy comes in the morning.
Source: Evang. Mike Bamiloye
Aphorism CITY 