God in the MarketplaceSample

Foundations of Marketplace Ministers: Operating out of the Favour of God

The testimony of Joseph is one of the most exciting and tragic accounts of a child of God who has to learn how to outwork their ministry calling in the context of the marketplace. Joseph in some ways is a poster child for the foundational principle that we have been exploring in this series.

He was somehow able to stay close to God even in the midst of his many trials. The prophetic dreams that he had experienced, whilst being a part of the catalyst for his sufferings, were also a powerful tool to keep him focussed on God's call upon his life. He showed integrity and holiness by the way he served the people that God placed in front of him. He operated in prophetic capacity as he held himself to exemplary standards in his marketplace assignments.

All of this culminated in Potiphar's house as the favour of God undergirded his life to a degree that even a non-believer in the God of Joseph testifies that God must be with this young man.

The assignment of God's favour in our lives is to cause the purposes of God to triumph in our world. I say it this way, God’s favour can never be owned by an individual because the purpose of God's favour is to cause the will of God to come to pass in our lives. As we walk in ever increasing intimacy with God, discovering and aligning to His assignment upon our lives, we learn how to represent God accurately in the spheres that He puts us in and we become attuned to His voice, we can then have great confidence that the favour of God will meet us in such a way that His will is fully accomplished through us.

This is a much better way to live than the hustle and grind that most people tend to give themselves to when they are trying to get ahead in the marketplace. I'm not saying that Christians shouldn't work hard and be diligent, but there's a difference between hard work and toil. To toil is to operate out of the limitation of the sweat of your own energy and within the parameters of your own strength.

The Apostle Paul was no slouch when it came to working either, he just understood that the "x-factor" in his life was not his own strength but the grace and supernatural favour of God in his life

Reflections

• Can you think about a time when the favour of God intervened in your life to such a degree that you realised that it wasn't you just working in your own strength but God undergirding you?

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