As you probably know, my purpose writing and speaking has led to a lot of purpose coaching. The purpose coaching led to a lot of creativity coaching, which caused me to start a publishing company last year. If there is one consistent mindset I have encountered through all of this work, it is that most people believe that they need an organization or company to take care of them.
I often hear, "I need a job - any job" so I can make some money." Of course, along with the money is the need for benefits like health insurance and retirement. This need can turn into an obsession, so much so that any deviation from that norm is perceived as the end of the world experience.
My only response to that thinking is the title of today's entry: God may use a company to provide for you, but God doesn't need a company to provide for you.
A TALE OF TWO PHARAOHS
This truth is abundantly clear in the lives of two people, or should I say one person and one nation. Joseph worked for a Pharaoh, who was the head of the most powerful nation on earth at the time. God sent Joseph to work for Pharaoh, so Joseph was working for the government not because he needed the money, but so he could do God's will. His provision was a result of his obedience, and he only owed the allegiance to Pharaoh that God required - nothing more.
Four hundred years later, Joseph's descendants were also working for Pharaoh. These people were not free agents like Joseph had been, but were instead slaves. They saw themselves as slaves and were treated like employees who were simply part of an elaborate public works system. When God tried to remove them from this system, they were so accustomed to it that they wanted to return to it, forgetting or ignoring how dehumanizing and painful their slave experience had been: "We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost—also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic" (Numbers 11:5).
Notice how they rewrote history, for they said their slavery had been at "no cost." There had been great cost. They lost their individuality. They were subjected to inhumane work conditions that included cruelty and death (the ultimate being "fired" from a job). And look at the cost to their thinking - they saw themselves as slaves and considered it the only way to "get by" and survive.
A NEW MINDSET
There is nothing wrong with working for a company, but God can provide for you in other ways, and even provide for you through your own company. You do not possess the last job on earth, and there is a chance that God is stirring you to move on from where you are to something better. Don't allow fear to keep you in the same place, as it did the people who worked for Pharaoh. Remember this: God can use a company to provide for you, but God doesn't need a company to provide for you. With that in mind, seek God's will and don't be afraid if God chooses to provide in some other way than what you have grown accustomed to at this point in your life. Have a blessed week!
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