“In
this way the man grew exceedingly prosperous and came to own large flocks, and
maidservants and menservants, and camels and donkeys.” –
Genesis 30:43
Jacob left his homeland after
suffering a broken relationship with Esau for stealing the family blessing. He
went to work for his uncle Laban where he stayed for 20 years. It came time for
him to leave, but he had no physical assets to show for those years under
Laban. Laban had taken advantage of his nephew in every way. (In some ways,
Jacob was reaping the seed he had sown his entire life as a manipulator and
controller.) Nevertheless, God’s hand was on Jacob, and He had plans to prosper
him. However, Jacob had one problem – he had no resources of his own. For Jacob
to launch out on his own, he would need resources. In those days, resources
often meant large flocks of animals. God gave Jacob a dream that resulted in a
strategy for creating wealth by multiplying his sheep. Even though Laban sought
to thwart Jacob’s efforts, God overcame the evil in Laban to allow Jacob to
prosper.
There are many important
lessons for us in this story. First, when God decides it is time to move you
into a larger place of His calling, He has the ability to provide the resources
you need to support the call. God gave Jacob a dream that resulted in a
strategy never used before to build wealth. It was totally from God’s hand. It
was creative and new. God called Jacob to move out after he had demonstrated
his faithfulness in 20 years of serving Laban. He learned to live under
authority and served Laban faithfully, even though he knew he was being taken
advantage of.
God will do the same for you and me. However, a word of
caution: Be sure the strategy is born from above, and not from self-effort. The
difficulty for most of us workplace believers is to learn the difference
between the strategies born of God versus the strategy of self-effort.
Os Hillman
