Business Lessons from the Life of Joseph

“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.” – Deuteronomy 8:2

Are you currently going through the “wilderness”? How are you relying or how have you relied on God through trying times?

Like Joseph, most entrepreneurs are individuals destined for greatness, but not born prepared for it. They are dreamers, oftentimes with an unrealistic view of themselves. Some are arrogant, prideful, and feel as though they are the center of the universe. Their motive for being in business is usually self-centered, based on an internal drive for independence. A common theme for many entrepreneurs is “I want to start a business so that I can be my own boss.” They do not realize that starting a business does not make you a boss but rather a servant. As an entrepreneur you are God’s steward called to serve customers and your employees. Though most Christian entrepreneurs will profess to believe this and even practice it, the wilderness experience allows them to see if they really mean what they say.

Born-again believers who are called of God to carry out a great work must go through the wilderness. You have either gone through your wilderness, are going through it now, or will go through it in the future. However, like Joseph, the wilderness is designed to perfect you and not destroy you. It is designed to bring you into a state of total dependency on God so that He may exalt you and reveal to you the fullness of your destiny. Therefore, do not distain the trials and tests you are going through, will go through, or have gone through. Receive the lessons you can learn from them that will enable you to fulfill God’s plan for your life.

“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. Your garments did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years. You should know in your heart that as a man chastens his son, so the Lord your God chastens you.” – Deuteronomy 8:3-5

Our ultimate destiny is not our business or the job we have; those are mere instruments that God uses to enable us to fulfill our destiny. Our destiny rests in how we are using whatever God has blessed us with to conform to his image and likeness and to be a witness for him in the marketplace. The results should be that more souls come to know Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior through our personal witness and our ministry. I don’t believe the Lord is really concerned with the type of business you start (as long as it’s not environmentally or holistically harmful) or even if you start one. What matters to the Lord is whether or not you have used the talents that he placed under your care profitably, because his instructions are “do business until I come”, for He is coming back.

My prayer for you today is that wherever you end up in life, you will always make sure to have utilized your talents profitably in fulfilled your destiny.