The Shadow Mission - Saturday February 13, 2016
His brothers said to him, "Do you intend to reign over us? Will you actually rule us?" And they hated him all the more because of his dream and what he had said. Genesis 37:8 NIV
I read a book a while back by John Ortberg titled, What is your Shadow Mission? In short, a "shadow mission" is living out our own agenda on our own terms. And Joseph, when he got a dream at the age of 17, didn't have the character, the capacity, and the humility to wisely tell his family about the dream.
Genesis 37 says that Joseph's brothers hated him! He told them his dream and how he was going to rule over them. Even his father Jacob said, "You're going to rule over us?" and scolded him. Joseph didn't know how to share the dream, the call of God on his life.
I remember when I first came to Christ. I led my family to the Lord, but I wasn't very good at knowing how to share my faith. I ended up in an argument with my brother. He told Mom, "Doug has gone crazy. I'm going to go down and straighten him out." He came to see me and got saved shortly after that. I remember also trying to share the Gospel with my mom, and we just ended up in argument after argument. I didn't really have the skill or the character to communicate it well.
Joseph is a young man who has this dream that comes from God. He doesn't know how to communicate it well, and it gets him in trouble. He had a shadow mission; it was selfish ambition, full of pride. John Ortberg goes on to say in his book that "shadow missions" are what we foolishly pursue while the world goes to Hell. But God changed Joseph. He can change you too.
Submitted by:
Doug Brown
Faithwalkers East 2014
Joseph: Heroism in the Moral Choices,
One-Year Reading Plan:
Exodus 35:10-36:38
Matthew 27:32-66
Psalms 34:1-10
Proverbs 9:7-8
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