Day 62 – Adopt a Learning Posture

Genesis 39:20-23

But while Joseph was there in the prison, the Lord was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favour in the eyes of the prison warden. So the warden put Joseph in charge of all those held in the prison, and he was made responsible for all that was done there. The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph’s care, because the Lord was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did.

At the start of my Gas Street journey, despite some personal difficulties at the time, I decided to volunteer one Sunday a month for the production team. By the end first month I’d already been offered an internship and ended up serving at church at least four times a week. My circumstances hadn’t changed but the opportunities that God had lined up for me within them had increased dramatically and unexpectedly. 

Imagine what it would have been like for Joseph: one moment he heard from God that he was going to be a great leader, the next he found himself in prison, rejected by everyone he knew - even his own family! It would have been very easy to be despondent with the world and with God. But God was close in this time and enabled Joseph to maximise the environment he found himself in. Every moment of opposition is an opportunity for God’s grace. 

Even within prison, Joseph could live out his calling as a leader. He could use his gifting and skillset despite the circumstances he faced; and, crucially, he saw the testing situation as an opportunity to learn. Learning is a great thing - even Jesus liked to learn! (Luke 2:46: ‘They found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.’). Not a single minute on earth is wasted - each moment has a purpose; we just need to find it.

It may feel like life has taken a bit of a knock and we can’t be growing as much within the restrictions that we all now face, but actually this could be the opportunity God’s been waiting on, for us to practice living out our purpose in a more testing environment, in order to escalate our abilities and propel us into our future callings. Let’s be keen to learn and maximise the environment we’re in, to find our purpose in this moment.

Prayer — Father, we want to be like Jesus. We want to be humble enough to sit at the feet of the leaders of our day. We want to listen to those who are wise and ask good questions, just like Jesus did. Today we choose to adopt the same learning posture as Jesus.

James Brumwell & Nick Harding