The Conclusion

The Conclusion

"Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of
the matter: fear God and keep His commandments"
Ecclesiastes 12:13

We make conclusions every day, about people, about problems we face, about what will happen in the future and many other things. Sometimes our conclusions are right and sometimes they are wrong. Sometimes our conclusions are rash, or premature, made before we have all the facts and then there are the conclusions we make where we leave God out of the equation (big mistake!).

The reason for saying this is that I have come to a conclusion:

God's purposes are not dependent on our environment.

It doesn't matter if we are from a small town in the country or a big city, it doesn't matter if we grew up an only child on a farm or were from a large family in the suburbs, God is the key to our future. The story of Joseph illustrates this. He found himself in prison, wrongly accused by Potiphar's wife, in a foreign country, not exactly the environment for success that anyone would recommend. But God is greater than our environment!!

Joseph found favor with God and man because of the attitude he approached his situation with and he went from being a prisoner to being a ruler in just one day. God's promises in Joseph's life were not dependent on his environment.

It doesn't matter if we are rich or poor. Gideon was from the poorest family in his area, and to make matters worse, he was "the runt of the litter" as The Message Bible words it. But God not only chose him for great things, God strengthened him, anointed him for the purpose He had for his life, and used him to bring deliverance to an entire nation. We have to conclude that God is greater than the family we are from or the size of our church, greater than how we look or the shape of our body. Like Joseph, God's promises in Gideon's life were not dependent on his environment.

We could give examples forever. President Jimmy Carter went from being a peanut farmer in Georgia to the White House. President Franklin D. Roosevelt was permanently paralyzed from the waist down by polio but he didn't let that prevent him from becoming the longest serving president in the history of the United States. You could have looked at his life after the polio struck and made some very wrong conclusions that he would never accomplish much with his life.

My prayer is that, no matter what the circumstances of your life are, you will realize that God is greater than your environment. Your finding fulfillment in life and your accomplishing God's plans, purposes and promises for your life are not dependent on your environment. They are only dependent on the faith you live by and the size of your God!

God Bless,
Pastor Joe
Gateway Church