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“I’ve been obeying you for a while now, why is _______ not happening?” “I’ve been reading my bible for ________, how come this hasn’t changed?” “I’ve been praying, when is ________ going to get better?” We read the Bible and read great stories such as Joseph rising to power in Egypt and come with our expectations to God afterwards and wonder how long it’s going to take for our obedience to produce results like what we just read. This is a solemn reminder that it wasn’t directly from Joseph’s obedience that had Joseph rise to power. God was doing a lot more than rewarding Joseph’s faith-filled obedience (keyword: faith). Why did God reward Joseph in the way he did then? Great question, a hard question that cannot be answered. He could have thought a million other ways to do this because He is God, but chose this way.

Our obedience is due, because our obedience is due (1 John 5:3). Our faith is required, because it has always been required (Heb 11:2) and is impossible to please God without it (Heb 11:6). Joseph’s faith-filled obedience was rewarded because of his faith, just as our faith-filled obedience is rewarded because of our faith (Heb 11:6). But the reward in this life is never spelled out. Joseph’s reward of power in Egypt wasn’t spelled out to Joseph clearly. Your reward for your faith isn’t spelled out in this life either. You aren’t promised material blessings. What you are promised is growth in your spiritual life and becoming like your Savior who was full of faith and endured the cross (Heb 12:2).

Faith-filled obedience for Jesus looked like enduring the cross. Your faith-filled obedience could look like death, but maybe it’s something as simple as changing a dirty diaper, fulfilling the next work assignment, or obeying mom and dad. Are you expecting a reward? If so, what are you expecting? Are your expectations set in the physical or are they set in your savior?