Have you ever been told that in order to succeed in life, it’s all about who you know? There is a common belief in our world that those who get the best jobs, the best school opportunities, and the best treatment are those who have the right connections. They know the who’s who of society and benefit greatly from it. And so, when we want to accomplish our goals, we can look around and feel like we have no connections to get us to the places we want to go.
This excuse is common and can feel crippling, but God is the One who set up your destiny, and He wants to see you arrive at it. He can easily take you from anywhere and place you right where you should be to succeed.
We see this in the Bible with Joseph, the son of Jacob. Genesis 37-50 gives an account of his story, where God told him in dreams that he would become great. However, Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery and through unfortunate occurrences, he ended up in prison. It was only through God’s divine direction that Joseph managed to end up before the Pharaoh of all Egypt and become his second in command. You see, if God needs you to know someone to accomplish His will, He will be the One to make it happen. Joseph didn’t know when he was talking to the Pharaoh’s chief butler that he was making the connection that would one day place him in a position of power and wealth. But God did. As we focus on being obedient and loving those God puts in our path, our Father will orchestrate the moments of connection for us.
They may even come from the most unlikely source. Such was the case with Saul’s grandson, Mephibosheth, and David. Now, if you remember, King Saul hated David and spent much of his time as king trying to kill David. In 2 Samuel 3-4, the war between the house of Saul and the house of David resulted in a number of casualties and left Saul’s grandson, Mephibosheth, disabled. I’m sure that like us, Mephibosheth had dreams and goals for his life. But after being left desolate, crippled, and alone, he might have felt that there was no hope. But the truth is that to achieve our purpose, we don’t have to be connected with the ‘right people’ – we only need to be connected with Jesus Christ.
It was King David, of all people, who sought out Mephibosheth to show him kindness. You see, Mephibosheth’s father, Jonathan, was also David’s best friend. And David had promised to treat Jonathan’s family with faithful love (1 Samuel 20:15 NLT). The same way that David looked for Mephibosheth is the way God is looking for us to show us His faithful love, and He will use whoever He can to do it.
David eventually gave Mephibosheth a permanent place at the royal table, and he was again recognised as the son of a king. Just like Mephibosheth, the King of all kings has a better plan for you. King Jesus wants to heal the broken-hearted, lift up the downtrodden, set the addict free, elevate the depressed, open doors for the jobless, provide shelter for the homeless, give joy to the mournful and hope to the hopeless.
God wants to take us out of obscurity and promote us to children of God to be used for His glory. It is not our job to find out how God will connect us to the right people. All we have to do is be obedient and watch Him expertly weave our lives together for His glory.