You know, I get the feeling that Asenath was not just a prize, I think pharaoh wanted Joseph to assimilate to the Egyptian culture as much as possible. After all he was second in command, the Egyptian people needed to be able to trust him. What better way to do that than to have him marry an Egyptian woman. I’m sure it was also part of the plan for Joseph to be associated to an Egyptian family who was well known and respected. Asenath connected Joseph to what would seem to be a rich Egyptian culture. The people he governed would not be able to tell that he was really a foreigner and not one of them.

This idea immediately makes me think about the influence we as women have. It actually reminds me of that line from the movie, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, “The man is the head of the house but the woman is the neck.” It makes me smile and giggle a little bit. I can’t even begin to claim that I know anything about that being that I am seriously single and have never been married. But a woman doesn’t need to be married to have influence. The fact of the matter is that we are all influencers. Either we influence for good or the opposite. We each have a circle of influence. We have an instagram/twitter/facebook following and the amount of followers doesn’t matter because the point is that someone chooses to follow you. Honestly the people you influence the most are probably unrelated to your social media. Whether we like it or not there are people who watch what we do and will follow suit.

I’m reminded of the students I get the chance to lead at The Wave Student Ministry. Yes, many of them follow my social media accounts but I’m reminded on a regular basis that they are watching my actions more than my instagram posts. I’ve experienced first hand how students will follow my behavior during worship or even when I was in the classroom my mood would set the tone. People will follow suit.

I think that Asenath was successful in her influence over Joseph. If you know the story you know that Joseph’s success solely came from God however I think that God blessed his marriage. Even though Asenath wasn’t a Hebrew woman God was able to use her to bring forth fruit in Joseph’s life in the form of two sons.
So the question is, how are we using our influence?
This past Wednesday our youth pastor gave an incredible message on occupying the school hallways in such a way that students transform their schools. He used the story of Zacchaeus from Luke 19:1-10 to connect the way the crowd prevented Zacchaeus from seeing Jesus. He posed the challenge to our students of clear the crowd or get out the way but don’t be part of the crowd.

Now I pose that same challenge to you and myself. Are we part of the crowd? Are we preventing people from seeing Jesus? Or are we clearing the crowd so that Jesus can be seen even by the shortest around us?

Our influence can do that. We can “Live out loud” for Jesus and help others get closer to Christ just by living influential lives on purpose. Living intentionally with the bigger picture in mind. The bottom line is that we are influencers like Asenath. It’s up to us to determine the direction in which we will lead.

My Prayer for You:
Heavenly Father thank you so much for opening our eyes to you. Thank you that there was someone in our lives who we were influenced by and in turn we met you. Thank you for giving us the ability to also be influencers and leaders to those around us. Jesus I ask you to help us  live our lives on purpose. That we may be intentional about living for you. That we may be careful in our decision making, remembering that every decision we make will influence those watching. It will either draw them closer to you or suggest that they can distance themselves from you. Please help us to influence those around us towards you always. I pray that our lives may be a huge arrow that points everyone we encounter in your direction, that they too may meet you and know you. Thank you for your mercy and patience with us as we navigate through this corrupted world. I pray that you may shield us from all the false glitter that constantly tries to distract us. Help us to shine so bright that your light in us may clear the crowds. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Memory Verse: Hebrews 12:1
Hebrews 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us

Thanks so much for checking out this post.
How have you been an influencer lately? Share in the comments below.
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See you next week!
Keep Shining,
SuperStarNat!