Weekly Devotion: Subduing our environment through faith and perseverance

By Chan Chong Yew
God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” Genesis 1:28
 
Two countries residing side by side on the Korean peninsular, yet with two very different agricultural and economic conditions. During one year, South Korea had a surplus of 1.4 million tons of rice after meeting their domestic needs. That amount was exactly what their famine struck northern neighbor was short of in that very same year. The surplus of the south actually fulfilled the shortage of the north. The consistently low crop yields of the north according to an internal minister were due to factors including cold damage and famine. The question remains as to why two adjacent territories have such drastic differences in weather and agricultural conditions. The South Koreans were consistently outpacing their northern neighbor not only in their agricultural sector but in all other sectors of their economy including electronics and financial services. The reason is that the South Koreans recognized the authority of God as some 20% of their population are Christians. They believed that the authority of God to subdue and rule over the environment is theirs through faith in Jesus Christ. In Christ, believers are given the power to break the curse of poverty over their environment. Once the curse is broken, prosperity and abundance will abound through the work of boldness and perseverance.

In the verse above, God has given mankind the mandate and authority to be fruitful and multiply across the face of the earth. In other words, to create, to build, to fulfill our wildest dreams. The process includes subduing the environment and ruling over every living thing on the earth, in the sea and sky. God had made the environment such that it must first be subdued by us before it could work for us. The living things have to be ruled over before it could cooperate with mankind. The horses of the wild have to be tamed before any man could ride on it. However, because of the sin of Adam, a curse descended over the earth making it impossible to be governed. Hence, before the environment could work in man's favor, it must first be subdued by breaking the curse over it.

Sin invokes the curse of poverty and robs mankind of the authority that he needs to subdue and rule over the environment. On the day that Adam rebelled against God's laws, God said, "Cursed is the ground because of you; In toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you… By the sweat of your face you will eat bread, till you return to the ground," Genesis 2:17-19. Our sins and the sins of our forefathers resulted in a curse that descent upon our environment. God removed the curse by placing it upon His Son Jesus resulting in His death and suffering. Galatians 3:13-14 said, "Christ redeemed us from the curse that came from sin, having become a curse for us... in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the people of all nations through faith." The curse that originated from Adam's disobedience have been rendered ineffective through Christ's work and will no longer hinder God's people. How could we receive this blessing? By repentance and faith.

Repentance is about making a decision to turn away from the unrighteous deeds that first plagued Adam and walk in the ways of righteousness. Repentance does not mean one will never sin again for we are still a work in progress. Repentance is a sincere desire to turn away from evil to worship God and to love Him forever. Repentance is a mindset that continuously seeks to walk in righteousness. Faith is to agree that Jesus' work on the cross is sufficient and immediately effective in breaking the curses over my territory. Faith expresses itself in diligence and perseverance in the midst of challenges until breakthrough comes.

Our economic and business environment may seem hard and unyielding because of unrighteous dealings. Those who engaged in evil practices are falling into a curse themselves even though they may prosper for a while. As God's people persevere in righteousness and diligence, it will just be a matter of time that all things will work in our favor. The bible said in Proverbs 13:22b said, "And the wealth of the sinner is stored up for the righteous." Do not give up! For in due time, we will reap a bountiful harvest in our work.