Topic: Faith Faith and a little more Faith
We have touched on two women this week with faith and we are moving on to some men in the bible with crazy faith! God has given us wonderful examples of how to wait on him and trust him. There is no lack in the Lord only in us. God may have given us a word or a dream and it doesn't look like it is going to come to fruition. Know that if God said it he meant it. He just didn't tell us the journey to get there. Often if he did we wouldn't stay the course.
We will jump into a very popular man of faith. He had faith in great difficulty and the Lord blessed him. Joseph went from rags to riches. Joseph's story is touching because he went from rags to riches more than once and never lost his faith.
When Joseph was young he dreamt he would be a ruler and his family would bow down to him. He was naïve in believing that would be well received when he retold the dream. His brothers plotted to kill him after he told them the dream. One of the brothers intervened and sold him into slavery instead of killing him (Gen 37).
We know all too often family can hurt us more than strangers. We have to be careful when God gives us a word to keep it close to us. God gives us discernment to know who and when to share it. Sometimes we are so excited about what God has told us we want to share it with everyone.
Joseph was resold to the king's house. The Lord was with Joseph and everything he touched succeeded. His master saw that the Lord was with him and he promoted him to overseer of his house. His master's wife wanted Joseph to also oversee her as he was a handsome man (Gen 39:6). Joseph refused to give into temptation and sin against God. She was not able to seduce him and decided to cry rape and unjustly punish him. Joseph was sent to jail (Gen 39:7-20).
Joseph was one of his father's favorite son's as he was from his father's favorite wife. He was living a good life and he had a dream. He happily shared his dream which caused jealousy. He was sold by his brothers into slavery and sold again to the king. He did everything right. He was a good servant and he was falsely accused on and sent to jail (Gen 39:1-6, 20-23). At this point some would contemplate suicide. Some would have a pity party. He came from a large family, he had 10 siblings. His siblings tried to kill him, he was forced into slavery then imprisoned. Some of us have been faithful and trusting God and when things begin to look up something pulls us down. In those moments we must hold on to our faith in God. If he said it he meant it!
Once again we see a life where the outcome looks dismal and impossible. He went from slavery to prosperity and was brought down below slavery to a prison. When we have faith we will flourish even in prison. When we believe God it doesn't matter what life throws at us we will be successful. When we keep our eyes planted and focused on Jesus he will bring us out or cause us to shine in even the most desperate circumstances.
God continued to keep Joseph even in prison, eventually placing him in charge of all the prisoners (Gen 39:20-23). Joseph had the ability to interpret dreams. He interpreted the dreams of two prisoners and when one was released and the king needed interpretation of his dreams two years later he remembered Joseph. Joseph informed the king that the interpretation came from God. He informed the king that his dreams meant there would be 7 years of prosperity and 7 years of famine. During the first seven years God gave him a budget on how to manage through the 7 years of famine. He needed a wise man to over see operations for the next 14 years to ensure they would make it through the famine. The king appointed Joseph as the Chief Operating Officer (COO) and the Chief Financial Officer (CFO).
God promoted Joseph to second in command. The king didn't question him about his past, he respected the favor of the Lord upon him and immediately put him into office. Often God has things he wants to get to us but it has to come in the right time. It is not about our timing as God's timing is perfect. Although Joseph's circumstances were difficult it needed to happen. If Joseph would have stayed with his family everyone would have perished during the famine. His brothers plotted to kill him but God saved him and had him sold. As bad as it may seem that his brothers sold him into slavery it was better than being murdered. Joseph was sold to the king as a servant and excelled in his position. He was incarcerated in the kings' prison. He wasn't sent to a prison with all the citizens only the kings prisoners. Again the king could have executed Joseph for allegedly raping his wife.
God placed Joseph in prison for his protection. When a new king or president comes into office they often replace those in position with a new team. Joseph was incarcerated under a different king. While he was in prison God kept him in perfect peace until the new king arrived. Under the first king he was keeper of his house that was his training on operations to prepare him for his COO job years later. He also received further training in prison on managing operations as he was in charge of all the prisoners. This gave him experience with managing the wealthy and the poor. Often we do not see God's plan is perfect. We focus on the injustice instead of the training.
Joseph moved into his position and his brothers were in need of food during the drought. They journey to where Joseph was managing the storehouse in Egypt. Joseph did not hold a grudge he forgave them and sent for his entire family to dwell in the land. The did bow down to him as they did not recognize him (Gen 43:20, 45:8-23, 47:7, 50:16-21). Joseph dream did come true. What God said he meant.
Focus on the training and not on the pain. Whenever God takes us through a storm it is for a purpose. Trust and believe God. Where he is taking us we need the training to be successful in our prosperity. Understand our life is not our own. He didn't promote Joseph for Joseph's sake he promoted him to save a nation. Often we wonder "why me". He chose you because he could trust you. If he chose you and you have to go through the storm, remember its a training ground. Think of it as training for the special forces. They are highly trained seasoned professionals, they are the most versatile Special Operations (SO) soldiers in the world. They go well beyond boot camp. Some of us are only in boot camp and losing faith. God is looking for a team to join his special forces. He is looking for the elite. He is looking for those that know its going to be a long haul and will take up their cross and run the marathon.
Don't lose faith if God said it he meant it. You are just in training!
God Bless you!
Pray
Our father you are the true and living God. We thank you for being a keeper. We repent for losing faith during training. We are renewed. We trust you and we thank you. Keep us during our special forces training. Keep us in your will. In Jesus name we pray. Amen
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