Today we continue our series entitled, “Faith and Patience Volume IV — The Wonder Twins”. I am using Joseph as a good example of our need for patience. We are seeking to learn from the different phases of Joseph’s life. Each phase (paternal, pit, Potiphar, prison, and palace/Prime Minister) has significance to this series and to our lives. There are lessons to be learned in every season.
(James 1:2-4 TPT)
2 My fellow believers, when it seems as though you are facing nothing but difficulties see it as an invaluable opportunity to experience the greatest joy that you can!
3 For you know that when your faith is tested it stirs up power within you to endure all things.
4 And then as your endurance grows even stronger it will release perfection into every part of your being until there is nothing missing and nothing lacking.
(Gen 41:14 ERV)
14 So Pharaoh called Joseph from the prison. The guards quickly got Joseph out of prison. Joseph shaved, put on some clean clothes, and went to see Pharaoh.
(Ecc 3:1 ERV)
There is a right time for everything, and everything on earth will happen at the right time.
In our last message, we saw how the butler forgot about Joseph. Today we will deal with the fact that he remembered Joseph, two years later, at just the right time.
So what does this mean for you today? A few things.
1. Setting the stage – God is still working.
By this point in the story, it had been 13 years since Joseph received the dream from God. 13 years of waiting is a long time. Think about it for a moment. 13 years is 156 months. 13 years is 678 weeks. Let that sink in. Today, it is hard for many believers to wait a couple of weeks for God to do something. It had been 678 weeks (or so).
So there he was, running a Federal Penitentiary under the Egyptian Government. After all this time, he was still being prepared for his life’s assignment. Understanding how the prison worked was helping him understand how EGYPT worked!
— Remember, no matter what is going on in your life… God has a PLAN!
— Keep the DREAM before your eyes!
— The DREAM shall come to pass!
— GREATER is coming!
And here is one major nugget to remember while you are waiting on God: “YOU ARE NOT BEING PUNISHED…. YOU ARE BEING PROCESSED!” You are learning things TODAY that you NEED in your TOMORROW!
2. Eventually, your time will come.
When God graced Joseph to interpret a dream for Pharaoh’s butler, and Joseph told him that he was going to get his job back, the butler was supposed to mention Joseph to the king. But he forgot about Joseph!
Two years later Pharaoh himself had a dream: he was standing by the Nile, when out of the river there came up seven fat and healthy cows and they grazed among the reeds. After them, seven ugly and skinny cows came up out of the Nile and stood beside those on the riverbank. All of a sudden, the skinny cows ate the fat cows. Then Pharaoh woke up. He fell asleep again and had a second dream: Seven heads of grain, healthy and good, were growing on a single stalk. After them, seven other heads of grain sprouted – thin and scorched by the east wind. Then the thin heads of grain swallowed up the healthy, full heads. Then Pharaoh woke up again.
The next morning Pharaoh’s mind was so troubled so he sent for all the magicians and wise men of Egypt. The king told them his dreams, but no one could interpret them. This is where the tide shifted for Joseph.
The butler finally remembered Joseph. He said to Pharaoh, “Now I remember what I was supposed to do. When you were angry with me and your baker, you threw us both in prison. While there, one night we both had dreams, and each dream had a different meaning. A young Hebrew, who was a servant of the captain of the guard, was there with us at the time. When we told him our dreams, he explained what each of them meant, and everything happened just as he said it would. I got my job back, and the baker was put to death.” This was Joseph’s big break. Pharaoh sent for Joseph.
The guards wanted to get Joseph out of the prison quickly. But Joseph sensed that this breakthrough had come. He shaved and changed his clothes first. He made himself presentable before coming into the presence of the king.
I will deal with what happening next in a minute. For now, I want to highlight:
— No matter how long it takes, your season of harvest will eventually come.
— There is a “due season” for you. This is the point where your harvest will come “due”. Please do not give up before it does!
— Joseph waited 13 long years, but when it was the right time, his breakthrough came. The same will be said of you if you keep believing!
3. Trust God’s timing.
If the butler would have mentioned Joseph to Pharaoh when he said he would (two years earlier), nothing would have happened. The timing was not right. Although I am sure Joseph did not like waiting for those two extra years, it was in God’s timing for him to wait. When the right time came, it came to pass!
— Know that God’s timing will not always line up with your clock, but His timing is always right!
— There is a time and a season for everything (Ecc 3:1). Things will happen in your life AT JUST THE RIGHT TIME!
— If your watch is not set to God’s clock, meaning that your expectation is not in line with God planned manifestation, you will be frustrated, because you will want things to happen before their time. I have been there more times than I want to remember. But learn to trust God’s timing. His timing is always perfect!
— When it finally happens, you will be able to look back and thank God that it did not happen when you wanted it to happen!
4. Discerning your moment is critical.
Although the people coming to get Joseph were in a hurry, Joseph did not leave without first shaving and changing his clothes. He sensed that this was his opportunity for a breakthrough and he did not approach it unprepared. Never face an opportunity unprepared. Your preparation will show up in your performance!
— You must be READY when it comes time for God’s FAVOR to flow in your life!
— Joseph got ready because he had been waiting for this moment for 13 years!
— Learning to walk with God and be led of His Spirit requires us to learn to discern divine impulses and divine moments. Joseph sensed that this was a divine moment. So he got ready for it. He did not want to look like what he had been through. He did not want the pain of his past (13 long years) to hold him back in the present moment. This is how we are supposed to live. We must be sensitive to the interning leading, to the divine impulses of the Holy Spirit, and to our spiritual instinct. When you sense that God is ready to move, you get ready to receive!
— Living in the Spirit is about living from the inside out. Once you are Born-Again you must shift from natural learning to supernatural discerning, from relying on your intellect to relying on your divine instinct, and from leaning on your education to trusting the revelation you are receiving from God. This how you will discern when your MOMENT comes. When you discern it, get ready to RECEIVE because God is about to RELEASE!
GREATER IS COMING!
That is enough for today.
Declaration of Faith:
Father, I trust You and Your timing. I know You will give me the opportunities I desire and they will come at just the right time. When You do, when You open doors for me that no man can close, I declare that I will walk through the doors prepared. Prepared blessings come to prepared people. I will do my part. I will pray, study, read, learn, and dress the part. I know You will do Your part by releasing the favor I need with the people I stand before. My preparation will show up in my performance. Your grace is on me to succeed. When I discern my MOMENT, I open my heart to RECEIVE, because I know You are read to RELEASE! GREATER IS COMING FOR ME! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
This is Today’s Word. Apply it and prosper!
