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.
(Ecc 3:1 ERV)
There is a right time for everything, and everything on earth will happen at the right time.
(Gen 41:41 MSG)
So Pharaoh commissioned Joseph: “I’m putting you in charge of the entire country of Egypt.”
So what does this mean for you today? A few things.
1. Setting the stage.
Yesterday we left off with Joseph being sure that God would provide Pharaoh the interpretation of the dreams through him. Let’s pick up the story from there.
Joseph said to Pharaoh, “Both of these dreams have the same meaning. God is telling you what will happen soon. The seven good cows and the seven good heads of grain are seven good years. And the seven thin, sick-looking cows and the seven thin heads of grain mean that there will be seven years of famine in this area. These seven bad years will come after the seven good years. God has shown you what will happen soon. He will make these things happen just as I told you. For seven years there will be plenty of food in Egypt. But then there will be seven years of hunger. It will be so bad that people will forget how much food there had been in Egypt before. This famine will ruin the country.
Pharaoh, you had two dreams about the same thing. That means God wanted to show you that he really will make this happen, and he will make it happen soon! So, Pharaoh, you should choose a wise, intelligent man and put him in charge of Egypt. Then you should choose other men to collect food from the people. During the seven good years, the people must give them one-fifth of all the food they grow. In this way, these men will collect all the food during the seven good years and store it in the cities until it is needed. Pharaoh, this food will be under your control. Then during the seven years of hunger, there will be food for the country of Egypt. And Egypt will not be destroyed by the famine.”
This seemed like a very good plan to Pharaoh. All his officials agreed. Then Pharaoh told them, “I don’t think we can find anyone better than Joseph to take this job! God’s Spirit is in him. God has made him wise!” So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “God showed these things to you, so you must be the wisest man. I will put you in charge of my country, and the people will obey all your commands. I will be the only one more powerful than you. I’m putting you in charge of the entire country of Egypt.”
Joseph woke up that day a prisoner. He went to sleep as the second in command of the nation!
2. God can give you wisdom.
a) Pharaoh had access to some of the most educated people in the entire world at the time, but he wound up saying that no one he had was as qualified as Joseph. Why? Because the wisdom of God was flowing through Joseph.
b) God can give you wisdom that far exceeds your education and experience. Joseph had no previous knowledge of what he said to the king. Honestly, he was not the one saying it. He provided the mouth and the voice, but God provided the words. I have been there many times.
c) God can give you insight, wisdom, and revelation from heaven to address the challenges of any given situation. Your education has nothing to do with it. Your experience (or past performance) has nothing to do with it. God can give you a download from heaven, with clear a plan concerning what you are facing, that is so beyond you that when you say it in the meeting like Joseph did, you will be just as amazed by the words coming out of your mouth as everyone else is. They don’t know it, but you need to write it down too. The words came out of your mouth, but you never heard them before. The ideas flowed through your lips, but the ideas were news to you. This is when you really know you are being used by God. This is when you truly understand that you are simply a vehicle, a channel, an instrument of God’s glory on this planet!
d) God gave Joseph a detailed plan. That plan was used to help Egypt, but it also led to his promotion. The same can happen for you. God can give you a plan directly from Him. The plan will help advance your business and since you were the one who communicated it, it will cause you to get promoted/advanced in the process.
3. God can give you favor.
a) Pharaoh made his statements about Joseph after only knowing him for a few minutes. Pharaoh did not make it to his position by making poor decisions. He was obviously a wise man and a wise man would not have put Joseph in charge of the entire nation after just meeting him, but the favor of God will cause people to bless you without them even knowing why they are doing it.
b) Favor can do more in a minute than labor can do in a lifetime. Favor can cause you to receive, by grace (unearned, unmerited, undeserved), what you could have never earned, by work. As a Hebrew slave living in Egypt, locked up in prison, Joseph could have NEVER worked his way up to Prime Minister. It would have been impossible. But what is impossible with man is more than possible with God.
c) One move of God can change your life forever. All God has to do is move ONE PIECE on the chessboard and your life will never be the same. So don’t worry, GREATER IS COMING!
d) When God does move that piece on the chessboard and you skyrocket your way up to success, people will say it happened overnight. People will call you an overnight success like they could have with Joseph. The problem is, those people were not there when Joseph was in the PIT. They were not there when he was a slave in POTIPHAR’s house. They were not there all those years in PRISON. While it is true that it happened for Joseph in ONE DAY, it also took him 13 years to get to that point. People will see your glory, but they won’t know your story! It takes faith and patience to hold on long enough to see your breakthrough!
4. God requires your faith.
a) None of this would have happened if Joseph would have been scared. Fear is an incapacitating force. Fear cancels faith and faith cancels fear.
b) None of this would have happened if Joseph had not opened his heart to God’s best.
c) Maybe it’s been a long time for you like it was for Joseph. Maybe you have been waiting longer than you want to talk about. But please don’t allow yourself to develop spiritual amnesia. Don’t allow the pain of your today to cause you to miss your chance when the door opens for your tomorrow. When God opens the door He will do it by grace. But when you walk through it, He will be looking for your faith! If you provide the faith, you will experience God’s favor!
That is enough for today.
Declaration of Faith:
Father, You said that if anyone lacks wisdom to ask You for it. I declare that Your wisdom flows through my life daily. I have the wisdom to make the most of every meeting, conversation, and all the activity I will engage in today. You give me divine insight. You also give me favor with key people. You raise up people who use their power, their ability, their influence, and their money, to help me in ways I cannot help myself; even when they don’t know why they are doing it. I release my faith to bring these things to pass. My faith agrees, on earth, with Your plans, in heaven. Therefore, I experience heaven on earth! GREATER IS COMING FOR ME! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
This is Today’s Word. Apply it and prosper!
