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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 41:53-55 ERV)
53 For seven years people had all the food they needed, but those years ended.
54 Then the seven years of hunger began, just as Joseph had said. No food grew anywhere in any of the countries in that area. But in Egypt people had plenty to eat because Joseph had stored the grain.
55 The famine began, and the people cried to Pharaoh for food. Pharaoh said to the Egyptian people, “Go ask Joseph what to do.”
So what does this mean for you today? A few things.
1. God’s Timing Is Always Perfect!
If you have been following this series, you have been reading Ecclesiastes 3:1 every day. It is a reminder that things are going to happen at just the right time. As much as Joseph did not like staying in prison for years, if he had met Pharaoh at any other time along the way, he may not have received the response from Pharaoh that he did.
Joseph was WHERE He was supposed to be WHEN he was supposed to be there. God knew the famine was coming and He made a way for Joseph to stand before Pharaoh at just the right time.
The thing you have been waiting for may be delayed, in your mind, but believe me, it will happen at just the right time. God is working, even when it does not seem like He is working. He is lining up things for you, and when all the stars align, you will walk into your season of blessing with everything in place, just like Joesph did!
Hold on! Greater is coming!
2. God has been to your future and He reveals it in glimpses.
God is capable of giving you a divine insight concerning the things to come because He already knows what is going to happen. He has already been your future. He has already seen it play out. So while it is future to you, It is past-tense to Him.
Allow me to explain. Let’s say a magician has something concealed behind a curtain and he wants to reveal it to you. When he pulls the curtain back, the object is revealed and you are able to see it. But the act of pulling the curtain back did not make the object appear. It was already there. It was just concealed from and when the curtain was pulled back, it was revealed to you. This is how it is with God and our future.
When God reveals something to you — as He did with Joseph and the impending famine — God is not revealing something that MAY happen. He is simply pulling back the curtain so you can see what it ACTUALLY there, in your future, waiting for you. While the thing God is revealing has not happened yet, in time, for Him, in eternity, it’s already done. For Him, it is past tense.
Now let’s tie all of this to Joseph and to our lives:
— God will reveal to you, what He already prepared for you, and what He has already seen play out before Him like a movie.
— For Him, it is already done. For you, who are living in time, it has not happened yet and it will only happen at just the right time.
— If God revealed everything to you, you would not need faith and you would not rely on Him. So what God does is reveal glimpses. He does not give you all the answers, He gives you portions and He reveals the rest AS YOU GO.
— This puts you in a position to operate in faith on two levels. 1) You must have the faith to believe what God revealed, and believe that it is already done. 2) You must have the faith to make decisions TODAY based on what He revealed to you about your TOMORROW, knowing that the rest will be given to you when you need it.
— When you walk in divine revelation from God, you have an advantage over those who do not. The revelation God provided Joseph gave Egypt an advantage. They were the ONLY nation with grain during the 7 years of famine. God will do the same for you. He will speak to you and when you walk in what He reveals, you will have the advantage in this world!
This is the life of faith.
3. When you walk in divine wisdom, you become indispensable.
When Pharaoh did not know what his dreams meant, he asked Joseph. Joseph received the answers from God and he shared them with the King. The King, in turn, promoted Joseph.
When the seven years of plenty were over, the famine started, just as Joseph said it would. Joseph was not surprised, because he knew that God knew what He was talking about. For God, it was already done. For them, it was just a matter of time.
When the famine started, no one had food. No one in Egypt and no one in the surrounding area. But Egypt was prepared, because God had revealed the future to Joseph and Egypt, as a nation, had the advantage.
When people came to Pharaoh, crying for food, He did not answer them. He said, “Go ask Joseph what to do.” A few years earlier Joseph was a slave and a prisoner. Now he was the Prime Minister of Egypt and he was the man with all the answers. He was indispensable.
Here are some final takeaways as you head into the weekend:
— Be patient, what you are going through is actually preparing you.
— The experiences you are having today are preparing you to walk in the fulness of your assignment.
— If Joseph had skipped any steps he would not have been ready.
— Remember, God is not punishing you, He is preparing you. You are being processed for your purpose.
— When that time comes, you will be able to walk in the fulness of your assignment and God will make you indispensable to your organization. When people go to your boss, he/she will send them straight to you. Why? Because you are the man/woman with all the answers. You are the one who is walking in the wisdom of God. God has prepared you FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS!
Greater is coming!
Declaration of Faith:
Father, I am THE ANSWER because You give me the answers. You reveal to me what I need to know when I need to know it. This enables me to walk in supernatural wisdom. This also gives me and my organization an advantage over our competitors. When people come looking for answers to hard problems they are redirected to me because You have made me THE ANSWER to the challenges of this present age. I am indispensable to my organization and I know that GREATER IS COMING FOR ME! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
This is Today’s Word. Apply it and prosper!
