Today we continue our series entitled, “Faith and Patience Volume IV — The Wonder Twins.” We have studied the life of Joseph for months. Today is the last message on Joseph. On Monday we will start a new journey, looking a the life of David. I will close out the series with a final recap on things we learned from Joseph.
(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.
(Ecclesiastes 3:1 ERV)
There is a right time for everything, and everything on earth will happen at the right time.
So what does this mean for you today? A few things.
1. You must learn to be okay with God’s timing.
a) While it is true that every earthly thing you need to complete your divine assignment has already been prepared, it will not manifest before its time. This is why you must develop both patience and discernment. You need the discernment to know when it is God’s timing and the patience to wait until that time comes.
b) If you discover something that God wants to do in your life, and it is clear to you that He has promised to do this thing either FOR YOU or THROUGH YOU, then you may not know WHEN it is going to happen, but you can rest assured that it will happen. You may struggle with the timing of it, but you should never struggle with the fact that it is going to happen. You should always take God at His Word. This series has been about faith and patience. The patience factor deals with God’s timing. You can question the timing, but you should never question the promise!
c) It takes trust to truly wait on God. For you to set your watch of expectation to God’s clock of manifestation, when you don’t have any idea WHEN God is going to do it, it requires faith and trust. You have faith that He will, but you must trust His timing.
2. God can redeem the time that was wasted or stolen.
a) We serve a God who can redeem the time. No matter how old you are and no matter how many years you believe you have lost, if God resurrects a dead dream, He can still make it happen.
b) God can restore to you the time that was lost by your bad decisions or stolen by the decisions of others. Joseph’s father, Jacob spent 20 years working for his father-in-law. Laban had changed his wages 10 times in that span, each time making sure he was getting rich and not Jacob. But God redeemed the time. God gave Jacob and idea, and when he implemented it, he made more money in year 21 than he had made in the previous 20 years combined.
c) There is nothing God can’t do! Open your heart to believe on His level! When it comes time for God to manifest the promise, He will do it in such a way that all the time you lost in the process will be redeemed in an amazing harvest!
3. God never said it would be easy.
a) God’s call on your life is finished. It will not change. You cannot disqualify yourself because you never qualified in the first place. All you can do is accept, believe, embrace, and walk in God’s call because it is His finished work. When you do, you will experience the life you were born to live, and it will be amazing. However, IT WILL NOT BE EASY. God’s FREE call comes at a HIGH COST. That cost is EVERYTHING! Becoming the man/woman God called you to be will literally COST you everything!
b) Joseph gave us the life he had for the life God wanted. It was not easy. He went through hell. But in the end, it was worth it. You will be able to say the same.
4. God uses imperfect people – this means YOU QUALIFY!
a) As you walk with God, you will make mistakes. When you do, the devil will tell you that you disqualified yourself. The good news is that you cannot disqualify yourself from something you never qualified for. Our God in the business of making holy garments from flawed material. That means HE CAN USE YOU!
b) Jacob’s bloodline was not perfect. Abraham made many mistakes while he was attempting to walk with God. He lied about his wife being his sister. His son Isaac made the same lie. Abraham got tired of waiting on God for the promised child, so after 13 years, he slept with his servant and had a son. This caused a rift between his wife and his servant. As a result, he kicked the boy and his mother out of the family. That boy, Ishmael, went on to become the father of Islam. The promised child who was born 12 years later, Isaac, went on to extend the bloodline that would lead to the Israelites. But the issue between the mother of Isaac and the mother of Ishmael has never been resolved. The problem between the Jews and the Muslims started with two women in a tent in the desert, and it will not be resolved until Jesus comes back.
Abraham was not perfect. However, when he mentioned in the New Testament, none of his flaws are brought up. This is how it is with God. Just like you brag about your children and you don’t publicly bring up their shortcomings, God does the same with you as his son/daughter. God loves you so much that He looks past your flaws and uses you anyway. He knew all the mistakes you were going to make, and He called you to His purpose anyway. That, my friends, is called GRACE!
5. God will make it all worth it!
a) In the end, Joseph wound up living a life that far exceeded his wildest dreams. I am already living that way. Growing up as a son of immigrants, living on Welfare, in one of the worst neighborhoods in the United States at the time (Easy New York, Brooklyn), I never thought my life would be anything like it is now. It has not been easy. But it is most certainly well worth it.
b) Anything you give up for God, or any opposition you face because of your purpose, becomes a SEED. God will then see to it that receive a HARVEST on every seed sown!
c) Giving up the life you wanted for a life God is leading you to is scary. If you are anything like me and you like to plan, then you like to be in control. You want to have everything mapped out. But you cannot live by faith and have all the answers at the same time. If you had all the answers, it would not require faith. God is not going to tell you everything upfront. He did not with Joseph. He has not with me. He will not with you. So for you to become the man/woman God called you to be, you have to get comfortable with a certain level of discomfort. You have to be okay with a certain level of mystery. Once you get past the fear of the unknown and you launch out in faith, fully trusting God, you will live a wonderful life, and it will be WELL WORTH IT!
I hope you have enjoyed this series. I know I have.
Declaration of Faith:
Father, I thank You for revealing to me Your plans and purposes. I walk and live by faith. I know it will not be easy. But it will be worth it. You have given me the grace to overcome every obstacle and to hold on long enough to see what You said. So I say what You said, fully believing what You have promised, and I will not allow what I SEE to change what I SAY! No matter what, I live by faith, I have patience, and GREATER IS COMING FOR ME! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
This is Today’s Word. Apply it and prosper!
