This week Mark continued with part 2 of our series ‘Joseph – The Promotable Life’, by relooking at Joseph’s radical life encounters with God’s grace and what it was that made his life promotable.
We read in Genesis 41 about how God helped Joseph to correctly reveal the cupbearer and the baker’s dreams and how despite the cupbearer’s promise to remember Joseph, he forgot, leaving Joseph to remain in jail for another 2 years.
It was only when Pharoah had a dream that no one could decipher, that the cupbearer suddenly remembered Joseph. Joseph didn’t fight for justice when he was forgotten but instead chose to forgive the cupbearer and put his trust in God, thereby allowing time for God to grow his humility.
Before Joseph revealed Pharoah’s dream, we learn that he shaved and changed his clothes. For those of you who have been falsely accused or forgotten, perhaps God is calling you to clean yourself up so you can be ready to walk into the opportunities He has for you.
ARE YOU READY TO STEP INTO GOD’S GRACE?
Joseph admitted he could not interpret Pharoah’s dream but he knew God would give him the meaning. He also had the courage and confidence to offer a plan in response to the dream of the 7 years of abundance and the 7 years of famine, which saved the nation and further advanced his promotion. By choosing to say yes to God at every opportunity and trusting Him with the outcome, instead of questioning or complaining, God saw that Joseph would be remembered and promoted.
To overcome life’s challenges, you need to be humble when using the gifts God has blessed you with. Even when it seems like God’s promises are not coming to fruition, keep your faith and trust that God is always faithful, holding onto hope that your day will come. Only God controls the timing and outcomes of our lives, and when divine appointments come, they will make sense of the delays and confusion.
The model answer to all life’s problems is found in the acknowledgement that you cannot do it on your own. You need to be totally dependent on God and give up all belief that you can do it alone. It was Joseph’s acknowledgement that interpreting the dream was only in God’s power for him to do, that led him from being a prisoner to becoming the Prime Minister. The answer to your anxieties is to fully believe and trust that God WILL do something, and not just that He can.
I CAN NOT DO IT, BUT GOD WILL!
You need to shout this mantra to your debts, your depression, your disease, your desolation and your dead dreams. There are many ‘but God’ verses in the Bible that give us the courage to stand before our giants with the courage to persevere and endure tough times. When you hand over your understanding of your situation, as Joseph did, you can trust that God will always have the last word.
Encouragement and testimonies can only help us so far, but it is the acceptance that we can do nothing on our own without God’s power and strength, that turns us from a victim to a victor. It is time to take your eyes off your problems and start focusing back on God.
In conclusion, we were left with 3 big ideas: –
- Promotion overlaps but is different to blessings
- Promotion comes from God
- God’s got it!
When you place your faith and trust in the living God and settle it in your spirit that He will come through for you, this liberated truth will set you free.