5Now Joseph had a dream, and he told it to his brothers; and they hated him even more. 6So he said to them, “Please hear this dream which I have dreamed: 7There we were, binding sheaves in the field. Then behold, my sheaf arose and also stood upright; and indeed your sheaves stood all around and bowed down to my sheaf.” 8And his brothers said to him, “Shall you indeed reign over us? Or shall you indeed have dominion over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words. 9Then he dreamed still another dream and told it to his brothers, and said, “Look, I have dreamed another dream. And this time, the sun, the moon, and the eleven stars bowed down to me.”
In our study of Israel and their journey from Egypt to the promised land of Canaan, I have pointed out that Joshua was charged with leading the people into their Godly destiny. Yesterday the Lord led me to define destiny. I believe we are all created with a destiny or purpose from God for our lives. That purpose comes from God and is empowered as well as directed by Him. It is not inevitable as we must make the right choices in life to bring it to pass. If we follow God to the best of our ability, I believe God can and will work with us so that we can accomplish his purpose for our lives. (For a definition of destiny see yesterday’s post.)
For the rest of this week I want to look at an Old Testament story about one of the 12 sons of Jacob, whose name was Joseph. Joseph was given insight into his destiny through two dreams that came from the Lord when he was 17 years old. Since these dreams seemed to indicate that Joseph’s father, mother and brothers were going to bow down and serve him, they were not happy.
It is my opinion that, in his youthful enthusiasm, Joseph interpreted the dreams to mean he would be a great person and his family would exalt him. I imagine his method sharing this with his brothers was less than “sensitive” to their feelings. I think it might be safe to say that Joseph was a cocky, arrogant dreamer. As a reward for his dream, Joseph’s brothers devised a plot to rid themselves of him and make some money in the process.
When Joseph was sent out to the pastures to check on his brothers, they attacked him, took his “special” coat, covered it with blood and threw him into a pit. Though some wanted to simply kill him, there was a caravan nearby headed to Egypt. They decided to sell him into slavery instead. They delivered him to the slave traders, took his coat to their father and told him Joseph was dead.
We all have a destiny in God. However we most often associate that word with “big” things and famous people. However, in the Lord, many people live lives that don’t seem very significant but if we follow God faithfully we will stand before him and he will show us that our faithful service has done many things that changed people and even the course of someone’s history.
Joseph had a dream from God. Joseph was not prepared for the fulfillment of that dream. The next thing he knows he finds himself in a pit. Most of us have been in pits at one time or another. Whether we have had a dream about our destiny or know nothing of what it might be, we can’t imagine how a pit could be part of it. However in the life of Joseph the pit was one step on a long journey that was going to bring him to his destiny.
Joseph did not give up in the pit. It would have been easy for him to just lay down and wait to die. I don’t believe he did. I believe he did the only thing he could do in a pit. He couldn’t climb out. The only ones who could hear him were the ones who put him there, so he couldn’t cry for help. He could only wait in the pit and believe that God would somehow get him out. Destiny, God himself, was watching over Joseph in that pit.
Finally his brothers returned and got him out of the pit. I am sure he was happy to be going home. His brothers “joke” was cruel but it was over. Maybe Joseph learned something in the pit. I believe he did. Deliverance had come but it was not quite what Joseph expected. His brothers did not take him home. They handed him over to foreigners. He was a slave.
Destiny has a way of bringing deliverance to us in some ways we may not want. Joseph had no desire to go to Egypt. He certainly didn’t want to be a slave, but that was where Destiny was taking him. Why? Because Egypt was where he had to be to fulfill God’s purpose for his life. I am sure Joseph would have preferred to get there some other way, but there was no other way. So, at God’s own hand and through the actions of his angry brothers, Destiny takes Joseph to Egypt as a slave.
Once in Egypt he is sold to a man named Potiphar who happened to be a captain of the kings guard. What will Joseph do in Potiphar’s house. Would he sulk and whine about his condition. Would he complain to God about how this was not part of the dream? Would he do just enough work to get by and stay alive? No. Joseph begins to apply himself in his slavery. He does so well that one day Potiphar comes and puts him in charge of his whole household.
Most of us fail because we focus on what we cannot control. We get angry that things are the way we want or need them to be. We wish they were not. We wish things would change. We throw our temper tantrums to God and people around us. When we are finished with all that we find we are still in the same situation and the things we can’t control are still there. Joseph chose a different route.
I don’t know that he understood this, but Destiny was at work in his life. He had no idea why he was in Potiphar’s house, but he chose to do the best he could with what had been placed before him. He paid attention to what he could control and became the best slave Potiphar had ever seen. This lead to his promotion into a position that Joseph would hold again and again. He was head of the house in everything but name. Whatever was done in the house was done at his direction.
This was not a bad way to be a slave, but much more was going on. Destiny was at work moving Joseph to where he needed to be. I want to encourage you to look around you. There are things you can’t control. Complaining, whining and wishing will only make your circumstances worse. Find something you can control. Apply yourself to that and trust that Destiny, the hand of God himself will work to bring to pass what He has for you.
More tomorrow.
Read more about Joseph in Pastor Bill’s book Promotion Comes From the Lord available via E-Mail at http://www.Livingwordgreene.com.
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