I am always with you.

Matthew 28:20

 

God is always with you.

He has a plan for your life and for your eternity.

Interested to find out what it is?

 

No matter the path your life has taken from birth to today, the bumps, the twists and turns, the pain, or setbacks, God has always been with you. Whether the decisions you made were given to you by God, or you chose to take your own path without God’s help, He will use every step to get you to the point of fulfilling the dream He created you for. Those steps built your character and your testimony that God can use if you say yes to Him. We know He uses all things in your life for your good according to His will for you. He does not waste a word or an action; He turns them all for good. (Romans 8:28)

Let’s see if we can’t help you rediscover the dream that He gave you that has most likely been buried under lots of life happenings and distractions.

 

The best example of a dream from God

I have studied the story of Joseph in the book of Genesis a number of times, it’s one of my top favorite stories in the Bible. Each time I study it, the Holy Spirit teaches me new things I wasn’t ready to see before. If He showed us everything there is to see in a story at once, it would be like drinking from a firehose; it would be too overwhelming. In His grace and mercy, God gives us bite size pieces so that we can chew on them slowly and meditate on what He has taught us. Then the next time in the story, He gives us another bite to chew on. That’s why you don’t want to read the whole Bible just once, you definitely want to have more than just one bite of His goodness. God recommends daily feeding on His Word; Jesus called it our Daily Bread.

While the entire Bible is full of valuable lessons, the story of Joseph seems to have extra “meat on those bones” so to speak, it’s not possible to count all the lessons. That’s because you don’t know what God will teach you each time. He surprises each one of us who study His Word with something different that we need.

Let’s see what the Holy Spirit sparks in you as you read the highlights of this story. I pray that He ignites a fire in you to hunger for all of His Word and develop an unquenchable desire for a deeper relationship with God.

 

Let’s begin with Abraham

Before Joseph came along in God’s perfect plan, God told Abraham early on in Genesis that he would be the father of many nations. He reminded Abraham a number of times that  he would have descendants that would outnumber the stars and the grains of sand. Abraham was about 75 when God told him this, after having him uproot his life and family and move to another country that he didn’t know. That sure took great faith on Abraham’s part. Plus, God kept telling him this while at the same time He was keeping Sarah’s, Abraham’s wife, womb closed. God was testing their faith, but was also working on His perfect timing to bring Isaac into the world.

Sarah got tired of waiting on God to give them a child, and made a plan to “help” God. It did not go as she had hoped and she paid the consequences of “helping” God. He didn’t bless them with Isaac until Abraham was 100 years old and Sarah was 90. We can make plans, but it’s His plans that will prevail. (Matthew 19:21)

He tested Abrahams faith and told him to sacrifice Isaac when he was a young boy. Abraham didn’t understand but he trusted that God had a plan, so he obeyed. God saw his faith and prevented him from sacrificing Isaac, at the last minute He provided a perfect lamb for the sacrifice that day instead.

God didn’t make Abraham sacrifice his son. This was not only a test of faith, it was also a shadow type that He was going to sacrifice His own son, Jesus. God first told us about this in Genesis 3:15.

God then gives Abraham a dream of what would happen to his descendants many years into the future. They would become slaves in Egypt and be afflicted for 400 years, but He already had a plan in place to deliver them out of that slavery, and judge the Egyptians. (Genesis 15:12-14)

 

Joseph has a dream

Abraham’s son Issac had twins with his wife Rebekah, Jacob and Esau. Jacob received the blessing passed down from Abraham, who married and had twelve sons with his four wives. Rachel was his first love, but as tradition demanded, she had to become his second wife; Jacob had to marry her older unmarried sister first. He loved and adored Rachel, but God kept her barren.  This part of the story alone is full of lessons of God humbling both Jacob and Rachel. At the appointed time in God’s Master plan, after ten sons had been born to the other three wives, God opened Rachel’s womb and she was blessed with Joseph. Because Joseph was his son with Rachel, Jacob loved him the most. This made all the other brothers jealous, and they hated him. Rachel had another son later who was named Benjamin by Jacob. She died while giving birth to him.

In his youth, God gives Joseph two separate dreams that he shared with his brothers, and with his father. In both dreams, his family was bowing down to Joseph. This intrigued Jacob, but infuriated his brothers. One day while checking on his brothers as instructed by Jacob, Joseph was tricked by them, abused, and then they sold him to gypsies heading to Egypt. They lied to their father and told him that animals had eaten him. Jacob greatly mourned his loss.

 

How God prepares us to fulfill the dream He gave us

It was all part of God’s plan. Joseph played a role in the dream God gave Abraham so many years before. God gave Joseph his dreams earlier in his life, while also planning all along to prepare Joseph for that role where he would one day be lord over his family. Just like the dreams God gives us early in our life that don’t come with a blueprint to make them happen, Joseph had no idea what fulfilling of that dream would look like.

In every case, with every dream that God gives each of us, being humbled is part of the journey. Just like Abraham was humbled when God asked him to sacrifice Isaac, all God’s children will be humbled; because God loves us. Until we are humbled by God, we cannot fulfill our purpose for Him. It’s when we operate from a humbled state of mind, that we are able to hear Him and follow His instructions.

For Joseph, he was pretty sure of himself as being the favorite son of Jacob. He was a good kid but most likely, like all of us, filled with pride that comes from being sinful human beings, whether we are good people or not. You could imagine him being the favorite child; Jacob spoiled him and even made him a special coat of many colors. He was sporting around in that beautiful coat and everyone in town knew he was Jacob’s favorite. It wasn’t just Joseph that needed to be humbled, all humans will be humbled by God out of His love for us. God must break our pride and bring us to a place of humility so that we are able to become obedient to God. It is in this position of humility that we are able to see the importance of allowing God to lead us in our purpose to fulfill our God-given dream.

 

Finding peace in the process

Scripture tells us that Joseph was desperate for his brothers not to throw him in the pit. Then when they pulled him out, he pleaded for them not to sell him to the gypsies. I can’t imagine how horrible that must have been for him; how helpless he must have felt.

God was with Joseph every step, humbling him, teaching and preparing him. In no time, his talents were recognized and he was placed in the coveted position to handle all the Pharoah’s business affairs. Scripture says that God showed Joseph favor, so he was quickly elevated in stature among the Egyptians. One day when everyone was out of the palace, the wife of the Pharoah tried to entice Joseph to lay with her. He quickly ran away after wiggling out of his coat that was in her grasp. She used his coat as proof he was there as she lied to everyone and told them that he tried to rape her. As a result, the Pharoah throws him in prison. Again, God shows him favor and he was quickly placed in charge of all the prisoners. He was wrongly charged and so badly wanted out of prison, but God chose to use this season to further humble and teach Joseph.

The Pharoah’s Head Butler and Head Baker angered him and they were also thrown in prison. One night they both had a dream that troubled them. God used Joseph to interpret the dreams. He didn’t know he had this gift until God told him to interpret. He told the guys that God would interpret the dream that he was only a man like them. He interprets the dreams, they come true. Both are released from prison. The Butler was put back in his position and the Baker was hanged; as predicted by the dreams.

Joseph begs the Butler to advocate for him with the Pharoah and help him get out of prison since he did nothing to deserve being there. Unfortunately, the Butler got back to work and totally forgot about Joseph until two years later when the Pharoah had a dream that needed interpreting and none of the magicians could do it.

You see it wasn’t the Butler’s fault for forgetting about Joseph. God was not done training, preparing, and humbling Joseph for  the next phase in his story. God had it all planned out in His perfect time; when He would open Rachel’s womb and she would finally conceive Joseph, when Joseph would be sold to Egypt, when he would be in prison, and when he would be ready to rise to power to fulfill the dream that God gave him so many years before. All of it happened right on time, God’s perfect time. Joseph was called up out of prison by the Pharoah, God gave him favor, he interpreted the dream, and the Pharoah promoted him to Governor of Egypt and all the land. This was clearly perfectly planned by God as the Pharoah’s dream was about seven years of plenty and seven years of famine. God wanted Joseph in charge of everything during this time.

Joseph knew his family would bow down to him one day based on the dream but he had no earthly idea it would evolve the way it did. Scripture doesn’t say he wondered how the dream would unfold. It actually never mentioned it again. What scripture focuses on is that God prepared Joseph for that big day. This is a perfect picture for us to see that God allows bad things to happen to good people when He needs to teach and humble us. Consider not assuming that it’s the enemy doing everything that is bad. The enemy can’t do anything that God doesn’t give him permission to do. God is in control, NOT the enemy. Be encouraged knowing that when you are going through something difficult in your life, God is working. Ask Him what He is trying to teach you. It’s a whole attitude shift to look at your pain positively to learn from what He is teaching you through it. You are not alone in your pain, so look to God for comfort and direction as He guides you through the process.

Allow Joseph’s story to be an encouragement to you to trust God to do what He says He will do. That dream He gave you when you were young, was planted there to be fulfilled at a later date. Remember, Abraham found out he would become a father when he was 75 but Isaac wasn’t born until he was 100, God’s perfect timing in the Master plan. Moses was born when baby boys were being murdered by law. He was placed in a basket in the Nile River and discovered by the Pharoah’s daughter, and she adopted him as her own son. Moses was born Hebrew, raised for forty years as Egyptian royalty, then spent forty years in the wilderness after killing an Egyptian – being humbled and comforted by God. Then…God called him to step up and fulfill his purpose and deliver the Israelites from Egypt. King David was anointed as the second king of Israel when he was a kid but it wouldn’t be until he was forty that he was placed by God in that role. David spent all those years in the wilderness, mostly, being humbled and prepared for that calling from God. God knew all the things that would be happening and places people in time where He wants them. God is never surprised by world events. He is in control. Nothing happens without Him allowing it or causing it. 

Choose to be on His team. The team that is lead by your Creator that gave you breath, loves and adores you, and wants you on His team; but out of His love for you gives you a choice to choose Him. He doesn’t force you.

Turn back to God. Repent. Follow Him. Cling to Him. Be patient. Trust His timing. He is working His plan for you that you cannot see. Trust Him.

 

Peace and humility go hand in hand

Just like God had to break and humble Joseph to prepare him for his big role for God, He has to do this with all who He uses. Peace can be found in the process of being humbled. When studying Joseph’s story you have a choice to focus on all the bad things that happened to him, or you can choose to focus on all the good things that came out of the bad things that happened to him.

Joseph was a great example of always taking the “high road.” His story never indicates that he was mad at God or blamed God for his misfortune. Instead Joseph kept looking to God for comfort and guidance. His faithfulness to God allowed Him to show Joseph favor in the most painful moments of his life. Then the day arrives that God says He is ready; it is time to fulfill the dream. It’s time for that old dream to come true. During the famine his siblings and then his father bowed to him as a lord of Egypt as they came to get food. This Joseph was very different from the youthful and boastful Joseph that ran around in his coat of many colors showing everyone he was the favorite. This Joseph that they encountered could have been prideful and punished his brothers for all they had done to him in the past when they came begging for food during the famine. Instead they encountered a humble, God-fearing Joseph that was quick to forgive, love them, and care for them. A shadow-type of what Jesus does for us. God had shaped Joseph into the man God created him to be. Joseph had become a wise, peaceful, loving man that had never stopped loving his family.

• Peace is not the absence of sorrow, it’s the presence of God in your sorrow.
• Humility is a sign of love between you and your Heavenly Father and it brings you amazing peace in, through, and after the process.

Learn to appreciate God’s process and choose to allow Him to prepare you for the role He created you to fill.

 

Your turn

Do you remember the dream God gave you? For me, it wasn’t until my early 50’s before God reminded me of the dream He gave me so many years ago. He had me turn a corner and created a hunger in me for more of Him. To take me deeper into a personal relationship with Him. The more He taught me in His Word, the more I wanted to know. Then one day He said, it’s time to step into the dream I gave you when you were young. The one that had been buried under many layers of pain and life setbacks.

Like Joseph, I’ve had very painful lessons in my life that have shaped me into who I am today. I’ve been in the ”pit” seasons, and I’ve been in the “prison” seasons that shaped my life. God was with me every minute and blessed me with peace in the pain, making it bearable to get through each lesson. Pruning and refining is painful, it’s true, but it’s necessary to get you to where you need to be for the dream that God gave you. If Joseph had still been so prideful, even as a good person, he would never have experienced the dream God had for him. It’s the same for all of us. Be willing to allow God to comfort, care, teach and humble you. He loves you. You will be fine as long as you trust Him and cling to Him.

By the way, did you see God and Jesus in the story of Joseph? Pharoah = God, Joseph = Jesus. Keep that in mind when you study the story. Pharoah isn’t actually God, nor is Joseph really Jesus, they are shadow types of them. You will see these shadow types all throughout the Bible. Another story you can see the shadow type roles are in the Book of Esther. Mordecai = God in the story, and Esther = Jesus. Shadow types of them, not actually them. You can see them in the story and the people. It’s a pretty cool thing the Holy Spirit will show you how they are always with us. 

 

First step!

Before you embark on your path to your God-given dream mission, let’s make sure your heart is right with Jesus. Just to be safe, let’s complete these steps. Your eternity depends on it. Get right with Jesus today and stand on His promises to get you through these next steps for you.

Don’t complicate the process for salvation. Keep it simple.

Do the ABC’s and repent today.

• A: Admit that you are a sinner. (Romans 3:23, Isaiah 64:6, Ephesians 2:8-9)

• B: Believe in your heart that Jesus is the son of God and that He died for your sins and rose from the dead for you. (John 3:16-18, 1Corinthians 15:1-4)

• C: Call on Jesus and repent of your sins and turn back to Him and ask Jesus to show you the way. (Romans 10:9-13, John 14:6)

 

May God bless you and keep you.

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