Last Thursday, the eve of the Encounter Weekend - I went to watch a musical. It had a familiar story line - something I grew up memorising and knowing from Sunday School. But just like movies, musicals too do leave lasting impressions and many thoughts in my head.
Joseph and the amazing technicolour coat brought me back on a journey to Genesis 37. I found it related to me quite personally in my own walk of life. Perhaps, it relates to you too. My lecturer told me today it is important to set out your conclusion clearly right from the very beginning. So, I'm gonna try by sharing my take home point from this story.
Looking at my life and the life of Joseph, we can rest in the promise and comfort that GOD knows the end from the beginning and is able to say to us, DON'T YOU WORRY about that situation you are in right now.Nothing that comes your way other than by the express permission of God.This is ONLY one chapter. I looked at the END of the book and its gonna be OK with you. See, all of us can cleverly say our life is like a book, so let's all be reminded who WRITES and PEN the lines of the book. He knows how it is going to end with us. And its looking good.
Tag line : GOD IS IN CHARGE!
Let's look at Joseph. God’s favour rested on him because God had a purpose. That purpose was ultimately that glory should come to God through Joseph's life. Its a continuing theme if you read Genesis 37 onwards..
And the same for you and I. You glorify God through you- that's God's purpose. It is such a victory because, its got nothing to do with your circumstances or even mistakes you have made but everything to do with your heart - your love for God!
God gives permission for all that happens in our lives. Yes, all on His sovereign permissive will to bring His name glory. He gives permission alright but He never allows the devil to touch us. I've discovered that itnis so important to know that difference!
I’ve recently learnt that God defines the trial. He tells how deep its going to be, how long its going to be and the precise exact nature of it is in His hand. And He wont allow anything to come into our lives unless it will bring blessing to us and bring glory to His holy name.
See I think sometimes for myself, there is this tendency to think and assume what God thinks about me. There is also a tendency to sway towards the externalities of what people think about me. When things go well, we are so convinced that yeah, God loves us and the moment something bad happens to us or when we fall, we think God doesn’t love us anymore. Its amazing how we judge and measure God’s attitude towards us. Does that also go to mean that if things go bad or go wrong, then the devil has the victory?
Only One Truth : GOD IS GOOD ALL THE TIME and HE LOVES
I look into the story of Joseph right from the beginning. He was Jacob’s favourite and blessed Joseph – gave him a rob that signified his sonship – a rob of honour that usually is given to the firstborn son, the son who would inherit everything. Jacob in effect, gave Joseph the high honour accredited to the firstborn. So it all started very well for Joseph...and He was wearing the favour of His father Jacob.
Then let's look at ourselves - we have sonship in Christ. That means, we are carrying and wearing the favour of Christ.
I remember listening to a sermon that says carrying God's favour results in this : God releases something in our lives which shall be the key to our success.
If we learn to wear the favour of God, God will put something in you. We all have different special gifts and anointing. Each of us is unique and our successes are unique to us and to God. It definitely wont be the same as everyone else. HE will give you what He gives you FOR YOU!!
But all of us first need to start with this - it is the gift of dreaming…we are to be DREAMERS!
Joseph was a dreamer – and God put Joseph exactly where He wanted to be.
And for you and me to, it can put us right where God wants us to be. A very good friend of mine challenged me this year that I need to learn to dream again , in fact the challenge was to dream big for God. If you watch Joseph's life repeatedly it was his ability with dreams that took him stage by stage tracing out the hand of Gods favour in his life until God's purpose in His life was fully satisfied.
God’s put a dream in all of our lives. Let us ask the Holy Spirit to activate the dreams that God has placed in the hearts of all of us.
So often when God favour falls and is carried in our lives, we need to guard against jealousy, opposition , persecution, rivalry, rejection etc..Why? Because the evil one is out there devising schemes and plans to kill our dreams. He does whatever it takes to make us give up, lose sight our dreams and just not dream anymore. He tries to shatter our dreams for God. To put it plainly, you are God's dream. I am God's dream. And it is the devil wanting to kill the dream of God - which is us :)
So let's all hold on to our dream and let's be encouraged by Joseph.
The musical was enlightening with its rendition of great songs by Andrew Llyod Webber and Tim Rice but the images I had of Joseph's life when he was that young boy till he became Prime Minister stuck like glue in my head ( of course, I added some of my OWN imagination to that!!)
After he was saved from the pit which his brothers dumped him into, brother Jo was sold into slavery where he was falsely accused and subsequently thrown into prison and then finally forgotten.
I bet Jo's friends around him might have said to him then " You thought you could dream, do something great and all to make a difference...look what is happening to you...Are you sure about that?"
So many people sometimes can be the ones to smash the dreams God is birthing in His people. Even your closest friends or the nicest people around.
William Butler Yeats writes "Tread softly for you tread upon my dreams"
Let us allow God to piece our dreams together again, especially those of us who have had dreams shattered. We can still go MAD - MAKE A DIFFERENCE because God commissions us to! Let us keep God's promises alive in our lives just as Joseph did from that day in the pit - God rescued him.
We all wear the robe of sonship with God. The clothing that God gives us is that of being clothe with power on the inside by the Holy Spirit which is the coat of sonship. And with that all of us carry the favour of God wherever we go. You can be in prision and still be in charge , like Joseph. This is because the greatness that God sows as a seed in your life will come out in due season. It is written in His word.
The time came when God exalted Joseph - he steps into the court of Pharoah, a man who has done his time with God all those years – a man who has practised giving himself in the places where he had to toil and wait. The result - the purposes of God converge in a point of destiny when it all began to make sense. Everything God had planned in raising him up.
I learn something from Joseph : which is to carry God's favour with me all my life.
Somedays I am challenged in my service for God or what I can do for Him. But an overall theme this year in my life has been about the fact that GOD is interested in ME. This means, asking myself not how much I can do to serve you Lord but how much of me would I allow you to have, O Lord?
Grow deep and taking root in that depth in really surrendering to Him. Growing deep in word, prayer and devotion.
Ps Colin Dye said this in church "Never allow your gift to take you where your character cannot keep you." I'm hearing that LOUD & CLEAR, ten times round!
God has a plan for us – to take us and put us through the mill – to develop us, make us strong and right because very few will be able to carry what He asks us to carry ( as much as Joseph did or more)
We serve the same God as Joseph did. We have the same inheritance and if we learn to carry and wear the favour of God whatever circumstance that come our way, one day we will discover we are the right man in the right place at the right time for God's covenant purposes to be fulfilled in us and through us in ways through all our dreaming where we would never dreamt it will be possible.
Without Christ, our lives don’t add up.
Dear God,
I know you are forming me and shaping me for your great dream in my life.
I worship you Jesus. This is my desire. I surrender all, whatever I’ve been through – all I’m going through now – all to you Lord.
Amen.
0 comments:
Post a Comment