Do you ever feel like Joseph while he was in the pit? (Read the story of Joseph in Genesis 37). If you recall, Joseph, the favored son of Jacob had a dream when he was young. In his dream, his father and brother kneeled down before him. Of course, his father and brothers were not pleased with his dream, despite the fact that in time his dream would come true.
Joseph had a gift from God in the form of interpreting dreams. Joseph did not know how or when God would use him and his gift but he knew he would be used. Like Joseph, God has given us spiritual gifts, talents, abilities, dreams, visions and hints of what we are to do and become for his purpose. We believe that the timing and journey will be short and get excited and share with others. What we do not expect is to travel a road of waiting, suffering, struggling, confusion, and silence in the process of reaching that purpose and fulfilling what God has whispered to us.
Joseph eventually became the second only to the Pharaoh in the land and was the one chosen by God to save Egypt from famine and begin the nation of Israel. His brothers and father did indeed bow down before him and their lives and personalities were changed because of Joseph.Â
However, before all that took place, Joseph was thrown into a pit to die, was sold into slavery, falsely accused by Potiphar’s wife and was thrown into prison. Although he correctly interpreted the dreams of the baker and butler and asked to be remembered, he remained in prison for another two years. God gave Joseph a dream but the dream was not fulfilled until thirteen years later.
Do you ever feel like you are in the pit (prison) like Joseph? God has given you hints, you have strong feelings and desires regarding what you want to do but it seems as though you are stuck in a prison of waiting, confusion, God’s silence on the matter and a lack of direction? You simply want to please God and do those things that bring joy to your heart but don’t understand why it is taking so long. Sometimes I have even been so bold as to say, “Lord, help me to help you. Show me some direction so I can take the next step!” I’m sure God is still laughing about that statement. The feeling is real and we don’t understand why.
I used to feel so bad for Joseph and thought that his gifts were just being wasted away in a holding pattern, now I know different. I would imagine that if we could ask Joseph what the most productive time and the period where he grew most in wisdom and faith in his life, he would say while he was in prison and his time of struggles. He would say that because his time in prison was not wasted in the least. He was being beautifully prepared by God’s own hand. Even in prison, God showed him favor and he was made captain over the prisoners while he used his gift to help others in the daily purposes and plan of God.
Maybe you are in that place where you feel like you are in that pit. You desire answers and find the harder you try the less you know. Maybe you are striving to find your purpose while God is desperately trying to help you understand that you were created for HIS purpose and only he knows the timing, plan and what needs to happen in your life to get you to that point.Â
Perhaps you are feeling that because of his silence, you have failed, done something wrong, missed him or are on the wrong path. I can say with certainty that unless you are acting in known sin, you have not done anything wrong. It is impossible to fail God because he knows everything before we do it. Remember, it is impossible to miss him or get on the wrong path. He is God and even in our left turn, he already had a plan in place down the road to get us back to the right turn. We cannot miss a purpose he has specifically created us for. We will not leave this Earth until His purpose is completed.
Be encouraged. Our “pits” are not punishments but God’s loving way of preparing us for those dreams, visions and his purpose that is grander than anything we can imagine. His silence is a test of our obedience and trust of what we will do. Either we will believe and trust him in spite of what we see or we will try to control the situation and like Joseph remain in the pit for a bit longer until we submit to his will. Everything God allows in our lives is for a purpose, to teach or help us unlearn something and to reveal something about whom he is.
Romans 8:28-29, “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren.”
You can do this!Â
As always, if you have questions, comments, suggestions on topic areas or would like to share some of your story, please email me at charlotte@charlottehunt.com. I would love to hear from you.
Take care,
Charlotte
Dream Madly, Pursue Wildly, Trust Completely tm
Copyright © 2015 by Charlotte D. Hunt All rights reserved. No part of this material may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted in any form or by any means – electronic, mechanical, photocopy, or otherwise without written permission from the author except for brief quotations in printed reviews.
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