RESPONSE LEADS TO VICTORY
Psalm 105:19 Until the time that his word came: the word of the Lord tried him.
Sometimes, what other people in our lives do, their decisions or choices that we have no control over, can seem to jeopardize our future, our happiness, our way of living, and even our destiny. How we respond in those situations will determine our future. We must decide not to let anyone derail what God has for us. We must determine to make the best out of every circumstance and every situation. All of us have been put in hard situations that do not look like what God has promised. It doesn’t look like the dream God gave us, just like it was with Joseph. I am sure when he had the first dream, he was so excited. After all, it was a God dream. It wasn’t something he was looking for or asking for; God gave it to him. However, Joseph didn’t know the steps he would go through for those dreams to come to pass. God always promises you the victory. He promises that you will always overcome, but in order to get to the victory and overcome, you first have to go through a battle. You and I would rather not go through the battles of life, but, unfortunately, because we live on the Earth with all these people who make all kinds of crazy choices, we have battles. And just to be fair, you and I have caused a few of those ourselves.
Joseph was out for a walk, an assignment from his father to take something to his brothers, and it started Joseph on a path he never expected; but God knew that this path would one day put Joseph in the very place that his dream would come to pass. How Joseph responded to every situation in his life is documented for us, by the Holy Spirit, as an example of how to respond so your destiny can come to pass. We can get behind the scenes in Joseph’s life and his call in the Psalms where we get this unusual look, so we can better understand what was happening to Joseph and what is happening to us as well. Psalm 105:19 (NLT) says, “Until the time came to fulfill his dreams, the Lord tested Joseph’s character.” Situations come and how we respond to them, especially when they are not our fault, really tells us a lot about who we are and if we will fulfill our destiny.
Joseph was sold into slavery on purpose. His brothers said, “Behold! The dreamer cometh.” They were going to kill him, but his brother, Reuben, saved him. Joseph was then sold to Potiphar. There, Joseph was graced and anointed by God and rose to second in command. The Bible says, “God was with Joseph.” The Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake, and everything Joseph put his hands to was blessed. Potiphar quit watching over his stuff because he trusted Joseph that much. Then, you know what happened? Potiphar’s wife found Joseph attractive, and she tried to seduce him, but he wouldn’t yield to her. Because she was scorned, she lied concerning Joseph and what had happened. Joseph had another chance to respond in a situation that he had no control over, and he ended up in prison.
Looks like he is going backwards, and his dream is being derailed by that vicious woman, but, somehow, it seems Joseph maintained his good attitude and ended up second in command of the prison. There, He responded correctly again. I admire him! While he was in prison, he ended up interpreting dreams. Some might have said to God, “Oh no! No way! Get those dreams out of here,” but not Joseph. He interpreted the dreams and said, “Remember me.” Of course, the one who lived didn’t; not until it was time! The day of fulfillment was at hand! A suddenly! God’s great positioning ability had Joseph in the right place at the right time ready to do the right thing. Then, Joseph interpreted Pharaoh’s dream and, suddenly, Joseph was in position as second in command; the same position he had in Potiphar’s house, in the prison, and now held in Egypt, which put him in position to save his family. The dream was fulfilled. God will fulfill all your dreams too! Just respond like Joseph responded, and you will get to your destiny too!