Before God Elevates You, He Prepares You
Good Morning Beloved!
Have you ever wondered why God allows circumstances that seem completely opposite of what He promised?
Let’s consider Joseph for example.
God gave Joseph extraordinary dreams revealing that one day he would rule, Genesis 37:5-10 (AMPC), “Now Joseph had a dream and he told it to his brothers, and they hated him still more. And he said to them, Listen now and hear, I pray you, this dream that I have dreamed: We [brothers] were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and stood upright, and behold, your sheaves stood round about my sheaf and bowed down! His brothers said to him, Shall you indeed reign over us? Or are you going to have us as your subjects and dominate us? And they hated him all the more for his dreams and for what he said. But Joseph dreamed yet another dream and told it to his brothers [also]. He said, See here, I have dreamed again, and behold, [this time not only] eleven stars [but also] the sun and the moon bowed down and did reverence to me! And he told it to his father [as well as] his brethren. But his father rebuked him and said to him, What is the meaning of this dream that you have dreamed? Shall I and your mother and your brothers actually come to bow down ourselves to the earth and do homage to you?”
Then almost immediately, everything seemed to move in the opposite direction.
He was hated by his brothers, thrown into a pit, sold into slavery, falsely accused, and seemingly forgotten in prison.
If Joseph had judged God's faithfulness by his circumstances, he could easily have concluded that God had abandoned him. However nothing could have been further from the truth.
God was never delaying His promise, He was preparing the man who would carry the promise.
Joseph needed to learn humility before authority, integrity when no one was watching, faithfulness in small responsibilities, forgiveness toward those who betrayed him, and complete dependence upon God rather than himself.
The prison became Joseph's classroom, the trials became his training, the waiting became his preparation.
Had God promoted Joseph immediately after giving him the dream, his character may not have been able to sustain the position.
God is never merely interested in where He is taking us, He is equally interested in who we become before we arrive.
That is why preparation almost always comes before promotion.
As Scripture reminds us in Genesis 50:20 (AMPC), "As for you, you thought evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring about that many people should be kept alive, as they are this day."
Joseph eventually discovered that every betrayal, every delay, and every disappointment had been woven together by God into His perfect plan.
Perhaps your life feels more like a prison than a palace today.
Do not mistake God's preparation for God's absence.
If He has given you a promise, He is also preparing you to carry it faithfully.
One day you may look back, just as Joseph did, and realize the trial was never meant to destroy you, it was preparing you for the very purpose God had planned all along.
If You Have Ears To Hear, Then Hear It!
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FINAL QUESTION TODAY: Are you asking God to remove the trial, or are you allowing Him to complete the preparation?
I pray for you all each and every day.
All God's Best!
Karl McKinnie