The life of Joseph exemplified living a scripted life to the
highest degree. Joseph was granted the opportunity to glimpse at his divine
script through a dream. And in keeping with His definitive pattern of revealing
His plans and purposes to man, God showed Joseph the end of his script from the
very beginning, but was silent on the strategy, plans of execution and its
ultimate natural actualization. Joseph deduced
from the dream that one day his brothers and mother and father would bow to him
but was absolutely clueless on how it would all come about!
“Joseph had a dream, and when he told
his brothers, they hated him all the more. He said to them, ‘listen to this
dream I had: we were binding sheaves of corn out in the field when suddenly my
sheaf rose and stood upright while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed
down to it...then he had another dream, and told it to his brothers. ‘Listen he
said, I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were
bowing to me” –Genesis 37:5-9 NIV
A
summation of Joseph’s entire life script was imparted in a moment through the
dream. There was great exhilaration and joy unleashed as he regurgitated the dream to his
family, but unbeknown to Joseph, even though heaven may have revealed the finished
plan for his life, his part in performing and enduring the
natural process of manifesting the script on earth was just beginning! There are four major natural processes that
Joseph went through that qualified him for the total manifestation of God’s
intention, which is a typical pattern for anyone who strongly desires to live a
scripted life like Joseph!
1.
The Pit
Straight after the high-spirited and animated
proclamation of the dream to his family, Joseph now found himself in the bottom
of a pit because of the murderous conspiracy his brothers hatched due to envy and
jealousy over the young dreamer. The pit typified a season of darkness,
emptiness, lack of heaven’s dew (water), confusion and disorientation that many
Christians encounter immediately after their most profound encounters with God.
Many would anticipate quitting and still
a large number would abandon their pursuit of God altogether because of the vast
spiritual, emotional and natural contradictions that take place between the exuberant
experience of the dream and the pit. One moment they are on cloud nine telling
everyone about what God has promised them.
The next, they are in a pit, dark and empty without water! We need to
learn from Joseph that the pit is a normal part of our process. We are not to
make permanent dwellings out of our pit moments but see it merely as a means to
a greater end, a stepping stone into our glorious future!
“And they
took him and cast him into a pit. And the pit was empty and there was no water”
–Genesis
47:24 NKJV
2.
Sold as a Slave
From the pit God permitted the next scene of Joseph’s
script to come into play by allowing him to be sold as a slave to the
Ishmaelites .
“The
Midianite traders passed by; so the brothers pulled Joseph up and lifted him
out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver.
And they took Joseph to Egypt”
–Genesis 37:28 NKJV
But before this slave trade deal, his brothers had
purposed in their hearts to kill Joseph (Genesis 37:20) but Rueben intervened!
An important note to remember is; death cannot touch you no matter how near it
may come and how deadly the intention may be if you are in the centre God’s
plan. Even in your most confused state in His will, God will protect you from
the fowler’s snares!
So what does being sold as a slave mean? For Joseph it
would have been the worst moment of betrayal, rejection and abandonment
especially when it was your own relatives trading you for money to foreigners! The
Ishmaelites symbolize one of the archenemies of Israel and Joseph was played
into their hands by his brothers. But even his foe to whom he was sold, was instrumental
in bringing Joseph closer to the place where the dream would fully materialize—Egypt!
Those who are hungry for the scripted life must not
fret when they fall into betrayal, rejection and subjection to the most
horrendous accusation by those who are supposedly your trusted kin and allies.
These things must come but it’s all part of the sequential process to make us ready
for the next phase. And the very evil intent for our harm will only plunge us a
step closer to our destiny. Even Jesus was rejected, crucified and left for
dead but the enemy’s malicious and wicked plan only propelled Christ to the
fulfilment of His earthly mission--purchasing salvation for the entire world
through His death. If we stick to our
heavenly script at all times, then this irrefutable law will be true: whatever
the enemy intended for evil, God will always turn it around for our good!
3.
False Allegation
The next predicament Joseph found himself in was that he
was wrongly accused of rape by Portiphar’s
wife because of her overflowing frustration at Joseph’s constant rebuttal of
her sexual advances. Joseph was not only faithful in all Potiphar’s house but
he was also very handsome, a trait Potiphar’s wife found hard to ignore (Genesis
39:6).
But before this allegation, God had given much favour
to Joseph that Potiphar made him the overseer of all that belonged to him
because he realised that God was with him and made everything prosper in his
hands (Genesis 39:3). As if this honour was not enough for Joseph, Portiphar’s
wife decided that she should also be within Joseph’s overseeing jurisdiction by
attempting viciously to have Joseph lie with her. This evil plot diametrically opposed
Joseph’s values and principles and the fear of God caused him to flee the scene
every time sexual moves were directed towards him. Eventually Portiphar’s wife reached the breaking point and
fraudulently accused Joseph of sexual harassment. This again landed Joseph in
prison but it was really the playing out of the next scene of his script that
eventually catapulted him before Pharaoh’s throne!
Many in God go through seasons of vile and despicable
allegations but we must bear in mind that all this comes with the territory!
Sometimes it’s hard to comprehend why allegations and false charges are hurled
against us especially when everything seems to be going well and God is
prospering all things in our hands like Joseph. But be assured saints that
Satan vehemently contests our success in God and he will devise plans for your
destruction naturally. But the good news is, Satan’s destructive strategy will
be used by God to reposition you for your greatest promotion ever! This fool (Satan)
and his cohorts (Portiphar’s wife’s club) have no clue that God will use their
evil scheme to do His bidding and to thrust those who are living to His script deeper
and higher in His purposes. From prison, Joseph was abruptly promoted into the
third highest position in Egypt as prime minister. The unrelenting pursuit of
Potiphar’s wife only transition Joseph to place of swift and total promotion!
This will also be true for us who are pursuing ‘scripted living’!
4.
Prison
We now know that prison turned out in Joseph’s favour but
nevertheless, we must not trivialise the internal turmoil and confusion he
encountered when he was suddenly taken from a place of great favour, prestige
and awesome responsibility to the confinement of prison walls. I am sure that Joseph, being
human, had petitioned God about this case and desired to be vindicated by
striking down the house of Potiphar with righteous judgment! Sound familiar?
Well, if any allegations landed us in a confined, restricted
and limited space and resources but deep down in our hearts we knew we were
innocent of all charges and had done no wrong? Then be of good courage and know
that as night will certainly turn into day, God will move you from this
predicament surely and hastily into the next phase of your heavenly assignment.
The scriptures said that though Joseph was in prison, God was with him and
granted him so much favour that not long after his prison induction, Joseph was
running the whole prison operation (Genesis 39:21-23)! Sometimes God allows His
people to be squeezed so that what’s not necessary for the next phase,
including our successes, be removed for the grand stuff ahead. We may not readily
accept this type of purging but the branch that beareth fruits will be pruned
for more fruits (John 15:2)!
In conclusion, it is crucial to know that our heavenly
script has natural processes attached to it which are necessary for its
fulfilment. If we only desire the script and not the process, then that script
will never materialise no matter how much you clearly articulate and
passionately believe in it. Script and process go hand in hand just like an
architectural plan of a house and its building works. Remember, out working the
script will not be cruisey nor easy sailing for it has its humps and bumps
along the way. But the scriptwriter,
producer and director of your script (the Trinity) will help you make it happen!
Our primary role in this is to stay faithful to the
script and endure the process and God will bring it all together at the end.
Till next time....
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Revolution...
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