Trust--Joseph’s Amazing Rise from Prison to Palace

Joseph’s life is an amazing story.  We see him move from dreamer to leader, but not before first experiencing jealousy and betrayal as he moved from prison to palace.  If anyone had a reason to complain, it was Joseph.  He experienced evil returned for good, lies for integrity, but still God provided the path that opened to the fulfillment of the promise.  The truth is God was preparing Joseph for his moment of ministry.    On the way to our dreams, God often leads our path of destiny through challenge and adversity.  But in so doing God is also refining and purifying us so that when our moment of leadership comes, we are fully prepared and strengthen to face the trials and temptations of the moment.   Joseph would one day rise to a position of power second only to the Pharaoh of Egypt.   He would need integrity and wisdom that only adversity and challenge could provide.  When he finally met his brothers, who had betrayed him and sold him into slavery, he was able to see God’s plan and extend forgiveness and grace.  His words offer all of us a perspective of faith and wisdom:
 
(verse of the week)
“You intended it to harm me, but God intended it for good” (Genesis 50:20, NIV).
 
(prayer)
Lord help me to trust you through challenge and adversity to bless my life and fulfill your plan for my life.  May I dream dreams that honor you and serve others.  May I somehow fulfill the destiny you have for me.   Help me to accept challenge and adversity as your way of refining me and strengthening me for the task ahead.  And may my goals align with your plan and my heart with your heart, through Christ my Lord, amen. 
 
(quote of the week)
 “We find everywhere in this world the traces of a revealed God and a hidden God; revealed enough to strengthen our faith, concealed enough to try our faith”-- Philip Schaff    

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