Genesis 41:16 “And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, It is not in me: God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace.”
What do I want out of life? If it’s a “good life,” I am certainly on the wrong path! There are preachers who say that trusting in God is a key to prosperity and getting everything you want. What Bible are they reading?
I am puzzled by people who follow God, but have no desire to serve him. Is it possible to live for God, while pursuing all your selfish, fleshly desires? I don’t think so. All the people I’ve ever known who truly loved Jesus—and had a genuine passion to know him—had one thing in common: they gave up living for themselves.
“Take up your cross and follow me.” It is the first requirement for following Jesus. It creates a transformation within the person. A giving up of material (ie, earthly) gains in the pursuit of heavenly ones. To walk with Christ means wanting a life filled with eternity—not the drama, carnality and politics of this life. So I’ll ask myself again: what do I want out of life?
If I say “Jesus” or “God’s will,” then there will be many times my life will just suck. I’ve written before that is common to all saints, and they could endure it because what they wanted was not a good life, but the eternal City of God. But God is no miser. He doesn’t want his people to be utterly miserable on earth—nor does he intend to keep us that way. He is merely preparing me, through seasons of pain, for what is to come.
At least I can say my pain has not been as bad as Joseph’s! I was never a slave, nor a prisoner. The pain that Joseph endured was the very thing that prepared him to rule beside the Pharaoh. If he had been able to skip over those years, he would never have become king (or “vice” king).
God gave him the gift, tempered the man, then put him into position. The years as a slave and prisoner made Joseph mature, humble and wise enough to rule. He had no ambition as he stood before Pharaoh, interpreting his dream. He was a wreck, a shell of man. He had been successful in the past and lost it all. All that remained was the gift, the anointing of God, an empty vessel that the Lord could flow through.
I’m hardly a Joseph, but I’ve experienced similar transformations. I’ve gone through times that have removed my self-centered expectations, ambitions, even hopes for success. All the dross was drained away. Only the good that Christ put in me remained. I felt like crap, empty and worthless, but found that a great treasure of God’s wisdom and power was deep within me. People were amazed at “my” anointing—I along with them.
It is no different for me now. I have yet to come into my full destiny. And—as I said before—it may not come in this life. But I do know that these years of trial are not wasted. They are producing the very maturity I need. They are making the man Jesus desired all along, a man empty of himself.
