Are you in a hurry?

 

Genesis 39:23

Are you in a hurry?  Have you ever stopped to ask yourself why, what is the rush, and am I ready for the position, do I have the tools to carry out the task?  Joseph was seventeen, and he was handsome, he was intelligent, and the boss liked him, he was a young man with a great future.   He was now a slave in Egypt, but God was with him, and he was still on the way to being a great man. (Note: it is important to understand that Egypt always depicts flesh and sin.)  But he’s no longer “the man,” no longer the general manager or CEO of Potiphar’s estate, he has been placed in jail and he is now running the jail, but God is still his God and his blessings are very clear to everyone.

I’ve had the opportunity in my business life to watch a young man who has great skills and when you are blessed with those kinds of gifts, it sometimes is difficult to wait. Often, a person who has the gifts will find himself or herself becoming impatient with the organization and it’s current leadership.  It seems such a waste to not be moving up the ladder of responsibility, but often God, in His wisdom knows you need a little prison time, to grow dependent on the One who has given you the intelligence and the skill set that sets you apart.

Joseph believed himself to be ready at the age of seventeen, but we find that his plans were redesigned and his goals were shattered and it was thirteen years later that he was ready for the job that God had set him aside for, look at (Genesis 41:46.)  If you study the life of King David, the same thing happened to him, and the same could be said about the Lord Himself.

Henry Morris stated it the best on page 568, the fourth paragraph of the Genesis Record; “Joseph was faithful in whatever came to him during those otherwise frustrating thirteen years, and no doubt was diligent in pondering the ways of the Lord, until the time finally arrived when God judged him properly seasoned and ready for the great work he would accomplish for his people and for the world.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice