Read Genesis 41
I give you the following with
apologies to Solomon.
To every thing there is a season, and
a time to every purpose under the heaven:
A time to get a coat of many colors,
A time to have your coat taken from
you.
A time to walk the countryside
seeking your brothers,
A time to have your brother throw you
in a hole.
A time to see visions of your brothers bowing before you,
A time to be sold as a slave.
A time to be Dad’s favorite,
A time to be lost to your Dad.
A time to work as a slave,
A time to be a slave in charge of the
entire household.
A time to bring blessing to your
master,
A time for your master’s wife to
falsely accuse you.
A time to be thrown into prison,
A time to be in charge of the prison.
A time to understand dreams and
anticipate your release,
A time to wait for your release,
A time to wait for your release,
A time to wait for your release.
Just how long is it going to take that
cupbearer to talk to Pharoah?
The answer is—until the Pharoah had
dreams that he didn’t understand. Fat
cows being eaten by skinny cows and scrawny heads of grain-eating full
heads. What did it mean?
The cupbearer realized that he had
been remiss in not mentioning Joseph earlier, but with the onset of the
Pharoah’s dreams, Joseph came to mind.
I mentioned previously that if Joseph
had been released shortly after the cupbearer was restored, he would have
likely gone home and not left a forwarding address. Not even the extended warranty people would
have found him.
He surely had a thing or two to say to
his brothers and his dad. He wasn’t
going to hang around Egypt, get a flat in the city, and a job as a management
consultant. He would be long gone.
He wouldn’t give Pharoah his business
card and say, if you ever get a weird dream, give me a call. I’ll give you a rate.
He would be gone, but as it was,
Joseph was still in the palace prison and the cupbearer remembered him. It had
been 2 years since his release and restoration, but the cupbearer finally
remembered Joseph.
Pharoah’s court of advisors and
magicians and other charlatans didn’t have a clue what the dreams meant. Giving a false interpretation might cost you
your head, so Pharoah’s top people produced no results.
I think they used the advisor’s
maxim. When in doubt, mumble. They were no help.
Pharoah summoned Joseph. Joseph threw on a shave and some new clothes
appropriate to appearing before Egypt’s sovereign and the story unfolds.
Joseph made it clear to Pharoah that
the meaning of the dreams came from God and then went on to explain that Egypt
would have 7 years of abundance and 7 years of famine.
The message came in 2 dreams to affirm
that the matter was not up for discussion.
God had decided and this would happen soon.
The message from God continued with a
job posting.
Senior level executive needed to run
country and administer taxation program of one-fifth of the crops for collection
annually for 7 years. Must supervise commissioners in the
administration of food collection and storage. Distribution and sales skills a must.
Advanced degrees in business and
management desired along with 10 years experience in government
administration.
Education and experience requirements
may be waived if the Spirit of God dwells within the applicant.
Serious inquiries only.
When God writes the job description,
it will only fit the person he has in mind.
Pharoah realized that and appointed Joseph over everything except his
own personal decisions. He was the
second in command of all of Egypt.
He had a really good benefit package.
Joseph got a chariot. He got some bling.
Pharoah even threw in a new name and a wife.
Pharaoh gave Joseph the name
Zaphenath-Paneah and gave him Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, to
be his wife. And Joseph went throughout the land of Egypt.
Joseph did what he said needed to be
done. So much grain was collected that
the collections folks stopped keeping records. Everything was on track.
Joseph didn’t spend all of his time on
the road. He had enough time at home to
have 2 sons.
Before the years of famine came, two
sons were born to Joseph by Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On. Joseph
named his firstborn Manasseh and said, “It is because God has made me forget
all my trouble and all my father’s household.” The second son he named Ephraim
and said, “It is because God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering.”
Joseph was able to put behind him all
of his sorrows and had eyes to see the abundance that God had provided him.
He had gone from trusting God and
doing his best in the worst of circumstances to acknowledging God when he was
moved from the mailroom to the board room.
Let’s do some math. There were 7 years of abundance and 7 years
of famine. It seems like one-seventh of
each year’s harvest would have done the trick.
Instead, Joseph required one-fifth of the harvest.
Some people don’t like fractions, but
one-fifth is more than one-seventh. That
burger with a one-third-of-a-pound patty is larger than that quarter-pounder.
Some of you don’t believe me and others
are just upset that I brought fractions into the sermon. Why collect more than
you need? Might the famine last more
than 7 years?
God said 7 so I’m sure that Joseph
believed 7 years would be the extent of the famine.
Realize that the drought and famine
were not confined within the borders of Egypt.
People from all over would come to Egypt because they had food. Egypt had food and it was for sale.
Had the Pharoah’s name been Ramses,
Dave Ramses, he might have advised the people to set aside one-fifth of their 7
years of abundance into an emergency fund. We will discover later, that the
common people didn’t have a financial advisor and they didn’t have an emergency
fund.
But for the 7 years of famine, they
had access to food. This made Egypt
unique and powerful and Joseph was at the helm.
There is more to come in the story of
Joseph and Egypt, Joseph and his brothers, and Joseph with his father and his
sons, but for now, consider that God’s time and timing are not our time and
timing.
We made that reference when Joseph was
stuck in a bad spot but we consider it again as Joseph was elevated to his
top-level position.
Had everything happened in accordance
with Joseph’s timeline, he would not have been around to do this mighty
work. Egypt would have suffered. The surrounding countries that were drought-stricken would have suffered beyond what they could manage.
Even Joseph’s own family would have
found no place to turn when they had no food. Joseph was in the exact place and
time where God would use him for the good of many.
It’s all good to know stuff, but how
do we apply it to our lives?
That’s a good question. By good, I mean it’s a difficult
question. I don’t really expect to do
any time in prison. I might do a bit or
two in Facebook Jail, but that’s probably it.
Most of the time if I have a dream and
think that was a good one. I need to
write it down, but when I look at my notes in the morning, I can’t read the
hieroglyphics. Of course, most of the
time I can’t read my own notes during the day.
So what do I take from this part of
Genesis?
How about, if God’s Spirit is within
you, all the knowledge, skills, and abilities that you acquire from your life
experience are ready to be put to use for God.
How about the character that you
develop in both adversity and victory is available to produce great things
because God lives within you.
How about we accept that regardless of
what’s happening in this moment, God has good plans for us.
How about, there will come a time
when your trust in the Lord, your faithfulness, and your acknowledgment of
him in everything you do will be rewarded.
It may happen in this lifetime or it may come in that place that eye has not seen and ear has not heard what the Lord God has
in store for us, but it will come.
If it comes in this time, do not be
stunned. Get to work. If God manifests great things for you to
accomplish in this time, get to work.
Those great things might encompass
saving a nation or saving a child.
It might involve feeding multitudes or
feeding a single family.
It might involve a career change, not
always as drastic as going from managing a prison to managing a country, but
you might be called to something else than what you are doing right now that
will bring glory to God.
It might involve no job change at
all. It might just be working at whatever
you do as if you were working for the Lord and not for men.
But make no mistake, your lessons
learned, your waiting upon the Lord, your readiness to take what the Lord has
given you and put it to work at once, and many other life experiences and
strengthened character traits will have a place in God’s time to produce good
fruit.
Be
patient while you wait. Be ready when
you are called. Your time is
coming in God’s time.
Be patient while you wait. Be ready when you are called.
Amen.
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