I’m talking about FOCUS. School is still in session. That is, Holy Ghost University! So far this school of Hard Knocks has deposited something pretty incredible inside of me. It’s something that can’t be grasped in the classroom… experience continually teaches me that I need to be very careful on what I set my sights on. I’m specifically referring to a promise God made to me many years ago. I sit here and can honestly say that at times my focal point was upon the fulfillment of the promise, and not enough on the promise maker. That is idolatry!
“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” Matthew 6: 33
God is not on our timeline. We live and have our being on His terms. Fast forward twelve/thirteen years, and the promise has not yet been fulfilled. Instead of getting better, it sure seems things have taken a turn for the worse. There are no doubt countless times filled with a lot of second guessing myself. I’m tempted to question, “Did God really say what I think He said?” But I remember someone else who probably struggled with this exact same thing – when bad turned to worse in his life…
I ALWAYS go back to the story of Joseph. God gave a seventeen year-old boy a dream – his brothers would one day bow down to him. Joseph in his young conceit and arrogance, thought he would rise to power immediately. Indeed God had much in store for Joseph, but there had to be massive character building done before Joseph’s reign of power. Tossed into a pit of death from self and the world, Joseph entered a difficult time of trial and transformation. It was an intense time of servitude and humbling that took place. Joseph was sold into Potiphar’s house, where he advanced quickly and became competent and secure. Then because of false accusations from Potiphar’s wife, Joseph suddenly was thrown in prison. Poor Joseph must have thought… “All of this heartache and misery. For what? I don’t understand!” Yet the Bible says that God was with him. It was appointed to him a time to endure intense trial, deprivation, humiliation, and yet even deeper transformation. And here’s the key… Joseph spent a lot of time in isolation. He was free of any distraction that would prevent him from spending time alone with God to build a deeper relationship with Him.
So now Pharoah has some disturbing dreams, and his wise men can’t tell him the meaning of these dreams. The Pharoah’s cupbearer remembers Joseph (after two long years!) and tells Pharoah about him. Joseph was able to interpret Pharoah’s dreams… there would be seven prosperous years followed by seven years of famine in the land of Egypt. Joseph told Pharoah that the solution to this problem would be to store up some grain from the seven plentiful years, and then the later seven years of famine wouldn’t destroy the nation.
“But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.” Genesis 50: 20
But God meant it for good!
“thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress; “ Psalm 4:1
This verse is one of the greatest testimonies ever written that tells of God’s behind the scenes work during a crisis. The author of the psalm is appreciating, recognizing, and thanking God for freeing him not from suffering but through suffering. By saying, “Thou has enlarged me when I was in distress,” the psalmist was basically saying that the sorrowful seasons that he went through, has actually been the source of his enlargement.