Processes and Promises

I think with every promise there is a process attached. Joseph was a prime example of this very thing. In Genesis 37 it says that Joseph as a young man had a powerful dream from God about his brothers and family bowing down to him. In other words he dreamed of greatness. When he shared this dream with his older brothers, it was not well received as you can imagine. Most honest sibling rivalry would prevent a favorable response. His brothers’ hatred and jealousy of Joseph took hold, and they plotted to kill him. However, they decided at the last minute to sell him into slavery. Joseph ultimately became a slave and even ended up in prison for a while for a crime he did not commit. He finally made it out of prison and became Pharaoh’s right hand man. He then saved his family from starvation, and they did ultimately bow down to him. But by the time they did, Joseph was not ready to gloat. He wept. 

We could argue that when God gave Joseph that dream, He knew exactly what would happen to Joseph. In other words, God did not prevent the bad things in Joseph’s life from happening, but instead chose to use those circumstances to shape Joseph for his good. As Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” (NKJV) The Passion translation says it this way. “So we are convinced that every detail of our lives is continually woven together to fit into God’s perfect plan of bringing good into our lives, for we are his lovers who have been called to fulfill his designed purpose.” What a great picture! God is weaving every detail of our lives with the plan of bringing good into our lives. God is for us, not against us! When bad things happen, they may be a result of our unwise choices or someone else’s unwise choices or simply because we live in a fallen world. However, God says He can take all things, good and bad, and use it to make a perfect plan of bringing good into our lives. I think that is what we call redemption!

Like Joseph many of us receive a personal promise or dream from God and then our life heads seemingly in the total opposite direction of the promise. Joseph probably would not have opted for slavery and prison in order to see his promise fulfilled, but God used Joseph’s circumstances to humble and shape him. Joseph needed to be in a place where he understood that total dependence on God would be key in carrying out the promise God had given him. God had positioned Joseph to save his family and ultimately a nation. I think it is safe to say that Joseph had no understanding of that when God gave him the dream as a boy of his brothers bowing to him. 

Submitting to God’s process to get to the promise is not always easy. In fact at times it can seem very disheartening.  But God loves process. This is where He has the opportunity to take out all the things in our lives that could destroy the promise. I know that is true in my own life. I look back on the process God took me through before the promise of a husband and family arrived. I feel like if the process had not been there, there are times I may have been crushed by the promise. Remember, God is for us! He knows what is best for us because he sees the big picture, and His timing is always perfect. The process is the reason He can give us the promise. And isn’t that a picture of a truly loving God?