Encouragement
Have you ever been in a place in your life where you were waiting for something to happen? Maybe you are in a situation right now where circumstances are less than ideal and you spend every day wishing for a date in the future to arrive or for a miracle to occur to change your situation. Those are some agonizing times to go through. We all experience this at varying degrees. We continue to look for the change to come and wishing for the better days to begin.
When I think about people in the Bible who encountered delays in their life, I think of Joseph. Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers and encountered a life of ups and downs while he was in Egypt. It seemed that every time he had “made it”, something happened to knock him back down to the bottom. He worked his way up from being a slave to the position of authority in Potiphar’s house. When he declined the ual advances of Potiphar’s wife, he was falsely accused anyway and sent to prison. In prison, he was successful there as well and was in charge of the other prisoners. When the baker and the butler had dreams, he interpreted them and asked that they remember him when they were free and returned to the King’s house. (Unfortunately, the baker didn’t fare too well in his dream). The butler forgot Joseph for TWO YEARS until the King had a dream, which no one could interpret.
Two years! Can you imagine this? Now if this had been me, I know what I would have done. When the butler was released, I would be expecting a call the same day or at least within the week. I can’t imagine the thought of having to wait another two years before the butler even remembered me. That would have been tough. I’m not so sure many of us could have dealt with the situation well anyway since Joseph was in prison for a crime he did not commit; however, you never find a place in this story where Joseph was bitter or complained. I’m sure he suffered disappointment and pain but had he allowed bitterness to enter into his situation, he would have never had the successes in the places he was in. He always seemed to make the best of a bad situation. If he hadn’t, he would have just remained a prisoner and probably died in prison.
It is tempting for us to resent an unpleasant situation that we are in at times but instead of becoming bitter we need to rise above it and not let our situation master us. We should expect more of ourselves and the fact that we serve a loving God who knows exactly where we are all the time. Sometimes we view Him in the human ways in that He would lose track of us or forget about us. He may just be holding us in a place until all the conditions are right for us to be used to fulfill His purpose.
When we read the story of Joseph we read it in a few minutes without really grasping the waiting time involved. You and I know what happens in the end. We have the advantage of knowing Joseph’s purpose but we fail to see our own.
So many people wait for God to open the doors to a big ministry that they miss opportunities to minister where they are at the moment. Just because you don’t have a pulpit to preach in doesn’t mean that you can’t be a minister. There’s more to ministering than preaching on a stage. Many people just want someone to be there for them and show them some compassion. Jesus didn’t spend a lot of time going from church to church to preach; we read often where He had compassion on someone and met their need. Their need wasn’t to hear preaching but for someone to have compassion and love them.
If you are in a holding pattern in your life, don’t curse it. Use it. Take advantage of it and let God minister through you in the here and now. It’s time for us to answer God’s call instead of waiting for the conditions to be right and convenient. Obedience to God in times of inconvenience will sow the seeds of reward later in our journey. Don’t squander the opportunities around you now!
Get a pencil and paper. Write down ways you can minister to others in the situation you are in. When you are finished, post that piece of paper on a mirror, refrigerator or somewhere that will force you to see it daily to remind you of what God wants you to accomplish in the here and now of your life.
(Read the story of Joseph in Genesis 37-45)
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Milton, well done! This was such a good word. I really appreciated the way you brought out the example of Joseph waiting (and in very unpleasant circumstances) for his big "break" to happen. I also thought what you wrote about some being so focussed on what their big ministry will be, that they totally miss out on the opportunities to miss right here and now. There was so much truth in that. Everything that we put our hand to now, whether part of God's future plan for our lives or not, will be used to grow, develop and mature us. It will also help build the Body and create in us the right hearts for ministry - hearts of service. Again Milton, great message and greatly appreciated. With love, Deb
Milton, that truly was a wonderful article. It served as a timely reminder to me, for I have been stuck in a holding pattern for some time. Your ministry efforts through your writing certainly helped me today.
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