Encouragement

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FROM PRISON TO PALACE

And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt.

Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life.

For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest.

And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.

So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt. Genesis 45: 4-8;

The day Joseph’s brothers came face to face with him in Egypt, guilt and shame overwhelmed them when they remembered the brutal way they sold him into slavery at a tender age. Many months and years have gone by, but it was a difficult thing for Joseph’s brothers to be at peace with themselves when the memory of their evil plot against their own blood brother flashed through their memory and pierced their hearts like an arrow. Considering their wickedness against Joseph in the past, his brothers became exceedingly afraid that he might seek revenge and pay them back for all the evils they had done against him. Of course it was natural for them to have that fear, but they obviously did not realize that Joseph was a man who has had his heart transformed by the love of God; his encounter with God over the years had also taught him of how evil plots of men can be turned to stepping stones for a man when God is at work.

The journey of Joseph into slavery was certainly a painful experience, but truth is, if he had not been sold into slavery, there was no way he would have stepped into fulfillment of his God-given purpose on earth. While Joseph was being pushed from one place to the other as a slave, the Almighty God was behind the scene paving his ways through the circumstances to bring him to the palace. With Joseph’s understanding of God as the Master Planner, he was able to see beyond his brothers who sold him into slavery, and this was the reason why there was no iota of bitterness or resentments in his heart when he set his eyes on them. His brother’s actions may have initially caused deep wounds in his heart, but these wounds had been totally healed by God’s love and the understanding that the evil plot against him was part of what God required to launch him into fulfillment of his divine dreams. For Joseph, the road to the palace would not have been accessible without humiliation as a slave boy in a strange land.

Sometimes God may allow people or circumstances to push you to places which you consider as prison or captivity, but as a child of God, you must be sensitive enough to discern the purposes God wants to accomplish through the situations. As a believer it is very important that you look out for the divine purposes God wants to accomplish through the seemingly unpleasant situations you find yourself. One way God demonstrates His sovereignty is that He can turn negative situations around for the good of His children. When people think or conclude it’s finished with you, that’s when God suddenly turns things around and stage your comeback. Romans 8:28 says ‘And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose’. God has a way of making all things to work for the good of His children; He is good at turning stumbling blocks to stepping stones!

If God must turn evil plots of men around for your good, you must be on the same side with Him. God makes all things to work, only in the favour of those who love Him; God will never stick out His neck for anyone who is not committed to His love. God is ready to lift you from prison to the palace, but you on your part must be ready to live for His purpose and His purpose alone. The lifting of Joseph was only for fulfillment of God’s divine purpose, and this was what he lived for all the days of his life. When God lifts you, you must realize that it is for fulfillment of His purpose and not your own ambitions.

Shalom!

Ezekiel Olukolajo
Contact: [email protected]

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