Circumstances can definitely create tensions in our lives. When I get THAT job, then I’ll be satisfied! If only my wife would….then we could be happy! If my kids would just listen, life would be SO much easier!
Looking at our circumstances can, at times, be overwhelming and we tend to equate what we are going thru to our success or lack thereof; these feelings can be either in our contemporary lives or our spiritual lives! Where did all the feelings of “you can be whatever you want to be”, or “when you grow up you can achieve whatever you put your mind to” go?
I believe every life is full of potential. In fact POTENTIAL is one of my favorite words! I believe with my whole heart that God designed each person unique and capable and has a plan for everyone! Sometimes it’s hard to realize our own potential, sometimes we get so beat down by circumstances that we think we don’t have any potential, or we will never reach the DREAM we had for serving and using the gifts we thought God had given us!
JOSEPH experienced years of waiting in what most of us would consider a miserable situation! After God had given him dreams of being a leader and in a powerful position….he ended up a SLAVE in Egypt and then was thrown in PRISON! In his misery he could have gotten discouraged and given up…but instead he found what was good in his situation and focused on that. When he was in prison, he worked at whatever was given to him and was shown faithful in it to the point the jailer worried about nothing as he had Joseph in charge! Thru his miserable situations he was learning patience and faith and actual life skills that God was intending to use for GREAT GOOD! Sidebar: Joseph didn’t KNOW how long he would wait till his dreams were fulfilled or if they would be fulfilled at all for that matter!
Just like Joseph, your purpose and destiny (and attitude) doesn’t have to wait on the perfect circumstances!!!! We can live the rich and satisfying life God has planned and the path to living your full potential is through PERSONAL GROWTH!
One of the keyways to grow as a stronger person and a faithful follower of God is to work on my perspective of troubles!! Do I see issues that arise as “God’s never going to do it for me now” or do I look at struggles as a way that God may be helping me learn something to be used later for greater ministry? God is always developing something in us; “when your faith is tested your endurance has a change to grow”. How do we get to the place that we can see beyond the moment that we are in…how could God use it to bring us some of our greatest JOYS!
So, let’s start seeing trouble as OPPORTUNITIES for growth!
Another thing we can learn from Joseph’s life is to walk in personal integrity! Joseph ended up serving as Potiphar’s number ONE slave! (If you don’t know or remember Josephs’ life story you can read about him in Genesis 37- 50) He had been entrusted with everything, except Potiphar’s wife. Now, Potiphar’s wife thought Joseph was good looking and she wanted to sleep with him! BUT Joseph rejected her BECAUSE it would have been a sin against GOD! Joseph lost his position in Potiphar’s house because she accused him of rape when he had in truth run away from her. So, even though he did the right thing by getting away from her, he ended up suffering consequences that didn’t seem fair! Have you ever lived in consequences that you didn’t think were fair?
Personal integrity ALWAYS pays off in the end! HOW do we grow our personal integrity? It’s by getting to know GOD better and following HIS wisdom and guidance! WE COULD NEVER DO IT ALONE! Thankfully God LONGS to walk the path of life with us!
Take a minute and watch the talk from this last weekend!