Catch the Wind

 

“Pharaoh said to Joseph, ‘I had a dream, and no one can interpret it. But I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.’ ‘I cannot do it,’ Joseph replied to Pharaoh, ‘but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires.” (Genesis 41:16)

Joseph starts out with a dream of his own that the sun, moon and stars all bow down to him. He also dreamed that all his brother’s sheaves would bow to him. His family instantly interprets this to mean that all of them would bow to him and were offended.

There is worldly power and there is Kingdom power and they are always at odds. We see this with Jesus. When He came to the earth and demonstrated Kingdom authority and power, it intimidated and offended those who had worldly power. In worldly power games, the smartest or strongest wins. But in the Kingdom of God, the most humble person wins.

Like Moses who knew he was called to free the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, when we receive a dream or a purpose from God, we might try to do it in our own strength. If we do, as we see with Joseph and Moses, we will totally mess it up and offend everyone else around us.

Moses wondered 40 years in the desert learning how to live humbly before God before God called him out to serve. In the same way, Joseph spent his 20s as a slave and then a prisoner for a crime he never committed. In all of it, he never became bitter. Rather, he became humbler and dependent upon God. Joseph learned to depend upon God for his success. It was then that God could use him and opened the door for him to come out of prison.

The same with David. David hid in caves and ran for his life day after day, while learning to be faithful before God even when being betrayed by those he helped before God lifted him up into position. David struggled, was humbled and learned perseverance at every turn. He needed to get to a place where even insults did not cause him to sin.

Notice that when Nabal insulted him and his men, he became offended to the point he was ready to destroy their entire family over the event. It took Abigail to remind him of who he was called to be to turn the situation around. Later, after he was established as king and needing to run from his son Absalom, we see Shimei insult, curse, throw rocks at him and his men. At this point, he could totally ignore it and stay immovable.

It was only as Joseph totally died to the world’s way of viewing power and honor that God opened the door for him to step into position. He no longer trusted in his own sufficiency or ways nor was seeking anything for himself. Authentic humility possesses greater concern for what matters to others instead of your own interest.

At the right time, suddenly Joseph was shaving and cleaning up, interpreting the dream of Pharaoh and then he came into his purpose. Joseph was placed in authority over the whole land of Egypt, given the Pharaoh’s ring, and a gold chain around his neck (Genesis 41:41-43). When it no longer mattered to him the same, he was given immense power and authority.

Joseph was called to save his people and the people of Egypt from starvation. Suddenly the dream came to pass as “when Joseph’s brothers arrived, they bowed down to him with their faces to the ground…Then he remembered his dreams about them…” (Genesis 42:6,8).

In the midst of it, God was also faithful to Joseph’s brothers. He saved all their families from the famine through Joseph. They were given the best land to live in and food from his table. All 70,000 were provided and cared for in the land of Egypt. While power had been for these brothers something they wielded, they saw it used to bring life, healing and provision through their brother Joseph. It was Kingdom power that was being wielded by him.

The faithfulness of God. Not only was God faithful to Joseph in fulfilling his call, but he was faithful to him in restoring his whole family and his father. Imagine what it would be like to be Jacob and to lose his favored son. He was devastated and had spent many a nights crying himself to sleep. Then he was told that Joseph’s own hand would close his eyes.

All this to say that, when we are saved, there is a significant shift that occurs at some point in our journey. Our lives begin to be ordered around a new Kingdom with new Kingdom rules. These are not rules we follow like the law of the past, but ones that come from the heart. Our relationship to Christ leads us into new ground. Also, struggles, difficulties and trials bring about this transformation, not successes and being handed blessings.

It is not rules based living, but the freedom of living in His love. We receive His love and it causes us to flourish. And in this freedom, we call others into freedom. We become the very hands that God uses to channel His love and blessings to others. But this place of living in His love cannot come from self-effort in striving to be or do for Him. Rather, it comes as we grow in dependency as we let Him love us and demonstrate His faithfulness in our trials and difficulties.

“You never gave up on me” sings in the background.

Also, all that to say that if we let God grow us in dependency on Him through our difficulties and remain faithful without quitting, giving up or walking away, God will get us where we need to go. He is ever mindful of us. It is through us that He advances His Kingdom. It is through us that the world around us prospers and is blessed.

Do we just bask in this once and awhile – He is ever mindful of us. When we go through a difficulty, know He is ever mindful of us. When we are stuck in a tight place, know He is ever mindful of us. When we run out of resources, know He is ever mindful of us. When we blow it and make mistakes, know He is ever mindful of us.

“I just want a heart that is fully in love” sings in the background.

We operate from a place of being loved and loving Him. Our desire is around glorifying Him and not ourselves. There is a song that says, “Not to us, but to Your Name be the glory.” So why does He care who gets the glory? It is not that God needs the glory and is selfish when it comes to this. It has to do with worship. Who or what do we worship? When man takes the glory for himself, he risks that others around him may idolize him or her. We so easily can idolize others. Or one risks that one seeks glory rather than God. Proverbs 25:27 (ASV) says, “It is not good to eat much honey: So for men to search out their own glory is grievous.”

Looking to gain our own glory has to do with desiring to be like God. It is the very thing that drove Satan crazy is that the glory was going to God and not him. He wanted to raise his chair above the Lord and obtain all the glory. He even went as far as promising Jesus that the whole earth would be his to rule as He desired if He would only bow down and worship Satan. He tried to convince Jesus that this was His only way since the people had sold themselves to slavery through sin.

Jesus took back everything. He holds the keys of sin and death. Through Him, we have it all. Not by our effort, but by faith in Christ. By believing that He loves us, paid the price for us, and is leading us into a glorious destiny both on earth and for all eternity.

In giving Him the glory, God does not call us as servants to grovel at His feet, but He lifts us up and calls us friends. Paul starts out 2 Corinthians 6:1 with this statement that “As God’s partners.” We are called to be His partners on earth as He enables us through His Holy Spirit to glorify Him in all we do.

Humility and surrender are about getting our eyes off ourselves and onto the Lord. It is about stopping saying that we will and, like Joseph, say the Lord will. We move in trust and faith rather than self-effort. Humility and self-sufficiency are at odds. We step out in obedience, surrender and dependence out of love rather than our own efforts and will.

Our self-effort has to do with what we can accomplish and what we have to offer. It is rooted in pride as, when we succeed, we feel great and when we fail, we feel like a failure. When we can let go of our own glory and look to glorify and worship Him, in everything we do, it will prosper.

It says that the Lord will guarantee a blessing on everything you do and will fill your storehouses with grain if you obey the commands of the Lord and walk in His ways. He is not speaking of holding to human traditions or superficially living out the commands. He is speaking of surrender, dependence and faith that comes with humility and not self-sufficiency.

He is also not speaking of blessing and prosperity in the way the world does. Even prosperity and blessing looks different when it is from the Kingdom. It prospers in glorifying God and not in glorifying ourselves or getting our wants met through our self-sufficiency. Love as strong as death and cannot be quenched drives our choices. It is the hidden sachet of myrrh.

Paul says in 2 Corinthians 6:3-10, that he lives in hunger, exhaustion, sleepless nights, prison, starvation, being beaten, and every other circumstance, whether honored or despised, by proving himself with kindness, purity, understanding and sincere love. Whether slandered or praised, ignored, or recognized, their priority remains to bring the Kingdom and partner with the Lord. He says, “We are poor, but we give spiritual riches to others. We own nothing, and yet we have everything.”

The prosperity that Jesus is speaking of here is impact on the world through the Kingdom of God. It is the privilege of partnering with the Lord to make a difference in people’s lives through the Kingdom of God.

Recently, the Lord spoke to me to plant my feet in the promises of God and live out of the Promised Land that I am given by faith. This feels huge as His promises are immense and this land is immense. What He is speaking of here is not what I can gain for myself in being comfortable, rich or powerful. What is being spoken of is partnering with the Lord to have Kingdom impact. He wants me to believe and hold to, along with others, the promises for this hour in His Kingdom coming forth.

God created us for such a time as this. Like Paul that was designed to bring the message to the Gentiles boldly and establish the church in gentile regions, we have been designed for a purpose that fits with the season we are in. He has a defined purpose for each of us, Ecclesiastes 6:10 (NLT) says, “It was known long ago what each person would be. So there’s no us arguing with God about your destiny.”

The way that we plant our feet in the promises of God and walk them out are going to look different. Impartations and gifts that manifest through us by the Holy Spirit are also going to look different. What is the same is the place of love that it comes from that motivates us from deep in our heart. In Philippians 2:13 It says that God is working in us, giving us not only the power but desire to do what pleases Him [our purpose].

Paul was unrelenting and unwavering in the face of persecution. Peter was bold in preaching the good news to large groups. Cornelius was a devout man who gave generously and prayed regularly. He never preached but, in His own way, he brought many along to know Christ and be baptized by the Holy Spirit. Philip, the original Apostle, invited his brother, Nathanael, to follow Jesus. Where Phillip, the evangelist, one of the seven chosen to care for the poor in their Christian community, was taken by the Spirit to different places when they were scattered, preached the gospel, and led an Ethiopian man to Jesus who had significant influence in Ethiopia and was believed to start the Ethiopian church.

How they lived out their purpose was different but the dependence upon God, humility and obedience out of love and in being loved resound in every case. They were called to step out in faith into this purpose. Also, relationships with others impacted all of them significantly in living out their purposes.

For Joseph, he had not only the comfort of the Lord but the favor with leaders wherever he was planted. They saw his wisdom, talent and the Spirit directing him. Because of this, they empowered and believed in him. For David, Jonathan was an encouragement and Abigail kept him from making a huge mistake.

For Peter, he was a part of three disciples, including James and John, that were closest to Jesus. And for all the initial Apostles, they had each other. They could encourage and pick each other up when things felt overwhelming. And for Paul, he had Barnabas [son of encouragement] that believed him and brought him along getting the other disciples to trust him.

Ultimately, when we look to Him, it doesn’t matter if everything else falls through and everyone else abandons us. If our brothers sell us out like Joseph and our boss tries to destroy us like David, God is still on our side working all things for good and for a glorious destiny.

Nothing and no one can thwart us unless we just refuse and walk away from it. “Yet I still belong to You; You hold my right hand. You guide me with Your counsel, leading me into a glorious destiny” (Psalm 73:23-24)

Lord, thank You for the ways that You love us and call us out into more. Let us live fully into Your purposes not by our might or power, but by Your Spirit. Let Your Holy Spirit wind blow in our lives and lead us into a glorious destiny purposed by You before we were ever born.

“I wanna look just like You” sings in the background.