THE SEASONS IN JOSEPH’S LIFE

Many times when God is shifting your seasons it has nothing to do with your ability. He will do things that you could not have done to help yourself. 

Joseph was unfairly treated but yet in God’s will.  He was well aware of His destiny even at the age of 17.  He was sold into slavery by his own brothers. 

Joseph then became chief Slave in Potiphar’s house. He must have thought this is the ultimate breakthrough after all he had been through. But he lost that opportunity and was thrown in jail.

It was getting worse. 

Joseph probably thought the way many of us are thinking about our lives now .  “When will all this end Lord?”.

The Lord was with Joseph in his hard seasons though , the Bible says. 

In prison Joseph tried to arrange his own breakthrough . He told the cupbearer for whom he favorably interpreted a dream to remember him before Pharoah. The man forgot him for two years! 

Because it was not God’s time to shift seasons. Joseph’s idea of a breakthrough may have been just to get out of prison. Nothing big. Anything beyond that was not possible in the natural.

Your ability to think big and pray big when you are hard pressed is limited unless Grace is at work . It’s hard to dream big beyond the debts, marital problems, family issues, legal issues, money issues, relationship issues,  the illness, struggles, failure, rejection, fear, loss and all that. 

God had a plan. Jail looked like a set back for Joseph, but it was a set up . At the moment of shift,  the Lord worked out supernatural events to get Joseph out of prison and give him a job as prime minister of Egypt. It was thousands of times what men could have done for him. 

He must have been crushed when the cup bearer forgot him for two years. But that was divine forgetfulness until the right time . 

God’s change of seasons at the appointed time was powerful. God works like that. 

How did Joseph survive the tough seasons? 

1. Faith in God. He was mentioning the name of His God even before Pharaoh . 

2. Character and integrity. He refused to sleep with Potiphar’s wife and was a good man in general. He chose to be.

3. Standing on the Word . The Bible says the Word of God tested him. 

4. ⁠A good attitude . He simply did his job without complaining 

5. The Grace of God preserved Him at every stage 

God will help you, preserve you, shift your seasons at the appointed time.

Joseph’s life was ultimately not His own.

Here is the story if you care to read it. Read also chapter 40 and 41 of Genesis.

“Now Joseph had been brought down to Egypt, and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, had bought him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him down there. The Lord was with Joseph, and he became a successful man, and he was in the house of his Egyptian master. His master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord caused all that he did to succeed in his hands. So Joseph found favor in his sight and attended him, and he made him overseer of his house and put him in charge of all that he had. From the time that he made him overseer in his house and over all that he had, the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; the blessing of the Lord was on all that he had, in house and field. So he left all that he had in Joseph’s charge, and because of him he had no concern about anything but the food he ate. Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance. And after a time his master’s wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, “Lie with me.” But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Behold, because of me my master has no concern about anything in the house, and he has put everything that he has in my charge. He is not greater in this house than I am, nor has he kept back anything from me except you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?” And as she spoke to Joseph day after day, he would not listen to her, to lie beside her or to be with her. But one day, when he went into the house to do his work and none of the men of the house was there in the house, she caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me.” But he left his garment in her hand and fled and got out of the house. And as soon as she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled out of the house, she called to the men of her household and said to them, “See, he has brought among us a Hebrew to laugh at us. He came in to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice. And as soon as he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried out, he left his garment beside me and fled and got out of the house.” Then she laid up his garment by her until his master came home, and she told him the same story, saying, “The Hebrew servant, whom you have brought among us, came in to me to laugh at me. But as soon as I lifted up my voice and cried, he left his garment beside me and fled out of the house.” As soon as his master heard the words that his wife spoke to him, “This is the way your servant treated me,” his anger was kindled. And Joseph’s master took him and put him into the prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined, and he was there in prison. But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. And the keeper of the prison put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners who were in the prison. Whatever was done there, he was the one who did it. The keeper of the prison paid no attention to anything that was in Joseph’s charge, because the Lord was with him. And whatever he did, the Lord made it succeed.”

‭‭Genesis‬ ‭39‬:‭1‬-‭23‬ ‭ESV‬‬

1. Humbling ourselves before the Lord 

“I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry. He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the Lord.”

‭‭Psalm‬ ‭40‬:‭1‬-‭3

2. Submit to God and let him work in your life like He did in Joseph’s life. He will help in tough times, uncertainty and eventually bring you to a spacious place. 

“he had sent a man ahead of them, Joseph, who was sold as a slave. His feet were hurt with fetters; his neck was put in a collar of iron; until what he had said came to pass, the word of the Lord tested him. The king sent and released him; the ruler of the peoples set him free; he made him Lord of his house and ruler of all his possessions, to bind his princes at his pleasure and to teach his elders wisdom. Then Israel came to Egypt; Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham. And the Lord made his people very fruitful and made them stronger than their foes.”

‭‭Psalm‬ ‭105‬:‭17‬-‭24

God bless you brethren!!!! Halleluyah