Discovering Destiny (Part 41): God Is Using What They Did To You

God's Plan

https://youtu.be/GS3U4dKDLe0

Today, we continue our focus on THE YEAR OF DISCOVERY, as we learn to maintain our posture of faith after God has revealed His plans for our future.

Key scriptures for this year:

2 Peter 3:18 GNT "But continue to grow in the grace and in the knowledge of our Savior, Jesus Christ. To Him be glory now and forever."

Luke 10:20 Mirror "It's time for you to rediscover who you are from Heaven's perspective."

1 John 3:10 Mirror "There is a very visible and vast difference between living one's life from your God identity or from a fallen man's mindset."

Proverbs 25:2 NKJV "It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter."

Jeremiah 29:13 NIV "You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."

Scripture(s) we will study today:

Genesis 37:18-28 NLT "When Joseph's brothers saw him coming, they recognized him in the distance. As he approached, they made plans to kill him. 'Here comes the dreamer!' they said. 'Come on, let's kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns. We can tell our father, "A wild animal has eaten him." Then we'll see what becomes of his dreams!' But when Reuben heard of their scheme, he came to Joseph's rescue. 'Let's not kill him,' he said. 'Why should we shed any blood? Let's just throw him into this empty cistern here in the wilderness. Then he'll die without our laying a hand on him.' Reuben was secretly planning to rescue Joseph and return him to his father. So when Joseph arrived, his brothers ripped off the beautiful robe he was wearing. Then they grabbed him and threw him into the cistern. Now the cistern was empty; there was no water in it. Then, just as they were sitting down to eat, they looked up and saw a caravan of camels in the distance coming toward them. It was a group of Ishmaelite traders taking a load of gum, balm, and aromatic resin from Gilead down to Egypt. Judah said to his brothers, 'What will we gain by killing our brother? We'd have to cover up the crime. Instead of hurting him, let's sell him to those Ishmaelite traders. After all, he is our brother, our own flesh and blood!' And his brothers agreed. So when the Ishmaelites, who were Midianite traders, came by, Joseph's brothers pulled him out of the cistern and sold him to them for twenty pieces of silver. And the traders took him to Egypt."

Supporting scriptures:

Psalm 105:17-19 TPT "But he had already sent a man ahead of his people to Egypt; it was Joseph, who was sold as a slave. His feet were bruised by strong shackles and his soul was held by iron. God's promise to Joseph purged his character until it was time for his dreams to come true."

Genesis 45:8 ERV "It was not your fault that I was sent here. It was God's plan. God made me like a father to Pharaoh. I am the governor over all his house and over all Egypt."

Proverbs 19:21 AMPC "Many plans are in a man's mind, but it is the Lord's purpose for him that will stand."

Acts 2:23 TPT "This Man's destiny was prearranged, for God knew that Jesus would be handed over to you to be crucified and that you would execute him on a cross by the hands of lawless men. Yet it was all part of his predetermined plan."

Galatians 4:4 ERV "But when the right time came, God sent his Son, who was born from a woman and lived under the law."

Habakkuk 2:3 NLT "This vision is for a future time. It describes the end, and it will be fulfilled. If it seems slow in coming, wait patiently, for it will surely take place. It will not be delayed."

Genesis 37:36 NLT "Meanwhile, the Midianite traders arrived in Egypt, where they sold Joseph to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. Potiphar was captain of the palace guard."

Setting the Stage:

Yesterday, a stranger in a field pointed Joseph to Dothan, and we said Dothan is where the pit is. Today, we get to the pit. The brothers see the robe coming from a distance and decide to kill him before he arrives. Reuben talks them down to the pit. They strip the robe, throw him in, and sit down to eat. Then they look up, and there it is: a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead on its way to Egypt. Judah sees money. Twenty pieces of silver later, Joseph is walking behind camels toward a country he has never seen. Here is what I want you to see today. That caravan was already on the road before the brothers ever looked up. God's timing was in motion while the people around Joseph were making their worst decisions.

So, what does this mean for you today? A few things.

1. Even Though No One At The Pit Was Thinking About Joseph's Destiny, God's Plan Was Already In Motion.

Look at who was standing around that hole in the ground. Ten brothers who had already talked about murder. Reuben, the oldest, who wanted him alive mostly because the oldest gets blamed when a son goes missing. Judah, counting profit out loud: "What will we gain by killing our brother?" And a group of traders who did not know his name and would not have cared if they did. Not one person in that field was making decisions with Joseph’s well-being in mind. Some were working against him, and the rest were working for themselves. But God's plan for Joseph was already in motion. Proverbs 19:21 AMPC says, "Many plans are in a man's mind, but it is the Lord's purpose for him that will stand." 

How this applies to you:

-- Your destiny does not require anybody's cooperation but yours.

-- God does not need good people to accomplish His plan for your life. He used haters, a coward, a businessman, and a trade caravan, all in one afternoon. In other words, if God had to wait on everybody around you to get right, none of us would ever move.

-- Acts 2:23 TPT says Jesus was crucified "by the hands of lawless men" and that "it was all part of his predetermined plan." The worst thing ever done on this planet ran straight through wicked hands, and God's plan came out the other side nonetheless. 

-- God did not assign your destiny to a committee; He assigned it to Himself.

-- Selfish people can still be useful people in God's hands.

-- Judah was thinking about silver, and God was thinking about a famine 20 years away. Two very different agendas, but both roads led to Egypt. 

-- God will use a man's greed to get you where that same man's kindness never would have.

-- In THE YEAR OF DISCOVERY, measure your future by the faithfulness of God, not by the hearts of the people around you. 

-- God knows how to use whatever he needs to use to get you where he needs to get you. 

2. The Caravan Was Already On The Road.

Watch the timing. The brothers threw Joseph in the pit, sat down to eat, and then looked up. The caravan was already coming. Those Ishmaelites did not leave Gilead because of anything that happened in Dothan. They loaded their camels with all the goods they were going to trade (gum, balm, and resin) days earlier, on a trade route they had traveled a hundred times. But, “it just so happened” that they passed by the pit while the brothers were there. 

Psalm 105:17 TPT says God "had already sent a man ahead of his people to Egypt." The word I want you to hold onto is already. While Joseph sat in that pit wondering if he was about to die, his ride to Egypt was already on the road. God did not put the hate in those brothers. He knew what was in them, and He had the caravan moving anyway because God does not have to wait until Tuesday to figure out what you're going to do on Tuesday.

How this applies to you:

-- God is never reacting to your crisis.

-- Galatians 4:4 ERV says, "When the right time came, God sent his Son." God did not send Jesus when the world got desperate enough; He sent Him when the time was right. Timing is God's specialty, and He does not run late.

-- What you need next is already in motion. The job, the connection, the open door, the person who will say the one sentence that changes everything. You cannot see any of it from inside the pit, but it is already loaded and already moving.

-- The brothers saw an opportunity, but what they did not know was that the meeting with the caravan was a divine appointment.

-- Habakkuk 2:3 NLT says the vision "will not be delayed," and late to you is on time to God.

-- Some of you are sitting in a pit today, and you can hear your brothers eating lunch. Look up. Somewhere on a road you cannot see, something with your name on it is already moving toward you.

-- The caravan left Gilead before Joseph ever left Hebron. God's answer was on the road before the problem started. Guess what? No matter how low you feel right now, years later you're going to look back and say the same about your situation. 

3. Sometimes God Does Not Rescue You Because He Needs You To Go.

Reuben tried to save him. Genesis says he was "secretly planning to rescue Joseph and return him to his father." He talked his brothers out of murder, got Joseph into the pit alive, and stepped away, planning to come back for him later. When he came back, the pit was empty. Why did God let that rescue fail? Reuben was the only man in that field trying to do the right thing, and God could have let him succeed. He did not, because a successful rescue would have sent Joseph home to Hebron, and Hebron was not the plan. Egypt was. God did not need Joseph rescued. God needed Joseph to go.

How this applies to you:

-- Some of the prayers God has said no to were rescue prayers.

-- You asked God to get you out of a situation, and He left you in it. That was not neglect. God is doing something in you that only that place can produce, and He loves you too much to pull you out before it is finished.

-- Reuben's heart was right, but his plan would have sent Joseph back to Hebron. Sincere people will try to send you back to the place God is moving you out of. They love you, and they mean well, but they cannot see what God is doing.

-- Jesus asked the Father for another way in the garden, and the answer was the cross. Acts 2:23 TPT says it was "all part of his predetermined plan." The Father did not pull His own Son out of the process, and He will not always pull you out of yours.

-- Sometimes pain is part of the process and the plan.

-- As painful as the 13 years were between the pit and the palace, God used those years to prepare Joseph. He was called to be the prime minister of Egypt, but he was definitely not ready when he was a young boy enjoying the favor of his father. The point here is that sometimes your destiny requires pain, and that pain is part of the processing that God uses to prepare you for what He prepared for you. 

-- In THE YEAR OF DISCOVERY, the place you wanted out of may be the place God is using to get you ready.

4. God Knows Exactly Where To Place You.

Twenty pieces of silver. That is what his brothers sold him for, and Judah made the deal. Now look at where that sale delivered him. Genesis 37:36 NLT says the traders "sold Joseph to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt." Potiphar was the captain of the palace guard. In today's terms, it would be like the head of the Secret Service.

Think about that. Joseph was dragged out of a pit, sold like cattle, marched across a desert, and put on an auction block in a foreign country. Everything about it looked like chaos. And of all the households in Egypt, he landed in the one closest to the throne. His brothers set the price, but God set the address. And 22 years later, Joseph said it himself: "It was not your fault that I was sent here. It was God's plan." (Genesis 45:8 ERV)

How this applies to you:

-- God knows how to place you where He needs you.

-- When things look like they are falling apart, your destiny is not. Joseph's life looked out of control from the pit to the auction block, and God was placing him the whole time. What looks like chaos to you is placement to God.

-- Joseph did not end up in a farmer's field or a fisherman's boat. He ended up one house away from Pharaoh. God does not just move you; He positions you.

-- The brothers wanted Joseph gone, and God wanted Joseph in Egypt. One transaction accomplished both. God can use what people do to you to get you exactly where He needs you to be.

-- Potiphar's house was the next step toward the palace.

-- Joseph did not spend 22 years holding the sale against his brothers. By the time he saw them again, he could say "It was God's plan" and mean it. When you can see God's hand in what people did to you, what they did loses its power over you.

-- In THE YEAR OF DISCOVERY, trust God's placement even when you cannot see God's plan.

Meditate on this message. That caravan was already on the road!

That's enough for today.

Declaration of Faith:

Father, thank You that Your plan for me does not depend on anybody's cooperation!

Nobody in that field was thinking about my destiny, but You were!

You are never reacting to my crisis; You scheduled my answer in advance!

The caravan is already on the road, and it has my name on it!

Late to me is on time to You!

When You did not rescue me, You were getting me ready!

You manage what comes against me down to the exact amount I need!

They priced me low, but You positioned me high!

What they paid for me does not define what You planned for me!

In THE YEAR OF DISCOVERY, GREATER IS COMING FOR ME!

I declare this by faith. In Jesus' name. Amen!

This is Today's Word. Apply it and prosper!