Discovering Destiny (Part 52): What To Do When God Finally Blesses You
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 41:46-49 TPT
"Joseph was thirty years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Leaving Pharaoh's presence, Joseph traveled throughout the entire land of Egypt. During the seven years of abundance, the land produced bumper crops. Joseph supervised the gathering up of all the great stores of food of the seven years of abundance and strategically placed them in various walled cities near where the harvest was gathered. He gathered such massive quantities of produce that he gave up trying to measure it all, for it was like counting the sand on the seashore."
Supporting scriptures:
Proverbs 29:18 TPT
"When there is no clear prophetic vision, people quickly wander astray. But when you follow the revelation of the Word, heaven's bliss fills your soul."
Proverbs 10:5 AMPC
"He who gathers in summer is a wise son, but he who sleeps in harvest is a son who causes shame."
Galatians 6:9 NLT
"So let's not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don't give up."
Exodus 18:21-22 NLT
"But select from all the people some capable, honest men who fear God and hate bribes. Appoint them as leaders over groups of one thousand, one hundred, fifty, and ten. They should always be available to solve the people's common disputes, but have them bring the major cases to you. Let the leaders decide the smaller matters themselves. They will help you carry the load, making the task easier for you."
2 Timothy 2:2 ERV
"What you have heard me teach publicly you should teach to others. Share these teachings with people you can trust. Then they will be able to teach others these same things."
Genesis 39:22-23 AMPC
"And the warden of the prison committed to Joseph's care all the prisoners who were in the prison; and whatsoever was done there, he was in charge of it. The prison warden paid no attention to anything that was in [Joseph's] charge, for the Lord was with him and made whatever he did to prosper."
Ephesians 3:20 TPT
"Never doubt God's mighty power to work in you and accomplish all this. He will achieve infinitely more than your greatest request, your most unbelievable dream, and exceed your wildest imagination! He will outdo them all, for his miraculous power constantly energizes you."
Setting the Stage:
On Friday, we stepped back and looked at Joseph's whole journey through Stephen's eyes, and we saw the favor of God follow him into every room. Today, we step back into the story. Joseph has the ring on his finger, new clothes on his back, a gold chain around his neck, and the second chariot of Egypt under his feet. He is 30 years old. Thirteen years earlier, he walked into this country as property. Now nobody in Egypt can lift a hand or a foot without his word. If any man in the Bible had earned a few weeks of rest in a palace, it was Joseph. Nobody would have blamed him.
Look at what he did instead. The Bible says, "Leaving Pharaoh's presence, Joseph traveled throughout the entire land of Egypt." He left the palace. He got in that chariot and rode the length of the country, city after city. He looked at the fields. He looked at the walls. He looked at where grain could be stored and who could be trusted to store it. Then the harvests started coming in, just as God said they would. "During the seven years of abundance, the land produced bumper crops." Year after year, the fields gave more than anyone had ever seen, and year after year, Joseph's officials showed up to collect a fifth of it.
Picture how that landed with the people. There had to be farmers standing in fields so full they could not harvest it all, saying, "We have more than we can eat. Why is this Hebrew taking a fifth of it? What famine?" Joseph kept collecting. The Bible says he "supervised the gathering up of all the great stores of food" and "strategically placed them in various walled cities near where the harvest was gathered." He did not build one giant warehouse. He built a network, city by city, each one storing the grain from the fields around it. He did it for one year, then two, then five, then seven. The grain piled up until the man who counted everything "gave up trying to measure it all, for it was like counting the sand on the seashore."
So, what does this mean for you today? A few things.
1. Joseph Got The Ring, And Then He Got To Work.
Look at the first thing Joseph did with all of that new authority. He left the room where he got it. "Leaving Pharaoh's presence, Joseph traveled throughout the entire land of Egypt." He could have stayed in the palace and sent other men out. He had the rank to do it. But Joseph understood that Pharaoh did not give him a ring so he could admire it. The ring came with an assignment. He went to see the land for himself because you cannot lead what you have never looked at. I have taught this for years: grace is not a license for laziness, and destiny is not a free pass. Grace is divine enablement, and Joseph put that enablement to work on day one.
How this applies to you:
-- God gave Joseph the plan in a prison and the position in a day, but the operation took 14 years of work.
-- The blessing is not the finish line; it is the starting line.
-- If you have a destiny, you have a calling, and a calling comes with work. Grace empowers you for work. It does not exonerate you from work.
-- Joseph had the ring, the robe, and the chariot, and the first thing he did with them was leave the palace to go to work. God did not promote him so he could rest. God promoted him because there was a job to do.
-- Grace is not a license for laziness; it is the power to get the job done!
-- Joseph traveled "throughout the entire land of Egypt" before he collected a single bushel of grain. He looked at the fields, the cities, and the people before he built anything. When God gives you something new to lead, make sure you understand that looking and learning are central to leading.
-- Do not get so excited about the position that you forget the assignment.
-- The door God opens for you is tied to a destiny He already wrote, and that destiny comes with a job description.
-- Some of you have been praying for the door to open, and you should keep praying. Just be ready to work when it does, because the blessing comes with responsibility.
2. The Good Years Require Discipline Too.
The harvests came in exactly the way God said they would. "During the seven years of abundance, the land produced bumper crops." Here is the part most people miss. It is easy to be disciplined in a crisis, because the crisis forces you. It is hard to be disciplined in the plenty. When the barns are full, nobody wants to hear about a famine. But Joseph had seen what was coming, and what he saw governed what he did.
How this applies to you:
-- Vision restrains you, and that restraint is a good thing!
-- Solomon said, "When there is no clear prophetic vision, people quickly wander astray" (Proverbs 29:18 TPT). Joseph knew what was coming, so he did not live as if the plenty would last forever. What God has shown you about your future should shape what you do with today.
-- Seven years of plenty meant 84 months of disciplined execution, one harvest at a time.
-- The Bible says, "He who gathers in summer is a wise son" (Proverbs 10:5 AMPC). Your season of plenty is not just for spending. It is for gathering. Solomon said, “...fools spend whatever they get.” Proverbs 21:20 (NLT).
-- People today want everything now, but God is not in a hurry.
-- Execution is not glamorous. Nobody wrote a song about year four of the grain collection, but it was one of the reasons Egypt had bread during the famine.
-- God showed Joseph the famine seven years early because his destiny required him to be ready for it. Destiny told him what was coming; discipline got him ready for it. What God is asking you to do in this season is connected to what He planned for your next one.
3. Joseph Built Something That Could Run Without Him.
Look at how he stored it. He "strategically placed them in various walled cities near where the harvest was gathered." One central warehouse would have been easier to monitor, and distributing from it would have been a disaster when the famine hit. So Joseph built a distributed network, and that created a problem. He could not be in every city. He had no phone and no email. He had to find people, train them, and trust them. Where did a shepherd's son learn to do that? He learned it in the prison. The Bible says, "The prison warden paid no attention to anything that was in [Joseph's] charge" (Genesis 39:22-23 AMPC).
How this applies to you:
-- What God has called you to do is bigger than you!
-- What God has called you to do will take resources you do not have and people you do not know yet.
-- Joseph could not personally oversee every granary in Egypt, so he built a system that worked without his constant presence.
-- I like to say it this way: at some point, God takes you from playing the instrument to conducting the orchestra. The conductor is not playing any instrument; he is leading the people who do.
-- The test of what you build is whether it runs in your absence.
-- Jethro told Moses to appoint capable leaders over the people, and he said, "They will help you carry the load, making the task easier for you" (Exodus 18:21-22 NLT). If everything in your church, your business, or your home depends on you, you have set yourself up for failure. Long-term success requires investing in others, training them, and trusting them.
-- Paul told Timothy to pour into trustworthy people who "will be able to teach others these same things" (2 Timothy 2:2 ERV). Joseph had to train officials all over Egypt, and those officials had to train others.
-- If your destiny is bigger than you, then at some point you will have to train people who can train people.
4. God Gave Him More Than He Could Count.
Joseph was a detail-oriented man. He gave Pharaoh a percentage, a timeline, and a storage plan while he was still a prisoner. A man like that counts everything. And the Bible says the grain came in so fast, for so long, that he "gave up trying to measure it all, for it was like counting the sand on the seashore." God's provision outran Joseph's accounting. Here is what I want you to notice about where this blessing landed. Joseph was not running a ministry. He was running a government. The wisdom of God was on him for a secular job, and the results were beyond measure. And none of it was for him. Every bushel was stored for somebody else's famine.
How this applies to you:
-- God can bless you beyond your ability to count it!
-- Joseph was a detail man, and even he "gave up trying to measure it all." When God gets involved in your work, the results will outgrow your records.
-- God's blessing is not reserved for church services.
-- The wisdom on Joseph was for running a nation, not for preaching a sermon. God will anoint you for your business, your classroom, your office, or your job site, because He is bigger than Sunday morning.
-- Paul said God "will achieve infinitely more than your greatest request, your most unbelievable dream, and exceed your wildest imagination!" (Ephesians 3:20 TPT). Joseph dreamed of 11 sheaves bowing to his, but he never dreamed of feeding the world.
-- The plenty was never just for Joseph; it was for everyone his assignment would feed.
-- When you embrace the blessing of Abraham, you are reminded that it is bigger than you. Part of your destiny is to be blessed to be a blessing.
That's enough for today.
Declaration of Faith:
Father, I thank You for every door You have opened for me!
When You bless me, I do not sit down. I get to work!
Your grace does not exonerate me from the work; it empowers me to do it!
The vision You gave me restrains me, and that restraint is good!
I have the discipline to execute Your plan, no matter how long it takes!
I gather in my season of plenty, and I do not waste my harvest!
What You called me to do is bigger than me, so I build, I train, and I lead!
If it is not the thing, it is the thing getting me ready for the thing!
You bless me beyond my ability to count it!
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!
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