Discovering Destiny (Part 60): God Will Never Send You Where He Will Not Go With 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 46:1-4 AMPC
"So Israel made his journey with all that he had and came to Beersheba [a place hallowed by sacred memories] and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. And God spoke to Israel in visions of the night, and said, Jacob! Jacob! And he said, Here am I. And He said, I am God, the God of your father; do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will there make of you a great nation. I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also surely bring you [your people Israel] up again; and Joseph will put his hand upon your eyes [when they are about to close in death]."
Supporting scriptures:
Genesis 26:2-3 NLT
"The Lord appeared to Isaac and said, 'Do not go down to Egypt, but do as I tell you. Live here as a foreigner in this land, and I will be with you and bless you. I hereby confirm that I will give all these lands to you and your descendants, just as I solemnly promised Abraham, your father.'"
Isaiah 43:2 TPT
"When you pass through the deep, stormy sea, you can count on me to be there with you. When you pass through raging rivers, you will not drown. When you walk through persecution like fiery flames, you will not be burned; the flames will not harm you."
Exodus 1:7 AMPC
"But the descendants of Israel were fruitful and increased abundantly; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, and the land was full of them."
Genesis 46:33-34 AMPC
"When Pharaoh calls you and says, What is your occupation? You shall say, Your servants' occupation has been as keepers of livestock from our youth until now, both we and our fathers before us, in order that you may live in the land of Goshen, for every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians."
Genesis 47:5-6 TPT
"Pharaoh said to Joseph, 'Now that your father and your brothers have arrived, the land of Egypt is theirs. Let them settle in the best part of the land, in the region of Goshen. And if there are any competent men among them, put them in charge of my own livestock.'"
John 17:15-16 TPT
"I am not asking that you remove them from the world, but I ask that you guard their hearts from evil, for they no longer belong to this world any more than I do."
Psalm 37:19 NLT
"They will not be disgraced in hard times; even in famine they will have more than enough."
Genesis 47:7-10 TPT
"Later, Joseph brought Jacob into the house and presented him before Pharaoh. And Jacob gave Pharaoh a blessing. Pharaoh asked Jacob, 'How old are you?' Jacob answered, 'My earthly journey has been one hundred and thirty years. My years have been few and hard, but it doesn't compare to the length of the earthly journeys of my fathers.' Then Jacob blessed Pharaoh again and departed."
Hebrews 7:7 TPT
"And no one could deny the fact that the one who has the power to impart a blessing is superior to the one who receives it."
Genesis 12:2-3 TPT
"Follow me, and I will make you into a great nation. I will exceedingly bless and prosper you, and I will make you famous, so that you will be a tremendous source of blessing for others. I will bless all who bless you and curse all who curse you. And through you all the families of the earth will be blessed."
Setting the Stage:
Yesterday, Joseph wept on Benjamin's neck and kissed every one of his brothers. Then he sent them home to get their father. Pharaoh sent wagons to carry the family, and Joseph loaded twenty donkeys with grain, bread, and the best things Egypt had. When the brothers got home and told Jacob that Joseph was alive and governing all of Egypt, the old man's heart went numb. He could not believe it. But then he saw the wagons, and his spirit came back to life. His son was alive, and Jacob was going to see him before he died.
So a 130-year-old man packs up everything he owns. 70 people. The flocks, the herds, the children, the grandchildren. And before he crosses into Egypt, he makes one stop. Beersheba. This is the place where his grandfather Abraham called on the name of the Lord, and where his father Isaac built an altar. It is also the place Jacob ran from decades earlier, when he was a young man running for his life from Esau. He left Beersheba alone with nothing. Now he comes back through it as the head of a family that is about to become a nation.
And there is a reason he stops. Egypt had a history in this family. When famine hit in Abraham's day, Abraham went down to Egypt and lied about his wife. When famine hit in Isaac's day, God appeared to Isaac and said, "Do not go down to Egypt." So Jacob does not just load the wagons and roll. He offers sacrifices, and he waits. That night God calls his name: "Jacob! Jacob!" And Jacob says, "Here am I." Then God says, "do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will there make of you a great nation. I will go down with you to Egypt." And God kept His word. Pharaoh gave the family "the best part of the land, in the region of Goshen." Then Joseph brought his limping, 130-year-old father into the throne room, and the Bible says, "Jacob gave Pharaoh a blessing."
Here is what I want you to see today. God did not move Jacob without speaking first, and He did not send Jacob anywhere He was not going Himself. The place that looked dangerous was the place God planned to make his family a nation. Some of you are standing at your own Beersheba right now, looking at a move that does not make sense to you. Hear me today: if God is sending you, He is going with you. God is committed to your destiny, and He is committed to working with you to bring His perfect will for your life to pass.
So, what does this mean for you today? A few things.
1. God Will Speak To You Before He Moves You.
Think about what Jacob was carrying when he got to Beersheba. He was leaving the land God promised his grandfather. He knew what Egypt had done to his family before. And he knew the word God gave his father: "Do not go down to Egypt." So Jacob stops and worships before he moves. I have taught you before that worship positions you to hear from God, and that night God spoke. Notice what God did not say. He did not say Egypt would be easy, and He did not say there would be no hard years ahead. He said, "I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also surely bring you [your people Israel] up again." God did not just send Jacob to Egypt. God went with him. Isaiah says the same thing to you: "When you pass through the deep, stormy sea, you can count on me to be there with you" (Isaiah 43:2 TPT).
How this applies to you:
-- God speaks before He moves you, so you do not have to guess your way into your next season.
-- God said to Isaac, "Do not go down to Egypt." God said to Jacob, "Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt." It was the same family, dealing with the same thing (a famine), but it was a different assignment for a different season.
-- This is why it's critical for you to be able to hear from God. Just because God said, "Don't do something," in one season doesn't mean that He won't say, "Now it's time for you to do it." To walk out your destiny, you must be led by the Holy Spirit.
-- Egypt had been a dangerous place for his family, and God spoke peace before He ever gave the instruction.
-- God is committed to your destiny, and He will never leave you. But when you drift outside His will, there will be moments when you do not sense His presence, and His power and anointing will not flow the way they could because you are misaligned with what you are assigned to do.
-- You do not manufacture God's flow. His grace, His power, and His blessing flow in alignment with His purpose, and when you repent, get back in faith, and align with your divine assignment, you step back into a flow that never stopped. It was there the whole time, and you were just out of position.
2. God Will Multiply You In A Place You Never Would Have Chosen.
Look at the second half of what God told Jacob: "I will there make of you a great nation." There. Not in Canaan, the land of promise. In Egypt. Jacob walked into Egypt with 70 people, and about 400 years later his descendants walked out a nation. Moses wrote it this way: "the descendants of Israel were fruitful and increased abundantly; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, and the land was full of them" (Exodus 1:7 AMPC). I have taught you that the Blessing is always working, even when you are somewhere you never would have chosen. Egypt was like an incubator. It was not a detour from the promise. It was the place God grew the promise until it was strong enough to walk out.
How this applies to you:
-- God does not need your favorite place to fulfill your destiny.
-- Jacob went down as a family of 70, and his descendants came out a nation. Nothing about that growth made sense on paper, and God planned all of it.
-- God planned your destiny before you were born, and He also picked the soil you would grow in.
-- Canaan was the promise, but Egypt was the process. You cannot have one without the other, and God knows exactly how long you need to be in each.
-- I have taught you that God is not using pressure to punish you. He is using it to process you.
-- Do not despise the place you are in, because God is multiplying your destiny there.
-- The same God who said "I will go down with you to Egypt" also said, "I will also surely bring you [your people Israel] up again." Egypt was never meant to be the final address. It was the place God would multiply you before He moved you again.
-- Destined people understand that life is a journey, and every stop on the road has a purpose.
3. You Do Not Have To Become Like Them To Prosper Among Them.
Now watch what Joseph tells his brothers before they meet Pharaoh. He tells them to say exactly who they are, keepers of livestock from their youth, like their fathers before them. Joseph knew "every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians" (Genesis 46:33-34 AMPC). Egypt despised the very thing they were, and that very thing put them in Goshen. Pharaoh said, "Let them settle in the best part of the land, in the region of Goshen" (Genesis 47:5-6 TPT). Goshen was close to Joseph, set apart from the Egyptians. They lived inside Pharaoh's kingdom, but they never became Egyptians. Jesus prayed the same thing over you: "I am not asking that you remove them from the world, but I ask that you guard their hearts from evil" (John 17:15-16 TPT).
How this applies to you:
-- You do not have to hide who you are to be blessed where God placed you.
-- You don't have to become a Christian chameleon to be blessed. God did not call you to fit in.
-- We're not supposed to conform to this world; we're supposed to be transformed by God's Kingdom.
-- Joseph did not coach his brothers to blend in. He coached them to tell the truth, and the truth set them apart. If you become like them, you may keep the paycheck and lose the assignment.
-- What the world looks down on in you may be the very thing God uses to put you in Goshen.
-- Goshen was abundance in the middle of famine. Jacob's family did not earn it, and the brothers surely did not deserve it. It was grace.
-- The psalmist said the righteous "will not be disgraced in hard times; even in famine they will have more than enough" (Psalm 37:19 NLT). That is Goshen living.
-- Being set apart is not rejection. It is protection. God kept that family together as a people for 400 years, because Egypt never let them blend in.
-- God planned your identity and your destiny before you were born, so do not trade who God made you to fit into somebody else's kingdom.
4. You Carry A Blessing That Kings Need.
Now picture the last scene. Joseph brings his father into the throne room. Jacob is 130 years old, and he still walks with the limp from the night he wrestled with God. He is a refugee from a famine, and he came to Egypt because his family needed food. And the Bible says, "Jacob gave Pharaoh a blessing." Pharaoh asks how old he is, and Jacob gives an honest answer: "My years have been few and hard." Then on his way out, "Jacob blessed Pharaoh again." Hebrews says, "the one who has the power to impart a blessing is superior to the one who receives it" (Hebrews 7:7 TPT). Pharaoh had the throne, but Jacob had the blessing.
How this applies to you:
-- Pharaoh fed Jacob's family, but Jacob blessed Pharaoh.
-- Your destiny does not just get you into the room. It gives you something to release in the room. That is the promise God gave Abraham: "you will be a tremendous source of blessing for others" (Genesis 12:2-3 TPT).
-- You may walk into rooms where everybody has more money, more power, and more titles than you. You still carry something none of them can buy.
-- God told Abraham, "through you all the families of the earth will be blessed." That promise walked into Pharaoh's court on the legs of a 130-year-old shepherd.
-- You are not in somebody else's kingdom just to survive. You are there to release the blessing.
-- God planned your destiny before you were born, and part of that plan is the people you will bless in places you never expected to stand.
That's enough for today.
Declaration of Faith:
Father, You are with me, because You are committed to my destiny!
I go with confidence wherever You are sending me!
Wherever my destiny takes me, You go with me!
You will multiply me in places I never would have chosen!
I do not despise the incubator, because the Blessing is always working!
I do not have to become like them to prosper among them!
I align with my divine assignment, and I walk in the grace You already provided!
My hard years did not cancel what You put in me!
I carry a blessing that kings need!
Everywhere You send me, I will release the blessing!
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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