Discovering Destiny (Part 62): Your Best Days Are Still Ahead
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 47:28 NLT"Jacob lived for seventeen years after his arrival in Egypt, so he lived 147 years in all."
Genesis 48:17-19 NLT"But Joseph was upset when he saw that his father placed his right hand on Ephraim's head. So Joseph lifted it to move it from Ephraim's head to Manasseh's head. 'No, my father,' he said. 'This one is the firstborn. Put your right hand on his head.' But his father refused. 'I know, my son; I know,' he replied. 'Manasseh will also become a great people, but his younger brother will become even greater. And his descendants will become a multitude of nations.'"
Supporting scriptures:
Genesis 37:2 NLT"This is the account of Jacob and his family. When Joseph was seventeen years old, he often tended his father's flocks. He worked for his half brothers, the sons of his father's wives Bilhah and Zilpah. But Joseph reported to his father some of the bad things his brothers were doing."
Genesis 48:11 NLT"Then Jacob said to Joseph, 'I never thought I would see your face again, but now God has let me see your children, too!'"
Genesis 48:13-14 NLT"Then he positioned the boys in front of Jacob. With his right hand he directed Ephraim toward Jacob's left hand, and with his left hand he put Manasseh at Jacob's right hand. But Jacob crossed his arms as he reached out to lay his hands on the boys' heads. He put his right hand on the head of Ephraim, though he was the younger boy, and his left hand on the head of Manasseh, though he was the firstborn."
Genesis 48:15-16 NLT"Then he blessed Joseph and said, 'May the God before whom my grandfather Abraham and my father, Isaac, walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life, to this very day, the Angel who has redeemed me from all harm, may he bless these boys.'"
Joel 2:25 AMPC"And I will restore or replace for you the years that the locust has eaten, the hopping locust, the stripping locust, and the crawling locust, My great army which I sent among you."
Isaiah 55:8-9 NLT"'My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,' says the Lord. 'And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.'"
Psalm 23:6 NLT"Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the Lord forever."
Setting the Stage:
On Friday, we watched Joseph carry Egypt through the worst of the famine with wisdom for every stage. Today, the story slows down and becomes personal again. The Bible gives us one short line that is easy to read right past: "Jacob lived for seventeen years after his arrival in Egypt." Seventeen years. Now go back to the beginning of the story. The Bible says, "When Joseph was seventeen years old, he often tended his father's flocks." Jacob had Joseph for seventeen years before the pit. Then he lost him for 22 years, believing he was dead. And at the end of his life, God gave him seventeen more years with the son he thought he would never see again. God gave Jacob double his time with the son he loved the most.
Now picture the scene. Jacob is 147 years old, sick, and nearly blind. Joseph walks in with his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, both probably in their 20s. The old man pulls the young men close, kisses them, and says something that only a father who grieved for 22 years could say: "I never thought I would see your face again, but now God has let me see your children, too!" He did not just get his son back. He got his grandsons too.
Then Jacob gets ready to release the blessing. Joseph does everything right. He positions the firstborn, Manasseh, under his father's right hand, the hand of the greater blessing, and Ephraim under the left. But "Jacob crossed his arms" and put his right hand on the younger boy. Joseph thinks his father made a mistake, and he tries to move his hand. And the old man refuses: "I know, my son; I know." Jacob was not confused. He was prophetic.
Here is what I want you to see today. The rest of Jacob's days were the best of his days. God gave back the years he thought were gone, gave him more than he ever expected, and showed him that God had been his shepherd the whole way. Some of you think your best days are behind you. Hear me today: your best days are still ahead.
So, what does this mean for you today? A few things.
1. God Can Give Back The Years You Thought Were Lost.
Look at the math. Jacob had Joseph for seventeen years. Then 22 years of grief. Then seventeen years together again in Egypt. God did not just reunite them for a hug and a funeral. He gave Jacob back the same number of years he had with Joseph before the pit, and He gave them to him in the best land in Egypt, with his whole family around him. I have taught you this before: after Joseph's season of testing was over, the rest of his days were the best of his days. The same was true for his father. God promised it through the prophet Joel: "I will restore or replace for you the years that the locust has eaten" (Joel 2:25 AMPC).
How this applies to you:
-- God does not just stop the loss; He restores what the loss took.
-- Jacob lost 22 years, but God gave him seventeen of the best years of his life at the end of it. And those 17 years represented a DOUBLE PORTION of what he originally had. We serve a God who can give you a DOUBLE BLESSING!
-- Some of you have written off a relationship, a dream, or a season as gone for good. Do not close the book on something God has not finished writing.
-- Joel said God will "restore or replace" the years. Sometimes He gives back what you lost, and sometimes He gives you something even better in its place.
-- I am in Killeen, Texas, today. I was preaching yesterday at a church, and I said (during the altar call) that God was going to restore some things in people's hearts. I said, “God is not just going to take you back to the level you were before. God will restore you, but it will be at an even GREATER LEVEL!”
-- God planned your destiny before you were born, and He planned the restoration right along with it. That is good news, but the even greater news is that our God is not just a God of restoration; He's also a God of restitution.
-- Your age is not a limit on God's goodness. Jacob was 130 when his best years started.
-- The rest of your days can be the best of your days.
2. God Will Do More Than You Ever Expected.
Listen to what Jacob said when he saw those boys: "I never thought I would see your face again, but now God has let me see your children, too!" For 22 years, Jacob would have given anything just to see Joseph's face one more time. That was the most he ever hoped for. God gave him Joseph's face, Joseph's wife, Joseph's sons, and seventeen years to enjoy all of them. I have taught you that when God blesses you, He does it in a way that will exceed your expectations and even your imagination. Jacob prayed for a face. God gave him a family.
How this applies to you:
-- God does not just answer the prayer you prayed; He answers the prayer you were afraid to pray.
-- Jacob would have settled for one look at Joseph's face. God gave him his son, his daughter-in-law, and his grandsons. That’s the kind of God we serve.
-- Some of you have lowered your expectations because you have been disappointed before. Lift them back up, because God is not limited by your disappointment.
-- If the wait was long, it is because the blessing is big.
-- God planned your destiny before you were born, and He planned it bigger than you could imagine. You are not dreaming too big; you are probably dreaming too small.
-- Paul said God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think. Jacob lived that verse in Egypt.
-- When it finally happens, God will make it worth your wait.
3. God Will Cross His Hands To Bless You.
Joseph positioned his boys exactly the way the world said it should go. The firstborn gets the right hand. The second son gets the left. But "Jacob crossed his arms" and put his right hand on Ephraim, "though he was the younger boy." When Joseph tried to fix it, his father said, "I know, my son; I know. ... his younger brother will become even greater." I have taught you for years that God has a track record of bypassing the world's norms to release His blessing on His children. Isaac over Ishmael. Jacob over Esau. Joseph over Reuben. Ephraim over Manasseh. Jesus over Adam. God said it through Isaiah: "my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine" (Isaiah 55:8-9 NLT).
How this applies to you:
-- God is not limited by your position. God can bless you despite your position (especially when you are not in the position where you expect the blessing).
-- People may have placed you under the left hand, but God decides where His right hand lands.
-- Sometimes God will cross His hands and go out of His way to bless you.
-- You may not be first in line, first in your family, or first in anyone's plans. God still knows exactly where you are standing.
-- The crossed hands were not a mistake. Jacob said, "I know, my son; I know." When God blesses you in a way nobody expected, He knows exactly what He is doing.
-- God planned your destiny before you were born, and no human order of things can cancel what He planned for you.
-- Do not get upset when God blesses someone out of the order you expected. He will cross His hands for you too.
-- What God has for you is for you, and no one can stop it.
-- You may not have been the son or daughter anyone expected to amount to anything. Nobody put their hopes on you. But God has a way of choosing the one everybody overlooked and making them the one everybody remembers.
4. God Has Been Shepherding You Your Whole Life.
Before Jacob blessed the boys, he looked back over 147 years and said something remarkable. He called God "the God who has been my shepherd all my life, to this very day, the Angel who has redeemed me from all harm" (Genesis 48:15-16 NLT). Think about who is saying that. This is the man who deceived his father, ran from his brother, worked 20 years for a man who cheated him, and mourned a son for 22 years. Jacob made a lot of his own trouble for himself. But in the end, he did not describe his life by his mistakes or his losses. He described it by the Shepherd who never left. Even in the years Jacob thought were wasted, God was leading him to Egypt and to this moment. David said, "Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life" (Psalm 23:6 NLT). Jacob was living proof.
How this applies to you:
-- God has been with you your whole life!
-- When I first got born again, my very first encounter with the Holy Spirit: He began to show me all of these moments from my childhood in Brooklyn, when I was in danger, and I thought I was just lucky to make it out. He also showed me a couple of times in the Dominican Republic when I almost lost my life. God showed me that He had been with me all my life, protecting me for my divine assignment, answering the prayers of my mother and grandmother (on my father’s side). 30 years later, I can say, as Jacob said, God has been shepherding me all my life.
-- God has been shepherding you in every season, including the ones you did not understand.
-- Jacob made plenty of his own trouble, and God never let go of him. Your Heavenly Father, who is your shepherd, does not leave you because of your mistakes.
-- The same God who carried Jacob through 147 years is carrying you.
-- God planned your destiny before you were born, and He has been leading you toward it every day since.
-- David said, “Goodness and mercy shall follow you (track you down), all the days of your life!” You are not chasing God's goodness; it is chasing you.
That's enough for today.
Declaration of Faith:
Father, my best days are still ahead!
You restore the years I thought were lost!
The rest of my days will be the best of my days!
You do more than I ever expected!
I will not lower my expectations, because You are not limited by my disappointment!
You will make it worth my wait!
You are not limited by my position!
You cross Your hands to bless me!
What You have for me is for me, and no one can stop it!
You have been my Shepherd all my life, and You are leading me still!
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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