Discovering Destiny (Part 64): What The Life Of Joseph Teaches You About Your Destiny
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. Today and tomorrow, we close out the life of Joseph with two messages on what his life teaches us about destiny. This is part one.
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 50:20 NLT
"You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people."
Acts 7:9-10 TPT
"Jacob's sons became jealous of their brother Joseph and sold him to be a slave in Egypt. But God's favor and blessing rested upon Joseph, and in time, God rescued him from all his oppression and granted him extraordinary favor before Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. Pharaoh appointed him as the overseer of his nation and even of his own palace."
Supporting scriptures:
Genesis 37:3-4 TPT
"Now Israel's love for Joseph surpassed that for his other sons because he was born to him in his old age. So Israel had made him a richly ornamented robe. When Joseph's brothers saw that their father loved him more than he loved them, they hated him and would not speak a kind word to him."
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 39:2-3 NLT
"The Lord was with Joseph, so he succeeded in everything he did as he served in the home of his Egyptian master. Potiphar noticed this and realized that the Lord was with Joseph, giving him success in everything he did."
Genesis 39:21 NLT
"But the Lord was with Joseph in the prison and showed him his faithful love. And the Lord made Joseph a favorite with the prison warden."
Genesis 40:23 NLT
"Pharaoh's chief cup-bearer, however, forgot all about Joseph, never giving him another thought."
Romans 8:28 AMPC
"We are assured and know that [God being a partner in their labor] all things work together and are [fitting into a plan] for good to and for those who love God and are called according to [His] design and purpose."
Setting the Stage:
For the last 26 messages, we have walked with Joseph from a field in Canaan to a throne in Egypt. His story runs from Genesis 37 to Genesis 50. That is thirteen chapters, roughly a quarter of the first book of the Bible. God does not give that much room to a story by accident. So before we move on, I want to take two days and pull together what this man's life teaches you about your destiny.
Think about where it started. A 17-year-old boy, the eleventh son, wearing a robe he did not earn. The Bible says, "Israel had made him a richly ornamented robe," and when his brothers saw it, "they hated him and would not speak a kind word to him." Then God gave Joseph two dreams. He showed him the end and hid the road. One ordinary morning, his father sent him on an errand to check on his brothers. That errand took him to Dothan, and Dothan is where the pit is.
From there, it went downhill fast. The pit. 20 pieces of silver. A trade caravan to Egypt. A slave in Potiphar's house. A lie from Potiphar's wife. A second coat left in her hand. A prison cell. Then Joseph interpreted a dream for Pharaoh's butler and asked for one thing: remember me. And the Bible says, "Pharaoh's chief cup-bearer, however, forgot all about Joseph, never giving him another thought." Two more years went by. And yet, when Stephen looked back over all of it in the book of Acts, he did not describe Joseph's life by his troubles. He said, "God's favor and blessing rested upon Joseph."
At the end of his life, Joseph summed it up himself: "You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good." Here is what I want you to see today. Every place that looked like the end of Joseph's story was a step toward his destiny. Today, we look at the first half of the journey, from the robe to the prison. Tomorrow, we look at the second half, from the palace to the legacy.
So, what does this mean for you today? A few things.
1. Favor Comes Before Performance.
Let’s go back to the robe. Joseph was 17 years old, and he had not done one thing yet. He had not run a house, interpreted a dream, or saved a nation. And still his father loved him and put that robe on his shoulders. I taught you this in Part 38: Destiny is assigned before it is achieved. His brothers saw the robe, and "they hated him and would not speak a kind word to him." They hated what was on him, not what he did. Then God gave him two dreams. He showed Joseph the end and hid the road, because the road was too much for a 17-year-old to carry. Stephen said, "God's favor and blessing rested upon Joseph," and it rested there before Joseph ever earned a thing. That is grace.
How this applies to you:
-- You did not earn the favor of God on your life, and you cannot lose it by having a bad day.
-- Joseph had the robe before he had a résumé. God picks you before you produce, and He does not change His mind when you stumble.
-- Some people will not like what is on you. Do not take it personally; they are reacting to the favor, not to you. The favor on your life is irritating their insecurities, and that has nothing to do with you. So don’t let their vitriol make you lose sight of who you are and where you are going.
-- God planned your destiny before you were born, and He put His favor on you before you did anything to deserve it.
-- God will show you the destination before He shows you the road, and He will conveniently leave out the details.
-- You do not need the whole map to follow God. I have taught you this for years: it does not matter if you don't know where you are going if you know who you are following.
-- Favor can do more in a minute than labor can do in a lifetime.
2. There Are Pits On The Path To Your Destiny.
Jacob sent Joseph on an errand: go check on your brothers and bring back word. Joseph obeyed, walked about fifty miles, got directions from a stranger in a field, and the directions were right. They led him straight to Dothan, and Dothan is where the pit is. Now think about the people standing around that hole. Reuben was thinking about avoiding the blame. Judah was counting silver. The traders did not even know his name. Not one of them was thinking about Joseph's destiny. But the psalmist looked back and said God "had already sent a man ahead of his people to Egypt." Jacob sent him on an errand, and God sent him on an assignment. The caravan was already on the road before the brothers ever looked up.
How this applies to you:
-- The pit was not the end of Joseph's story, but it was on the way to his destiny.
-- God never promised you a path free of pits. He just promised to walk the road with you.
-- Joseph's brothers sold him as a slave and sent him away. But they could not remove God's presence or favor from Joseph’s life.
-- As you live your life, you will encounter moments where people make bad decisions about you. The good news is that their bad decisions cannot cancel out God's good decisions.
-- People will make determinations about who you are, and they will make decisions based on those determinations, but thankfully, nothing they do can undo what God has already planned.
-- The caravan was already on the road before Joseph ever hit the bottom of that pit. God's answer to your situation was on the road before the problem started.
-- While God does not make bad things happen to you, He can certainly use them and turn them around. He can take what the enemy meant to be a detour and turn it into the path that ushers you into your destiny.
-- God planned your destiny before you were born, and He knew about every pit on the road before you ever stepped onto it. When something bad happens, don't worry. God already knew, and He already prepared for it. Not only that, but He already prepared you for it, even though you may not feel it.
3. God's Favor Goes With You Into Every Room.
Joseph walked into Potiphar's house as property, and the Bible says, "The Lord was with Joseph, so he succeeded in everything he did." Potiphar noticed and put him over his whole house. Then Potiphar's wife came after him, and Joseph answered the temptation with his assignment. He lost a second coat, but he kept his destiny. Now he is in the king's prison, and you would think the favor stayed behind in Potiphar's house. But the Bible says, "the Lord was with Joseph in the prison and showed him his faithful love. And the Lord made Joseph a favorite with the prison warden." I call this portable favor. The favor of God was never on the house, the prison, or the palace. The favor was on Joseph everywhere he went.
How this applies to you:
-- Your address may have changed, but God’s presence on your life surely did not.
-- Joseph did good in every room. He did not wait for a better room to become a better man.
-- The rooms changed, the bosses changed, and the clothes changed, but the favor never changed.
-- God planned your destiny before you were born, and He sent His favor ahead of you into every room you will ever walk into.
-- Some of you are in a room you did not choose and do not like. Do your best work there anyway. Someone in that room will notice that the Lord is with you.
-- Potiphar's wife took Joseph's coat, but she could not take his favor. People can strip what is on your back, but they cannot strip what God put on your life.
-- Some of you have had a harder road than most. You have been sold out, lied about, forgotten, and locked in places you never chose. But a hard road does not mean you are not destined. Joseph had one of the hardest roads in the Bible, and he was one of the most destined men in it. You cannot be moved out of God's favor. One day you will look back over every pit, every prison, and every year you thought God forgot you, and you will see what Joseph saw: the grace and favor of God were on you every step of the way.
4. God Is Preparing You For What He Prepared For You.
Joseph helped the butler get his life back and asked for one thing in return. And the Bible says, "Pharaoh's chief cup-bearer, however, forgot all about Joseph, never giving him another thought." Two full years. But here is the key. Joseph was not wasting time in that prison. Potiphar's house taught him how to run an estate; the prison taught him how the monarchy worked. This was a prison for offenses against the king, and Joseph ended up running it. He learned how the Egyptian government worked: how a request got to the throne, how resources moved, and how to report to the people in charge. I call this the thing getting you ready for the thing. The psalmist said, "God's promise to Joseph purged his character until it was time for his dreams to come true." The prison was not punishment. It was preparation.
How this applies to you:
-- God is not punishing you; He is preparing you for what He prepared for you.
-- Nobody's forgetting cancels what God remembered.
-- The butler forgot Joseph for two years, but God never forgot him for one day. When the time was right, God gave Pharaoh a dream and put Joseph's name back in the cup-bearer's mouth.
-- Do not despise the room you are in. The skills you are learning there may be the very skills you need where God is taking you.
-- God planned your destiny before you were born, and He planned the preparation right along with it.
-- Discern the significance of key moments. Be ready when the door opens. When Pharaoh sent for him, Joseph shaved, changed his clothes, and walked in ready for his moment.
-- Destiny rarely sends a warning before the door opens. Stay ready, so when your moment comes, you do not have to get ready.
-- Joseph woke up in prison and went to sleep in the palace. Tomorrow, we will see what God did with him once he got there.
That's enough for today.
Declaration of Faith:
Father, You are writing my story, and nothing in it is wasted!
Your favor was on me before I did anything to earn it!
You show me the end before You show me the road!
My pit is on the way to my destiny!
You did not assign my destiny to a committee; You assigned it to Yourself!
Your favor goes with me into every room I walk into!
The address may change, but Your presence does not!
Nobody's forgetting can cancel what You remembered about me!
You are preparing me for what You prepared for me!
I will be ready when the door opens!
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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