Once Joseph arrived in Egypt, he first served a man named Potiphar but found himself in jail after the man's wife falsely accused Joseph of sexual misconduct. While in jail, Joseph interpreted dreams for two of Pharaoh's officials, hoping his help would secure his release. Two years later, one of the officials told Pharaoh about Joseph when Pharaoh was looking for someone to interpret two of his dreams. We read,
So Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and he was quickly brought from the dungeon. When he had shaved and changed his clothes, he came before Pharaoh. Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream, and no one can interpret it. But I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it" (Genesis 41:14-15).
In a matter of minutes, Joseph moved from the dungeon to the king's palace and was standing before the most powerful man in the world. First he had to be made presentable and then he was confronted with the command performance to tell Pharaoh what his dreams meant. How would you respond? Would you be nervous? Feel pressure? Wonder what would happen to you if you could not give the king what he wanted? How did Joseph respond?
He responded by saying in essence it was no big deal: “'I cannot do it,' Joseph replied to Pharaoh, 'but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires'" (Genesis 41:16). What courage! What faith! What composure and confidence! How did Joseph know God wanted to provide the meaning? How did he know he would hear and relate it properly? As Joseph stood before Pharaoh and shared the interpretation, he said, "It is just as I said to Pharaoh: God has shown Pharaoh what he is about to do" (Genesis 41:28). In other words, Joseph was saying, "I told you it's no big deal; no big deal at all to do this."
That is how purpose operates in your life as well. You do something and others may marvel, but you think, "That's no big deal; it was pretty easy." I had a friend who used to stand before a crowd of thousands and say, "Let's write a worship song." He would then ask for a passage, a key, a tempo, and have the band start playing. When he was done, he and they had composed a song!
What do you do that's "no big deal"? What can you produce, create, or devise that would take others a long time—if they could do it at all? Where does God work with you so that others, like Pharaoh's official, remember you and recommend you to their friends or associates? The reason you can do this is for the same reason Joseph gave: "I can't do it, but God can." It's what Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:10: "But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me."
Don't try to explain or ignore this phenomenon in your life. Just go with the flow and produce results just like Joseph did, whether you are doing it for a few people behind bars or the most important man in the world.
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