You've done everything right BUT where are the results?

[PinkPebbles]

When you’ve done everything right but results aren’t forthcoming as quickly as you expect, don’t give up because your time is surely coming.

It took two years before Joseph’s efforts in the prison produced a result, but when it did, what a result!

Though his former cellmate promptly forgot all about him when he was released and restored to his old position, it was for a reason and Joseph did not lose hope.

Let’s imagine for a minute that the king’s butler did not forget about Joseph and told the king about him immediately. The best thing that could have happened from that scenario would be that Joseph would also be restored to his former position – as a slave – because the king didn’t need him yet! Isn’t that interesting?

God waited until Joseph was needed at the very highest level in the land before allowing his former cellmate to remember him. By that time, the king was troubled by his own dream – not just worried, but troubled! I love it! He was desperate for a solution and would give anything to get it.

Do you think Joseph could have asked for that level of compensation had he been asked to ‘name his price’? Don’t you think the reward the king gave for the translation of his dream was ‘very generous’ to say the least?

God never forgets and even when it looks like nothing is happening, He continues to orchestrate things in the background so that at the right time, the outcome will be super abundantly above what you could have imagined! (Eph 3:20)

Sade Diya

 

[PinkPebbles]

Everything that happens on the way to your destiny is significant.

Many people get frustrated when they assume that they are not reaching their goals quickly enough, but ask any successful person and they will tell you that they probably wouldn’t be where they are without the vital lessons learnt during their ‘tough times’.

The very place you can’t wait to leave may hold the key to where you’re going. You may be in training without realizing it.

When Joseph was sold as a slave into Potiphar’s house, he probably thought his bad fortune was continuing unabated, but that was where he gained some of the crucial training needed for where he was going. Here are my favorites:

1. Leadership. Prior to that point in his life, he’d only ever been a ‘daddy’s boy’ who never had to make a decision on his own. But at Potiphar’s, he was made to be the overseer of the entire household; in charge of all that his master had. Talk about responsibility! He needed leadership skills for where God was taking him.

2. Accountability. Many young men in his position would have fallen into temptation with their master’s wife. Who knows, it may have even enhanced his status at work and he certainly would have avoided prison altogether. But he didn’t. He said to her: ‘how can I do this wickedness and sin against God’!

3. Integrity. In the face of adversity Joseph maintained his integrity. Did you notice that even when his master’s wife lied and had him jailed, he never said a bad word against her? He could have sown a seed of doubt in their relationship and tarnished her image among their staff by telling his side of the story, but he didn’t. How mature! The young boy had grown up.

Joseph was called to be a leader and these three ingredients would be vital in the position that God was grooming him for. Where else could he have learnt them but on his journey there?

Even as a slave, he knew that his circumstances did not define him. Others may not have known it but he knew the dream that God gave him and behaved accordingly, knowing that he was accountable to God.

Don’t let your current situation dictate how you behave. Always see yourself as whom God has called you to be and act like it. Remember, God calls those things that do not exist as though they did (Rom 4:17).

 

[PinkPebbles]

Do you have a dream? Know the right time to share your news – good or bad.

In the business world, any good leader will tell you that if you release news, even good news, at the wrong time the result may not be all good. Similarly, your God-given dreams and visions have their set or appointed times.

The moment you receive your dream isn’t always the right time to share it. Don’t confuse that with a ‘faith confession’. Learn to incubate your dream. Let it mature. Allow God to show you where He’s taking you with it – and that may take a while.

Remember Hab. 2:3, at the appointed time the vision will speak – and boy, does it ever! My favorite version of that scripture verse says it “hastens to its fulfillment”. Think you’re in a hurry? Well, wait for your appointed time and then see if you can keep up! In the meantime, exercise self control (it’s a fruit of the Spirit, you know – Gal 5:22-23) and be patient. Just wait for it. It will surely come. It won’t delay.

Did you notice that after Joseph shared his news at the wrong time (and with the wrong people) he never made that mistake again? Once he was sold by his brothers, he never said a word about that particular dream again – he just waited for it!

 

[Shimmie]

So on time... this message.

Thank you Pink Pebbles ... thank you, very much for sharing the right message at the right time.

Praying for your dreams...in total agreement, I am.

 

[Kalani]

Wow, this was really good, thank you!! I never really thought about how Joseph being forgot about in prison worked with God's timing of Pharaoh's dream.

 

[Ms Lala]

Do you have a dream? Know the right time to share your news – good or bad.

In the business world, any good leader will tell you that if you release news, even good news, at the wrong time the result may not be all good. Similarly, your God-given dreams and visions have their set or appointed times.

The moment you receive your dream isn’t always the right time to share it. Don’t confuse that with a ‘faith confession’. Learn to incubate your dream. Let it mature. Allow God to show you where He’s taking you with it – and that may take a while.

Remember Hab. 2:3, at the appointed time the vision will speak – and boy, does it ever! My favorite version of that scripture verse says it “hastens to its fulfillment”. Think you’re in a hurry? Well, wait for your appointed time and then see if you can keep up! In the meantime, exercise self control (it’s a fruit of the Spirit, you know – Gal 5:22-23) and be patient. Just wait for it. It will surely come. It won’t delay.

Did you notice that after Joseph shared his news at the wrong time (and with the wrong people) he never made that mistake again? Once he was sold by his brothers, he never said a word about that particular dream again – he just waited for it!

Thanks for sharing this. I hardly come in here but something told me to. I needed this word. It brought me to tears.

 

[PinkPebbles]

So on time... this message.

Thank you Pink Pebbles ... thank you, very much for sharing the right message at the right time.

Praying for your dreams...in total agreement, I am.

Shimmie thank you so much for praying.....may all of our God-given dreams manifest in the natural:Rose:

 

[PinkPebbles]

Wow, this was really good, thank you!! I never really thought about how Joseph being forgot about in prison worked with God's timing of Pharaoh's dream.

dtachi I thought the same way....

Also, the author made mention in her blog on how God chose the right prison - Joseph was put in the prison “where the king's own prisoners were kept” (Gen 39:20)

God's timing is amazing....

 

[PinkPebbles]

Thanks for sharing this. I hardly come in here but something told me to. I needed this word. It brought me to tears.

Ms Lala I'm glad that you were blessed. I was in tears when I read this message as well and felt led to share it.

God is good all the time and knows how, when, and where to bless us

 

[wednesday]

REALLY need this.

 

[Ms Lala]

@Ms Lala I'm glad that you were blessed. I was in tears when I read this message as well and felt led to share it.

God is good all the time and knows how, when, and where to bless us

PinkPebbles Yeah lately I had been focused on "missed opportunities" and feeling like I lost on chances that I can't get back but I know my God is bigger than any mistake I may have made or perhaps my timing was just off. I read that post and started thinking maybe I was jumping ahead and trying to do things too soon because I am looking at things w/my natural eyes and wanting to get things done by a certain age. However I know His plan is greater than what I have imagined. Just as I started really walking into what I know God was telling me to do it seemed like all HELL broke lose in my life and this posting just reaffirmed in me that perhaps there are some areas I needed to develop. I am definitely stronger and have a greater level of empathy for people than I've ever had.

 

[Kalani]

PinkPebbles Yeah lately I had been focused on "missed opportunities" and feeling like I lost on chances that I can't get back but I know my God is bigger than any mistake I may have made or perhaps my timing was just off. I read that post and started thinking maybe I was jumping ahead and trying to do things too soon because I am looking at things w/my natural eyes and wanting to get things done by a certain age. However I know His plan is greater than what I have imagined. Just as I started really walking into what I know God was telling me to do it seemed like all HELL broke lose in my life and this posting just reaffirmed in me that perhaps there are some areas I needed to develop. I am definitely stronger and have a greater level of empathy for people than I've ever had.

Boy, I've had the same experience. It seemed in my early years when I was doing my own thing, oddly enough circumstances always worked in my favor. But now in the last few years when I got serious about finding God's will for my life and following him more closely everything in my life has went wrong.. all manner of family issues, major career disappointments, and worst financial hardship ever. I'm like erplexed erplexed . I understand that there will be opposition but, man, for how long??!!! Trying to hang in there. This thread definitely helped!

My empathy for people in all situations has most definitely deepened.

 

[BEAUTYU2U]

Yes ma'am. Sometimes, I've felt so behind and people who had made questionable decisions were being rewarded over me. I thought, "when will the hard times end, haven't I built enough character yet?" But now I see the miracles and blessings.

 

[okange76]

I need to park myself right here because this is the question that truly troubles me the most. All the people who didn't "follow the rules" so to speak seem to be getting ahead just fine. I followed all the rules, education, dating, work, etc and I'm getting absolutely nowhere.

 

[Alta Angel]

Thank you for this OP! I have spent the last 3 years in a spiritual fog. I have always been very goal-oriented and focused on accomplishing. As a result, I had attained most of the things I set out to do. I created long and short-term SMART goals, wrote them down, posted them around the house, etc. One day in the midst of all that my Spirit said, "Are you doing all of this for me or for you? Your mission can only be fulfilled by helping others."

So then I went off on a 3 year tangent desperately trying to find out what I was "supposed" to be doing. I read the Bible, Christian self-help books, got involved with teaching the children at my church, but still had no grasp on what my purpose was. I cried out to God, but only got silence (I thought). Finally, several months ago, I realized that I was exhausted. I had been trying to do it all in my own strength for over two years. I have had to learn the hard way that I cannot force God to do anything by my own sheer will and efforts. I have had to seek Him daily for everything and to make the choice to actively obey His Spirit. I am finally realizing that I am at the end of myself, which is the beginning of Him!

Although this is contrary to how I normally live my life, I do not have a plan and I am not in control (I never was!). I am navigating the journey of daily dependence on God. I have good days and bad days. He has already manifested blessings in my life and my family's life that I could never have imagined. God is good!

 

[PinkPebbles]

Alta Angel thank you for sharing your testimony!

I can relate to "I am at the end of myself, which is the beginning of Him!"

Indeed, God is good!

Thank you for this OP! I have spent the last 3 years in a spiritual fog. I have always been very goal-oriented and focused on accomplishing. As a result, I had attained most of the things I set out to do. I created long and short-term SMART goals, wrote them down, posted them around the house, etc. One day in the midst of all that my Spirit said, "Are you doing all of this for me or for you? Your mission can only be fulfilled by helping others."

So then I went off on a 3 year tangent desperately trying to find out what I was "supposed" to be doing. I read the Bible, Christian self-help books, got involved with teaching the children at my church, but still had no grasp on what my purpose was. I cried out to God, but only got silence (I thought). Finally, several months ago, I realized that I was exhausted. I had been trying to do it all in my own strength for over two years. I have had to learn the hard way that I cannot force God to do anything by my own sheer will and efforts. I have had to seek Him daily for everything and to make the choice to actively obey His Spirit. I am finally realizing that I am at the end of myself, which is the beginning of Him!

Although this is contrary to how I normally live my life, I do not have a plan and I am not in control (I never was!). I am navigating the journey of daily dependence on God. I have good days and bad days. He has already manifested blessings in my life and my family's life that I could never have imagined. God is good!

 

[LiciaB]

Wow, I really needed this. Thank you so muchPinkPebbles