we often miss our opportunities…

another part of joseph going through this open door is the ability to plant seed.  that’s part of finding GOD’s open doors.  pharaoh talked about this dream. 

genesis 41.17-21 (msg), in my dream i was standing on the bank of the nile. seven cows, shimmering with health, came up out of the river and grazed on the marsh grass. on their heels seven more cows, all skin and bones, came up. i’ve never seen uglier cows anywhere in egypt. then the seven skinny, ugly cows ate up the first seven healthy cows…

then joseph said, verses 29, 30, 34-40 (mgs), seven years of plenty are on their way throughout egypt. but on their heels will come seven years of famine…pharaoh needs to appoint managers throughout the country of egypt to organize it during the years of plenty. their job will be to collect all the food produced in the good years ahead and stockpile the grain under pharaoh's authority, storing it in the towns for food. this grain will be held back to be used later during the seven years of famine that are coming on egypt. this way the country won’t be devastated by the famine.” this seemed like a good idea to pharaoh and his officials. then pharaoh said to his officials, “isn’t this the man we need? are we going to find anyone else who has GOD's SPIRIT in him like this?”

joseph says, “why don’t you get some wise and discerning leaders to gather all this grain?”  every one else in all the country had said, “pharaoh, we don’t understand your dream.  we don’t have the wisdom to interpret it.”  only one man in the entire country has the wisdom to interpret this dream.  

joseph said, in verse 33, “so, pharaoh needs to look for a wise and experienced man and put him in charge of the country.”  he didn’t say he was willing to do it.  he just planted some seed. 

have you learned to do that when it comes to dreams?  sometimes we’re so excited about our dream that instead of planting seeds we try to rush through the door.  plant seeds sometimes with the right people and then watch what GOD does.  if it’s of GOD, it’s going to happen.  if it’s of GOD, HE’s going to bring it about.  sometimes we rush so quickly we break down the door rather than go through the open door of GOD’s dreams.

do we make our opportunities as people?  i think the answer is no.  GOD’s the one who is the LORD of all our opportunities.  we don’t make our opportunities, but i would say we often miss our opportunities, those GOD-given opportunities that come into our lives.  our ship comes in but we’re on the dock fishing.  our train comes in but we’re discouraged because our train didn’t come in last week so we’re moping somewhere off in the corner.  we miss the GOD-given opportunities in our lives. 

joseph didn’t miss GOD’s opportunity when it came because of the kind of faith he had, the kind of wisdom that he had. 

just a thought from the front porch…

continuing to believe…

we are continuing in genesis 40 (msg) at our look at joseph and his dream while in prison. we saw in verse 5, the king’s cupbearer and baker, while being held in the jail, both had a dream on the same night.  then to verse 8, they said to joseph, “we dreamed dreams and there’s no one to interpret them.”

if you’d been joseph what would you have said at that moment?  dreams and no one to interpret.  joseph had a dream and look where he ended up, in prison.  wouldn’t you have been tempted to say, “ha!  dreams!  let me tell you about dreams!  i had a dream that i was going to be a ruler and look where i ended up.  forget it!  dreams don’t work!”  thinking what we would think… but not joseph.

look at the next verse.  joseph said, “don't interpretations come from GOD? tell me the dreams.”

that’s the most amazing verse in the story of joseph.  here he is at the bottom.  he has every reason to disbelieve that any dream could ever come true and some guys had a dream and he says, “don't interpretations come from GOD? tell me the dreams.”  and they do. 

he’s got the wisdom to continue to believe when everything is saying you shouldn’t believe.

he also has the wisdom to see the right opportunity in a situation.  look at what happens.  one guy, the cupbearer, says, verses 9-13, “in my dream there was a vine in front of me with three branches on it: it budded, blossomed, and the clusters ripened into grapes. i was holding pharaoh’s cup; i took the grapes, squeezed them into pharaoh’s cup, and gave the cup to pharaoh.” joseph said, “here's the meaning. the three branches are three days. within three days, pharaoh will get you out of here and put you back to your old work—you’ll be giving pharaoh his cup just as you used to do when you were his cupbearer.

great dream!  they’re feeling pretty good.  so the baker says, verses 16-22, “my dream went like this: i saw three wicker baskets on my head; the top basket had assorted pastries from the bakery and birds were picking at them from the basket on my head.” he’s thinking three days i’m going to be put back in this great position.  but there is a different interpretation.  joseph said, “this is the interpretation: the three baskets are three days; within three days pharaoh will take off your head, impale you on a post, and the birds will pick your bones clean.” and sure enough, on the third day it was pharaoh’s birthday and he threw a feast for all his servants. he set the head cupbearer and the head baker in places of honor in the presence of all the guests. then he restored the head cupbearer to his cupbearing post; he handed pharaoh his cup just as before. and then he impaled the head baker on a post, following joseph’s interpretations exactly.

notice back a few verses.  verse 14 joseph said not to the baker whose head is going to be cut off.  he’s not the right person.  that’s not the right opportunity there.  but to the one whose position is going to be lifted up, “only remember me when things are going well with you again—tell pharaoh about me and get me out of this place.”

have you ever felt three days away from your dream and you were disappointed?  you know what that’s like when you are on the edge.  you can see it, taste it, and touch it.  if you’ve ever been like that and felt, “i was so close that i could touch it but i lost it.  that must mean that GOD doesn’t want me to have it.  that must mean it could never happen.”  notice what happened to joseph. verse 23, but the head cupbearer never gave joseph another thought; he forgot all about him.

but the story doesn’t end there.  chapter 41.1, two years passed and pharaoh had a dream...

just a thought from the front porch…