Enduring the Process
The Lord was with Joseph, and he [even though a slave] became a successful and prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master, the Egyptian. Now his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord caused all that he did to prosper (succeed) in his hand.
Genesis 39:2-3 (Amplified Bible)
But the Lord was with Joseph and extended lovingkindness to him, and gave him favor in the sight of the warden. The warden committed to Joseph’s care (management) all the prisoners who were in the prison; so that whatever was done there, he was in charge of it.
Genesis 39:21-22 (Amplified Bible)
One of the most difficult realities of a world that increasingly wants things further faster is persevering through a thing called process. Process can look different for different people, different circumstances, and different variables. It can be quick and easy for some, and long and complicated for others. Case and point, at the time of me writing this devotion, I am about one-week post-op of a dreadful wisdom tooth extraction. I was told by the doctors (the “professionals” in this scenario) that my recovery would be three to five days. They said the worst of the pain, discomfort, and even diet restrictions would subside by day five. Yet here I sit, one week later still challenged with many of the inconveniences of such a procedure. As I sit here frustrated with the extended process of my recovery, I was reminded that human doctors “practice” medicine. There is no precise way to guarantee a certain outcome or provide surety of a particular process. This experience strangely reminded me of the story of Joseph.
His story begins in Genesis 37 and goes through the end of the book. However, to summarize his story, as a young boy he was a dreamer. We are told of two dreams in particular, in which he saw his family bowed down before him. At the time, Joseph was the youngest of 11 – he was also his father’s favorite son and everyone knew it. A lot of family dysfunction happening here, but that’s another topic for another time. In my opinion, Joseph was somewhat of a brat. In knowing that he was the favorite, he still decided to share his dreams (that implied some level of authority over his brothers) with them. This “sharing” only served to cause his brothers to have a greater disdain for him. Out of their hate toward Joseph, they devised a plan to get rid of him and ended up selling him to a group of strangers. After being sold, Joseph was taken out of his hometown (Canaan) to be a slave in Egypt. He was a slave for 11 years. In this time, Joseph has some catching up to do. New environment, new culture, new customs, new language, new religious systems, new ways of thinking and being. I’m sure that at some point, Joseph experienced frustration with the process to his promise. Surely after seeing that he would be elevated and revered in more than one dream, he did not expect to endure slavery. Surely that looked like the complete opposite of what he had seen and imagined. To make matters worse, after gaining the trust of his master, he was falsely accused of raping his master’s wife and was thrown into prison, where he remained two years. All in all, for a total of thirteen years, Joseph endured a tough, unfair, and complex season which ended up being the process that prepared him for what was to come.
Enter today’s scriptures. Both scriptures speak of the favor and success that Joseph experience while both a slave and a prisoner. Joseph was able to flourish during his difficult process because God was with him. The word with, denotes nearness. Although Joseph was forced out of everything he knew (including the religious customs, traditions, routines, etc of his family), his closeness with God remained intact. Because of that, Joseph was able to endure. The Greek word endure is made of two words. The first root word means under. The second root word of endure means to stay, to continue, to be present. When inconvenience happens in our lives, that fight or flight is strong – and if we are honest, flight wins too many times. But the only way to attain the promise is to remain present under all circumstances until God rescues us. I can speak for myself and say that I have tried to rescue myself too many times…and failed.
What process are you enduring right now? Maybe you are relocating, starting or ending a job, starting a business, starting a family, enduring the challenges of raising children, navigating unexpected conflict, navigating grief, or maybe you are just carrying the weight of seeking clarity on next steps. Either way, your process requires nearness with God and endurance.
The gaps between the vision, the process, and the promise is endurance. Joseph stayed in step with God – even when it was hard. He did not outpace God or lag behind. He stood, continued and remained in various weighty circumstances because he trusted God’s process for him. The outcome of standing up under God’s process is success and favor. While favor followed Joseph wherever he went, the outcome of his endurance was more extensive than he could have imagined. As it turns out, Joseph gained favor with Pharoah (who was the king) and rose the second in command in that nation. He was only under the authority of God and Pharoah. Because he was favored and elevated as a slave and in prison, he learned how to work out his gift of administration. You can’t rule a culture that you don’t know. Thus, it was also during that time of processing that he learned the ins and outs of a nation that he would eventually rule. This week, let’s think about what you are called to rule, and how your life is preparing you for it.
REFLECT
What is your process teaching you right now?
Do you have the tendency to run ahead or lag behind God?
What does endurance look like for you? Write a list of the things that help you press on. Lean in to those things this week.
How do you encourage yourself?
What is God showing you about your gifts & assignments in your current process?
What has God showed you about your life/your path that seems far off or impossible? How do you think your current process is preparing you for that/those thing(s)?
PRAY
Lord, I ask you to increase my strength so that I can continue to stand through my process in order to walk into my promise in your timing. I ask that you would download divine revelation and strategy so that I know how to maximize my preparation process. I ask that you be the lifter of my head when things get heavy or I am experiencing discouragement. Remind me of my assignments. Show me the glorious plans that you have for me. Teach me how to remain in step with you.
Amen.
