From The Dungeon To The Palace

FROM THE DUNGEON TO THE PALACE

We have been talking about the life of Joseph.

Today, we will look at his promotion to be the second highest in the land.

The last time we saw Joseph, he was languishing in an Egyptian prison.

He was in prison for doing the right thing and honoring God in His life.

He was in prison because he refused the advances of a wicked woman.

But I think the real reason why Joseph was in prison was for God to mold his character.

God has always a unique way of transforming our lives.

He does it His way in order that the best result can happen.

In order to prepare Joseph for something bigger and greater ahead, God had to confine him in a dungeon.

A dungeon is a strong, dark cell usually underground as in a medieval castle.

There, God had to transform, reconstruct, remodel and change completely the outlook of Joseph's life.

God wanted him to be a better man.

He placed him in an underground prison so that he could lift him up.

And that is what God does in our lives as well.

He wants to mold us, change us and transform us.

We had to start from the very bottom so that He could elevate us to the highest position.

At the same time, God had to place Joseph in the most difficult situation of them all.

Joseph had to be exposed in a place of hardship, grief and calamity.

Joseph had to experience danger, discomfort and misery.

Joseph had to learn to wait for a long time before his promotion.

And we had to learn to wait as well for our promotions to come.

And many times, we face hardships of various kinds.

But don't give up, your promotion is at hand.

There, Joseph had to learn how to be faithful in serving the Lord.

There, he had to learn to grow his faith.

There, he had to learn to build his emotional stability.

There, he had to learn to hold on to his dream until God will lift him up.

And there, we had to learn godly character as well.

From, the dungeon to the palace.

From the prison cell of transformation to the palace of great responsibility.

A place of great challenges, great honor, prestige, recognition and tribute.

Many of us will find it hard to adopt to the complete change of situation but not Joseph.

Joseph was ready, prepared and available.

He had been equipped and qualified through years of testing.

The long wait has ended.

It is time to expose him publicly to determine the strength of his character.

In the same manner, after God has tested our character, He will then lift us up.

After many years in the dungeon, he will promote us in the palace.

He will only promote us when we are ready.

The word promotion means advancement of rank or position of authority.

When a person has been promoted for instance, he or she has been given an important task to do.

It is like granting a person a public recognition of honor which was not acknowledged before.

You see, people are longing for such promotion to happen in job, in school, in a company, in career, in society, in government, etc.

They aspire for it.

They crave for it.

They strive and yearn for it.

Someday, their promotion will come and the long wait is over.

But there are people who would not wait.

They are impatient, restless and anxious to take hold of their promotions right away.

Are you ready for your own promotion?

God said that they are not yet ready but they insist that they are ready.

And so, they would manipulate their situations to their own advantage.

They would step on other shoes to acquire that break.

They would lift themselves in order to be noticed by men.

They would seize, snatch and grab their own promotions.

But that is to their own disadvantage.

Ultimately, when a person is not ready for that position, he would not perform well.

People will get hurt.

There will be interpersonal problems.

And God has many ways of taking him out.

The higher he rises, the greater the fall.

My prayer is that you will no grab any promotion that does not belong to you.

That you will be patient and faithful as you wait for your own promotion to happen.

In due time, God will give it to you.

My prayer is that you will be ready by then and fulfill your obligations well.

Let us remember first of all that God is the one who enables people to be promoted.

It is not the work of men.

It is not the work of the company executives.