Why Me?
Have you ever wondered why some people receive visions, or a call concerning what God wants them to do in life, while others may not. We do not know why God gives some people visions and not others. However, one reason why God might put a vision on someone’s heart may be to mobilise and to motivate them into a work for Him, which they may not have considered under their own steam. This is not to suggest that God cannot lead people by his Spirit into the call he has placed upon them, he can.
However, in Matthew 13:7 (NIV) Jesus said ’Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants’. For reasons we may not understand, not everyone responds to the gospel in the way that we would hope. And where there is uncertainty, it may very well be in God’s interest to impart a vision into someone’s heart. From such a vision, a person might be given additional encouragement to undertake a work which God considers important. And this is not to suggest that only the ’special few’ are worthy of receiving a vision from God. On the contrary, God is able to give anyone of us a vision, at any part of our Christian journey.
Obviously, there are many reasons why God imparts vision, but it’s is not the purpose of this sermon to consider all those potential reasons. What we are interested in is how to cope and unpack a vision, which God has given to us. And by examining the experiences of how Joseph coped with the visions God gave him, we might better understand God’s workings in such matters for our own lives.
A Vision Out Of Time
In Genesis Chapter 37 we read about the start of Joseph’s journey with God. It’s the start of God’s revelation to Joseph that God will (in time) raise him up above his own brethren. From time-to-time, some Christians have shared visions that God has given them, some of which have a tendency to be overwhelming. Some visions people receive are often beyond belief, simply because they are received before God has put the mechanisms in place for such visions to become a reality. What is telling about Joseph’s vision(s) are that they caused jealousy and envy among his brothers. Likewise, some Christians have a vision placed on their heart, which receive the scorn of those who are supposed to belong to the household of faith, and should be supportive of those God is calling into service for God. All Christians can, and should serve God, but sometimes God has to use a big prompt, through the mechanism of visions, to move or motivate some people into important, or strategic work for God.
When God gives you a vision, or a call about your future, do not presume that everyone is open and accepting about it as you are. Do not make the mistake of thinking that, somehow, jealousy, envy and competition have all miraculously disappeared from other people’s lives. Such a view of the church of God is naive. Joseph was naive, and rather than letting God bring about his call, over time, he shared his vision out of time - which caused him additional problems. He shared his vision, before he understood either the implications, or the consequences of sharing with those he thought he could trust. He may have even presumed that the vision was for now, which is something many people misunderstand about visions. Visions need to stand the test of time, and they need to be brought into the reality they were intended for. Joseph’s dreams were not for his day, they were for his future.
So what does the opening salvo of Joseph’s life tell us about visions? It tells us that God is the God of the impossible. It tells us that we need to be discerning about who we share details about our call with. It shows us that the call on our lives is not always instant, but a long fruitful journey. It tells us that (sometimes) God’s call on our lives arrives before wisdom enters our gates. It tells us to wait on our calling, and let God make the next move. Are you ready for God’s next timely move, or are you trying to rush to the outcome of your call out of time? Don’t! Learn to be patient with yourself and with God, because you don’t want to kill off God’s vision before it has ever started, because there would be no sense in doing that.
Heading In The Right Direction
In Genesis 37:15, we find Joseph getting lost. He had gone looking for his brothers, but had somehow lost his way. Joseph was guilty of having the right vision, but he was heading in the wrong direction. His vision was from God, but his methodology was wrong. His thoughts were on God, but he neglected his day to day chores, and responsibilities to those around him. When I was a teenager, my church minister told me that I was so heavenly minded that I was no earthly good. I tried to reason that one could be so earthly minded that they were no heavenly good. But my pastor was smarter than me, and (in time) I discovered he was correct. There are two types of wisdom (among many types of wisdom). One type of wisdom comes from God by revelation, the other is learnt over time as one’s hair turns white. Sometime we can either learn good wisdom from a mentor, who has already gone through the trials to get it, or we can learn through our own experiences, especially when we might be unwilling to learn from others.
But wisdom is part of our journey. My experiences have taught me that we cannot always put an old head on young shoulders, as was the case with Joseph. Joseph had to go on the journey prescribed for him by God, so that God could teach him the life skills he needed to be able to become a leader. Your journey has been specifically tailored to achieve in you God’s perfect plan for your life. That plan, like Joseph, accounts for any mistakes you might make in trying to achieve that plan, especially if you try to implement that plan out of God’s time. Having a plan or a vision from God does not mean that you should forget about being patient, thinking everything will happen all at once. We should not neglect the every day necessities of life, like Joseph did. Some plans and visions will not come to pass until we let God bring those plan to pass, no matter how hard we try to make them a reality outside of God’s time.
The moral to Joseph getting lost can mean that you are in God’s will, but not necessarily on the right path. God will allow circumstances to guide you onto the right path today, but that journey needs to start in the House of God. Then God can mobilise a plan that will bring his vision in your life to pass sooner than you think. And you won’t have to wait years to recover any lost years that you may have suffered through non-attendance in church. God can move quickly to bring you into your destiny, you just wait and see.
Who Is On My Side?
When Joseph was approaching Dothan to meet up with his brothers, in Genesis 37:18, his brothers conspired to kill him. Actually, they were conspiring to kill off the vision God had placed in Joseph’s heart, long before he was ready to see God’s plan and purpose come together in his life. Joseph is not the only one who the Enemy might be trying to conspire to kill off a vision, long before it has had time to come to fruition in a person’s life. Is there someone you know, who has conspired to kill off the vision God has given you? When God gives you his vision and purpose for your life, you need to find out who is with you, and who isn’t. This is one aspect of your Christian life where you cannot compromise. It’s not your place to try and convince everyone that what you are doing is from God. The reason for this is because God gives you the faith for your vision, but he provides other’s with the responsibility to support you. You are not empowered to give someone else their faith. They either believe you and your calling, or they don’t.
If you listen too much to others, who may doubt your call, they will attempt to kill off your vision, with you wasting your time trying to convince the unconvincable. God does not expect you to take everyone with you on your journey. There are times when you will need to leave some folks in your past, because God has not chosen them to be a part of your future. This is one hard part of the Christian walk, which some Christian find hard to cope with. If your heart is in the future, and those around you are concentrating on maintaining the past, then there’s a problem. Jesus only chose twelve disciples, because not everyone around him understood his vision. It’s a sad fact of life that not everyone is for you, no matter how open and loving you are towards them. Do not be naive like Joseph! Go with the willing God has given you, and get on with your call! Don’t let the unbelievers around you try to kill off your vision, because you may only have one shot at what God has called you to do.
Joseph suffered at the hands of his brothers, those who should have been with him on his journey. However, Joseph grew up, learnt a lot of life lessons, and lost his naive touch. God was with him, and used his circumstances to strengthen him, and bring his purposes to pass in his life. Likewise God expects you to grow up, and make the difficult decisions that will cause you to fulfil God’s call upon your life.
Unpacking The Vision
God may very well have given you a vision, relating to the call God has placed upon your heart. And just because you have received a vision from God, and we are assuming it is from God, does not mean that it’s outcome is imminent. Such a vision will most likely relates to your future. And, like Joseph, it may very well require you to develop additional and necessary skills, in order that you might be able to fulfil that vision. Your life’s journey may require you to spend time unpacking, and understanding exactly what God wants you to do in your future. You may very well be in a rush to see the fulfilment of God’s vision in your life, but that may not be God’s purpose for you. So a vision, mixed with patience, should yield fruit in it’s due season.
Joseph was guilty of having the right vision, but he was heading in the wrong direction, to the point that he got lost. It may very well have been the case that Joseph’s mind was so full of that vision, that he had become of no earthly use in his current state. He certainly needed to be grounded, and God permitted circumstances to do this. You see, what Joseph had received form God was spiritual, but in order for that vision to come to pass, Joseph needed to be trained in the practical. This was so that he could help Pharaoh, Egypt, his brothers and his wider family in their time of need, which he did later in life.
There was an obvious need to convert Joseph’s spiritual internal experience into an external practical skill. God did this by permitting Joseph to spend time learning how to run Potiphar’s household, and a prison. And, metaphorically speaking, Egypt itself would end up in a prison of circumstance, which Joseph would be practically equipped to repair. Later along Joseph’s journey, he was still receiving visions. However, by the time he was ready to take on the responsibility of helping Pharaoh and Egypt, he was more seasoned in his application of the spiritual aspect of his life. He was learning to turn something spiritual into something practical, which would be helpful to others. In other words, his visions were no longer self serving! They never were. But the way in which Joseph dealt with such visions in his earlier life, demonstrated that he interpreted them as self serving. Obviously, there were more to Joseph’s visions, which could only come to light later along his journey with God, and in the right time frame.
Final Thoughts
The final aspect of this sermon considers to the need to make certain that the vision God gives to an individual is not killed off. Visions may need time to come to pass, and we need to be aware when someone might be trying to kill off that vision before it is fulfilled. No one can prevent God’s will and purpose in another persons life! However, they can discourage a believer, especially when that believer might be feeling vulnerable. A person with a vision, who can help someone find release from their circumstances, will also be expected to find God’s release in their own circumstances. There is a Latin maxim we use in law which states, ’Nemo Dat Quad Non Habet’, which literally means, no man can give that which he has not got. In other words, I have no power to pass on something which I myself do not possess. How can I help someone who needs help, if I myself have never needed help? And this is not to suggest that I need to go through exactly what someone else is going through before I can help them.
However, there is a need to go through certain hard times so that we might learn patience, and so that we might develop a greater dependency upon God. And this is precisely the place where God brought Joseph to. No doubt he had to learn to ration the food in the prison, where he was given the responsibility of looking after. And this is precisely the grounding in life Joseph needed. In Joseph’s case, his circumstances exactly matched his future ministry. In prison, he would have been given the most minimal of provisions, which he would need to ration out to the rest of the inmates. God had allowed Joseph to experience a current microcosm of that which was in store for him in his future role in Egypt, where he would be given a greater level of responsibility.
Because we have had the privilege of reading the last chapter of Joseph’s life, we know that he succeeded in accomplishing everything God had envisioned him to do. So, the lesson is to take time in unpacking that which God has called us to do, in accordance with his good will and purpose. And although it may not appear what we ought to be right now, we know that when he appears we shall be like him. And, we will have fulfilled his purpose for our lives, because we know that because God can’t fail, neither can we!
