CHARACTER TRANSFORMATION THROUGH WAITING
Everyone has to go through the anxiety of waiting.
We wait in line to pay our grocery bills.
We wait in line to see the doctor.We wait in line to transact business at DMV.
We wait in line to board an airplane.
We wait in line to get our food during our lunch fellowship.
Waiting has become a normal routine of our lives.
When we see a line, we automatically look for the last spot and fall in line because we don't want to wait longer by not falling in line.
And so, we count the number of people in front of us.
Each time the number decreases, we know we are progressing and we are at ease.
But sometimes, waiting can become a source of misery.
Several years ago, executives in a busy airport faced a troubling customer-relations issue.
The passengers were lodging on unreasonable number of complaints about the long list at baggage claim.
In response, the executives increased the number of baggage handlers working that shift.
The plan worked: the average wait fell to eight minutes, well within industry benchmarks.
However, the complaints persisted.
Puzzled, the airport executives undertook a more careful, on site analysis.
They found that it took passengers a minute to walk from their arrival gates to baggage claim and seven more minutes to get their bags.
Roughly 88 per cent of their time, in other words, was spent standing around waiting for their bags.
And the passengers don't want to stand and wait.
They would rather do something while waiting.
So, the airport decided on a new approach:
Instead of reducing wait times, it moved the arrival gates away from the main terminal and routed bags to the outermost carousel.
Passengers now had to walk six times longer to get their bags.
Immediately, complaints dropped to near zero.
The reason? Their minds are occupied while walking.
As they walk, they converse and think.
The conclusion: When a person is unoccupied while waiting, his time is a drudgery.
Waiting becomes a hard and tedious work.
People will become bored, idle and unfulfilled.
But when people's minds are occupied, the waiting will not be a torture but fun and entertaining.
Every waiting time therefore must be occupied and filled with purpose.
And so, if you are doing something while waiting, you will not be bored, disinterested and fatigued.
My wife and I when we wait in airports in between flights, we read books from our Kindle.
We travel relaxed knowing that we spent our time wisely and intelligently.
Today, we will go back to the life of Joseph.
He was a victim of injustice by his Egyptian master.
He was faithful and did his job well but he found himself in prison.
He kept his dream in his heart.'
He knew that someday, his dream will be realized.
He had to go through a long time of waiting, not just months, but years.
He had to wait for God's perfect timing to lift him up.
During these times of waiting, his mind is occupied while his character was being transformed.
He had been assigned a responsibility while in prison.
As he fulfilled his responsibility, his character was being molded and fashioned by God.
Do you know that our godly character is the most important investment that you could make in our lifetime?
Yes it is.
It is worth investing our time, effort an energy.
It is worth cultivating, nurturing, improving and developing daily.
Why? Because godly Character is the essential prerequisite for a respectable reputation.
A person's character is who they really are.
Abraham Lincoln once said: "Character is like a tree and its reputation is its shadow.
The shadow is what we think of while the tree is the real thing."
And so, how others perceive you is as strong as your character.
Let me put it this way.
Everyone has a "public" face and a "private face."
The public face is what people see.
The private face is what people don't see.
Most of us tend to act much better behavior around others than we do in private.
But if we have developed our godly character, we have the same godly behavior in private and in private.
We are not hiding anything.
The key to do that is a life transformation.
Today, we will talk about character transformation through waiting.
As we wait, our Christian character can be transformed for the better.Three important things that Joseph did while waiting upon God. These are also the three important things we need to do while waiting.
I. WHILE WAITING, WE MUST BE BUSY CARING FOR OTHERS. (vs. 6-7)
6 When Joseph came to them the next morning, he saw that they were dejected. 7 So he asked Pharaoh’s officials who were in custody with him in his master’s house, “Why do you look so sad today?”
The text says that when Joseph saw the butler and the baker the next morning, he saw that they were dejected.
He saw the they were depressed and crestfallen.
He recognized in their faces that they were discouraged and disheartened in spirit.
And so, he asked Pharaoh's officials the searching question: "Why do you look so sad today?"
As if he was saying, "Why are you dispirited and gloomy?Cheer up! Something good is about to happen.
Joseph has the ability to discern the emotional state of the men by just looking at their faces.
And he has two options to these men:
Option 1: Don't care attitude.
"You're depressed, I'm depressed. We are all here in prison.
We are all in the same boat.
Let us have a pity party and cry as loud as we can until we all fall asleep.
Then, tomorrow, we will cry all the more louder.
Probably, others will join us also."
I don't like this option one.
Option 2: Encouraging attitude.
"You're depressed. I refused to join you.
We might be in prison physically but not emotionally.
I have chosen to be happy in spite of my situation.
You can do the same.
There is a reason for living each day. Hallelujah!"
You and I have two options whenever we see a brother or a sister feeling sad.
I hope and pray that you will always choose option two.
Joseph has chosen option two.
He looked at these men with encouraging attitude.
He could have felt bitter and depressed remembering what his brothers and now Potiphar did to him but he did not.
He could have invited himself to a pity party with these two other prisoners but he did not.
Why? Because he had learned to overcome his bitterness and resentment.
He had been healed and he could now help others to be healed.
In the same manner, while waiting, we must learn to care for others.
How do you develop your character in this times of waiting?
Don't be impatient.
Don't focus on your feeling of resentment.
Focus on what you can do to help others relieved their tensions.
You could put some bandages to those who have been hurt.
You could lift up the countenance of others who have been down.
Some words of encouragement can do a long way to the hearts of people.
But you see, there are people who have difficulty doing that.
Their unforgiveness and bitterness dominate their thinking.
They have already imprisoned themselves by their emotional instability.
But that is not the kind of character transformation that God wants.
We must not be focused on our own resentment and bitterness.
We must be focused on what we can do to help others.
Brothers and sisters, what are you busy at while waiting?
Let God transform your character.
Focus on others.
You must consider to do it slowly.
Here are some Scriptures for you to think about:
Ephesians 4:31-32 (NIV) "Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you."
Philippians 2:4 (NIV) "Not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interest of others."
II. WHILE WAITING, WE MUST FOCUS ON INCREASING OUR FAITH ON GOD (vs. 8)
Genesis 40:8 "8 “We both had dreams,” they answered, “but there is no one to interpret them.” Then Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams.”
Another thing that we need to do while waiting is to learn how to focus on God.
Many times, it is very difficult to focus on God when you are down and depressed.
It is easy to lose your faith when you are anxious and dejected.
But in these verses, when the chief butler and chief baker came to Joseph, he pointed them to God.
He said, "Do not interpretations belong to God?"
It means, "Only God can interpret dreams. No one else can."
God gave us dreams and therefore God gave us interpretations.
Joseph was telling them to go to Him and ask Him what these dreams are all about.
He was helping them to have faith in the living God.
Faith is important in order to acquire our dreams.
You see, when we go to God, He builds our faith by giving us dreams.
The more we use our faith, the more it is strengthened.
Faith is like a muscle: It can be built up.
It can be weak or it can be strong, depending on how much you use it.
When God wants to work in our lives, it will start with a dream.
He gives us the dream about ourselves, about what he wants us to do and about how he's going to use us to impact the world.
For instance, God gave Noah the dream of building the ark.
He obeyed God and his faith was bolstered and became more forceful.
God gave Abraham the dream of being the father of a great nation.
As he waited for the right time for his dream to be realized, his faith was established and extended.
God gave Nehemiah the dream of building the wall around Jerusalem.
He acted and his faith intensified and heightened.
And now, we find God giving Joseph the dream of being a leader that would save his people.
He had to wait a long time so that his faith will be invigorated and restored.
Everything had to start with a dream.
That dream will only be realized depending on the faith of that dreamer.
If his faith is weak, it will take a long time for it to be realized.
If his faith is strong, it would take much shorter time for it to be fulfilled.
And so, the time of waiting is a time of strengthening, toughening and sustaining our faith.
The apostles said to the Lord, "Lord, increase our faith." (Luke 17:5)
In the same manner, we must plead before God, "Lord, increase our faith."
That means, faith is the vital part of salvation.
If a person lacks faith, he lacks everything.
If you take faith from a man, everything is gone.
"Without faith, it is impossible to please God."
We can only be saved through faith.
Because faith is like a ladder that we can walk in order to ascend to heaven.
Therefore, we must hold on to our faith.
We learn to take care of our faith.
We must pray that God will increase the intensity and the extent of our faith.
We must pray that God will sustain and increase our faith.
This is the only way that Christians can keep alive always.
Napoleon said, "I must fight battles, and I must win them: conquest has made me what I am, and conquest must maintain me."
It is not the yesterday's battle that will sustain me today, I must be going onwards.
That is what faith is all about - always moving forward.
It is like a wheel, when it moves, it always stands straight, erect and firm.
But when it begins to stand still, it falls because it is not moving forward.
And so, we need to have faith the is progressive, constantly going onward, that will keep the Christians alive even in difficult situation.
Story:
Remember the amazing story of Charles Blondin, that famous French tightrope walker.
His greatest fame came on September 14, 1860 when he became the first person to cross a tightrope stretched 11,000 feet across the mighty Niagara Falls.
People from both Canada and America came from miles away to see this great feat.
He walked across, 160 feet above the falls, several times...each time with a different daring feat - once in a sack, on stilts, on a bicycle, in the dark, and blindfolded.
One time, he carried a stove and cooked an omelet in the middle of the rope!
A large crowd gathered and the buzz of excitement ran along both sides of the river bank.
The crowd "Oohed and Aahed!" as Blondin carefully walked across - one dangerous step after another - pushing wheelbarrow holding a sack of potatoes.
Then, at one point, he asked for the participation of a volunteer.
Upon reaching the other side, the crowd's applause was louder than the roar of the falls!
Blondin suddenly stopped and addressed his audience: "Do you believe I can carry a person across in this wheel barrow?"
The crowd enthusiastically yelled, "Yes! you are the greatest tightrope walker in the world. We believe!"
"Okay," said Blondin, "Who wants to get into the wheelbarrow."
But as far as the Blondin story goes, no one did at the time!
This is the same thing with us.
God is inviting us to believe and grow our faith because nothing is impossible with God.
But there are many Christians who are only satisfied as mere spectator to others while doing service for God.
That is why a little wind can come and we are shaken already.
We need to do more and step by faith.
We need to climb our faith higher and plunge our souls in the river of grace so that we will be carried by the vision of our dreams.
Scriptures on faith:
Deuteronomy 31:6 (NIV) "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you."
Jeremiah 32:27 (NIV) "I am the lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?"
Hebrews 4:16 (NIV) "Let us approach God's throne of grace with confidence, sot hat we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need."
III. WHILE WAITING, WE MUST SHARE OUR BURDENS TO OTHERS. (vs. 14-15)
Genesis 40:14-15 "14 But when all goes well with you, remember me and show me kindness;mention me to Pharaoh and get me out of this prison. 15 I was forcibly carried off from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing to deserve being put in a dungeon.”
The third thing that Joseph learned while waiting is to share his burdens to others.
He not only cared for others and heard their burdens, but he shared his own personal burden to them as well.
He opened up his heart.
He unveiled his struggles.
He disclosed his past.
He revealed his bottled up emotion.
That is what he did.
He said: "I was forcibly carried from the land of the Hebrews."
That means he was forced against his will to leave his home.
He did not want it, but he had no other choice.
He was compelled involuntarily.
And then, he said further, "Even here I have done nothing to deserve being put in a dungeon."
He tried to live a good life even in a foreign land serving his master but he was unjustly accused.
He was treated unfairly, discriminated upon and oppressed.
That is why he found himself in prison in that dungeon.
But during those times of waiting, he was being transformed.
His faith was increasing.
He was learning to focus on God.
He was being trained to care for others.
But he had to learn how to handle his own emotions.
He had to educate himself on how to release those emotions from his heart.
They had to be discharged and set free.
He did not allow those pain and suffering to let go of his dream.
All those emotions that had been suppressed and hold in check for years must be liberated.
As a human being, he has been carrying all these emotions for a long time.
Opening up your heart to others is the first step of inward spiritual healing.
That is the same thing we need to do if we want to get healed.
We must let it all out.
We must open the bottle to let the pressure out.
We must open up our vulnerability to others.
We must admit our defeat.
We must confess our struggles.
We must acknowledge that we cannot fight the battle alone.
You see, there are Christians who refuse to open up and speak about their situation.
They are in a denial attitude.
They dismiss and disapprove of their emotions.
They refuse to believe that they need help.
They are just in an attitude of silence.
But deep within, their hearts are burning with hatred and vengeance.
But not Joseph.
He knew that part of his healing process is through sharing to others his situation.
This is the kind of character we need.
The spirit of openness and humility must be developed in our lives.
Also, there are people who would respond differently while waiting.
They would start talking to people and gossip about their former master, Mr and Mrs. Potiphar.
When they open their mouth, all the negative and bad stuff come out that originated from a bottled up emotions.
But Joseph did not do that while in prison.
He did not manipulate the situation in his own favor.
He had a responsibility in prison.
He was overseeing the care of several prisoners.
He was faithful in his work and he used his time well.
Joseph waited.
He got busy serving.
He wasn't paralyzed.
He didn't leave his godly character behind at Potiphar's house.
He continued to be a faithful servant and manager.
He used God's waiting time to do what he knows is right to do at the moment.
Job did not hold back his emotion.
He told God how angry he was.
He let it go off his chest.
Job 10:1 (NIV) "I loathe my very life; therefore I will give free rein to my complaint and speak out in the bitterness of my soul."
“I can't stand my life—I hate it! I'm putting it all out on the table, all the bitterness of my life—I'm holding back nothing”
(Job 10:1 MSG).
The start of healing in your life is revealing your hurt.
If you want to get over your emotional hurts, you have to share them with somebody.
Some of you are angry with God for things that have happened in your past.
Actually, he knows all about it.
And you know all about it also.
But you do not admit it.
You start the healing process when you admit it.
And so, what is in your life that you're pretending not to know?
What hurt in your marriage or relationship are you pretending is not there?
What conflict in your family are you pretending isn't true?
You need to face it up.
Instead of burying the past, you must close the door of the past you that you can move on with the presnt.
While waiting, we must remember that God is moving in our behalf.
God is faithfully at work even when we do not sense how He is working.
While waiting, we must remember that it is our time for spiritual growth.
The value of waiting is a value of a lifetime.
If we know how to wait, life shall be easy because God knows what to give at the right time.
Good things always come to those who wait.
James 5:7-8 (NIV) "Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord's coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord's coming is near."
