God's Vision "Follow It"

'...Write the vision and make it plain...' Habakkuk 2:2 NKJV

Five times in Genesis 39 we read that the Lord 'was with' Joseph. Be encouraged: God is at work in what you're going through right now. Where did Joseph get the wisdom to lead a nation? By dealing with his own family problems, by handling Potiphar's household staff, and by running a prison system. Like rungs on a ladder, each one took him closer to the top. Notice how it worked: his brothers sold him to Ishmaelite slave traders, who sold him to Potiphar, who put him in prison where he met the butler, who introduced him to Pharaoh, who made him Prime Minister of Egypt, fulfilling his dream. Was it easy? No, until the time came,'...the word of the Lord tested him.' (Psalm 105:19 NAS) Your vision will be 'tried' by situations that either make or break you. The birth of the vision is often followed by its death and then its resurrection. When you've no funds, no friends, and no fight left in you (the death stage), remember the words of Jesus: '...unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies [to self], it produces much grain.' (John 12:24 NKJV) When your vision dies and God resurrects it, you begin to talk and act differently. With ego subtracted and grace added, you start saying with the Psalmist, 'I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.' (Psalm 27:13 KJV) At that point God smiles and says, 'You're finally getting it right!'