Hi, I am Jordan Morris with Together In The Harvest and this is God Today. I want to share with you very briefly a thought that if I had to entitle this it would be called “From Prison to Palace”. In Genesis 39 we read about a man called Joseph. He has lived a life of success, but also a man who has sought to live a life of holiness, of righteousness, of purity. This man has done nothing wrong in his own life. He lives, in Genesis 39, part of this place. He is living a very successful life, but through no wrong fault of his own, through a lie of part of his wife, he is thrown into prison. You read about two dynamics – from a life of success to a life of complete misery, found in a place he should never be.
In Genesis 40 we read that the butler and the baker are also put in the prison with him. Joseph sees this as a place where he can use his gift when he could have felt that he had been rejected and forgotten by a lot of people. I am speaking to you today and maybe you are in a place where you feel like you are in a metaphorical prison. Your life is constrained there, there seems to be no light, where is my destiny, what is God doing? At times we feel like this is the perfect time to not use our gift, to sit back and hope that maybe this will turn around for our good.
I want to share with you a thought today. If you read the Bible you find this. When the butler and the baker get out, it is only because when Joseph uses his gift, the king of Egypt was actually brought to the attention of Joseph’s gift. What am I telling you today? If Joseph had never used his gift in the prison, he would have never gotten to the palace. Here is what I am sharing with you right now. If you ever want to be promoted to where God uses you in great authority and great power, you must learn to use your gift when no one is watching you.
Joseph had no recognition in prison. Nobody was clapping and telling him, “Well done.” But, he was faithful with what God had given him. In my life there have been times when I had to preach to 5 or 10 people and the next week I am preaching to 1,000. It makes no difference. What God looks for is not numbers, but faithfulness. I encourage you today. Whether you feel like you are in a metaphorical prison, use what God has given you. Out of the small sea will come your harvest.
Let me pray for you if I can. Father, I pray for these precious viewers right now watching this broadcast. Lord, I pray that every viewer that finds himself in a prison, in a hard time, they feel there is no recognition, there are constraints on their life. Father, I pray they will find the good thing in this. That is faithfulness to you. Lord, I pray that you, by your Holy Spirit, help them keep their eyes on their destiny, their focus on you. They would see that when they are in a prison right now, there will come a day when they are faithful to you and they would be born into the palace where they are brought into their destiny in Jesus’ mighty name. Amen.