Joseph: A Pilgrim's Diligent Hands

Diligent hands will rule (Pr 12:24a NIV)

The last point I have to make about Joseph's time in prison and his belief in his dream is to do with his attitude towards his circumstances while he waited for his dream to be fulfilled. Far from putting his life on hold, Joseph threw himself into whatever task was before him with all his might. This for me is the difference between a traveler and a pilgrim. A traveler is in a temporary state of transit between one fixed position and another. The journey is just a means of getting from A to B. The pilgrim is continually in transit towards his ultimate destination; life is the journey and the journey is life.

Joseph was not just a traveler, bags packed, legs crossed, paperback in hand, biding his time until he arrived at his destination. He was a pilgrim, no less focused on his destination, but diligent in whatever his hands found to do along the way.

Our dreams are supposed to drive us forward in the purpose of God, not cause us to stand still. If we think we have to wait until our dreams are fulfilled before we can serve God as we aught, we have not caught the heart of a pilgrim.


Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
who have set their hearts on pilgrimage.
As they pass through the Valley of Baca,
they make it a place of springs;
the autumn rains also cover it with pools. (Ps 84:5-6)


Jesus put it another way in the parable of the talents. The implications are that man who only received one talent looked at the man with five, and thought that he too should have had five talents, and because he did not have five, he could not do anything effective for his master. Instead of looking at what he had right now, he was paralysed by his dream of what he should have in the future. When he should have seen +1 all he could see was -4! But, if he had taken this one talent and put it to use, he would have been one step closer to his dream of having five. We need to learn the secret of being content with what we have got right now. [Or as Dave so eloquently put it: "How much is enough?"]

Paul put it this way:

"I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content." (Php 4:11)

This is not the "contentment" of those who have forsaken their dream, and decided to settle where they are, but the contentment of pilgrims who know they are on the right road and are closer to their dream at the end of the day than when they first arose.

For even when we attain our dreams we do not cease to be pilgrims. God just moves us on to the next dream. Joseph remained a pilgrim to the end of his life (and beyond!) for God had given him a new vision of God's people returning to their homeland. When the pilgrims of the Exodus came out of Egypt, they carried Joseph's bones with them.

Like Joseph, we are pilgrims following our dreams from the Lord into eternity, working with all our might as diligent servants along the way.

Joseph: Confessing the dream

I mentioned that I had two more lessons to draw out from Joseph's time in prison, and his faith in the word of God over his life. This is the first of those.

His feet were hurt with fetters;
his neck was put in a collar of iron;
until what he had said came to pass,
the word of the Lord tested him. (Ps 105:18-19)

As I mentioned yesterday, some believe that it was Joseph's confession of his dream that got him into trouble in the first place, and that God had to take him through exile and prison to be taught humility and discretion.

I have a couple of problems with that interpretation. First, when did Joseph stop being the spoilt boy and become the great man of faith? From the offset, right at the beginning of his time in Potiphar's house we see him behaving in an exemplary way. I don't see any evidence of this process that was supposed to have happened. Sure, there was a process in the plan of God going on, but for my money Joseph was already a hero of faith (just an unproven one). But the other thing is this, and once again Psalm 105 gives us additional insight - he was still confessing his dream even in the dark confines of prison!

Confessing [giving outward vocal expression to] our dreams is important, in fact I would say it is vital if we ever want to see them become reality. Lack of confidence, false humility, disappointments of the past can cause us to keep our dreams bottled up inside [I know!]. But there must come a time when we let them out if we ever hope to see them materialise.

First, if our dreams have their origin in the kingdom of God, then they will find their place in the kingdom of God. What I mean is this: we must make ourselves accountable to those who have spiritual authority over our lives - our elders and fathers in the faith. In this respect Joseph did absolutely the right thing when he shared his dream with Jacob. We cannot claim to be following the kingdom call on our lives, if that call takes us out from the kingdom authority which God has placed over us.

Secondly, although our confession is not a magic formula which twists God's arm into action, God in his sovereign will has chosen to use our confession of his word to accomplish his purpose. This is the mystery of both prayer and prophesy. God chooses to withhold his hand, until the words of faith are spoken. (Even God had to speak to bring creation into reality.) Although he could achieve and complete his kingdom purpose in a moment, he has chosen right from the start of creation the long route of achieving it in cooperation with the men and women who have been made into his image. Although what Joseph confessed was God's word, Psalm 105 says that it was his words that had to be fulfilled.

Both before and during his exile, Joseph's confession of his dream played an integral role in seeing them become a reality.

There is another great example of this principle in Scripture. There was a righteous woman named Hannah who was barren. Every year she came to the presence of God with her dream of a child bursting inside her, and every year she left with her heart filled with sorrow of a hope deferred again. One year that changed. Eli the priest challenged her, and forced her to give expression to her silent petition. He agreed with her confession, and sent her away with his blessing, and this time her dream was fulfilled.

Now Eli wasn't even a great man of faith, but he was the one in the position of spiritual authority. It seems clear from the account, that confessing her dream and bringing herself under authority was instrumental in seeing the fulfillment.

I'll say again, confession is not a magic formula for getting what we want from the Lord. We don't know how long Joseph had to confess his dream in prison before he saw the reality. Nor was Joseph confessing words of denial or ignoring the facts. He was not rebuking the chains, refusing to receive them, or confessing that the prison was not really there! But he was confessing the word of God over his life, unswayed by those facts around him. It was this word of faith that God chose to fulfill.

Confession does not force God to act, but he rarely acts without it!

Joseph: Cleaving to the dream

Gavin has recently done an excellent series of posts on his blog on Joseph and some valuable kingdom principles that can be drawn from his life. Inspired by a recent post from Dave that was profound, honest, and inspiring - I'd like to add my own post on Joseph - this great man of faith.

For still the vision awaits its appointed time;
it hastens to the end - it will not lie.
If it seems slow, wait for it;
it will surely come; it will not delay. (Hab 2:4 ESV)

One of the things that inspires me about Joseph is that he never stopped believing in his destiny in God. God gave him a dream as a young man, and told him that he was called for great things. His brothers thought he was arrogant, or deceived. They derided him and his vision. He went through exile and prison where he could not have been further (in his own understanding) from the fulfillment of that dream - yet he stood firm. He is thus a great example for all young men (and women) of God who recognise the call of God on their lives, but have not yet come into the fulfillment of that dream. His story is a lesson for all of us who still dare to dream big in God.

Psalm 105 gives some additional insight into the life of Joseph that we do not find in the Genesis account:

His feet were hurt with fetters;
his neck was put in a collar of iron;
until what he had said came to pass,
the word of the Lord tested him. (Ps 105:18-19)

Some believe that Joseph ended up in exile and prison because he was naive, that he shared his dream too early, or that he was young and proud. I don't believe this - God himself orchestrated the events of his life, not just to get him into the right place, but also to test him! (Oh yes - the Lord does test us [Heb 11:17]. He never tempts us - but that is different altogether.) The word of God itself, the very dream that sustained him, was a source of testing to Joseph. It was a test to see if he would stay true to the dream, or whether he would succumb to the opposition along the way and abandon it. It was a test which Joseph passed with flying colours.

Joseph must have been tempted to become bitter when he considered how he had been wronged. Sent into exile because his brothers did not understand the call on his life. Sent into obscurity because men made assumptions about him that only he knew were false. He could have easily given in to bitterness. But Joseph overcame bitterness with forgiveness and grace.

Joseph must have been tempted to become frustrated when he had to watch as other men around him had their dreams fulfilled (the cupbearer) while his still remained far off. But Joseph overcame frustration with patience and peace.

Joseph must have been tempted to become despondent when he had to wait, and wait, and wait. Would the fulfillment ever come? Was he deceived to still believe the dream? How must he have felt when his one glimmer of hope, the recommendation of the cupbearer, came to nothing? With no other avenue through which the fulfillment might come, Joseph must have been tempted to give up on the dream. But Joseph overcame despondency with perseverance and faith.

Another great man of faith, Caleb, had to slay three giants (the sons of Anak) before he could enter his inheritance [Jos 15:14]. Joseph slayed his three giants while he was locked in that prison cell. Bitterness, Frustration and Despondency lay slain at his feet while, still in chains, he pressed on to lay hold of what was his in God.

As a man of faith, Joseph passed through this valley of Baca, and has made it a place of springs, so that those who follow may find refreshment and hope along the way. Not only did he overcome his giants, but there are two other things that we can learn from him in this period of his life.

I'll share on these tomorrow...