The sum total of your life is shaped by the choices you make. You may think that isn't true. Joseph from the Bible certainly had things happen to him that weren't a direct result of his choices. But you have a choice whether to become bitter or better, to be afraid or to overcome - just like Joseph.
We can learn from our own problems and through the things that come our way, but we don't have to. As a matter of fact, there is a better way to learn: We can learn from other people's examples. The lives of those recorded in the Bible were written for our example so that we could profit and learn from them (1 Cor. 10:6).
Joseph was seventeen years old when God gave him a dream for his life and began the process of showing him how he was going to be used. Yet for the next thirteen years, everything that happened to him was contrary to what God had told him.
Joseph was thirty years old when he finally stood before Pharaoh (Gen. 41:46). Then it was nine years after he was promoted to be the ruler over all of Egypt that his brethren came, and he saw his dreams actually come to pass. I can relate to this process.
Back when the Lord first touched my life on March 23, 1968, I was eighteen years old. Yet for a number of years, everything in my life looked like it was not going well. I had a lot of negative things happen. I was speaking forth my faith and saying that God had called me to minister and that I was going to have a worldwide ministry, but everything in my life looked contrary to that. I'm telling you, Joseph's story was one of the things that God used to keep me focused. Everybody else was telling me my vision was foolish, that I needed to quit and go do something else.
There were times that I felt that way myself. Yet I'd go to the Word and see God use people like Joseph miraculously. These are the things that have changed me, and I believe that this has the potential of changing you.
Has God given you a dream? It could be about healing. Maybe it's about prosperity. Or it might be about your marriage or relationships. You feel you've got promises from God, yet your circumstances don't seem to line up. Take a lesson from Joseph.
This month, we are offering Lessons from Joseph available as a CD or As-Seen-on-TV DVD series for a suggested donation of £16 for either one. How to Find, Follow, and Fulfil God's Will is an excellent companion to this teaching as you're discovering God's dreams for your life. This book is offered for a suggested donation of £10. To order, go to
www.awme.net, call our Helpline: +44 (0)1922 473 300, or complete and return the enclosed order form. If you will receive these things I share about Joseph, this could change your life. It sure changed mine.