From Obscurity to Opportunity
Did you know that the opportunities you are looking for will not look like the opportunities you are looking for? Often, we desire to position ourselves in places that will garner us the chance for success, prosperity, and a form of success that promises us the life we are searching for. However, the reality is this: most of the time, if not all, those opportunities will never come to you in the form of a great opportunity. Most of the opportunities that we are in search of will come in the form of adversity, uncertainty about what's next, conflict, and a despondent reality, usually that which is uncomfortable and undesirable.
In the Scriptures, a young man by the name of Joseph, the son of Jacob, grew up, well, kind of spoiled. At the time, he was the youngest and very loved by his parents. God had already shown him in a dream that one day, he would be in charge of his family, running the family business. With his dad spoiling him so much by making him a coat of many colors and making sure he was the only one in the family who had one, Joseph was well on his way, well, at least, he thought.
His brothers did not like that their dad bought into Joseph's vision that he would be in charge of the family. They didn't like how he was spoiled. They felt they were being looked over, not appreciated, or as valued as Joseph. Long story short, they banned together and decided to throw him in a pit and sell him into slavery. Joseph was 17 years old when he was left for dead by his brothers. Over the next 13 years, Joseph would go on to experience significant trouble and injustices and live a lifestyle that was far from what he had dreamed.
When God gives us a dream or establishes something in our hearts that we want to carry out, our interpretation of it is often underwhelming. God's dreams for us are much bigger than what we can carry. The scripture says, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the Lord. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."
When we are facing frustration or even navigating a ratchet reality, it is hard to comprehend how or even if God will use the situation to position us for prosperity. While Joseph was in prison, thinking that this was the ceiling for his potential, God was at work executing not only the most significant comeback story for Joseph but also putting the finishing touches on the dream he had initially given to him.
Pharaoh, King of Egypt, a man who did not know God, had a troubling dream given by God. It troubled him so much that he had a sense of urgency to search out all of his kingdom for someone who could interpret his dream. However, word got back to Pharaoh that Joseph, a man in prison for the last two years, had a gift that allowed him to interpret dreams. Pharaoh summoned Joseph for a conversation that would ultimately change his life.
Let me pause here to tell you this: whatever prisons of life you find yourself in, make sure your character stays consistent. Don't stop doing what God has placed in you just because you're in a place you don't want to be. After Joseph successfully interpreted Pharaoh's dream and gave him wisdom on what to do, listen to what Pharaoh says, "Can we find such a one as this, a man in whom is the Spirit of God?" My friends, listen: People can say what they want to about you, talk recklessly, lie on you, etc., etc. But the only thing in life that truly matters is that they see the Spirit of God in you. My friends, when the Spirit of God lives in you, that is your legacy. That is what will raise you from obscurity to opportunity. When the Spirit of God is in you, like Joseph, it only takes one conversation to take you from the dungeon to dominion.
