Mensa Otabil - Prepared In Prison
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We are on day number 21 of our 40 Days of Power, and throughout this week, we are focusing on building capacity. We are examining different people in the Bible and the capacities they developed for the roles that God brought them into. The person we look at today is Joseph.
Genesis 41, verses 39 and 40: «Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, 'Inasmuch as God has shown you all this, there is no one as discerning and wise as you. You shall be over my people, and all my people shall be ruled according to your word; only in regard to the throne will I be greater than you.'»
Joseph emerged from prison right into the courts of Pharaoh to provide solutions for an impending crisis facing Egypt. A man who entered Egypt as a slave is now standing before the king of Egypt as a national hero, with an assignment to strategically position the nation for its future. What has brought Joseph to this place? He had been prepared; he had been building capacity-even in prison, when nobody was watching him. Nobody knew him, but he was building capacity, and he didn’t know that the ability he was developing to interpret dreams would serve him later.
While he is in prison, God is setting something up ahead of him. Pharaoh has a dream he can’t interpret, and no one can interpret the dream. Then someone remembers Joseph. Joseph comes in and stands before Pharaoh and interprets the dream, which reveals that there will be seven years of abundance and seven years of scarcity. Pharaoh must then find a way to survive-or how his nation can survive-and the only way is to turn to the man who could provide the interpretation of the dreams. He calls Joseph and says, «You are going to be the next highest official after me in Egypt, and you are going to solve this national crisis we are
facing.»
How did Joseph get there? He built capacity for it. You know, wherever you are in life now is a setup for where God wants to take you. It may even be in prison; it may be working under a very terrible boss; it may be solving problems that nobody recognizes. It may be you just doing things that nobody praises you for, but it is setting you up for an opportunity in your future, and it is building capacity in you for something God is going to open for you. If you self-sabotage-and we do that all the time-we become bitter, we become angry, we complain that nobody cares about us, nobody sees what we do, nobody appreciates us. But really, the future you have is greater than appreciation because God is setting you up; He’s building strength, He’s building capacity.
That’s what happened to Joseph. He had very miserable treatments, but he maintained a positive outlook on life, and that set him up for his future. So, I don’t know where you are in life, but this week, we want to pray. Today, we want to pray, and you want to pray that God gives you the capacity to handle every hardship you are in today, every difficulty you are facing today, every situation that you think is the most miserable. Ask God to use it as a setup for your future and the open doors ahead of you. When He sets you up, He will overrule every setback in your life. Everything that you thought was negative is going to set you up for something great because God qualifies you for greatness if we take advantage of the opportunities He gives us now.
Let us pray. Say with me: Heavenly Father, Your grace has qualified me. Use all of my experiences to showcase Your glory through me, in Jesus' name. Amen and amen.