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A Look Back and a Look Forward

After having a rather bizarre dream a few nights ago, I couldn't help but think about the various times that dreams are spoken about in the Bible.  One of the first mentions of the word comes in the story of Joseph.

Oh, how I love the story of Joseph!

The story of Joseph teaches us so much about God's sovereignty and how He can take a situation that is nothing but evil and turn it into something good (Gen. 50:20).  Only our God can do that!

God gives us fourteen whole chapters in the book of Genesis on the life of this one individual.  This young man goes from a dark pit, to a royal palace, then to a prison.  The portion of his life that I want to focus on comes from chapter 41 when Joseph is finally able to get out of prison and asked to interpret Pharaoh's dreams.

You see, Pharaoh was like me and had a bizarre dream!  When he heard that this young Hebrew prisoner named Joseph had the God-given ability to interpret dreams, he decided it was time for this boy to see daylight again!

Upon hearing the retelling of Pharaoh's dream, Joseph interpreted the dream and informed him that the dream was essentially a prophecy showing the next fourteen years in the life of Egypt:  7 years of abundance and 7 years of famine.

Here's what I want you to think about today. 

What if you had the opportunity that Pharaoh had and God made known to you what the next fourteen years of your life was going to look like?
 
Now, you and I both know that this is not going to happen, but stay with me for a moment until I get us to where I want to go.
 
If you had the opportunity to know the trials, the joys, the sicknesses, the financial crises, etc. that you were going to face in the future, would you want to know them in advance?
 
I know for a fact that I would absolutely not want to know!  I don't think knowing that information would provide anything to me besides worry and anxiety!
 
But here is what I would want to know:
 
In 14 years, will my walk with the Lord be stronger than it is right now? 
 
I would want to know that no matter what trials, or crises, or triumphs I might face, they did nothing but draw me closer to my God.  I would want to know that over the course of my life, my circumstances did not shatter my faith.  I would want to know that my relationship with the Lord has truly gotten sweeter as each day went by.
 
You see, if we can look back at trials or valleys and see that we came out closer to God in the end, then wasn't it worth it all?  There have been times in my life when I didn't understand the purpose of my suffering until I was able to get to the other side of the valley and see how much closer I was to God than I was when I began the journey.
 
So, here's what I urge you to do.  Look back to where you were in your walk with the Lord fourteen years ago from right now.  Are you closer to Him today than you were then?  Or, are you a little stagnant in your faith and you haven't really drawn farther away, but you haven't drawn any closer either?
 
Now, look forward 14 years.  Make a commitment right now to have a stronger walk with Christ as each day passes.  Regardless of whatever may come your way, make a commitment to yourself and to God that in abundance or in famine, you won't just endure, but you will honor Him with your life, no matter what.
 
What do you want your walk with Christ look like 14, 20, or 50 years from now? 
 
Devote some time in prayer right now, giving your future solely to God.
 


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