I do not know all things. I don’t know most things. Actually, I don’t know many things. But there is one thing I am sure of – God knows how to make men. God knows how to use every element of life to forge his chosen into what He desires. And He builds him in a manner consistent with what He wants him to accomplish in and through him – conforming him to the image of Christ and deploying him to fulfill a predetermined purpose.
“Until the time that his word came: the word of the LORD tried him.”
PSALM 105:19
A dream given
The making of the man, Joseph, was in different stages – I shared those stages in my book titled, JOSEPH’S DREAMS: HOW TO ACCOMPLISH GOD-GIVEN DREAMS.
Joseph received dreams from God, which signalled the first call to a chosen one. And seeing that Joseph responded with excitement and faith, to the point of sharing the dreams with his family, it showed that the call to a higher ground has been accepted by the chosen person.
The same thing happened to Abraham with God’s call to leave his kindred for an unknown destination. Believing the voice he heard and stepping out of his land were Indications that he wanted to be made a father of nations.
We also see the same response from the trainee prophet, Samuel, who ran to the Prophet Eli and was eventually instructed on how to respond to God. He heard a voice and didn’t ignore it. He wanted to be built. The same applies to Moses, who saw an invitation in the bush that burned. He responded by approaching to see that great sight, and upon arrival he was called by God and the building process began.
We also see this process of making men during the time of the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ. He called men who, upon a positive response, enrolled in his discipleship school. So, the process of making them disciples began after they followed the Caller.
My first question to you is: How have you responded to the numerous dreams, visions, clear words, and voice of God’s call to you?
Your response signals interest that you desire to be made and built; that word, dream, voice you believe is the substrate for the construction process.
The building or refining process
Psalm 105:19 tells us that until the prophecy was fulfilled, the word of God refined him.
The throne (peak) is a place of execution of what has been worked into you. Output at that level is determined and sustained by the input prior to your ascension. Therefore, conformity to Christ’s image must precede deployment.
Until the word of prophecy came to pass, until Pharaoh’s word to liberate Joseph came to the prison guards, until Joseph had successfully interpreted the dreams of Pharaoh, until he was enthroned in Egypt, God executed a tough refining process of his young man.
That process of trial and transformation took 13 years. It is possible that the people who knew about Joseph’s dreams would have forgotten. In fact, Joseph’s siblings had forgotten about him and his dreams, having sold him off to the Ishmaelites. Only Jacob, his father, still retained the scar of his loss.
Furthermore, Joseph could have been discouraged because none of what was happening to him seemed consistent with the dreams he saw. During the refining process, none of what you’re experiencing seems to tally with the glorious destination God showed you.
But to God, all of those troubles were part of the process of Joseph’s formation as the sun.
To assist your faith, God would reiterate his plan for your life in various ways, including through other people. Those reassurances are to strengthen your heart though you may find them difficult to believe.
But even with the reassurances, God doesn’t rush the process. The duration of the process and methods employed are completely at His discretion. And trust God, He doesn’t deploy a half-baked man to carry out an essential duty.
When he knows that the weight of the assignment will be heavy, he builds your shoulders and makes them robust through constant tests.
When the temptations surrounding the throne will be too much, he takes time to build character.
When the responsibilities attached to the position will be a lot, he builds capacity and competence.
All through ways and means that look unusual and do not align with what you have read in books and seen in movies. Ways and means that will even make family and friends doubt that God is making anything good out of you.
If you are not careful, you will be talked out of the path that God is leading. Satan will discourage you from the way, and you will desire a shortcut to fulfilling your dreams.
However, the person who showed you the dreams is God, and the way to get there he certainly knows.
Therefore, rest in Him. He knows what he is doing. Understand that you need to be before you can have. If Joseph had not become, he could not have retained what God gave to him.
Selah.
