Until Your Obedience is Complete…
This week, our lesson from Joseph’s waiting season focuses on surrender.
Partial obedience is not true obedience, and partial surrender is not genuine surrender. Until we fully let go of all the “maybes” and stop trying to “help” God, the purpose of our waiting season will not be fulfilled.
In Genesis 39:6, Potiphar’s wife finds Joseph attractive and asks him to sleep with her. Given what we know about the end of that story, we often neglect to consider what Joseph’s potential future might have looked like as her mistress’s partner.
A woman with such influence over her husband could have quickly given Joseph more power and authority. It would have seemed like an achievement for him, but it would merely have been a shadow of what God had planned for him.
A ruler in Potiphar’s household pales in comparison to a position of authority with Pharaoh as the king.
If Joseph had chosen to disobey and dishonour God’s command regarding fidelity, we might be reading a very different story in the Scriptures today, and Joseph may have never discovered the greater opportunity that awaited him through God.
“And please remember me and do me a favour when things go well for you…” (Genesis 40:14-15).
Logically, Joseph would expect that interpreting the dream for the chief butler would grant him exclusive access to Pharaoh, but his plans were far from what God had intended for him. This was yet another moment where he could have taken matters into his own hands.
In our waiting season, when we attempt to help God by creating our own shortcuts, the best we can achieve are counterfeits of His promises. Sometimes, these counterfeits can lead to lasting problems; Abraham and his son Ishmael are perfect examples of this.
Heb 6 :12 ” …Instead, you will follow the example of those who through faith and patience, inherit the promise”.
Faith and patience during the waiting season can only be developed if we completely surrender the hows, whys, and whens to God. It won’t always be easy but total surrender is the only way to get exactly what God has mapped out for us.