“He sent a man before them – Joseph – who was sold as a slave” (Psalm 105:17,19, NKJV). Joseph was tested in many ways, but his greatest trial was the word he had received.
Consider all Joseph had endured. At seventeen, he was stripped and thrown into a pit to starve. His coldhearted brothers laughed at his pleas for mercy and sold him to Ishmaelite traders who took him to Egypt and sold him as a slave.
Yet Joseph's greatest trial wasn't his rejection by his brothers or slavery or prison. What confused and tried Joseph’s spirit was the clear word he had heard from God.
God had told Joseph through dreams that he would be given great authority. His brothers would bow before him, and he would be a deliverer of many people.
None of this was an ego trip for Joseph. His heart was so set on God that this word gave him a humble sense of destiny: “Lord, you have put your hand on me to have a part in your eternal plan.” Joseph was blessed just by knowing he would play an important role in fulfilling God’s will, but his circumstances were the opposite of what God had told him. He was a servant! How could he believe that he would one day deliver multitudes when he was a slave himself? He must have thought, “This doesn't make sense. How could God be ordering my steps into prison, into oblivion?”
For ten years, Joseph faithfully served in Potiphar's house, but he was misjudged and lied about. His victory over temptation with Potiphar's wife only landed him in jail. During such times surely he questioned, “Did I hear correctly? Did my pride invent these dreams? Could my brothers have been right? Maybe these things are happening to me as discipline for some selfish desire.”
There have been times when God has shown me things he wanted for me—ministry, service, usefulness—yet every circumstance was the opposite of that word. At such times, I thought, “Lord, this can't be you speaking; it must be my flesh.” His words were a test of my trust in him, but now I can look back and see that he fulfilled them all.
Friend, don’t be anxious when you feel doubtful of God’s promises. You can be assured that he will accomplish each one in his way and in his time!