Joseph has been running the prison for years at this point, but recently he has acquired two new inmates from the palace. They have been placed in his care and one morning he notices their attitudes are different. He asks them about it and comes to find that they are distressed over dreams they have had. They are unable to interpret the meaning behind them, and so Joseph offers to listen.
As a young man God had given him dreams of his own. In them his brothers bowed to him through different objects, stars and sheaves of wheat. God has gifted him with the ability to interpret dreams, and now there is the opportunity to use his gift. And in doing so he is setting himself up for the next step of God's plan.
Men, what opportunities are you being presented with? Are you seizing them? You may be hesitating because you aren't sure if it's God's will or not. I've had the same thing happen, but I've found guidance in the words of a college professor.
"When ability, desire, and opportunity line up, that is the will of God." If you are gifted in an area, and have the desire to excel there, and you are given the opportunity to do it, God has directed you in His will. And if one of those is absent, god doesn't want you to go down that path.
You have the ability to do a job well, and therefore are presented with the opportunity, but your heart isn't in it, and you know it will suck the life out of you. That isn't God's will for your life.
You have the ability to teach, you have a desire to work with kids or teens, and an opportunity opens up for you to move to the inner city and work in a school. That could be God's will for the moment.
Now I do need to say that not every situation we find ourselves in is always going to be in line with our desires. Joseph didn't desire to go to jail. But that situation got him into place for what God had sent him to Egypt for. It got him into position to receive the opportunity. And I believe that is how God works. Right now I'm working where I have to in order to provide for my family. This isn't my desire, but it is getting me into position for the opportunity.
Had Joseph not been in jail his ability and desire would have never found the opportunity to shine. Without doing what I'm doing right now, my ability and desire may never get to find the opportunity to work. There are times when God is preparing us for the opportunity, and in these moments let us learn to be content that we are in the will of God, moving towards what we were created for. Let us praise Him for the preparation, and when the opportunities come, let's seize them.
"Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."
To God alone be the Glory!
Strength and Honor
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