Most of us want to fill significant roles in the Kingdom.  Our Father is a king.  As his children, we naturally should want to excel and be impact players for the Kingdom.  As we contemplate how we might serve and what we might accomplish for our King, most of us want to be appointed and anointed and moved quickly into those roles of significance. Detours discourage us and sometimes put us on a divergent road because we assume the obstacles mean that path is not God’s will for our lives.

I’m rereading Genesis right now and have just finished the chapters pertaining to Joseph. As you recall, Joseph was his father’s favorite and, reading between the lines, was, perhaps,  a prideful and arrogant brat of a young man.  Remember his dreams which he interpreted as prophetic dreams in which his brothers and, eventually, his entire family would bow down to him. The text does not seem to imply that he shared those dreams with a humble spirit.  Eleven brothers did not come to hate him enough to kill him or sell him into slavery just because his father showed favoritism…unless he gloried in that favoritism.I’m not sure how he imagined those dreams would manifest unless he thought his brothers and fathers would simply come to realize his superiority someday and then defer to him in all things.

Sitting in a dry cistern overhearing your brothers plans to kill you and blame it on a wild animal had to be a bucket of cold water poured over his dreams of greatness. Being sold into slavery and taken to Egypt was better than death, but it still had to undercut any ways he had imagined achieving his greatness. 

Even in Egypt, however, God’s favor kept creating upward mobility for him. He became the trusted steward over Potiphar’s estate and felt significant in that role. Perhaps, he could imagine some semblance of greatness in that role, but when life seemed good, he was unjustly accused of trying to force himself on Potiphar’s wife.  His next stop was humiliation and an Egyptian prison. Certainly, it was hard for him to imagine anyone ever bowing down to him in that season of his life.   Egyptian prisons were not upwardly mobile then or now. He seemed to be losing ground on any path to greatness.

But again, God gave him favor.  This time the prison warden saw qualities in him that engendered trust and he was given a significant role in the prison and some level of standing…for a convict. Time passed and two men joined the prison population that had been relatively close to Pharoah…his cup bearer and his baker (the head chef).  Both had stirred the anger of Pharoah and had been imprisoned because of it.  While still in prison, each of these men had a vivid dream.  They shared their dreams with Joseph and wondered if there was anyone who could interpret the dreams.  He said something significant when they asked about interpretation.  Joseph said, “Do not interpretations belong to God?  Tell me your dreams.”

There may have been a time in his youth when he interpreted to his own dreams but through servitude and prison, he no longer trusted his own understanding, but sought  the meaning from God.  He told the cupbearer that he would soon be restored to his position.  The baker was told he would soon be executed.  Both interpretations turned out to be spot on.  Joseph asked the cup bearer to remember him when his position with Pharoah was restored. Of course, the cupbearer forgot all about Joseph.  Joseph again had to be discouraged.  Would he be a forgotten man who would live out his life in a dark prison.  

But then…  Sometime later, Pharoah had a pair of dreams that none of his wise men could interpret.  Hearing the discussions, the cupbearer then remembered Joseph and mentioned him to Pharoah.  He was summoned to stand before the most powerful man in Egypt and was told the dreams.  Again, Joseph was clear with Pharoah that the interpretation of dreams belongs to God, but he was confident God would reveal the meaning.  

God did indeed reveal the meaning…seven years of abundance in Egypt to be followed by seven years of brutal famine. He was so impressed with Joseph and his understanding that he placed him in charge of all governmental response to the coming famine.  He was made second in command only to Pharoah.

After seven years of abundance, the famine began to take its toll, not just in Egypt but in the surrounding nations.  Joseph’s own family was driven to go to Egypt to buy grain.  The same brothers who had sold had him into slavery came before Joseph in order to purchase grain.  They did not recognize him but he knew who they were.  They indeed were bowing down before him.   Eventually he revealed himself to his brothers, put aside any thoughts of revenge, and brought his entire family to Egypt where they would grow and prosper.

Joseph had sensed a significant destiny in his life even when he was young.  But every turn seemed to deny that destiny and move him away from it instead of toward it. God had ordained that he would be great in Egypt, saving a nation and also his family.   However, character had to be shaped in Joseph before he could step into the greatness God had ordained for him.  You can see that pattern throughout scripture. 

We want to rush to the end, serve in that position of significance and believe we can do it based on our talent.  But in the kingdom, character is much more valuable than talent.  When we have a dream or a vision to do something great for God, that may well be a dream God has placed in our hear.  Detours and discouragement are often not God saying “No,” but are 
God’s tools for preparing us for that destiny.  We need to take Joseph’s lead in each of those circumstances. 

n each situation that seemingly was taking Joseph away from his destiny, he chose to be his best, serve with faithfulness, and still strive for excellence. He could have chosen despair and bitterness.  I believe he must have spent hours in prayer, asking God to keep those things from his heart. But when the character required to lead a nation had been formed, Joseph’s ultimate destiny was revealed.  When we yearn for leadership in ministry or business, yearn for a spouse and family, yearn for some success in a career that we want to use to glorify God, we must be patient and faithful…even in the detours.