Stay Faithful, Stay Wise!

Stay Faithful, Stay Wise And delivered him out of all his afflictions, and gave him favour and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house. Acts 7 v 10 God was with Joseph and delivered him out of all his afflictions. He gave him favour and wisdom in the sight of the Pharaoh of Egypt. He made him, a foreignor and a slave, ruler over Egypt and his palace. This is what the grace of God does for people. We need only the grace of God and He will deliver us out of all our afflictions. He will give us favour and wisdom in the sight of the powers that be of the day. He makes us rulers in His kingdom, if not of nations. We need to pray and ask the Lord to grant us favour and wisdom in the sight of mortal kings and earthly authorities. The secret of the power of this uni-verse is that since the Lord has fulfilled this word for Joseph in his context and time, when we hold this verse dear to our heart and believe that the Lord will act on our behalf too in accordance, He will do so. For He is not partial to any man or woman or nationality. He does not change or vary in His commitment to His Word. We hold the uni-verse dear when we remember it often in the course of our life’s course and both proclaim and claim it. As believers, we are certain to face afflictions but we are also to be certain that the Lord whom we believe in will deliver us from each affliction. There is an appointed time for each word to be fulfilled. Till that appointed time, the word tries us. Steve Jobs said, “ Stay hungry, stay foolish!” But the Lord says to us , “Stay faithful! Stay wise!” We are to remain faithful and righteous during the time of trials. Joseph held on to the hope of the dream he saw as a teenager. That hope grew into stronger and stronger faith as one by one the Lord delivered him first from his brother’s conspiracy, then from false accusation of Potiphar’s adulterous wife and from prison. Joseph’ s elevation was instantaneous as soon as Pharaoh saw wisdom in Joseph’s interpretation of his double dream. Joseph told him that he saw two dreams one of the seven cows and one of the seven ears of corn as the Lord was going to do it soon or establish his word with that double confirmation. Pharaoh believed his words and immediately saw him as the person most fit to prepare Egypt for the coming famine. He adorned his signet ring on Joseph’s finger as a sign of delegated power and authority to execute his fiat. Joseph could bind the princes of the land at his pleasure and teach the senators wisdom. The deliverance was not instantaneous but it happened in the course of time. Faith requires persistent belief in a promise of God and patient waiting for it to be fulfilled. The Word of hope has to be planted deep in our souls and it needs to grow like a sapling, become a strong plant, a tree and then bear fruits of salvation. Prateep V Philip