Embracing Your Season of Change: Maintaining the Proper Perspective

In order to keep a proper perspective in our season of change, we must first know and stand on the promise of God. Joseph was an amazing man of God. Joseph never wavered in his faith towards God even though he had many reasons to doubt God’s goodness.

Joseph was sold as a slave to the Egyptian Potiphar because his brothers were jealous of him, he was falsely accused by Potiphar’s wife and put in prison, and he was forgotten about after helping the chief cup bearer of Pharaoh in prison when he told Joseph he would remember to mention him to Pharaoh when he got out. In these times of trial and testing, he never was disloyal to God.

God gave Joseph a special gift of interpreting dreams. This gift gave him an opportunity to minister to Pharaoh when he was being tormented by dreams. God gave Joseph favor with Pharaoh when he interpreted his dreams, and Pharaoh promoted him to the second most influential place of leadership in Egypt.

Through sovereign circumstances, Joseph would end up living and dying in Egypt. However, because of his close relationship with God, he had special insight into the destiny of his people, the Israelites. He spoke of the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt several centuries before it happened. Hebrews 11:22 says, “By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus from Egypt and gave instructions about his bones.”

Joseph knew God was going to one day deliver his people out of Egypt and bring them to a promised land. He was so convinced of this, that he gave instructions for his bones to be carried out of Egypt and buried in God’s place of promise. What a great example of a man who had a generational perspective on the promise and purpose of God.

What allowed Joseph to maintain his loyalty to God through times of testing and trial? The answer has to do with his ability to stay focused on the promise of God instead of worrying about his problems. In order to keep the right perspective in times of change, we must look beyond the stress of the temporary to the glory of the eternal.