Joseph was a rising star who quickly faced significant opposition. But this opposition was not political like the opposition Nehemiah faced. It was not random like someone would face from an angry driver going down the highway. Joseph was not in any official position, so the opposition was unexpected.
No Average Joe Series
Instead, it was very personal. People closest to him plotted against him. The opposition was strategic and was intended to defeat him and to kill his dream.
How can that kind of opposition turn into a giant opportunity? Joseph was “No Average Joe” because he learned the difference between defeat and delay.
Notice here how delay advances the dream for the “No Average Joe”:
Rejection gives rescue.
When Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him and threw him into a pit. That was terrible. But what he didn’t know was the pit was an upgrade from the death they had plotted. Many times God uses the bad to spare us from the worst.
Although it was the “pits,” it was a place of safety. It may have seemed Joseph was losing it all, but in reality that pit allowed him to keep the only thing that mattered…his God-given dream. No Average Joes understand it’s not over until its over, and they are determined to live with a certain hope that God will finish what He starts.
Loss produces life.
Joseph was stripped of his “favored coat status” in the family. The coat of many colors was a gift from his dad and was surely a source of great pride for father and son. Although Joseph’s dad Israel could have used some parenting lessons, there was nothing wrong with Joseph wearing the prestigious coat…but losing it was better.
Good leaders become great leaders through the sanctifying work of profound loss. No Average Joes are never giddy about losing. As a matter of fact leaders don’t like to lose at all. But they soon discover that great loss makes room for new gains.
Sometimes we must lose the best things in life in order to achieve the dream of our lives. Leaders learn to lose before they ever learn to win.
Isolation builds intimacy.
The man who just minutes earlier enjoyed the favor of his father was now walking behind a slave-trader’s camel on a 300 mile journey to a foreign land. He surely never expected the loneliness, poverty, and disdain that awaited him. But we read nothing of the success of Joseph until after this season of intense isolation.
When we look at the lives of great leaders, we often find a season of obscurity. They never stay there, but No Average Joes use times of isolation to build intimacy with God.
God-given dreams often require delay. Not because the dream is wrong, but because God must do a work in the life of the leader to prepare him or her to live that great dream.
Now it’s your turn. Click on the comment button and describe other benefits of a delayed dream.
