Written by: Dr. Ernest Fink (Senior Pastor | Director) City Harvest Family Church, USA
Psalm 105:17-19 (NASB)
17“He [God] sent a man before them, Joseph, who was sold as a slave.
18 They afflicted his feet with fetters, He himself was laid in irons;
19 Until the time that his word came to pass, The word of the LORD tested him.”
God was responsible for sending Joseph into Egypt. This doesn’t say that the method used to get him there was from God. However, Genesis 37:20
suggests, this could have been an act of mercy and protection to get Joseph away from his evil brothers. People often blame God for planning all this hurt and pain that came into Joseph’s life. But I believe that Joseph being sold into slavery was as much to get him away from his evil brothers as for any other reason.
The life of Joseph began with great promise. Early in his youth the Lord gave him a dream, which showed him that he would be elevated to a position of great authority. He was to rule over his brothers. Even his mother and father would come bowing down before him. What happened NEXT? The very opposite of what God had promised. His brothers betrayed him and sold him as a slave into Egypt. There, because he was faithful to his Egyptian master, he eventually ended up in prison, chained with fetters of iron.
The question is: How did Joseph respond to that situation? Did he say to himself, “Everything has gone wrong; the Lord’s promise will NEVER come true?” No! A process was going on in Joseph; he was being tested by the word of the Lord. “Until the time that His word came to pass, the word of the Lord tested him.”
When the Lord gives us a word of promise, there is an exact time fixed for its fulfillment. In the meantime, it often happens that events follow a course that seems exactly opposite to what God has promised. In such a situation we must do as Joseph did. We must hold onto the promise, and not be tempted to think that God has failed or forgotten. Delay does not mean decline with God’s promises!
The promise God gave us is testing us to see how we will conduct ourselves in the darkest hour. When we have passed the test and God’s time has come, the promise will be fulfilled for us, just as it was for Joseph.
- Always keep in mind, God does not test us with EVIL.
James 1:13 (NLT2)
“And remember, when you are being tempted, do not say, “‘God is tempting me.’ God is never tempted to do wrong, and he never tempts anyone else.”
Thinking that All of our problems are “testings” from the Lord, will cause us to submit to them instead of resisting them. We must have spiritual discernment as to where and why our difficulties arise. A delayed blessing tests men, to determinewhether their faith is of that precious kind which can endure the fire, or just presumption.
If the vision (promise) tarries it is good to wait for it with patience and trust the Lord. How meekly Joseph endured his afflictions, and with what fortitude he looked forward to the clearing of his slandered character!It will be better still if under similar trials we are able to imitate him and come forth from the furnace as thoroughly purified as he was.
“Until the time that his word came to pass, The word of the LORD tested him.”Psalm 105:19
Blessings
