"Now to Joseph were born two sons before the years of famine came, whom Asenath daughter of Potiphera, the priest of On, bore to him. And Joseph called the firstborn Manasseh [making to forget], For God, said he, has made me forget all my toil and hardship and all my father's house. And the second he called Ephraim [to be fruitful], For [he said] God has caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction. When the seven years of plenty were ended in the land of Egypt, The seven years of scarcity and famine began to come, as Joseph had said they would; the famine was in all [the surrounding] lands, but in all of Egypt (WHERE JOSEPH WAS) there was food. But when all the land of Egypt was weakened with hunger, the people [there] cried to Pharaoh for food; and Pharaoh said to [them] all, Go to Joseph; what he says to you, do. When the famine was over all the land, Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold to the Egyptians; for the famine grew extremely distressing in the land of Egypt. And all countries came to Egypt to Joseph to buy grain, because the famine was severe over all [the known] earth." -The Greatest Love Story Ever Told
In the worst times of your life, God is preparing a season of tremendous breakthrough that makes you forgot some things in your past.
You see, anchored IN Christ, there is a high appraisal value on your life. God has a storehouse--YOU. But how do you keep the dream alive or the STOREHOUSE open during economic crisis?
Gen 45:7-8 says that God sent Joseph ahead of to preserve his family and made him a father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt.
God made Joseph a father (sustainer) of the system that impoverished and imprisoned him. The blessing on his life was so unexplainable that He told his brothers in Genesis:
"You didn't send me here, God did. I've been giving you too much credit; too much power in my life. I thought it was your fault I'm like this, but all along God was building a storehouse in me. He was the Architect, in complete control of everything and I didn't even know it."
God waited until there was an impending National Crisis before bringing him before Pharaoh.
Sometimes God has to allow a problem to grow out of proportion before He can increase us or enlarge our territory. But at the same time, He's working on us.
In the midst of a National crisis, Joseph had three things:
- A gift
- Interpretation of the times (How his gift was going to be a weapon against poverty) and
- A plan (solution) for the entire nation.
What is your gift? How will your gift get you out of the restricted area you are in? What is your plan to break out and transform your marriage, recession proof your job, fortify your marketability or prepare for what's coming on the earth?
Goals without plans fail.
Genesis 41 outlines Joseph's supernatural plan: "So now let Pharaoh seek out and provide a man discreet, understanding, PROFICIENT, and wise and set him over the land of Egypt [as governor]. Let Pharaoh do this; then let him select and appoint officers over the land, and take one-fifth [of the produce] of the [whole] land of Egypt in the seven plenteous years [YEAR BY YEAR]. And let them gather all the food of these good years that are coming and lay up grain under the direction and authority of Pharaoh, and let them retain food [in fortified granaries] in the cities. And that food shall be put in store for the country AGAINST the seven years of hunger and famine that are to come upon the land of Egypt, so that the land may not be ruined and cut off by the famine. And the plan seemed good in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of all his servants."
WATCH THIS: Joseph's storehouse, dream or idea was a weapon.
What Joseph determined to be an authority in, was God's weapon or solution in times of crisis.
So we see two principles God gave us to keep our dream alive in a time of famine or recession:
- In Malachi 3:10, TITHE A TENTH (Give 10% of what you make-FAITHFULLY to your local church.)
- In Genesis 41:33-37, SAVE A FIFTH (Put 5% of what you make into a cash reserve account and another 5% in an interest bearing account for investment or savings. Save to amass a cash reserve of at least six times your monthly budget.)
God told Joseph to store up what would eventually be scarce or in demand.
Accumulate what was valuable, when people didn't recognize that it was valuable. In other words, from every victory, every harvest, every experience, every seed, every contract, every check, from every circumstance that you receive something, whether plentiful or painful, little or much, take something away from it that can be used to preserve you and OTHERS in the latter days.
Joseph's first son was named Manasseh--God has made me forget my hardship and affliction from my father's house. Of all the years lost by deception, all the years lost to false accusation, lost to jealous people, lost to the betrayal at the hands of those he loved; Joseph was suddenly made second in charge in all of Egypt.
And He did so without bending His convictions.
I was thinking recently, what if in all that Joseph went through, at any point before his promotion came, HE JUST QUIT; JUST GAVE UP? What if he stopped flowing in what made him excellent, profitable, distinguished and great? He stopped sharpening the weapon God gave him against poverty and imprisonment? His decision would've affected thousands of generations.
It is not necessary to sharpen a weapon which you do not intend to go to war with.
But if your gift is an instrument you intend to use to get you out of the circumstance you are in, you must keep it sharpened. You cannot allow this weapon to get dull. The storehouse was Joseph's weapon-it was HIS DREAM. What is YOURS?
Today, you may be in a storefront, with no address, working out of your home or car, but you have a supernatural product and power that can change your destiny (your entire life.) But you must STAY OPEN for business. During economic crisis, PEOPLE migrate to those that fight hard and stay open.
Don't GO bankrupt in your call. Don't go under. People NEED what flows out of your life.
Sometimes, it may seem as if we are forgotten but we are not. God's will, purpose and plan is never without hope, never abandoned, never alone, regardless of how bad it gets. Ask God to restock your shelves and fill your house with great things and better decisions. Create a plan to fix your credit and initiate the wealth of others in your hands.
God still owns the title of this house.
