HINDRANCE TO BLESSING - Michelle McKinney Hammond

[Joseph said,] “When all goes well with you, remember me and show me kindness; mention me to Pharaoh and get me out of this prison. For I was forcibly carried off from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing to deserve being put in a dungeon.” - GENESIS 40:14-15

Who can say what we truly deserve, save God? In the midst of our self-justifying, we confirm that the process God has begun in us has yet to be completed. Every time I decided I was ready for the things I’d been asking God for, I soon discovered I wasn’t. Any time our flesh makes a pronouncement of insistence, we can question whether we’ve “died enough” to self to receive what God has for us. If He gave it to us now, would it consume us?

I also believe that when God allows our blessings to be delayed, it’s because He’s refining us. Let’s allow Him to do His work. We will be better for it. Here’s a provocative thought. I heard someone say that the moment Joseph announced he didn’t deserve to be in prison he “earned” two more years in his cell. That God was waiting for every ounce of entitlement to be eked from his heart so that He could trust Joseph with the assignment and blessing that awaited. Only when Joseph’s rights were surrendered on the altar was he released into the fullness of his God-ordained destiny.

How does this play out in our lives? Perhaps as long as we think we are undeservedly single, and as long as we think it is time to get married, there is still more work to be done in our hearts. God wants us to be so surrendered we will only move at His leading. A heart surrendered to Him keeps us safe.

How surrendered are you to God’s timing? How would you live differently if you knew you wouldn’t be married for another five years?

PRAY THIS PRAYER WITH ME:
“Dear heavenly Father, I surrender any feelings and thoughts of entitlement to You. Have Your way with my life. In Jesus’ name. Amen.”