A dear friend came up to be after church last week and said, "Pastor Alicia, can I ask you a question?" I said, "Sure, what is it?" What came out of her mouth stunned me for a second! She said, "Am I cursed or something?" I said, "Why do you ask that?" She begin to explain, "well, I have been divorced for nineteen years and I have remained celibate all these years believing God that he was going to bless me with a husband. All these years I have been faithful to the house of God; he has given me everything thing else he promised me, except a husband; what’s wrong with me, am I doing something wrong? Is there sin in my life I don't know about? Am I cursed?

I could see the extreme anguish in her eyes as she was wanting so desperately for someone to give her an answer. Immediately I whispered a prayer to the Father; "Lord, give me the words to say." I knew exactly where she was; instantly I could identify with her pain, her wanting to scream at the top of her lungs, "WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO GIVE ME WHAT YOU PROMISED, GOD?!"

To make a long story short, when we parted I was confident that the Holy Spirit had given me wisdom to encourage her...but I couldn't get that question out of my mind. That question brought conflicting emotions to me. Why? Although I have been happily married for almost 27 years, there were other things the Lord promised me years ago that I was still waiting on. Those things were just as important to me as a husband was to her. I begin to think about all my friends and family; there was not one single person that was not waiting on God for a promise; whether it was their body that needed to be healed, a financial breakthrough, a pregnancy, a child to be delivered, a spouse to be saved, a house, a car, a ministry to be acknowledged, a dream to be realized; I could go on and on; it was all the same...when, Lord, when?

As always when I'm conflicted, I ran to the Word of God. The Holy Spirit directed me to the story of Joseph. God gave Joseph a dream (we'll call it a promise) when he was only seventeen years old. But before we go there let’s go back just a little.

Let's talk about Joseph's father Jacob. Jacob received a promise from his uncle Laban that he could have Rachel as his wife, but he had to work seven years for her. Jacob worked faithfully for seven years and then on his wedding night, he was tricked into marrying Laban's oldest daughter Leah. When Jacob confronted Laban about this deception, Laban said he could not marry off is younger daughter before his eldest. Laban said, I'll give you Rachel as I promised if you work for me another seven years. So, Jacob ended up working fourteen years for his promise.

After he married Rachel she was barren. Can you imagine how she must have felt as she watched while her sister and Jacob's other wives had one child after the other. She probably helped them deliver. Years would pass before she would have her first born son, Joseph. She had yearned for this child so much that she named him, “God removed my shame." She felt it to be shameful not to have her prayers answered.

Oh, but when the promise came to pass what a time of great joy for both Jacob and Rachel, the time spent in great anxiousness and uncertainty was finally gone.

Now, back to Joseph. Again, when he was seventeen years old he was given a promise through dreams. His promise was confirmed when his father gave him a coat of many colors, which symbolized royalty and great wealth. The coats worn in those days by the ordinary Israelites were made of one color and only went to knee length, but a coat made of many colors and flowed to the feet were only worn by the very wealthy with royal decent. This coat spoke to Joseph's promised destiny. Shortly after receiving the promise Joseph went through a seventeen year test. Not unlike the test that we go through when God gives us a promise...let's take a look.

Shortly after Joseph received the promise, it was snatched away from him and he was thrown in a pit.

Pit - Hell - an extremely unpleasant inescapable place or situation.

Webster describes the pit as "hell" an extremely unpleasant inescapable place or situation. Have you been in this pit while you have been waiting on your promise? I know I have. It seems no matter how hard you try to get out of this place it appears to inescapable. You just know if you scream to the top of your lungs or cry with all your might, somebody is going to come and rescue you from this place. Finally, someone shows up, but it's not what you think, instead of you being delivered into a place of safety and freedom, to pursue after your promise you find that you have been delivered into bondage and you become the property of another.

Property - A person who is the property of another

In this place you become a servant. Not being able to go where you want to go, not being able to do what you want to do. You are now serving someone else's dream. Your dream begins to become fainter and fainter. It seems it's never going to come to pass. How could your promise possibly come to pass now, when all you do is work for someone else? This is the time where choices have to be made. #1 you rebel and say, "you can't make me work for you; I'm not going to do it!" or #2 you say, "I'm going work the best I can with the right attitude; I'm going treat this dream like it's my own!" Joseph's choice was to make it his own, so he worked diligently for Potipher doing everything he could to be a blessing. I know I made that choice like many of you and have ended up a prisoner just like Joseph!

Prisoner - one who is restrained.

This place of restraint is a hard, hard place to be, because you are wondering, "how did I get here?" I was doing everything right. I had a good attitude, others were blessed because of me and by me...so why am I here? In this place you are wondering if God ever gave you a promise in the first place. Maybe you imagined it. What even made you think you were ever going to have "THAT" promise? This is the place were that question comes to play, "AM I CURSED?" You were thrown in prison; you were innocent, yet, you see people getting out of prison everyday, who deserve to be there...life is not fair! You start thinking about the good ol’ days and oh, how you wish you could go back.. You relent over the wasted years you were serving someone else's dream. You resent your past and your present and the dream is long gone now. How could it ever come to pass...look at me I'm old, I'm worn out; life is almost over.

STOP....WAIT A MINUTE....NOT SO FAST! Don't forget "THE ONE" who gave the promise!

"God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent; Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good? Num 23:19

Promise - a legally binding declaration that gives the person to whom it is made a right to expect or to claim the performance or forbearance of a specified act.

When God gave us his promise it was a legally binding declaration that gives us the right to expect and to claim that promise. We must begin to declare what God has promised us. We must begin to act as thou it is already a done deal. As I mediate about Joseph's life, not one minute did he allow his situation to stop him from using his gifts. Every place he was in, whether it was being the property of another or in prison, he served, with the right attitude and with excellence. He was a blessing to his master and the prison warden. He used his talents and gifts to bless others and in turn God gave him favor. Joseph did not realize that for the entire seventeen years God was molding his character, sharpening his gifts, teaching him skills that he would need to obtain the promise. Are we like Joseph? Are we serving where we are? Are we allowing God to mold our character and sharpen our skills? Do we have a teachable spirit? If we are like Joseph then hold on, the promise is coming. It happened for Joseph "SUDDENLY" and it will happen for us just like that!

The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it. 1 Thes 5:24

I can't wait to see my promise!...It's coming!

Alicia Johnson 11/11/2009