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I am so excited about today’s post. Not only is it inspired by two of my favorite preachers, bishop T.D. Jakes and pastor Steven Furtick, it is also about one of my favorite bible characters, Joseph. For two weeks, God has kept Joseph on my mind. I recently re-read his life story which reminded me of an old sermon by Bishop Jakes that I listened to in 2020. So I as I planned to make it my midweek post (after this Sunday’s sermon at Elevation Church), PSF surprised me with a sermon about Joseph and gave me a whole new perspective! Devine right! So today, I will be exploring both T.J. Jake’s “Dedicated 2 Destiny” and PSF’s “Get To The Good Part.”

The story of Joseph is so intense! It just reminds us of all the endless struggles that we face in life. It seems so unfair that an innocent boy would have this much trauma, one sad story after another. Unfortunately this is something many of us can relate to, some more than others. For instance, I recently talked to someone that has really had it rough the last couple of months. She has experienced a series of painful seasons. As I talked to her and tried to encourage her, we decided to point out the few good things that are happening in her life and eventually we found ourselves praising God. It turns our that this person (I will call her Josephine), has grown (more) closer to God in this season, God has been providing for her financially despite her pain, she has a great support system and to top it up, God revealed to her that she is gifted. Turns out, Josephine is a dreamer just like Joseph. She found out that the things that she dreams about comes to pass (hence the name Josephine). Before Josephine told me about her gift, I had shared with her about the story of Joseph. I was telling her how the enemy often fights people that he knows are going to be great! Joseph’s purpose was too great! Therefore, bishop Jakes and PSF encourage us to push through these tough seasons because there is always something great coming in our future. We just need to trust God and keep the faith even when things keep getting tougher or unbearable.

We all know people who just keep facing darkness after darkness. Darkness can be pain, judgement, grief, insecurity, loss, criticism, etc. (you may be reading this and you fall under this category). Dark seasons affect us in different ways, some people posses the skill of pushing through while others fail to make it out. However, if you aren’t the one going through it, it is easy for you to downplay someone else’s struggles and expect them to do what others are doing. I am guilty of this. A while back, I sought to understand grief after I found out that I didn’t know how to be there for a friend of mine who was having it rough. I found myself saying the wrong things and acting the wrong way during her darkest moment (with an honest intent to help them go through it). It is really hard to be there for someone when you haven’t walked through the darkness that they are in. So I subscribed to an amazing podcast by Dr. Anita Phillips called “In The Light” in which she explores different topics such as grief, trauma, and mental health issues such as anxiety, depression, etc. As I listened to this podcast, I found out that in our effort to help the people in our lives who are having a tough time, we can say things that make their situations worse. I am learning that we cannot rush someone’s healing because everyone is different and I also learnt not to say things like “God has a reason for everything” when someone is down.

Nevertheless, I want to share what these two great men of God shared about Joseph and hopefully encourage someone out there who is hurting. Joseph lost his mother at a tender age, he had a dream which was ridiculed by all those he loved, he was sold into slavery by his brothers, abandoned, falsely accused, imprisoned, and forgotten. What pastor Steven and bishop Jakes highlight is that even with all this happening, Joseph remained faithful to God. He consistently remained true to who he was and pushed through all the bad things that came at him.

According to bishop Jakes, everyone is put on earth for a purpose, many do not realize their purpose or they often completely give up due to different seasons. He believes that we need to realize that God gave us our personalities, characters, to help us achieve our purpose. God will bring us into different seasons just to get us to where he wants us to be. Bishop T.D Jakes encourages us not to give up on who God says we are just because someone or a situation says otherwise. He further encourages us to be dedicated to our destiny. Using the story of Joseph, he explores this using three words, decades, dreams, and decisions. He believes that when when we put in time (which may take decades), effort, and patience, we can achieve success, second is that to achieve the dreams (our goals) that we have, we need to be focused, dedicated (dedication is internal), disciplined, and shouldn’t be affected by the seasons we go through. Finally, we need to “make decisions for the decade not for a moment” because moments are temporary. We need to decide on things like the people to surround ourselves with (choose people who will stick with you, and those who “fit into your destiny” he says), the attitude and character to have, to decide not to give up no matter what. He adds that to do all this we need God because only He can see the future. Therefore it is significant to remember that God is constant and that He never changes with the seasons.

Furthermore, bishop reminds us that even when we have nothing, we need to still be consistent with what we do and not allow others or situations to change us. Joseph remained faithful, he just kept being his best even when he was in prison and this just kept bringing him God’s favor. It is obvious that Joseph had those moments where he remembered all the unfair things that had happened to him but he didn’t let them control his decision to be nice, to serve God and others who didn’t deserve it. The bible tells us that God was with Joseph everywhere he went and he prospered there. He kept gaining God’s favor. God had a much bigger plan for Joseph (he was special) and all this was dependent on him being faithful and obedient and pushing through the darkness. Therefore, bishop Jakes calls on us to be “dedicated in stewardship… (and) in deficit.”

You see, just like Joseph, my friend Josephine has faced terrible loss, I have seen her deep in very difficult seasons caused by external factors and yet Josephine remains highly favored. I believe it must be hard for her to see how favored she is because she is always the one in it (the darkness), but as I reflected on her life (after reading Joseph’s story), it all started to make sense. This girl is the most down to earth person I know, she is very caring and even in her toughest times, she is always ready to help other people. Sometimes I feel like she gives more than she gets from people. Nothing that she has been through has changed her character, she is who she is, consistently good! I know God has a huge purpose for her, it is already being revealed in her gift even if she is still in a season of obscurity.

Joseph finally realized his purpose and the good part in his life when he became a leader in Egypt only answerable to Pharaoh. According to pastor Steven, “you can’t get to the good part if you don’t want to go through the dark parts.” For many people who have been abused, ridiculed, abandoned, etc. when you find yourself at the top, you find that you are more encouraging, more understanding, more forgiving. Many of these people pushed past their darkness and remained good. It made them see things that changed their perspective of life. We know that Joseph was faced with a very difficult challenge which many of us would fail. He had to face his brothers and forgive them for all that they did to him. It was easy for him to forgive them because he knew that it was God all along (Genesis 50). To stay angry at them would have meant that he did not appreciate his purpose. He couldn’t have become a leader, or provided a safe place for his family if he hadn’t been sold off into slavery in Egypt. I am sure that you have heard the saying that goes like, ‘God works in mysterious ways.’ That is why Pastor Steven tells us, “it won’t always be this dark, you’ve got to live to see it” In other words, if you give up now and stay in that dark place, you won’t find out why God took you through it. Dare to keep moving and find out why. He employs Psalms 23 which talks about walking through the dark and God preparing a table for you in the presence of your enemies and concludes, “to make it to the table, you’ve got to go through the dark.”

In addition, pastor Steven encourages us to “shine light on the good parts of your (our) life.” Using John 16:5 he explains that if Jesus hadn’t left, the Holy Spirit wouldn’t have come to the disciples and that Jesus knew it would be good but they didn’t. We can see that if the disciples had stayed in that dark place of regret and shame after Jesus died, they wouldn’t have lived to receive the gifts and fruits of the spirit and to see the gospel spread wide to you and me. Pastor Steven adds, “you haven’t even gotten to the good part.” Take for instance Peter and Judas. They both were apart of God’s plan to fulfil His purpose for Jesus and for humanity but only one of them pushed through the darkness. We need to stop letting shame and regret burry us deeper into the dark. Peter confessed and became the foundation of the church after denying Jesus three times while Judas killed himself and missed the good part, the resurrection. I am certain that he would have been welcomed arms wide open if he waited on Jesus and confessed his sins. Moreover, PSF believes, “to get to intimacy you’ve got to work through the insecurity.” There is no sin too great for God, allow him to love you regardless of what you have done.

The highlight of Joseph’s life story is what he told his brothers who (even after all his years of showing them mercy in Egypt) felt the need to lie to him about their father’s wish. Joseph told them to chill! He said, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives” (Genesis 50: 20). WOW! I wish I had this kind of perspective. Another good part is that Joseph lived so many years and he saw his great great grand children, he didn’t die in captivity as his brothers probably hoped he would. Pastor Steven calls upon us to wait and see God’s goodness (read Psalms 23). Here are some quotes from him to remember; “If it started with God, it doesn’t end with people” and “the dark part is the preview of God’s purpose for your life” Therefore, “If you die in the bad part, it will be a miscarriage of your calling.” And finally he quotes Philippians 1:6 “being confident of this that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” AMEN!

I pray that God may give you hope, peace and courage in your current situation, may you use His perspective to see that He is in control of every little detail of your life and that he has a a bigger plan for your life.

With love and prayers,

Resty Kansiime

Here are the sermons that inspired today’s blog post.

Dedication 2 Destiny – Bishop T.D. Jakes [January 5, 2020] – YouTube

Get To The Good Part | Pastor Steven Furtick | Elevation Church – YouTube