Using Waiting time to build your Dreams

For many people, waiting is a mere waste of time. However, for those bent on fulfilling their dreams, waiting time can be a time of constructively building the thoughts that will enhance their chances of success and levels of motivation.

I'm not claiming that by merely thinking the right thoughts, you would guarantee your success in the pursuit of your dreams, but developing a disciplined mind that learns to systematically build the mental skills you need, is definitely one of the ways to chase away one of the "polar bears' of failure".

Ceasing the Day, Any Day!

Gen 39:21 But the LORD was with Joseph and blessed him, so that the jailer was pleased with him.

Gen 39:22 He put Joseph in charge of all the other prisoners and made him responsible for everything that was done in the prison.

Gen 39:23 The jailer did not have to look after anything for which Joseph was responsible, because the LORD was with Joseph and made him succeed in everything he did.

Now here is a true example of ceasing the day. Joseph had all the reason in the world to give up being good at this point. He was stuck in jail with no vision of purpose. To think that his time here was precious, would seem ridiculous. And yet we see that Joseph continued to use every moment to his advantage, by living to the best of his abilities. While other prisoners were probably complaining, allowing their thoughts to waste hours in worthless circular thinking, Joseph used his time to look for opportunities to impress the jailer.

God blessed him and he soon was in charge of the whole prison.

Don’t wait for your circumstances to change, before you start grabbing the opportunities! Use every moment you have, find an opportunity, even if it seems insignificantly small, and work it. Put every moment you have into developing that opportunity, and two, more important, things will happen:

1. You will develop not only the opportunity, but, more importantly, yourself.
   
   
2. You will, most likely somewhere along the line impress someone that God will use to create a bigger opportunity for you. And then you just repeat the process.
   

Expectation Deferred

Gen 40:13 In three days the king will release you, pardon you, and restore you to your position. You will give him his cup as you did before when you were his wine steward.

Gen 40:14 But please remember me when everything is going well for you, and please be kind enough to mention me to the king and help me get out of this prison.

Gen 40:15 After all, I was kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews, and even here in Egypt I didn't do anything to deserve being put in prison."

Gen 40:23 But the wine steward never gave Joseph another thought---he forgot all about him.

Joseph had all the reason to expect that release was right there. He said good-bye to his friend the wine-steward, three days later. Then he waited, maybe even telling people that his time has come. He’d be out of there within a day or two. But the days passed, and then the weeks. How long did Joseph keep his hope up? Maybe a week? Then he must have started realizing, that this was not going to happen.

“Maybe,” he would start telling himself, “he is just waiting for the right moment, to speak to the King.”

But eventually, Joseph must have realized that he was to continue his life in prison. In his mind’s eye, he could see the wine steward living out his full calling and purpose.

Another two years!

And how long did he have to wait, again?

Gen 41:1 After two years had passed, the king of Egypt dreamed that he was standing by the Nile River,

Two years! That is a long time, especially for a young man. Especially to be stuck in a prison for having done absolutely nothing wrong! Especially when there had been a time when you had almost smelt the fresh air of freedom. But it took two years before God supernaturally intervened, sending the king of Egypt this dream, and finally moving Joseph into the place where he needed to be.

Where are you today? Has your expectation been deferred? Don’t give up. Don’t stop dreaming. Above all, don’t stop using every moment, to form and shape your character, to become the man that you will need to be, the day that the king of Egypt, whoever he might be in your life, reaches the point where God touches him, and he suddenly realized that he needs you.

Joseph made sure that he stayed close to God – ready at any moment

And what makes me think that Joseph used his time well, during these two years? I see it in this bit of history:

Gen 41:14 The king sent for Joseph, and he was immediately brought from the prison. After he had shaved and changed his clothes, he came into the king's presence.

Gen 41:15 The king said to him, "I have had a dream, and no one can explain it. I have been told that you can interpret dreams."

Gen 41:16 Joseph answered, "I cannot, Your Majesty, but God will give a favorable interpretation."

Joseph was given no time to pull his life together. He didn’t have time to suddenly make up for having allowed himself to drift away from God. He had no time to practice his gift a few days and really get close to God. No, he was IMMEDIATELY brought from the prison, given time to shave and change clothes and then he was before the king. In his answer, I see a man who is as close to God as he could ever be. I see a man who had no fear to stand before the most powerful man on earth, and answer with full faith and confidence.

I see a man who kept himself ready, for two years, ready at any moment, to step into his calling.

The parallel process of God's and Satan's plans

Gen 39:1 Now the Ishmaelites had taken Joseph to Egypt and sold him to
Potiphar, one of the king's officers, who was the captain of the palace
guard.
Gen 39:2 The LORD was with Joseph and made him successful. He lived in the
house of his Egyptian master,
Gen 39:3 who saw that the LORD was with Joseph and had made him successful
in everything he did.
Gen 39:4 Potiphar was pleased with him and made him his personal servant;
so he put him in charge of his house and everything he owned.
Gen 39:5 From then on, because of Joseph the LORD blessed the household of
the Egyptian and everything that he had in his house and in his fields.
Gen 39:6 Potiphar turned over everything he had to the care of Joseph and
did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate. Joseph was
well-built and good-looking,
Gen 39:7 and after a while his master's wife began to desire Joseph and
asked him to go to bed with her.

Two Paths Are Being Prepared

Two paths are being prepared for Joseph.

God is blessing Joseph, and Joseph is learning to manage a noble Egyptian
household. It could seem to Joseph as if God were busy setting the stage
for his promotion to step into his calling. He was busy building skills to
rule. Did that not reflect his dreams? Furthermore, he is put right in the
heart of where things are happening - he gets to serve the captain of the
palace guard.

At the same time, we see Potiphar's wife beginning to desire Joseph. Whilst
God is setting His stage, the devil is setting his own.

The apparent dead end was still God's Path

History plays out. Joseph resists the temptation, gets falsely accused, and
lands up in jail. Apparently, God's positioning had not paid off.

(Read the whole story here)

It turns out that the time for Joseph to be raised up, had not yet come. If
Joseph had succumbed to this sin, he would have possibly remained in the
house of the palace guard captain -- in the place that apparently was well
aligned with his destiny. By resisting the temptation, he ended up in jail.
Seemingly a step backwards. But, in jail was where he met the cupbearer who
ultimately became his link to where he really needed to go.

You Choose

It is impossible for us to know what the future holds, but we can know that
at any given moment, there are two paths before us. There is the path of
God, and there is the path of the father of lies, the path of empty
promises. The best way to keep in God's path, is to simply walk, step by
step, moment by moment, according to His Word.

There is no better way to spend your time.

Time: Knowing the pace you can move at

Gen 33:13 Jacob answered, "You know that the children are weak, and I must think of the sheep and livestock with their young. If they are driven hard for even one day, the whole herd will die.
Gen 33:14 Please go on ahead of me, and I will follow slowly, going as fast as I can with the livestock and the children until I catch up with you in Edom."

"Faster! Faster!" The demand to do more, seems to shout louder and louder the more we do, the faster we do it. We burn our resources faster than what we can generate more, and then we try to work harder to generate more resources faster.

Jacob showed some wisdom from which a lot of us can learn, when he said, " I will follow slowly, going as fast as I can."

Have you taken the time to learn how fast you can go? We need to learn to align our activities with our design, and pace ourselves so that we continually replenish our strength, lest we drive ourselves to death!

But he displayed even more wisdom than this rare self-knowledge: "... as fast as I can with the livestock and the children ." and ". the children are weak ."

As a parent and friend, take the time to learn to know the inner resources of your family. and those around you. As a leader, don't drive your "children and sheep and livestock" as hard as you can. Jacob knew that, "If they are driven hard for even one day, the whole herd will die." It sometimes takes just one day of your chasing after your material dreams, to kill the relationships in your home.

How often do people say: "But I'm doing it for my family?"

Are you really?

One of my students recently told this little story as part of her speech during an oral exam:

A young boy came up to his father, who was about to leave for work.

"Dad," the young boy said, "how much do you make per hour?"

"Two hundred dollars," the dad answered.

"Could you give me five dollars?" the boy asked.

"Five dollars? I gave you ten dollars yesterday, and two dollars the day
before. I've been giving you money almost every day, this month. What do
you do with all the money?" The dad asked with an irritated voice. He
looked at his watch. He needed to leave for an important meeting.

"Please dad."

Somewhat annoyed, the dad took out his wallet, and gave the boy the five
dollars, thinking that some time he must find out what his kid is doing with
the money. But not now. He was running late.

A few hours later, he walked out of the meeting.

"Any messages?" he asked his secretary.

"Here they are sir," she said. "arranged by priority."

He took the folder, and sat down at his desk. As he read the first message,
tears slowly started rolling down his cheeks.

"Your son called. He said he had been saving for three months, and he now
has Two Hundred Dollars. He wants to know if he can buy an hour of your undivided
time. He also said that he had five dollars for the taxi to your office and
back, so you won't need to waste any of the hour, travelling."