The Christian Bookstore

• Printable Version - Share on Facebook - Posted by Dion Todd October 4, 2016 - Filed in Devotional - 7,624 views
  Joseph came in to them in the morning, and saw them, and saw that they were sad. He asked Pharaoh's officers who were with him in custody in his master's house, saying, 'Why do you look so sad today?' They said to him, 'We have dreamed a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it.' Joseph said to them, 'Don't interpretations belong to God? Please tell it to me.' The chief cupbearer told his dream to Joseph Genesis 40:6 WEB
  
  Joseph had now been in prison for two years. He had been wrongfully accused and should not have been there at all. He was an innocent man. Still, the Lord was with him and his gifts of administration were welcomed here. He also got the chance to interpret dreams for those around him. Eventually, Joseph was set free from prison and made second-in-command of the most powerful nation in the world.
  
  Joseph was set free because he used his gifts right where he was, even in prison. Joseph became known for his gifts of interpreting dreams and administration. Later, when Pharaoh had a dream, Joseph was summoned to interpret it. Because of his gifting and his excellent spirit, he was promoted. If Joseph had been bitter because of his circumstances and not used his gifts, Pharaoh would have never learned about him and he may have remained in prison.
  
  I once had a great paying job with good benefits (by South Carolina standards anyway) as a supervisor over a crew of men. The boss loved me, but I had to work every weekend and could not attend church. After fasting and praying a couple of weeks, they suddenly laid me off. I was a bit shocked at first as I did not see it coming, but I just knew in my heart that God had something better in store for me. I felt that I should be working in a Christian bookstore anyway, or a Christian environment, listening to the Bible or gentle praise all day, and talking with others about God. I assumed that He was working on making that happen.
  
  Wrong. After being out work until the bills began to pile up around me, a door opened and I had to take a job in the worst, darkest, hole-in-the-wall place that I ever worked in my life. It was horrible in every way. It paid a fraction of what I had been making and had zero benefits. I operated a buffing machine and polished brass plumbing parts by hand. Everyone that worked there soon became the same color, black from the compounds, and green from the brass dust.
  
  It was dangerous. There were giant roaring belt sanders the size of cars with no safety guards in place. They would cut you in half if you bumped into them. Sometimes, the buffing machine would snatch the part away from you, then fire it back at you like a canon. I was hit in the chest and knocked down a few times at the start. Almost everyone did drugs openly, cursed like sailors, and death metal roared from giant speakers. It was a dark, hopeless place and everyone was just hanging on.
  
  I prayed to get out, but I could feel in my spirit that this is where I was supposed to be. The Lord showed me that I had become prideful in my supervisor job, now He was correcting that and asked if I would submit. I did and humbled myself by becoming the best employee they ever had. I swept the floor, picked up trash, and kept my work area immaculate. Where some polished a few hundred parts, I was soon polishing 7,000 a day.
  
  I prayed silently most of the day, listened to the Bible and fasted as much as I ate. Though I was pretty fit and muscular at the start, I lost thirty pounds from the combined heat and fasting. After a while, things began to change around me. All the people that stayed there became saved, started the day out by praying together in a circle. We attended church together. I soon became the manager, and the Bible played over the intercom all day.
  
  It was now a Christian environment. When I went to church, I would fill my whole row with guests. The pastor loved me. Soon after this, the plant merged with another and the Lord unexpectedly launched me into my own computer business for the next seventeen years. Just as Paul had landed on the island of Malta, my promotion had taken a detour.
  
  Sometimes the way of promotion is not lined with roses. Serve God where you are, right now. Believe me, it may not be a pretty place, but it is preparing you for what is coming. Do it wholeheartedly. Hold nothing back. Be the best floor sweeper they have ever seen. The Lord knows exactly what you need, and if you will submit, He will provide it.
  
  Prayer: Heavenly Father, I submit to Your will for my life. Forgive me for thinking that I know what is best and remove the things that hold me back. Place me where You can use me and speak to me in a way that I understand. I know that You are in full control, that You love me, and I ask that you increase Your presence in my life, whatever the cost, in the name of Jesus Christ I pray.