This blog post is excerpted from a series that I wrote in 2021-2022 about the Christian Hero’s Journey. The second phase of the Hero’s Journey is called the “Initiation Act.” The Initiation Act of Joseph’s journey begins when he is sold to the Midianite traders and then sold to Potiphar, Pharaoh’s officer, who was the captain of the bodyguard (Gen. 37:36). Psalm 105:19 in The Passion Translation states– “The promise to Joseph from God ‘purged his character until it was time for his dreams to come true.’ “ In the NKJV, Psalm 105:16-19 says:
“Moreover He called for a famine in the land; He destroyed all the provision of bread. He sent a man before them—Joseph—who was sold as a slave. They hurt his feet with fetters, he was laid in irons. Until the time that his word came to pass, the word of the Lord tested him.”
That space between the spoken promise and the realized promise is the season of preparation, or process. It is painful, and it has a cost. For me personally, emotional pain drives me into a lot of questions about who God is and what His character is like. I have come to learn that the pain is an indicator of a few different things:
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Grief or sorrow, as comes with a loss of any kind (you are moving from one reality to another, and coming to acceptance of that is painful).
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Dying of flesh.
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A healing process, not unlike infected wound care, where God is bringing up pain that has not been acknowledged or processed in a healthy way. The drawing out of those emotions is similar to the drawing out of infection, or debridement of necrotic tissue. Ouch! But so necessary for wholeness.
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Offense that has not been dealt with; seek the Lord to process these feelings and always choose forgiveness.
Understand that God has not directly caused any of this pain. Pain can be the result of sin, whether our own or others’ sins against us. Or pain is simply indicating that healing is needed. God is the one who heals you from it. Do not fear Him as One who will cause you pain, for He will not. However, He will ask you to confront that pain when the time is right.
Hosea 2:14 ESV: “ ‘Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her. And there I will give her her vineyards and make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. And there she shall answer as in the days of her youth, as at the time when she came out of the land of Egypt.’ “
In Hebrew, the Valley of Achor means the Valley of Trouble or Affliction. God in His great mercy toward us wants to take these painful events and redeem them into holy pivot points that bring restoration and wholeness.
I have also learned that the painful parts of seasons of preparation is a time to unlearn. The unlearning is for the removal of all ungodly aspects to our personal theologies; the ones we formed based on experience instead of on what the word of God says. These lies will hold us back if they are not exposed and repented. I have found that shedding these lies has felt so good, like I could physically feel a chain breaking off me. Oswald Chambers wrote in My Utmost for His Highest, “it is not true to say that God teaches or wants to teach us something in our trials: through every cloud He wants us to unlearn something.” He further explained that God wants to simplify our belief in Him until we have the faith of a child.
Here are some beliefs or mentalities that we will leave behind in this season:
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“I can’t hear God for myself.” Joseph had no godly allies to give him wise counsel. He was surrounded by idolators. All of his wisdom came from the Lord. As best as I have been able to research, Joseph is the first person mentioned in the Bible to have the Holy Spirit come upon him: “And Pharaoh said to his servants, ‘Can we find such a one as this, a man in whom is the Spirit of God?’ “ Genesis 41:38. Another significant time that the Holy Spirit came upon men in this way was in Exodus, when He imparted wisdom, knowledge, and understanding to Bezalel and Oholiab.
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Victim mentality. Joseph could not wear the signet ring of a viceroy and the mantle of a victim. When Pharaoh’s servants brought him out of prison, they brought him a change of clothes. We move from victim mentality to agency in this time.
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“God is more interested in your holiness than your happiness,” or “God is more interested in your development that your arrival.” As pious as it sounds, it’s a false dichotomy—a pretend war between two things that God cares very much about; they are not mutually exclusive. When people said it to me, I felt like it meant that God doesn’t actually want to give me what He’s promised, or that being happy is not very Christian. Ha! Christ is the Author and FINISHER of our faith. He completes what He starts. We go from glory to glory, not trial to trial. Also, Jesus had mirth, or the oil of gladness, more abundantly than His peers—He was the suffering servant, but He was also full of joy like no one else. He completed what He started on the Earth. If God weren’t interested in your arrival, why would He focus so much on your development? The promises He gives you are not only for you, but for those in your sphere of influence. He is always doing something in us that is bigger than we realize. Lastly, if happiness weren’t a direct byproduct of holiness, the statements above would make more sense. These “God is more/less interested in” arguments are intended to exhort, but for some of us, they actually condemn our dreams and desires. Dreams that God has given us. Jesus’s life was a high price to pay for us to be fully developed yet slightly fulfilled (or mostly miserable). What kind of testimony is that? Our holiness and our maturity ARE the destination, because when we have a solid foundation in Christ, we can handle the weight of the blessings He has set aside for us. God sets us up to succeed, not fail.
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The reliance on any person, place, or thing that you seek first for comfort, wisdom, solace, or relief. God in His lovingkindness will strip away your reliance on these things so that you are fully dependent upon Him and Him alone. It is for freedom that He set us free. To rely on anything or anyone but Him is bondage.
Yet, most people hate process. When we as believers come into the kingdom and learn about the miracles of God, we often gravitate toward stories of instantaneous miracles in the Bible or in others’ testimonies. But we have not yet realized that miracles are both “the process” and “the instantaneous;” Joseph had both a process and a miraculous deliverance. In order to receive the miracle promise, it is essential to embrace the process.
Philippians 4:11-13: I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
There is a balance between contending for a promise and being content with whatever your circumstances are. Upsetting that balance is what creates misery in this season. If we focus so much on getting out of the preparation process, then we will not only lose out on contentment, we will miss all the prerequisites for receiving and successfully operating in the promises He wants to fulfill. Our God is a good Father who prepares us to have the unshakeable foundation on which to bear His blessings and glory. His gifts are not chintzy; they are heavy with His goodness and purpose.