From Dream to Destiny: The Ten Tests You Must Go Through to Fulfill God's Purpose for Your Life (12 page)

Satan will try to persuade you that immorality will have no real impact on you, your family or your future. And he can sometimes present a pretty convincing case.

It would be hard to find a case that looked more convincing than Joseph’s. After all, Joseph was a slave. He had no rights. He had no future. He could never get married. He could never have a family of his own. Even if he was allowed to marry, his wife would be a slave also—the property of another man. His future held no promise of any kind of sexual fulfillment. So what did he really have to lose by yielding to temptation?

The truth is that Joseph had everything to lose. Because sinning against God would have cost him his fellowship with God. And in losing his communion with God, he would have lost the key to his destiny. He would have lost what God had planned for his future, if he had not passed that test in the “now.”

Joseph had everything to lose. And so do you. But that is not what the enemy will tell you in a moment of temptation. Satan will tell you there will be no real consequences to immorality. He will tell you that no one will ever know. I can tell you two people who will
definitely
know: God and you.

Immorality is disobedience toward God. Such disobedience to God will cause His favor and blessing to leave your life. And it will cost you the presence of God that you need in order to reach your destiny.

What Is the Answer?

What is the answer to overcoming the temptations that surround us? How can we pass the test of purity on a continuing basis and be counted
faithful to walk in our destiny? We can see the answer by looking once again at the way Joseph passed this test.

The Bible says Potiphar’s wife spoke to Joseph “day by day” (Gen. 39:10). So Joseph had to deal with that temptation on a daily basis. Every day she tried to get Joseph to sin. And every day Joseph had to lean on God for strength to resist. Every day Joseph had to trust in God to help him.

Joseph had many opportunities to sin. If lust had been in his heart, eventually he would have fallen. But when the temptation became too great, he finally just ran away. The reason he had the strength to run away is that he had not allowed lust a place in his heart. He had kept lust
out
of his heart by allowing God a place
in
his heart, each and every day. Joseph had learned the secret of walking with God day by day.

Here is the answer to gaining the victory in this area. Just like Joseph, you will encounter temptations on a daily basis. And like Joseph, you must deal with those temptations by trusting in God day by day.

You know, the enemy does not take a day off from attacking you. He will set temptation before you day by day. So you can’t take a day off either. You have to rely on God day by day.

Day by day you have to pray.

Day by day you have to fill your mind with the Word of God.

Day by day you must choose not to “look.”

Day by day you must trust in God to help you.

The secret to victory in the area of purity is simply
trusting in God every single day.
If you go to God every day and ask for His help, He will strengthen you every day to resist temptation. He will give you the ability every day to walk in purity and obedience to Him.

If you are in bondage in some area, I want to encourage you to turn to God. Don’t run away from God—run to Him! He is not condemning you. He is pleading with you to come to Him for help. If you’ve messed up, go to God. He is your answer! If you just lean on Him day by day, He will be there to help you day by day. And day by day you will start to gain the victory in this area of your life.

It is amazing to me how often people who have fallen in this area are so filled with shame that they don’t want to confess it before God.
Guess what—He already knows! And long before you sinned, Jesus Christ had already paid the price to set you free. Satan is the one who doesn’t want you to confess your sin. He wants to keep that sin in the dark, so he can continue to have power over you. If you want to be free from sin, the very best thing you can do is confess it. Because when you bring that sin out into the light, you immediately take away Satan’s power.

No matter what the enemy may say, disobedience in the area of purity will delay you on the road to your destiny. It is crucial that you bring these matters before God, and allow Him to work in your life.

If you have fallen into sin, I want you to know that there is hope. You can get back on the road to your destiny. Our God is a God of grace and a God of mercy. He gave His only Son to make a way for you to be forgiven and set free. If you repent and turn away from that sin with your whole heart, then He will forgive you, and He can restore you. But it will require deep brokenness and deep repentance on your part. Turn away from sin and turn to God in transparency and humility.

On the other hand, you may not be struggling in this area right now. Perhaps you have learned to trust in God every day, to run away from immorality, to look away from temptation. That is a wonderful thing, and you ought to give praise and thanks to God for His grace and His redeeming power in your life.

Still, I believe there is wisdom for everyone in the words that Paul shares with us: “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall” (1 Cor. 10:12).

We live in a sensual society, a society that will constantly tempt us to compromise and to sin. Every one of us must “take heed” in order to pass the Purity Test. We must cry out to God to help us be a pure people, a holy people. We must lean on Him every day for the grace to walk in purity before Him. Because our God has commanded us, “You shall be holy, for I the L
ORD
your God am holy” (Lev. 19:2).

And it is only when we are found faithful in the test of purity that His presence and His blessing can rest upon our lives. It is only then that we will be able to walk in the fullness of the destiny that God has planned for each of us.

C
HAPTER
F
IVE

Joseph passed the purity test with flying colors. In spite of the fact that he was a slave, in spite of the fact that it looked like he had nothing to lose, Joseph chose to do the right thing. When the temptation became too great, he ran away, rather than take the chance that he might yield to sin. He chose to honor God and to honor his responsibility as the steward of his master’s household (see Gen. 39:7-12).

Here’s a question: Because Joseph had made the decision to walk in obedience, no matter the price, he had every reason to expect to have the blessing of God on his life, right?

Let’s look at exactly what happened.

And so it was, when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and fled outside, that she called to the men of her house and spoke to them, saying, “See, he has brought in to us a Hebrew to mock us. He came in to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice. And it happened, when he heard that I lifted my voice and cried out, that he left his garment with me, and fled and went outside.” So she kept his garment with her until his master came home. Then she spoke to him with words like these, saying, “The Hebrew servant whom you brought to us
came in to me to mock me; so it happened, as I lifted my voice and cried out, that he left his garment with me and fled outside.” So it was, when his master heard the words which his wife spoke to him, saying, “Your servant did to me after this manner,” that his anger was aroused. Then Joseph’s master took him and put him into the prison, a place where the king’s prisoners were confined. And he was there in the prison (Gen. 39:13-20).

Yes, Joseph chose to do the right thing. But the immediate reward he got for it was to be lied about, falsely accused and thrown into prison! Not exactly the results we would expect to see from such a God-honoring decision. What’s wrong with this picture?

The Prison Test: Persevering

Unfortunately, this picture simply reflects what can and does happen in the fallen world in which we live. Make no mistake about it; we must obey God if we want to walk in His blessings. But obedience to God is no guarantee that bad things will never happen to us! Just like Joseph, we must choose to do the right thing if we want to have the presence of God in our lives. But sometimes, just like Joseph, we will do the right thing and get the wrong results. When that happens, we are going through what I call the Prison Test.

The Prison Test could also be called the Perseverance Test, because this is the longest of all the tests. This is a test that lasts for years—and every one of us will go through the Prison Test in some area of our lives. When we do the right thing and end up in the middle of a long and difficult trial, we are going through the Prison Test. It is there that we learn to persevere.

Perhaps you’ve heard the sarcastic saying, “No good deed goes unpunished.” Have you ever done the right thing, only to be punished for it rather than rewarded? Has anyone ever lied about you or spread false rumors about you? Have you ever chosen to obey God’s Word, but the results made it look as though His promises were not true? That’s the Prison Test. That’s what happened to Joseph. Joseph went through a
long and very painful period when it looked as though there were no rewards for serving God. In that time, he learned to persevere.

Remember, God had a big destiny in mind for Joseph, and big destinies must be supported by big character. In order to walk in his destiny, Joseph was going to need the character trait of perseverance. And it was during the Prison Test that God gave Joseph the grace to persevere.

Jesus told us, “In the world you
will
have tribulation” (John 16:33, emphasis added). Jesus didn’t say that you just
might
have tribulation. Jesus didn’t say that some would have tribulation and others would not. No, Jesus said that as long as you are in this world, you
will
have tribulation. So you might as well get used to it.

You are probably familiar with Jesus’ parable of the two houses in Matthew 7. Little children used to sing a song about it in Sunday School: “The wise man built his house upon the rock! The foolish man built his house upon the sand” (see Matt 7:24-27).

Well, there is something many people overlook about that parable: The storm came to both houses! Both the foolish man (the one who did not hear and obey the words of Jesus) and the wise man (the one who listened to and acted upon Jesus’ words) experienced the same storm. The underlying truth here is this: Life is stormy because we live in a fallen world.

Whether you are saved or lost, righteous or wicked, saintly or sinful, the storms of life are going to come. Tribulation and trials will batter the house of your life from time to time. The question is, Will you allow them to do the work that God intends for them to accomplish in your life?

Joseph was in the midst of some serious tribulation. He had run away from sin, only to end up in a dungeon. That prison was probably a horrible place! But the penalty for attempted rape in Egypt at that time was death, so it was actually by the grace of God that Joseph ended up in that prison rather than in an early grave. I personally believe that Potiphar suspected his wife was lying. He was probably well aware of her true character, and he also knew the character of Joseph. So he spared Joseph’s life. But he had to do something to save face, so he had Joseph thrown in prison.

The prison was under Potiphar’s authority, since he was the captain of the guard. I like to believe that Potiphar put in a good word for Joseph, telling the keeper of the prison what a good servant Joseph was. But more than anything else, the choices that Joseph made in the prison caused him to be promoted there.

Although Joseph was suffering unjustly, he continued to do the right thing. Joseph didn’t deserve to be in that dungeon, but he didn’t let that stop him from doing his work “heartily, as to the Lord” (Col. 3:23). We know that is true, because the Bible tells us that Joseph was such a good steward that he ended up being promoted; soon he was in charge of the whole prison (see Gen. 39:22). And the Lord was with Joseph in the prison, making everything he did there prosper (see Gen. 39:23).

Here is the wonderful thing about Joseph. He didn’t allow the injustice of his situation to stop the work of God in his life. No matter how difficult or unfair his circumstances seemed to be, Joseph allowed God to continue to use him. And it is absolutely essential that we learn to do that also. I have observed that some people are waiting for God to deliver them out of their unjust circumstances before they will do anything for Him. But if we are waiting for God to deliver us before we will serve Him, we will never do anything for God! Just like Joseph, we must allow God to use us
now
, whatever our circumstances might be—and trust in Him for the final outcome.

None of us likes the idea of experiencing tribulation. But if we look at the fifth chapter of Romans, we will see that God has some interesting things to say about tribulation.

And not only that, but we also
glory in tribulations
, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us (Rom. 5:3-5, emphasis added).

In verse 3, Paul says we
“glory
in tribulations.” What does he mean by that word, “glory”? The Greek word for “glory” in this verse can be
translated as “rejoice.”
¹
So this Scripture passage is saying that we
rejoice
in tribulation. That’s right. We
rejoice
in it. (When I preached about this in a church service, I heard someone remark, “Yeah, right!” Of course, that kind of disbelief is a pretty natural response.)

But if we go deeper in the Greek, we can find out even more of what God has to say about tribulation. The root of the Greek word translated as “glory” is a word that basically means “to wish” or desire.
²
So this verse is not only telling us that we are to
rejoice
in tribulation, but it is also saying that we are to actually
desire
it!

How could we ever reach a point where we would actually
wish
for tribulation—and then rejoice in it when it comes? I believe the answer can be found in understanding what God has said about the way tribulation works in our lives. According to the Word of God, tribulation produces some good things in us. So we can rejoice in tribulation—even wish for it—because we know what tribulation will produce.

So, let’s take a look.

Tribulation Produces Perseverance

I’ve searched high and low in the Bible to find out all the ways that we can obtain perseverance. But in all my searching, I have discovered only one. That one thing is tribulation.

Romans 5:3 tells us that “tribulation produces perseverance.” And according to the Bible, there is no other way to get it. So why not allow that tribulation to produce perseverance, as God says it will? Why not allow that tribulation to do a valuable work of God in our lives?

In John 15, Jesus talks about two vines. One vine produces fruit, and the other vine does not. The vine that doesn’t produce fruit gets cut off; and the vine that produces fruit gets pruned, or “cut on.” There doesn’t seem to be a whole lot of difference, does there? Both vines end up getting cut (see John 15:1-2).

Of course, if I have to choose, I would much rather be cut on than cut off. The point is that in either case, you can expect to be cut. If you do badly, you’ll be cut off, or disciplined. If you do well, you’ll be cut on, or pruned back, so you can bear more fruit. So whether we do the right
thing or the wrong thing, we are going to experience some “cutting” times.

That is what happened to Joseph. He did the right thing, and he ended up being cut on. He made the right decision, so he ended up being “pruned.” But God had a plan for that pruning. God’s plan was that Joseph would one day bear more fruit.

This is why James said: “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience” (Jas. 1:2-3).

If there is one thing that we all understand about patience it is this: We all want patience. And we all want it
now!
But patience doesn’t come that way. The only way we’re going to get patience is through “the testing of our faith.” And that is why we can “count it all joy” when we are going through a trial. That is why we can actually rejoice when we are being cut on. We can say, “Thank You, Lord, for this time of pruning, and this time of testing. You have said that this is going to produce something good in me. You have said that this will produce patience. So when I come out of this trial, I am going to have more of the fruit of the Spirit, and I am going to look more like Jesus.”

This is how we glory in tribulation.

Patience can be described as waiting with contentment. And that is different from simply waiting. All of us will have to wait sometimes. But we all know that it is possible to wait and not be patient. It is possible to wait and not be content.

I can think of a good example from my own life to illustrate what I am talking about. When I go to the drive-through window at the bank, it seems that I have a special knack for getting in line behind the slowest person ever to make a financial transaction. First they take an eternity to put their items in the tube. And then, when the tube comes back, they seem to play with it for a while—before filling it with yet more items and sending it on for what seems like another endless journey to the teller and back! I’m not sure why, but this little ritual has a unique way of exasperating me to no end. Now God is still working in my life, but at this point, I am still working on “waiting with contentment”! I am still developing the fruit of the Spirit,
which is patience, because when patience has had its perfect work in me, I will not only wait in that line, but I will also wait in that line “with contentment.”

Patience is waiting with contentment. And the Bible says the testing of our faith is what works patience in us (see Jas. 1:2-3).