Messages that build us up and promise breakthroughs are wonderful…but what happens when your breakthrough doesn’t come? Or, delays so long you think it won’t ever happen?

Joseph was a man who went through a dream-crushing season. “Dream-crushing” is the process God uses to take us from dreamers to believers. From thinkers to doers. From head knowledge to heart action. When God pushes us towards maturity, we typically have to deal with three challenges:

Unfair Circumstances

Unreliable People

Unrecognizable Places

In Genesis 37 we see Joseph as a 17-year-old boy with a dream. His brothers tried to harm him by putting him in a pit and then selling him to slave traders traveling to Egypt. He ends up in a prominent house for an official of Pharaoh and prospers in everything he does.

Mean-Time Key #1: Unfair circumstances make us trust the Lord regardless of what we see. When we suffer from unfair circumstances, we can either do what’s right and prosper or shrink back and become bitter. A victim’s mentality will always lead to destruction because you focus on the unfair circumstances rather than the One who can change the circumstances!

In Genesis 39:19-23 we see Joseph struggling again from an unfair circumstance. He ends up in prison for a crime he didn’t commit, but the Bible says, “The Lord was with him.” It’s important to realize that God is with us, even when it seems like He’s not.

Two of Pharaoh's men end up in prison with Joseph (the cupbearer and baker,) and after interpreting dreams for both of them, he asks to be remembered when they are released. But they don’t remember him, and he languishes for two more years in prison.

Mean-Time Key #2: Unreliable people only think of themselves and their personal gain. No matter how you try to trust them or explain the importance of your need, if they don’t see a benefit to themselves, they will forget or ignore you.

God eventually allowed Joseph to be released from prison, but it was the right time in history, and the time he was the most mature for the tasks God set aside for him to do.

Mean-Time Key #3: God uses unfair circumstances and unreliable people to place you in unrecognizable places. You may not recognize why He’s placed you in certain places, but HE knows the place…and the purpose of the place.

Have thoughts or questions about today’s episode? Message us or leave a comment below.

How do you handle the “mean-time”?