1.

Bef
ait
hful
int
heseason.

Lastweekwet al
kedabouthowDoi ngtheHear tWor kishowwef rameourat ti
tudeand
postureforwaiti
ngonGod'spromisesreceivi
ngt hem.Thishear
twor kisalsointegrali
n
whati am tal
ki
ngaboutt hi
sweek.Wheny ouhav etheri
ghtpost
ureandat ti
tudedur i
ng
thewai t
,itwi
lli
nfor
m howy ouconductyourselfinyourworkorwhaty oudodur i
ngt he
wait.Thisfor
msanat ti
tudeofbei
ngf ai
thf
ul i
ny ourworkandinhandlingthewai ti
ng
season.

Afterbei nganoi ntedbySamuel,Dav i

dwentbacktoher di
ngsheep.That ’
sprett
yanti
-
cli
mact ic,ify ouaskme.I’dhaveexpectedawarwi thangelarmiesrightbehi
ndDav i
das
hechar gest owardsSaulinbatt
le.Thatwouldhavebeenat housandt i
mesmor eepi
c
thanDav idgoi ngbacktoherdi
ngsheep.Mi ndyou,thiswasthev er
yplacehewas
forgottenwhenSamuel camet otownt oanoi
ntaking.Butthatisverymuchl i
keour
reali
tywhenwer ecei
veGod’spromises.Weremaini ntheverypl
acewewer einwhenwe
receivet hem andmay bethati
swher eweshouldbeunl ess,l
i
keJoseph, you’
retakento
wher ey ou’resupposedt obebydr asti
cci
rcumstancessuchasy ourbr ot
herssell
i
ngy ou
asasl av etosomenomads.

Wher everitisthatyoureceiveGod’ spromi seorwher everitisyourcircumstanceslead

you,youhav eworktodoi nt hatplacewhiley ouwai t
.Yourdut yisn’
tusuallydrast
ic.
You’r
emeantt osimplytakecar eofwhati tisthatyou’r
er esponsiblefor.Itmaynotl ook
l
ikethepl acewher eyouar emeantt oreceivethepromisebutbei ngfaithf
ulinthe
seasoni sgoodst ewardship.Itdev el
opsthespi ri
tofexcellenceiny ouwhi l
ey ouwaiton
thepromi se.Thisisthespiritweseei nDav i
dashet ookcar eofhi sfather’
ssheep
duti
full
yandf ai
thful
ly
.Itisthesamespi ri
tweseei nJosephashet ookcareofhisdut i
es
i
nPot iphar’shouseholdandi npr i
son.

InJeremiah29, befor
eGodsay sthepopul ar“ForIknowtheplansIhav ef oryou…plans
toprospery ouandnottohar my ou,planst ogiveyouhopeandaf uture”inv erse11, He
i
nstructsthechildr
enofIsraeltowait.Heal soment i
onshowt heyshoul dwai toutthe70
yearsthatwer eaheadofthem, theonest hattheywer et
owai tunt
ilt
hei rexil
et oBaby l
on
wouldend.I nverses5and6, hesay s“Buildhousesandset t
ledown; plantgar densand
eatwhatt heyproduce.Marryandhav esonsanddaught ers;
findwivesf oryoursonsand
giveyourdaught er
sinmarriage,sothattheyt oomayhav esonsanddaught ers.I
ncrease
i
nnumbersther
e,donotdecr
ease.Al
soseekt
hepeaceandprosper
ityofthecit
yto
whi
chIhavecarr
iedy
ouintoexi
le.Pr
ayt
otheLor
dforit
,becausei
fitprosper
s,youwi
l
l
pr
osper
.”

Themessagei nt hosev er sestell

smet hatyourlif
edoesnotneedt ostopwhi l
ey ouwai t
forthepromi se.Whi l
ey ouwai t,maket hemostofy ourl i
feandt heseasont haty ouar e
i
nsot hatev eni nthatseasony oucanpr osper.Beingf ait
hfuliny ourworkand/ ort hi
ngs
underyourst ewar dshipwhi l
ey ouareinthatseasoni sacr ucialpartofmakingmostof
thatseason.Remember , Godpl acedy ouinthespeci fi
cmomentandseasony ouar ein.
Evenifyoursi t
uat i
onisbecauseofy ourmisdeedsort hoseofot hers,Godallowedi t.
Thatisforar eason.Ar easonIhav eseent hrought helivesofDav i
dandJosepht hati
wanttohi ghli
ghtist hatwehav esomet hingwecanl earnf r
om ev eryseason.Itisnot
everyt
hingthatwel earnf rom thatseasont hatseemst oaddt othebi ggerpi
cturebutt he
dir
ectandi ndirectlessonscont ainsomet hi
ngt hathelpsei therpositi
onusorequi pus
forthepromi sewear ey ettor eceiv
e.

Colossians3: 23- 24say s“ What ev eryoudo,wor katitwi t

hally ourhear t,
aswor kingf or
theLor d,notforhumanmast er s,sinceyouknowt haty ouwi l
lreceiveani nherit
ance
from theLordasar ewar d.Itist heLordChr i
styouar eser v
ing.”Thisappl i
est oev ery
season, notjustt heseasonofwai ti
ngonGod.I fwear ef ai
thfulintheseasonwear ein,
wewi llbecomef aithfulstewar dsr eadytorecei
v egreaterresponsibi l
it
ies.Josephwas
putinchar geofal lofPot i
phar’shousehol dandt heprisonhewasl atercasti nto
becauseofhi sf aithfulexecut i
onofanydut yhewasgi ven.Dav i
dwasal soputi nt he
presenceoft heki ngbecause, whi l
ebeingfait
hfuli
nt akingcar eofhi sfat her
’ssheep, he
honedhi sskillsasamusi ci
an.Wi thbothofthesey oungmen, weseet heseel evations
duet otheirfaithfulnessi noneseasonposi ti
oningthem t oreceivet hebi ggerpr omi ses
thatGodhadpl acedont heirhear ts.

ForDav id,
hispresenceintheking’scourtmusthav egivenhim agoodposi ti
ont o
obser v
ehowt heking’scourtoperated,essentiall
yshadowingt hekinginpreparati
onfor
thetimehewoul dal sobeking.Daviddisplayedhi sfai
thful
nessinhisdut i
esbybeing
obedienttohisfatherwhenhewassentt othebat tl
efi
eldtogivehisbrothersfood.Thi
s
broughthim atthesamebat tl
efi
eldhemetanddef eat
edGol i
ath.Hedidnotknowt hat
thi
si showt hi
ngswoul dtur
noutbuthi sf ai
thfulnessledhimt oalandmar kmomenton
hisjourneytowardsbeingappointedking.
Thesamegoesf orJoseph.TakingcareofPot i
phar
’sest
atemusthav egi
venhim an
i
nsightintohandl
ingresponsi
bil
iti
essuchasmanagi ngpeople,
theoperati
onsthatall
ow
theestatetofl
ouri
shandmanagi ngfi
nancesonbehalfofsomeoneelse.Thiswould
essenti
all
ypreparehi
mf orhisroleasthegov er
norofEgypt.Hi
sresponsi
bil
it
iesin
pri
songav ehimtheoppor t
unit
yt oint
erprett
hedreamsoftwopr i
soners,
agiftthatl
ed
himtoPhar aoh’
spresencewhent heappoint
edtimehadcome.

InMat t
hew25, Jesusgi vest hepar ableofar ulerwhowentonat ri
pandl efthi st hree
servant swithhismoney .Her eist hecompl i
mentt hatwasgi ventoev eryser v antwho
wasf aithfulwi
thwhatt heyr ecei v
edf rom theirmast er
:“Youhav ebeenf aithful witha
fewt hings;Iwillputy oui nchar geofmanyt hings”.ThatisalsohowGodr ewar dsusf or
beingf ait
hfulwi t
ht helittl
et hings.Thesel itt
lethings,howev er
,arenotj ustt hoset hat
seem t oalignwi thourpr omi ses.Thebi bleinstructsust obefait
hfulinal lthatwedo.
Wemayv iewourdut yorwor kasi nsignif
icant,wemaynotknowhowwewi l
lbe
rewar dedandwemaynotknowhowi tmayl i
nkust oourpromisebutt heonewho
rewar dsusi sfaithful
.Paul abat esouranxi etyandwor r
ieswheni tcomest othi nkingof
howt hingswi l
l turnout .InRomans8: 28hesay s" Andweknow[ withgr eatconf idence]
thatGod[ whoisdeepl yconcer nedaboutus]causesal lthi
ngstowor kt oget her[ asa
plan]forgoodf orthosewhol oveGod, t
ot hosewhoar ecall
edaccor dingt oHi spl anand
purpose. "

Withthiswearerestassur
edthatourf ai
thf
ulnessinthi
sseasonensur
esthatthis
seasonisntwast
edwhi l
ewewai tforthepromi se.Ourf
ait
hful
nessint
heseasonis
rewardedbyGod,whowor ksevery
thingforourgood.Thewor kthatwedointhisseason
ofwaiti
ng,wewil
l al
soequipusforwhati syett ocomeandpositi
onusfort
heseasont o
come.

Beingfait
hfulinthisseasondoesnotcomewi thoutitsbattl
es.Nextweekwewi llsee
howt hesebattlesarethecentr
estagef orust oshowcaset hegrowt hweexper iebce
throughconsistentheartworkandf ai
thfulnessi nt heseasonofwai t
ing.Icantwai tfor
youguy stoengagemeonwhatbei ngf ait
hful i
nt heseasonofwai ti
ngmeansf ory oum
engagemeont hepost.Ihadseveralconv ersationswi t
hsomer eader sonpr act i
cest hat
helpwithdoinghear tworkandIwilldoaf ol
low- upont hepostwi t
hsuggest ionson
somepr acti
cest hatmayhelpyoudev elopconsi stencyindoingt hehear twor k.These
kindsofengagement smademel ookf orwar dtowor ki
ngont hispost ,eventhoughmy
weekhasbeenhect i
c.Haveablessedweekandi hopeyouwi l
ltaket het i
met or efl
ect
onwhatbei ngf ai
thfult
otheseasoni ny oursituationorcircumst ancer equir
es.