Forgotten but Not Forsaken: Embracing Patience in God's Timing
Gen. 40:23 Yet did not the chief butler remember Joseph, but forgat him.
Although Joseph was temporarily forgotten, there would come a day when God would jar the memory banks of the chief butler to shine a light on Joseph when the time was right! This gets me to thinking about how we are making impressions on people every day of our lives, which could lie dormant for many years, and then resurface in the right place and at the right time, under the care of our Sovereign Lord! For the visionary pastor, teacher, or other leader in the church who has a great vision along with very humble beginnings, I’d like to encourage you with this word; it is the smallest things you are doing right now, today, where you are at, that will resurface down the road and cause you to become fully effective and fulfilled in your calling. You may not even think people are noticing, but they are! They may even forget about it for a season, but when the time is right for God to raise you up into your season of fruitfulness, He has a way of jogging the memory banks of all those you touched earlier on, who are uniquely connected in ways that only God could explain, and who are directly tied to your destiny! There is a reason for every single connection and every single act of kindness God may have required of you. Sometimes you don’t get to make a withdrawal immediately after your deposit; some things in the Kingdom of God are long-term investments, which require time to grow and mature. We must learn how to be willing to sow the seed and wait for years if need be before we see the first signs of life as a result. The key is to keep sowing the seed, no matter how small, as often as you can and in as many lives as you can. You will be amazed at how God will use and intertwine all of your experiences into His ultimate master plan for your life. Even when we’re not careful to be mindful of God in our thoughts and actions, God is much bigger than our natural tendencies, and will ultimately work it out for our good and His glory! So, if you have noticed lately just how easy it is for others to forget what you did for them, don’t worry about it! When the time is right, God will bring it back to their memory, and His desired outcome will occur as a result. Just keep planting the small seeds of kindness and wait on God!
~ Pastor Gary Caudill
Although Joseph was temporarily forgotten, there would come a day when God would jar the memory banks of the chief butler to shine a light on Joseph when the time was right! This gets me to thinking about how we are making impressions on people every day of our lives, which could lie dormant for many years, and then resurface in the right place and at the right time, under the care of our Sovereign Lord! For the visionary pastor, teacher, or other leader in the church who has a great vision along with very humble beginnings, I’d like to encourage you with this word; it is the smallest things you are doing right now, today, where you are at, that will resurface down the road and cause you to become fully effective and fulfilled in your calling. You may not even think people are noticing, but they are! They may even forget about it for a season, but when the time is right for God to raise you up into your season of fruitfulness, He has a way of jogging the memory banks of all those you touched earlier on, who are uniquely connected in ways that only God could explain, and who are directly tied to your destiny! There is a reason for every single connection and every single act of kindness God may have required of you. Sometimes you don’t get to make a withdrawal immediately after your deposit; some things in the Kingdom of God are long-term investments, which require time to grow and mature. We must learn how to be willing to sow the seed and wait for years if need be before we see the first signs of life as a result. The key is to keep sowing the seed, no matter how small, as often as you can and in as many lives as you can. You will be amazed at how God will use and intertwine all of your experiences into His ultimate master plan for your life. Even when we’re not careful to be mindful of God in our thoughts and actions, God is much bigger than our natural tendencies, and will ultimately work it out for our good and His glory! So, if you have noticed lately just how easy it is for others to forget what you did for them, don’t worry about it! When the time is right, God will bring it back to their memory, and His desired outcome will occur as a result. Just keep planting the small seeds of kindness and wait on God!
~ Pastor Gary Caudill