2009 - Day 12 - Darkness Before The Dawn

January 12, 2009 … Swindoll’s Topic for Today: Darkness Before The Dawn

Passage of the Day: Genesis 40: 20 – 41: 1 20 Now it came to pass on the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, that he made a feast for all his servants; and he lifted up the head of the chief butler and of the chief baker among his servants. 21 Then he restored the chief butler to his butlership again, and he placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand. 22 But he hanged the chief baker, as Joseph had interpreted to them. 23 Yet the chief butler did not remember Joseph, but forgot him. 41: 1 … 1 Then it came to pass, at the end of two full years, that Pharaoh had a dream; and behold, he stood by the river. [emphasis added in bold/red]

My Journal for Today: Yes, we revisit the same passage as was our focus yesterday; but this time the emphasis is on the short phrase in bold above. And my devotional author, Chuck Swindoll, uses the word picture of the process of gold being refined in fire by noting that Joseph had to endure two long, boring, hard years in the fires of this prison while God refined him for Joseph’s life ahead where he would need to be stronger and purer.

There’s no way to short cut the refining process; and we have to face the fact that God is the refiner. He, alone, is in control of the fire and the timing of the refining process; and as Joseph learned, it can be a long and painful process at times, often without any insight as to why the refining has been undertaken in the way it has or for the length of time involved. Also, during the refinement process, it can seem as if nothing is happening.

But something very important is happening. In the fires of life, in God’s timing, as Swindoll points out, “… we are being strengthened; … we are being established; … we are being perfected; … we are being refined into pure gold.” Joseph in these two years of the grind of prison was being refined in purity and shaped for greatness. And God, The Refiner and Shaper, knew exactly what Joseph would need for His, God’s, purpose ahead.

Swindoll reminds his readers in today’s devotional that Joseph was not the only one in the Bible who had to go through The Refiner’s fire. There was Abraham who had to wait on the birth of his son, Isaac. There was Moses who spent 40 years being refined in the desert as a shepherd before he saw the burning bush. And how about Elijah who waited in anguish by that brook; or Noah who waited 120 years for the rain while building that curious arc? And in the New Testament there was Paul who had to spend three tedious years in Arabia being prepared for ministry after being knocked dramatically off his horse on that road to Damascus.

Getting the picture? As Swindoll insightfully points out, for the present time, the dull burn of life may seem like nothing’s happening; but be assured, the Refiner’s fire is at work. And if we submit to the fire, in God’s time and in His way, the dross of sin and self will be burned away, leaving the refined Christlikeness spoken of in Phil. 1: 6. So, I wait … often impatiently; but I wait to let God shape me into His image … for His purposes.

My Prayer Today: I may not understand Your timing or Your process or Your fire, Lord; but I trust that You are shaping me for Your future and Your glory. Amen