Inspected

This past weekend, Jonathan kicked off our new series “Never Waste A Crisis”. In his message, he referenced a story in the life of Joseph. Yesterday, we read about how Joseph used a God-given ability to interpret Pharaoh’s dream ... a dream that predicted seven years of prosperity followed by seven years of famine. Today, we read the advice Joseph offered concerning that impending crisis and the steps that were taken to prepare for it.


Genesis 41
33 “Therefore, Pharaoh should find an intelligent and wise man and put him in charge of the entire land of Egypt.
34 Then Pharaoh should appoint supervisors over the land and let them collect one-fifth of all the crops during the seven good years.
35 Have them gather all the food produced in the good years that are just ahead and bring it to Pharaoh’s storehouses. Store it away, and guard it so there will be food in the cities.
36 That way there will be enough to eat when the seven years of famine come to the land of Egypt. Otherwise this famine will destroy the land.”
37 Joseph’s suggestions were well received by Pharaoh and his officials.
38 So Pharaoh asked his officials, “Can we find anyone else like this man so obviously filled with the spirit of God?”
39 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has revealed the meaning of the dreams to you, clearly no one else is as intelligent or wise as you are.
40 You will be in charge of my court, and all my people will take orders from you. Only I, sitting on my throne, will have a rank higher than yours.”
41 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I hereby put you in charge of the entire land of Egypt.”

46 He was thirty years old when he began serving in the court of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. And when Joseph left Pharaoh’s presence, he inspected the entire land of Egypt.
47 As predicted, for seven years the land produced bumper crops.
48 During those years, Joseph gathered all the crops grown in Egypt and stored the grain from the surrounding fields in the cities.
49 He piled up huge amounts of grain like sand on the seashore. Finally, he stopped keeping records because there was too much to measure.


Inspected. We all know that life is a series of ebbs and flows ... seasons of prosperity and seasons of famine ... when it comes to our finances and our relationships. It is one thing to acknowledge it. It is another thing to actually do something about it. That is why I am inspired by words like inspected, gathered and stored. Joseph new a famine was coming and he immediately got to work preparing for it. For those of you that are experiencing a season of prosperity financially and relationally, you need to start preparing because eventually there will be another season. For those of you that are in the midst of a famine (financially or relationally), you need to file this lesson away for future reference because eventually there will be another season. There always is.