Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more. He said to them, “Listen to this dream I had: We were binding sheaves of grain out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it.”
- Genesis 37:5-7
The idols speak deceitfully,
diviners see visions that lie;
they tell dreams that are false,
they give comfort in vain.
Therefore the people wander like sheep
oppressed for lack of a shepherd.
- Zechariah 10:2
But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver.
- Malachi 3:2-3a
This third I will put into the fire;
I will refine them like silver
and test them like gold.
They will call on my name
and I will answer them;
I will say, ‘They are my people,’
and they will say, ‘The Lord is our God.’”
- Zechariah 13:9
… and anything else that can withstand fire must be put through the fire, and then it will be clean. But it must also be purified with the water of cleansing. And whatever cannot withstand fire must be put through that water.
- Numbers 31:23
“Joseph had a dream-a vision of his life that came from almighty God. Who wouldn’t be excited about that, especially when such a dream promised great blessing and authority? Yet the mistake that Joseph made was thinking that the dream was an immediate reality rather than something the Lord would work in and through his life over the years.
“It is an honest mistake that many of us make. We may believe that the path of God’s plan will be easy and full of blessing. However, when we look at Joseph, David, and even Jesus, we see that the fulfillment of the Father’s plan takes commitment, faith, and patience. Yes, the path of God’s will is glorious-eternally so! But if you are struggling today because what the Lord has shown you has not yet come to pass, fret not (Psalm 37:3-9). This time of pressure and waiting are part of the process of making you into the vessel worthy of carrying out all He has planned for you to accomplish (Ephesians 2:10).”
- Charles F. Stanley, Jesus, Our Perfect Hope (Devotion for 9 January)
I once had a person prophesy about me. He asked if there was no life after death, would being a Christian be worth it?
I told him that I feel God’s presence. He helps me through hard times. I would much prefer having God by my side in hard times than face those times alone.
Then this friend said, “You will need that assurance of the resurrection in your life.”
I was not denying the resurrection. That was his starting point. I still stand behind what I said, but his point was that my career would become a downward spiral, in worldly terms.
After he said that, I was told that I was being fired a few months later. I could get paid for six months, looking for a new job. Or I could take a transfer to another department. I took the transfer and it was like Br’er Rabbit being thrown into the brier patch. I took to the new position like I had been born into it, but my enemies lurked. I finally got a new employer, and I did well, but then the government shut down the site where I worked. Another government shutdown at another location.
You get the point. At some point, you realize that the reward is in the next life, so there must be a next life for it to be worth it.
I have often thought, since I started writing, that my life would have been better if I started off doing what was God’s plan.
But when I started, the internet did not exist and blogging did not exist when the internet first started.
The more important thing is that without doing something else for many years, I would not have the experiences to talk about. I might not have the passion in what I write about.
The Scriptures speak of a purification by fire.
We learn through these trials that God is our strength, and we must rely on Him. People speak of God giving us the strength, but then why did not God give us the wisdom to avoid the setback in the first place?
When we get past the strength being within us, then God becomes lavish in the gifts that He bestows.
Soli Deo Gloria. Only to God be the Glory
Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley 
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