What follows are notes meant to help you reach your day of RECOGNITION. I want to take you through the divine hiring practice the Lord provides when He offers you a call, a position, an office that leads you away from what you were, into what you have been ordained to be. To that end I want to use the life of Joseph in the Old Testament who received from the Lord what you might call, at least from a worldly perspective; the WORST JOB OPPORTUNITY EVER! Even though we are talking about spiritual matters, those spiritual matters will be played out in the natural realm. And to that end I think it will be helpful to use natural, here and now examples as well as Biblical illustrations.

If you are like me you have probably taken a job at one point in your life only to find out it wasn’t at all what you thought it would be. Maybe the interview went great and you had come away thinking that you were on your way to better things.

• New career opportunities almost always hold surprises we didn’t expect

Let’s begin with the resume — and more to the point — let’s begin with Joseph’s resume. Now in the working world, there is a need for a resume, in fact whether we know it or not, we all have one. Now I am in no way saying Joseph’s call was just another job. But like all callings, without the work that your calling demands, faith would die on the vine so to speak. Or as James 2:17 says, “Faith by itself, if it does not result in action (the act of work), is dead.” You see, your work of faith is how you become recognized the way God meant for you to be seen.

The Details of Joseph’s resume —

Ge. 37:1-4 “Jacob lived in the land where his father had stayed, the land of Canaan. (2) This is the account of Jacob’s family line. Joseph, a young man of seventeen, was tending the flocks (had experience in animal care) with his brothers, the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives, and he brought their father a bad report about them. (3) Now Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons, because he had been born to him in his old age; and he made an ornate robe for him. (4) When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him.”

Have you ever had someone hate you because of the job you had or the position that job placed you in? As we will see, when Joseph’s brothers were put before him that became his day of recognition.

• Every call of God will lead to a DAY OF RECOGNITION
  

Later as Joseph’s job/calling seemed to have taken a turn for the worse (slavery, charged with rape, followed by prison), he will stand before Pharaoh in Egypt, who said in Ge. 41:39 “There is no one as discerning and wise as you.” That day would also become a DAY OF RECOGNITION for Joseph. You have a DAY OF RECOGNITION ahead of you if you are willing and faithful to the calling opportunity the Lord offers.

The Job Offer —

Of course the job offer was a dream offer and sounded great to Joseph, after all, if someone offered you a job that came with power and authority, we would all likely be excited.

Ge. 37:5-11 “Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more. (6) He said to them, ‘Listen to this dream I had: (7) 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.’ (8) His brothers said to him, ‘Do you intend to reign over us? Will you actually rule us?’ And they hated him all the more because of his dream and what he had said. (9) Then he had another dream, and he told it to his brothers. ‘Listen,’ he said, “I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.’ (10) When he told his father as well as his brothers, his father rebuked him and said, ‘What is this dream you had? Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you?’ (11) His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind.”

• Never ever tell your enemies about your job opportunities

When you hear about someone’s job opportunity, like Joseph’s story, you may not really grasp the adversity and trouble Joseph faced before he became the prime minster of Egypt. 

During those 13 years of job training, Joseph was sold as a slave to Potiphar, a high ranking official under Pharaoh, who served as the captain of the guard (Genesis 39:1). He was sent to prison because of a false charge of rape. We know from reading the whole story that Joseph’s call came with hardships not mentioned in the job interview with the Lord. That of course is true for all of us.

Joseph’s divinely imparted job/calling came with physical attacks, accusations that led to prison time, and years of being forgotten. So any job opportunity God brings your way should be understood to come with hidden challenges. All of that can overwhelm shallow faith. But your job opportunity, like Joseph’s, comes with human resource help.

Let me show you what I mean —

Gal. 2:20  “I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.”

The key word here is in, which denotes possession of something. What is true now was just as true for Joseph and you — Christ lives in you.

Who went with Joseph into slavery?   Jesus

Who went before the judge to face the charge of rape with Joseph?  Jesus

Who went to prison with Joseph?  Jesus

Who went to the throne with Joseph in Egypt?  Jesus

No matter who works to damage your divine call — accuse you — hate and curse you — your future is a secured victory waiting to happen.

Think of Jesus as your job supervisor — your calling supervisor.  Throughout Joseph’s job/calling ordeal, he was proven to be ruler over the challenges that were sent against his call. During his lifetime, Joseph had four different Jobs, one in Canaan and three in Egypt. In each of his positions, Joseph succeeded because he brought the presence of Jesus with him through each day that challenged him. Each of Joseph’s employments was seen as an opportunity to be a faithful worker and to be of help to others as he worked his way to the throne.  I'll end this discussion by focusing on the recognition that results in the opportunity our calling in Christ offers.  The worldly act of recognition is defined as the identification of someone or something already known.  The divine act of recognition reveals what has not been known about a person in the natural.

Acts 4:13 “Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed, and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus.”

Someone once said; We will not only know each other in heaven, but we will not really know each other until heaven. That of course is how God sees you right this minute.  When the Lord offers you an opportunity for divine employment, the challenged journey that results will eventually bring about a divine recognition that changes what you are called to change.