It's Not About Your Ego

One of the greatest hinderances to our faith is our ego. We can start off believing the Word of God with a shout. But, when the trial we start going through starts messing with our ego, we tend to back down and start moping instead of hoping. Let's take, for example, the story of Joseph in the Old Testament. When God gave him two prophetic dreams about his family bowing down to him, he shared it with everybody thinking that they would rejoice with him. I don't think they did. Now, I may be wrong, but I just don't think they did. They didn't dig it at all. As a matter of fact, they didn't dig it so much that they faked his death and sold him as a slave. Boy, howdy! That did a lot for Joseph's ego. Have you ever been there? Are you there right now?
Let's take a look at something real important. Gen 39:2-And the LORD was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. Verse 3-And his master saw that the LORD [was] with him, and that the LORD made all that he did to prosper in his hand. Verse 4-And Joseph found grace in his sight, and he served him. Notice that the Lord was with Joseph and made stuff prosper for him. Even with a deflated ego, Joseph chose to serve the Lord with a shout and not a pout. When your pride is being challenged, it is important for you to know that God will always honor His Word. Notice that Joseph's master saw that the Lord was with him. Now we have to answer the question. Is it more important for me to maintain an ego, or is it more important for the lost loved ones to see that the Lord is good?
Sure it was degrading to go from his daddy's pet in a beautiful, on-of-a-kind coat to a slave in a foreign land. But, Joseph placed his honor in the integrity of God Almighty and His Word. He walked through the life he was forced to live as if he knew a wonderful secret that no one else knew. Oh, by the way, no one would believe it.
It was not important if anyone else believed it or not. Many times in the New Testament, Jesus told people that it was their individual faith that had made them whole. It wasn't the faith of the High Priest, their spouse, their neighbor or the anchor on the nightly news. It was their individual faith in God and His Word that had worked the miracle for them. Joseph did not someone else to help him believe it. He kept up an everyday relationship with the God of his fathers. For fourteen years he believed God's Word. For fourteen years he sacrificed his ego waiting for the Word of God to come to pass.
Now, let's turn the page. What about the day he was promoted from prisoner to prince? His ego got a tad bit of a boost that day and from that day on through the rest of his life. God's Word was worth waiting on. Let's take heart my friends. God will always be faithful to His Word. Remember, it's not about your ego, it's about the integrity of the Word of Almighty God.