It's such an amazing thing to have God place a dream in your heart. Psalm 37:4 says, "Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart." In my life, I've heard many misinterpret this scripture, thinking it means that God will give us whatever we desire. What it actually means is that if we seek and delight in God, He will place His desires into our hearts, actually giving us desires. This was my exact circumstance in 2015 as I was seeking sometime more in my professional life. I had limited my options to nursing related careers because of my nursing background, but God had something so much better.
While standing in a philanthropic women's boutique, I had a Holy Spirit encounter that, little did I know at the time, would end up changing my life. Two weeks later, while on a mission trip, The Lord continued to pursue me and through 4 women who knew nothing of the restlessness I was feeling inside, He spoke a promise into my life. I left that trip knowing that I needed to let go of the boat by changing my career and opening a women's boutique.
Desires can take awhile to become reality. It was 9 months of praying, fasting & seeking before I heard the next word from The Lord on the subject. He showed up fiercely and overwhelmed me again with a Holy Spirit encounter that literally knocked me down! It was this encounter that answered the question I was asking Him, "What is my next step?"
I feel blessed that this part of my journey was only a few short months. Josephs journey from promise spoken to promise received was an estimated 22 years.
When God places His desires into our hearts, it usually doesn't come with a list of all the struggles that we will encounter along the way, or a time line of details about how long we will have to wait. He is equipping us, growing us and has purpose in every part of our journey on our way to the next place.
Joseph needed to be equipped. He was about to assume a ministry over an entire country. God wanted Joseph to be able to handle the ministry & the position of influence that he was going to receive.
Trials prepare us for the triumph! None of our circumstances during the journey are without purpose. Trust Him. He will never abandon you. He will never leave you. He is never late.