“Blessed Beyond a Curse” by Meghan Williams of Dyed4you Art
Genesis 12:2 (VOICE) I have plans to make a great people from your descendants. And I am going to put a special blessing on you and cause your reputation to grow so that you will become a blessing and example to others.
I remember some years ago when someone gave me a word of the LORD saying, “You are a daughter of blessing.” I was surprised by how deeply these words affected me. All at once, I recognized how they bore witness as truth in my spirit, however, my mind had trouble accepting what God was saying. Me? A blessing?
I realized that, on some level, I saw myself more like God’s problem child than a vessel of His blessing. Do you ever struggle with that feeling that you are unclean and that anything you put your hand to might crumble or become cursed? Do you feel more like a bad son or daughter instead of one that is beloved and highly favored? This has been my particular “identity crisis” for many years.
As God has walked me through different seasons, I’ve come to see how negative words and mistreatment from others sent me a message that did not agree with how God saw me. As I began to look back over my life with the eyes of the Spirit, I could recognize the overwhelming love, grace, and favor of God over me even through all of the trials. Many devices of the darkness had come along in an attempt to destroy me and keep me from the truth that I am a beloved daughter of the King. Yet no power can stop the fierce love of God! No matter what word curses have been spoken or what difficult circumstances I have faced, I cannot deny the incredible favor God has given me along the way.
This pattern in my life very much mirrors the life of Joseph. Though Joseph was hated by his brothers, enslaved, and eventually imprisoned, God shone his favor upon Joseph at every step. His favor manifested in the honor Joseph received from his father and through the position of authority he was given in both Potiphar’s household and in Egypt’s prison. Finally, at just the right time, God’s favor shone so brightly upon Joseph before Pharaoh that it opened the door for Joseph’s promotion as second in command of all of Egypt. Nothing could separate Joseph from the love of God!
Even so, I wouldn’t be surprised if, through all of Joseph’s trials, he struggled to believe that he was as highly favored as his prophetic dreams suggested (Genesis 37:4-11). It would have been easy for him to believe he was God’s problem child. Like many of us, Joseph may have even seen himself as the source of all the troubles he faced.
Yet God’s hand of blessing upon Joseph is undeniable. Even more, Joseph was a vessel of God’s blessings. The favor God poured out upon Joseph overflowed onto others. Joseph was a blessing to his family, Potiphar’s household, Egypt’s prison, and eventually Egypt and all the world. God’s hand of power was seen greatly when He gave Joseph the interpretation for Pharaoh’s dreams and the accompanying wisdom that would see the world through the coming famine.
Just like Joseph and just like Christ, the ultimate suffering servant of God, we too have been created to be vessels of blessing. We have been created to be temples of the living God. When He pours His Spirit upon us, the blessings of the Spirit overflow into the lives of others. We touch the world with anointed hands, releasing the Kingdom of God in everything and everyone that we touch.
Therefore, children of God, lift up your heads. You are not broken. You are not a problem and no longer a vehicle of darkness and sin. In fact, now that you are in Christ, you are God’s solution, a child of the light in a fallen world! Remember who you are and whose you are. You are a much-loved son or daughter of the Most High God. He has placed the Kingdom of Heaven within you and has ordained that you are the vessel through which His blessings will flow.
Luke 2:52 (NIV) And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.
Deuteronomy 33:13-16 (VOICE)About Joseph he said, Moses: May his land be blessed by the Eternal with the best the sky has to offer—abundant rains—and with the dew and the waters that lie below the ground. May it be blessed with the best the sun can produce and the best crops of each month, With the best that grows on the ancient mountains and the everlasting hills, With the best the land has to offer when it’s filled with good things, And most of all may it be blessed with the favor of the One who appeared in the burning bush. Let all these blessings rest on Joseph’s head, on the head of this prince among his brothers.
