THE COAT AND THE PIT

By: Pastor Flávio Macieira - 2025

Day 1 of "The Faithful Dreamer: Joseph's Journey and God's Purpose Behind the Scenes" series.

Imagine being given a treasure map from someone you trust completely. The map shows an "X" on a glorious spot, promising riches and an incredible future. Full of excitement, you take the first step on the journey, but the first turn on the path leads you not to a road of gold, but straight into a dark, treacherous swamp. The reality of the journey seems to violently contradict the promise of the map. You wonder, "Did I read the map wrong? Was I deceived?" Often, this is exactly how we feel after receiving a promise from God.

No one understood this tension better than a young man named Joseph. He received the "treasure map" directly from God: two dreams that promised a future of great leadership and honor. He also wore a visible symbol of his father's favor: a magnificent, colorful coat. With the map in his mind and the mantle of favor on his shoulders, the future looked bright. But Joseph's journey didn't begin with a step up, but with a dizzying fall downward.

But when Joseph’s brothers saw him coming, they recognized him in the distance. As he approached, they made a plan to kill him... "Let’s sell him to those Ishmaelite traders"... So when the Ishmaelites... came by, Joseph’s brothers... sold him... to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt. Genesis 37:18, 27-28 (NLT)

The coat, a symbol of favor, was torn off and stained with blood. The dreamer, bearer of the promise, was thrown into a pit, a symbol of death and oblivion. Joseph's own brothers mocked, "we'll see what becomes of his dreams." To any onlooker, the promise was dead. The map seemed like a cruel joke. This is the painful space between a promise received and a reality lived. It is the place where faith is either forged or broken.

But the deepest lesson of Joseph's story, which we will see throughout this week, is this: God is always working behind the scenes. The pit was not a detour from God's plan; it was the transportation. His brothers' betrayal was not the end of the dream; it was the engine God used to set it in motion. They thought they were getting rid of an arrogant brother, but they were unknowingly acting as agents of divine providence, moving God's main puzzle piece to the exact position it needed to be: Egypt.

When you find yourself at the bottom of a pit, with your "coat" of dignity stripped away and your dreams seeming like a distant mirage, remember Joseph. The God who was with him in the pit is also with you, and He is a master at using the worst moments of our lives as the raw material for His greatest miracles.

Your Next Step of Faith: Identify a "dream" or promise from God for your life that today seems impossible because of a "pit" situation (a betrayal, a loss, a hardship). In your journal, create two columns. In one, write down the promise. In the other, describe the pit. Then, write this prayer over the entire page: "Lord, I don't understand the path, but I choose to trust that You are working behind the scenes. Teach me to be faithful in the pit while I wait for the palace."

The Soul Mirror:

1. Have you ever received a promise or direction from God that was immediately followed by a great difficulty? How did you react?

2. How has envy (your own, or that of others against you) negatively impacted your journey?

3. How does knowing that God can use the betrayal of others to fulfill His purpose in your life change your perspective on your current suffering?

Prayer: Sovereign God, I confess that, like Joseph, I often hold onto Your dreams but despair when the path leads me to the pit. Forgive my lack of faith. Even here, in the darkness, when the promise seems dead and the betrayal hurts, I choose to trust You. I believe that You are working behind the scenes of my story. Give me the grace to be faithful in the small things, to wait with patience, and to believe that the pit is not my final destination. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Sometimes, God's path to the palace necessarily leads through the pit.

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