Disqualified

When Joseph told his brothers what dreams he had been having they rejected them outright. They started to look down on him and they definitely never foresaw that they would ever bow down before him. David was anointed by Samuel as the next king but his brothers called him a trouble maker. When Moses tried to stop two Hebrews fighting in Exodus 2:14 they said to him, “Who made you a prince and a judge over us?”
But ultimately God promoted all three of these men to become that which they had been disqualified in.
In Mark 5:21-43 Jesus is asked by Jairus, one of the rulers of the synagogue to lay hands on his daughter who was dying. On the way to Jairus’s house, a woman who hae had an issue of blood for 12 years touched the hem of Jesus’ garment and was instantly healed. She had been to multiple physicians over the years but they couldn’t heal her. I shudder to think what treatments they had put her through because verse 26 says she had suffered much under physicians. She had also spent all her money but was not healed. Jesus spoke to her and while this was going on a messenger came from Jairus’s house and said that his daughter had died. I wonder if Jairus thought that if this woman hadn’t intervened with her problem Jesus might have arrived at his house in time. But Jesus wasn’t phased. He told Jairus, “Don’t fear, only believe.” Jesus went to his house and raised the girl from the dead.
What have you been disqualified in? Did your mother tell you that you weren’t supposed to have been born and that she should have had an abortion? Did your father leave when you were little and you were convinced it was because of your behaviour? Did your teacher tell you that you would never be able to do math and as a result you let your dreams of becoming a doctor die a horrible death? Maybe someone told you that you were too fat to do ballet and your dream of becoming a dancer was crushed. Or did the coach of the netball team always make you sit on the bench when there was an important match, yet in your heart you felt that sport was what you were supposed to be doing. I can go on and on. Everyone has felt this kind of rejection and humiliation at the hands of people who were supposed to be supporting them.
How did Joseph feel when his brothers attacked him and sold him to Ishmaelite slave traders? Did he see his dreams disappearing as he was taken to Egypt? Then, as soon as he had been given a good position he was thrown into prison. How bad is that? But God had bigger plans for him. David was not only ridiculed by his brothers but hunted like an animal by King Saul. That must have been absolutely devastating. I’m sure he felt more than once that the prophet Samuel must have made some terrible mistake. But God had bigger plans for him. Moses had to flee for his life and for forty years nothing happened. Then by means of a burning bush in the desert, God told him that He had bigger plans for him.
When I was in the first grade at school my teacher told one of the other teaches, in my hearing, that my voice was too soft to have a speaking part in the school play. But God had bigger plans. Look back over your life and identify the times you have been disqualified from the things that meant something to you. When you identify those negative words that have been spoken over you, you are going to be able to identify God’s calling on your life. The enemy uses people to carry out his plans and his plans are always in direct opposition to God’s plans. He sees what God’s plan is and then he does his best to keep you from doing what God planned for you. The good news is that it is never too late for you to follow the plan that God made for you. That plan is not dead. Just like Jesus raised Jairus’s daughter, He will raise you up so that you can follow that plan that He has for you. Even if you’ve been through years of self doubt like the woman who thought that she would never be healed, in a moment God can change your circumstances and you will be able to reach your potential. Don’t ever give up. Just reach out and take back those dreams that the enemy has stolen from you, and this time fulfil them with Jesus at your side.