When God Leads You Somewhere Hard

➤ by Isabel Jennings

Following God sounds exciting when you picture open doors, answered prayers, and dreams coming true. But what about when obedience doesn’t lead to comfort?

What about when the promise takes you somewhere that feels like a pit, instead of a palace?

Sometimes, the path God leads you down feels like you took a wrong turn. Sometimes, saying “yes” to Him doesn’t feel like a promotion ... it feels like a prison.

God doesn’t always lead us into comfort. Sometimes, He leads us into places that will stretch us, test us, and refine us, because that’s where He builds our character for the calling ahead.

If you are feeling discomfort or the opposite of what God promised you, it does not necessarily mean that you didn’t hear God correctly.

In fact, it might just mean that you are exactly where you’re supposed to be and on the path to where God intended for you to go.

The Dream That Led to the Pit

The book of Genesis tells us about a 17-year-old young man whose story begins with a prophetic dream that led him straight to a pit. Joseph was the son of Rachel, the favorite wife of his father Jacob.

For years Rachel had been infertile, and the Bible says that Jacob loved Joseph more than any of his other children because he was a child born in his old age. Jacob loved Joseph so much that one day he bestowed on Joseph a very special gift, a beautiful coat of many colours.

Some scholars believe that this coat was made of a special uncommon fabric, like silk. This gift would’ve been an extravagant indulgence not practical for their everyday lives herding sheep. The coat spoke volumes of his father’s love and favour. His brothers saw that coat and understood exactly what it represented, and they hated him for his coveted position. 

What made matters worse between the siblings was that Joseph started having dreams that he openly shared. One night Joseph’s dream had him in a field of growing grain and his brothers’ bundles of grain were bowing down to his.

He had a second dream, and in this dream, the sun, moon, and stars bowed down to him. Everyone understood that dream’s meaning, that everyone in Joseph’s family -- father, mother and brothers -- would bow to him.

These weren’t just random dreams brought on by over-indulgence at dinnertime; they were God-given glimpses of his destiny. Joseph didn’t manufacture those dreams. God planted them.

Joseph probably thought hearing from God meant he was about to step into greatness. What he didn’t know was that he was about to step into a pit instead.

When Joseph shared his dreams, his brothers didn’t throw him a party ... they threw him into a hole and thought about murdering him.

Joseph’s dreams didn’t come with a scheduled timeline. It didn’t come with a map showing all the stops along the way, detours, or places between the vision and the fulfillment. It certainly didn’t come with a “You will be sold into slavery first” warning label. 

The Path to Purpose Isn’t Always Paved with Comfort

You can almost hear Joseph crying to God from the bottom of that pit: 

“God, didn’t You give me this dream? Didn’t You tell me that I was chosen and that people would bow down to me?

How am I in this pit? Why am I surrounded by dirt and darkness, and why do I feel so alone? How am I going to get away from this situation?

What if I die here?”

Have you ever been there? You were sure you heard God’s voice, and so You followed it.

You stepped out in faith, applying for that job, starting that ministry, or moving to that new city. But instead of walking into favour, maybe you walked into a fight.

It can feel disorienting when obedience leads us to pain or discomfort. It feels discouraging when your yes to God leads to something that looks like a dead end or failure.

But just because it hurts, feels overwhelming, or is uncomfortable, does not mean that it is not part of God’s holy plan and timeline.

The pit wasn’t proof that Joseph misunderstood the dream that God had given him. It wasn’t the proof that he was on the wrong path. It was the place where God started to prepare Joseph for the palace.

Joseph’s brothers sold him to a caravan of traders and convincingly told his father Jacob that he was dead. No one was coming to save Joseph, and he ended up in Egypt.

He was ultimately sold as a slave into the household of Potiphar. Joseph learned how to oversee the planting of Potiphar’s crops in Egypt’s arid climate.

There Jospeh proved to be a faithful servant and was made the manager of Potiphar’s entire household, and everything in the household was under Joseph’s authority.

He may have been in slavery, but he was learning how to farm, to manage and to lead. This was not wasted time. It was a time of learning, and everything in Potipher’s house and field prospered. Joseph served Potipher until he was falsely accused, his reputation ruined, and he was thrown into prison.

I could imagine Joseph saying things like:
“I’ve been praying to get out of captivity and I may have been able to negotiate my freedom someday, but not from here. I have been serving faithfully as a slave.

God, do you even see me? I thought You promised me that I’d be promoted. No one is ever going to believe my innocence. I’m going to die in here”

The thing about God’s plans is that they rarely run in the predictable straight line that we expect. Joseph thought he was going backwards, but God was moving him forward, through betrayal, through loss, and through waiting , into a position where He would save a nation.

God doesn’t waste anything, not even pain. He repurposes it. He refines us. He uses it to prepare us for something we can’t yet see.

Maybe you stepped out in faith, but now you’re stuck in a place of frustration.

Maybe you said yes to God, but your yes landed you in a hard place that you were not expecting.

Maybe you thought obedience would bring you to a promotion, but instead you feel broken.

You might be tempted to think, “Maybe I didn’t hear God. Maybe I missed it.”

But what if you didn’t miss Him. What if you’re just in the middle of the story?

You Didn’t Miss God

Joseph’s story was just getting interesting. The stage was being set, and the characters were being developed.

Some of our most painful seasons are the ones where God is doing His deepest work, not in our circumstances, but in our character. It’s where He’s cutting out our heart of stone and replacing it with one of flesh.

Joseph’s dream was about leadership, but God also taught him about humility.

Joseph’s dream was about influence, but God also taught him to have integrity.

Joseph’s dream was about power, but God had to teach him patience.

If God were to give you the position before He developed your character, you wouldn’t have the strength to stand when you got there.

Joseph waited years between his dream and its fulfillment. Those were years of delay, disappointment, and detours, but when the time came, he was ready ... not just to rule a nation, but to reconcile a family, his family.

And when God finally brought the dream full circle, and his brothers were bowing before him as the second-in-command in Egypt, Joseph didn’t use his power to punish his brothers. He recognized that God had sent him to arrive before they did, to preserve not only their family but the people of Egypt.

Sometimes the dream God gives you isn’t just about what you’ll do. It’s about who you’ll become on the way to what you’ll do. Hearing from God doesn’t mean that you’re heading for a life of luxury and ease but one of purpose.

Purpose rarely comes wrapped in comfort, but often comes wrapped in uncertainty, pain, and sometimes even opposition.

But here’s what is so encouraging about Joseph’s story: Even when Joseph was in each of those situations, each one appearing to have him off-course from his dream, God was with him and God was working.

The Bible says more than once: And the Lord was with Joseph, Genesis 39:2, 21.

• God was with Joseph in the pit.
• He was with him when he was sold to the caravan.
• He was with him in Potiphar’s house.
• God was with him when he was accused to attacking Potipher’s wife.
• He was with him in the prison.
• God was with him when the cupbearer forgot to mention Joseph to Pharaoh.
• And He was with him when he was brought before Pharaoh to interpret Pharaoh’s dreams.

God never left him ... and He hasn’t left you either.

You might feel like you are in a pit, but that doesn’t mean God abandoned you. It means He’s preparing you. Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus, Philippians 1:6.

You might feel forgotten, but He hasn’t forgotten you for a moment. He’s using situations to form you into the image of Christ. Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! Isaiah 49:15.

You might feel surrounded by opposition, but He’s personally surrounding you. He's using these opportunities to make you aware that He’s moving in ways you never would’ve known otherwise. So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand, Isaiah 41:10.

If your obedience has led you into something hard, don’t assume you took a wrong turn. Sometimes the hardest place is the exact place He has meant for you to be in.

When God’s path doesn’t feel like progress, remember Joseph. When His promises seem delayed, remember Joseph. Remember that delay doesn’t mean denial.

So, keep trusting.
Keep believing.
Keep holding onto the dream.

Because the same God who gave you the word is the same God who will bring it to pass.

PIN THIS TO YOUR PINTEREST BOARD

Unless stated otherwise, all Bible passages quoted in orange are from the KJV translation.

Follow us:

Recent Articles

• 
• 

1. When God Leads You Somewhere Hard

   
   Joseph was betrayed and imprisoned but never abandoned by God. What seems to be the end of a dream may be the beginning of God's work.

   Read More

2. Perfect Love Casts Out Fear

   
   Learn why “perfect love casts out fear” and how God’s unconditional love replaces punishment with confidence.

   Read More

3. Your Spoken Words Are Empowered

   
   God created all things by speaking it into existence. Likewise for us: Our words are empowered, in order to accomplish what he commanded us to do.

   Read More