Joseph had the position and the power to do whatever he desired. However, he did not do anything for himself. More than forty years ago, I heard someone say that the strongest thing is to be able not to do something that you can do. You have the power, the position, and the opportunity to do a certain thing, yet you still do not do it. I became familiar with the story of Joseph many years ago. But in the past I did not see that after Joseph had been enthroned to be the ruler of Egypt, he did not use his power to see his father. After Joseph was enthroned, he did nothing to rescue himself from being alone, even though he had been separated from his father for thirteen years. When the brothers first came down to him, he still did not do anything. Joseph had the power and the position to do something about his situation, but he did not do what he had the power to do. This indicates that he was the most powerful person, one who has the strength not to do what he is able to do. Joseph was such a person because he was under God's hand, under God's restriction.

During the first nine years of his rule in Egypt, Joseph must have contacted the Lord again and again. Perhaps as he prayed to the Lord regarding the possibility of visiting his father, the Lord instructed him to do nothing about it. Week after week Joseph might have prayed, "Lord, is now the time for me to do something to have my father brought here?" I believe that the Lord said to him, "No, this is not the time. There is no need for you to do anything to fulfill your dream. Simply wait and allow Me to do it." By means of his prayer Joseph might have been confirmed in believing that his dreams were of God and that God Himself would fulfill them. Because there was no need for him to do anything, Joseph remained silent. He had the strength not to do what he had the power to do. When his brothers came to Egypt the first time, he did nothing to have his father brought to him. Even when the time was right for his father to come to him in Egypt, Joseph did not go out to meet him on the way. I believe that this was the result of his being under the Lord's restriction. Joseph knew that there was no need for him to do anything to fulfill his dreams. This is the real denial of the self and the genuine bearing of the cross.

To bear the cross means that you refrain from doing what you have the power to do. You are qualified and empowered to do everything necessary to fulfill your desire, yet you refrain from doing so. A person like this is the strongest person. The strongest person is not the one who is able to do something, but the one who is able not to do what he has the power to do. This self-denial is the unique way to usher in God's kingdom and to realize the kingdom life. As we shall see in the next message, the kingdom life came in through Joseph's ability not to do what he had the power to do. We need to be such people today.

There is no doubt that, in ourselves, we cannot be such people. Our life is not the kind of life that has the power not to do what it is able to do. When we have the opportunity to do something, we simply do it. But the life of Christ has the power not to do what it is capable of doing. This fact is the key to the four Gospels and to the life of the Lord Jesus. Often He had the position, the power, and the right environment to do many things, but he also had the power not to do those things. For example, He could have asked the Father to send twelve legions of angels to rescue Him; yet He had the strength not to do this (Matt. 26:53). This life of self-denial, of bearing the cross, is the life that ushers in the kingdom.