My soul, wait silently for God alone, for my expectation is from Him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; He is my defence; I shall not be moved. – Psalm 62:5
I hate waiting.
I don’t like waiting in the A & E emergency room.
I don’t like waiting for someone who is late.
I don’t like being stuck in traffic.
I could go on and on with reasons why waiting is such a hard thing for me.
But what happens when God says wait?
One of my favourite stories in the bible is about Joseph, the son of Jacob. His story is found in Genesis 39. (Click on the Bible chapter to read the story)
Joseph waited.
Let me recap the story of Joseph to you.
- Joseph is the son of Jacob. He has 11 brothers.
- He is the favoured one among his brothers and because of this his brothers hate him.
- The brothers decide to sell him into slavery.
- Joseph becomes a slave in Egypt in the house of Potiphar, the captain of the guard.
- God shows Joseph favour while working for Potiphar and Joseph is made overseer of the house of Potiphar.
- The bible tells us that Joseph is a handsome looking man, now there comes Mrs Potiphar casting longing eyes at Joseph. And forces Joseph to lie with her. Joseph refuses Mrs Potiphar’s advances.
- Joseph chooses to remain faithful to God and to his employer, Mr Potiphar.
- Unfortunately, Mrs Potiphar tells the husband a lie about Joseph and Potiphar believes his wife and sadly Joseph is thrown into prison for a crime he did not commit.
- But look at this, even in prison Joseph prospers. ( Gen 39:21-23)
- Now while Joseph is in prison two of Pharoah’s officials get on the Pharaoh’s bad side and they are thrown into prison. The same prison that Joseph is in.
- While there are in prison they are put under Joseph’s care by the captain of the guard.
- One morning Joseph walks in and see’s that the chief baker and the chief butler are both sad.
- Joseph then interprets their dreams and surely after 3 day’s the chief baker and the chief butler are let out of prison and the interpretations of the dreams where just as Joseph had said.
Sadly Joseph is forgotten in prison.
Read Genesis 40: 14 -15, Genesis 40: 23)
Can you see how Joseph had to wait?
While l was reading this story I could just imagine that when the butler and the baker where out of prison Joseph must have gone to pack His belongings and get ready for the call. He had asked the Chief butler to remember him when he stands before pharaoh. One day must have passed, one week, one month. As the days passed Joseph must have wondered, what happened? His heart must have sunk as a year passed and he was still surrounded by the same grey lifeless walls. I can imagine that every time the prison door opened, Joseph must have turned in expectation. Joseph’s ears must have perked up every time he heard the prison guard shouting a name. Could it be mine, he may have thought. I can imagine that every day before bed, after saying his prayers Joseph would lie there thinking of all the things that he could do once he was out of prison.
But God had other plans.
Although Joseph’s injustice was real, God allowed Joseph to remain in prison for another two years. Genesis 41:1 tells us that after two years Pharaoh had a dream, it is at this time that the chief butler now fully restored to his position remembers his fault and tells Pharaoh about Joseph. Pharaoh calls for Joseph. (Genesis 41:14) Now I can just imagine the happiness that Joseph must have felt, although he probably had no idea why Pharaoh was calling him. As he walked out of the prison Joseph must have been singing, “Great is thy faithfulness Lord unto me.” Imagine how Joseph must have felt as they cleaned him up and gave him new clothes and as they went and stood face to face with Pharaoh, 2 years later.
When God says wait.
There are times when we are obedient to God like Joseph was when we do everything right. We pray and pray for God to come through for us and bless us. You don’t have sex before marriage, you pay your tithe on time, you are faithful in the Job that God has given you to do. But in those instances, the future husband you want doesn’t come as soon as you want. The Job you desperately need doesn’t come, the promotion from work doesn’t come when you’re hoping it does. Sometimes we feel like God has forgotten about us, and our obedience is followed by silence from Heaven. The plain truth is that God has not forgotten. God will never forget. God is working. While we are waiting, God is working.
Listen…
- It is no accident that Joseph was sold into slavery.
- It is no accident that Joseph was bought by Potiphar, one of Pharoah’s officials.
- It is no accident that Joseph was falsely accused by Mrs Potiphar.
- It is no accident that Joseph was thrown into prison and that Pharaoh’s officials were thrown into the same prison he was in.
- It is no accident that the baker and the butler both had dreams the same night.
- It is no accident that the butler forgot to mention Joseph to Potiphar.
It just wasn’t time for Joseph to get out of prison.
God does not make accidents. There are no coincidences when it comes to God. He is all-knowing, all-powerful, He is the Sovereign God.
God was preparing to use Joseph. God is preparing to use you.
God was preparing to save Jacob and his 11 sons. God is preparing to save somebody through your testimony, through your experiences and through your life.
God was preparing His sovereign plan for Joseph’s generation. God is preparing His sovereign plan for your generation.
It’s obviously easier for us now because we are reading the story, we know how the story ends. Joseph, on the other hand, had no idea. But He remained faithful to God through it all. The story of Joseph is for us. Sometimes our lives don’t make sense. Sometimes we don’t know why God is telling us to wait. Why do we have to sit in God’s waiting room? Maybe you’ve been waiting for an answer to your prayer for a day, a year or maybe even 10 years. God was writing this lesson for you. While we wait, God is working behind the scenes to fulfil His purpose in us, just as he was with Joseph.
Joseph was 17 years old when he was sold into slavery to Egypt. The bible doesn’t say how long he worked for Potiphar, or how long he was in prison for before he was released. But we are told that Joseph was 30 years old when he stood before Pharaoh. It took 13 years for God to train and equip Joseph for his task. God could have easily kept Joseph out of prison or he could have gotten Joseph out when Pharaoh’s officials were released but God has a few lessons to teach Joseph. James 1:2-4 summarises it well.
“Count it all joy, when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of our faith produces patience. But let patience have it’s perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”
The bible tells us that after Joseph interpreted the dream for Pharaoh. Pharaoh then made him Prime Minister. Joseph was set over all the land of Egypt. Joseph went from being a prisoner to a prime minister in possibly less than 24hrs. (Genesis 41:37-44) We are also told that Pharaoh changed Joseph’s name and gave him a wife. WOW!! Talk about a turn of events? That’s the God that we serve.
This morning l shared a verse on the Women Set Apart Facebook Page from Proverbs 3:5-6 which say’s
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your path.”
Joseph trusted fully in God, He leaned not on His own understanding but in everything he sought the Lord and God answered by interpreting those dreams for Him. God led Joseph and showed him favour through it all. In the same way when God is directing our paths, our lives may not make sense because remember God’s thoughts are not our thoughts, neither are His ways our ways. (Isaiah 55:8) Don’t try and reason out everything in your life because all you will experience is confusion and misery. Instead lean on. Trust in. Be confident in the Lord with all your heart and mind. Do not rely on your own insight and understanding. In all your ways recognise Him. Acknowledge Him. And He will direct and make straight and plain your paths.
I learnt a few lessons from the story of Joseph and l will be sharing these with you in tomorrow’s blog post so be sure to read it. Also if you missed the previous blog post I did on the story of Joseph you can read it here: Are you stuck in a pit?
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