By J.A. Medders
Would ten-years-ago you believe what your life is like today? I know mine wouldn’t. He’d laugh, shake his head, pat me on the back and say, “Yeah, right, pal. You aren’t going to be a pastor. You aren’t marrying that girl from the coffee shop. Kids? You can’t even get to work on time. Good luck with that.” Of course, ten-years-ago me was a moron. He didn’t know what he didn’t know.
The dreams God gave Joseph set him on a winding, bumpy, spiraling path that led to rock bottom. Literally. From being thrown into a pit and sold into slavery, to being imprisoned in Egypt—Joseph’s life was the pits, but God was with him.
Through Joseph’s wisdom and gifting, he was eventually brought out of prison and promoted to be Pharaoh’s right-hand man. Do you think in-the-pit Joseph ever could have foreseen this? Sure, Joseph had seen a glimpse of what was in his future, because God had shown him in a dream. But he didn’t know how all the gaps would be filled in, what would happen in between prison and the vision God had given him. When a famine in the region led to Joseph’s family bowing down before him, honoring and thanking him for the provisions given to them, Joseph’s vision came true—but only because God is faithful.
Brothers, there are all kinds of dreams and hopes we have for our lives. Some of them will come true. Many won’t. But God hasn’t promised to meet all of our wishes. He’s promised to love us. He’s promised to transform us into the image of His Son, the crucified and risen Lord (2 Corinthians 5:17). Trials happened to Jesus, so yeah, they will happen to us as well (John 16:33). Between the good and bad, the known and unknown, we need to learn to trust God with the gaps in our lives, come what may. He never forgets us. He is always with us.
Jesus was betrayed by one of His brothers, too—His disciple Judas. He was brought low and lifted up at the cross. Jesus was locked in the prison of death, but up from the grave He arose and ascended to the Father’s right hand, where He reigns and rules over the universe. What men meant for evil, God meant for good—in Joseph’s life, in Jesus’s life, and in our lives, too (Romans 8:28).
Written by J.A. Medders
Post Comments (1)