This morning I was reading some more of the story of Joseph, found in Genesis 37-41. This is such a great story of God's faithfulness to His promises, in spite of everything seemingly moving in the opposite direction. God gives Joseph a dream when he is seventeen, about how he will be greater than all his brothers, and it does not come to pass for 13+ years. In those years, Joseph is sold into slavery, and is falsely accursed of rape and is thrown in prison. In each place God blesses him, but each place is seemingly farther away from God's promise.
I was also thinking about how it was interesting that the dream Joseph originally had was, in some ways, that which got him sold into slavery, for it caused his brothers to hate him (See Gen 37:5-11). What I found interesting was that God used a dream, this time Pharaoh's dream, to elevate Joseph to the position of second in charge of Egypt (See Gen 41). Thus, the whole idea of having a significant dream was essentially redeemed for Joseph. Clearly, Joseph had spent time learning about dreams, and God had provided him insight and understanding about dream language, for he had previously been able to correctly interpret the baker and cupbearer's dreams, while he was still in prison (See Gen 40).
We normally wouldn't think that dreams, and dream interpretation was that significant, but in this case those dreams, and Joseph's ability to interpret them saved him, his whole family and all of Egypt! They (the dreams) were both a path to difficulty and the path out of difficulty into extreme blessing!
As I am thinking about this, I am pretty sure that much of what God was doing, and had linked together as purpose and plan for Jospeh, was unknown to Joseph. He might have had the dream, and might have had some promise that he understood, but I am sure he didn't expect slavery and imprisonment. In fact, whenever it seemed to be going better, he would have a set-back. He was definitely frustrated, as we can see from his request of the cub-bearer as quoted in Genesis 40:14-15 NIV: "But when all goes well with you, remember me and show me kindness; mention me to Pharaoh and get me out of this prison. I was forcibly carried off from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing to deserve being put in a dungeon.” In other words, he didn't have a clue as to why he was in prison, and was trying to find some way out.
I am encouraged by the fact that God, has a plan, and often we have no clue as to what that plan entails, or how everything ties together. Sometimes it seems like things are delayed, in Joseph's story there were 2 years between the cupbearer and the Pharaoh's dream, and I am sure Joseph thought he was forgotten once again. I am encouraged because God never forgot where Joseph was, and had a perfect plan that when it came to fruition, was much better than anything Joseph could have imagined. By the end of the story, Joseph had been reunited with his family had been able to forgive and bless all his brothers, and his two sons were included as two of the12 tribes of Israel, Ephraim and Manasseh, and they received an inheritance of land. (See Joshua 16:4 NIV).
What an awesome story of promises, redemption, forgiveness, and God's faithfulness! I am encouraged that even though seemingly hidden and stuck, God never forgets and His plans are still in process! He is faithful and uses unusua situations and circumstances that sometimes seem the opposite of what we think should happen. All this is meant to bring Him Glory, and expose and highlight His faithfulness. Finally I am encouraged that he has a plan, not only for me, but for my children as well!
Amen!
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