God's Plan God's Timing (2021)
Genesis Chapter 40
The message today comes from the Life of Joseph series (which was a really awesome series). It’s about God being at work – for good in every event in our lives.
Joseph is one of the twelve sons of Israel (which became the Twelve Tribes of Israel) and he is the favored son. His dad loves him, but his brothers hate him. And Joseph had a dream that the brothers really didn’t like, so they planned to kill him. But instead, they sold him as a slave into Egypt where he became a servant in the house of the Captain of the Pharaoh’s Palace Guard (named Potiphar). Then, Potiphar’s wife tries to seduce Joseph and he refuses, so she accuses him of trying to rape her. And so, Potiphar throws him into prison and plans on throwing away the key.
And through all of this, Joseph had been doing all the right things and God has been going before him and making everything “right” on Joseph’s behalf. But today, Joseph hits a really difficult section in his walk with the Lord, and Joseph is going to learn about God’s plan and God’s timing.
This is actually one of my own favorite messages because the day before I first taught this message God had me live through an illustration of this chapter.
It was fourteen years ago and I was fourteen years younger but… not really in any better shape than I am today. And I was going on my first extreme hiking event with some very extreme (and young) guys in the church. Pastor Jeff’s son, Mike, and my son, David, were driving these extreme hiking events.
And so, the day before I taught this message, on my first extreme hiking event, I learned four crucial (and painful) life lessons. God had me live through them (barely) during a ten-hour life or death trudge up and down Mount San Jacinto.
1). It became painfully clear to me that a guy my age, that’s as “well-fed” as me, shouldn’t do extreme hiking without some serious conditioning.
2). It became as painfully clear to me that there are both strenuous switchbacks and glorious meadows in our walk with God (a switchback is a zig-zag trail straight up the side of a mountain) and it will kill you with fatigue if you’re not careful.
And there are both the strenuous switchbacks and glorious meadows in our walk with God. But here is the important part: I only got to walk through the glorious meadows because I made a “no-turning-back” decision to make it one step at a time through those strenuous switchbacks. If I had blamed God for the strenuous switchbacks or if I had demanded that I not have to trudge through them, I would have never experienced the glorious meadows that were ahead of me on the trail, and the same is true in our walk with God. If we want to reach the glorious meadows God has for us, it will require that we (at some point) have to lean into the strenuous, grueling switchbacks to get there. And if you bail out on the switchback, you will never see the glorious meadows God has prepared for you up ahead.
King David says the same thing in Psalm 23.
3). It became painfully clear to me the designer of the path I was on, designed it to be hard for a while, then easy for a while. Every hard section was followed by an easier section so a hiker could both make it to the top (using the hard sections) and not die in the process (using the easy sections). And I realized God does the same thing with the path he’s designed for each of us. There are hard stretches followed by not-so-hard – or easier stretches.
The question is, have you made a “no-turning-back” decision to stay on the path God has designed for you… even when your legs are cramping, and you’re dehydrated, and you’re not sure how many more steps you can take? Are you going to stay on the path God designed for you? Trusting that the Lord has a glorious meadow waiting for you to walk through with him – after he carries you through the grueling switchbacks that you think are going to kill you?
The final thing that I painfully learned in my first extreme hiking event (and this one directly relates to our text today),
4). It became painfully clear to me that only God knows how much longer you have on this section of the path that he has you on.
And here’s how I learned this most crucial lesson. As I was in “never say die” mode forcing my body to take just one step at a time, I was seeing mirages of the parking lot that was my salvation from this path I was on, just then, two young boys and their father passed me, and as they passed me one boy said, “Just two hundred more…” and I said, “Excuse me? What did you say?” And he said, “You’re just two hundred steps from the bottom.” And I said, oh! Thank you, Jesus. You’ve sent an angel to encourage me. I can make it just two hundred more steps, and so I began counting the steps, straining my eyes to see the parking lot come into view.
And I counted one hundred, one hundred fifty, two hundred, three hundred, three hundred and something… and when I was sure I had taken at least one thousand more steps, I thought, man, that kid is a bad counter! And then I became totally discouraged. My hope of just two hundred more steps vanished, and I was left alone on the very difficult path God had me on. And today, we are going to see the exact same thing happen to Joseph.
And my biggest lesson was this: only God knows how many more steps there are on this difficult section of the path he has you on. No kid who can’t count, no positive motivational speaker, no pastor, book, or video series – only God knows how many more steps there on this difficult section of the path he has you on. The question is, will you trust him to get you home?
Will you surrender your idea of when this difficult section of the path should be over and will you let God decide, trusting him, and joining him in his plan? That is what we see in the life of Joseph today.
In the previous chapter (Chapter 39), Joseph did everything right regarding Potiphar’s wife and he got thrown into prison for it. But the Lord was with Joseph even in that undeserved, difficult situation, and the keeper of the prison put Joseph in charge of all the other prisoners.
And so, in Chapter 39 we’re thinking, “Okay. Tough situation. But God’s going to come through for Joseph because it’s all in God’s plan, right? (Yeah, right.) But listen, please, it is God’s plan IN God’s timing.
And so, what we see in Genesis Chapter 40, is Joseph trudging up the switchbacks of being wrongly accused and thrown into prison.
Genesis 40:1 (NLT)
1 Some time later (which means Joseph has been there a while), Pharaoh’s chief cup-bearer and chief baker offended their royal master (The Pharaoh).
These were both very important positions in the Pharaoh’s court. The cupbearer tasted all the food for the king. The baker prepared much of what the Pharaoh ate, and so, these two were two of the closest people to the Pharaoh (especially the cupbearer). And they were about to be thrown in prison and put under the care of Joseph.
Genesis 40:2–4 (NLT)
2 Pharaoh became angry with these two officials,
3 and he put them in the prison where Joseph was, in the palace of the captain of the guard.
4 They remained in prison for quite some time, and the captain of the guard assigned them to Joseph, who looked after them.
Notice verse 1 says “some time later” and verse 4 says “for quite some time.” Joseph is on a long set of straight uphill switchbacks.
Now, under normal circumstances, it would be impossible for Joseph to reach the Pharaoh. That would never happen unless God orchestrates it, and so, for “quite some time” Joseph was “taking care” of these two men. And Joseph had to start thinking, “Wow. I’m taking care of two of Pharaoh’s highest officers. I wonder if God is somehow at work here?”
And then in the next verse it happens, and Joseph has got to see it from a mile away because it starts with a dream, and things tend to happen with Joseph and dreams.
Genesis 40:5–7 (NLT)
5 While they were in prison, Pharaoh’s cup-bearer and baker each had a dream one night, and each dream had its own meaning.
6 When Joseph saw them the next morning, he noticed that they both looked upset.
7 “Why do you look so worried today?” he asked them.
And then you know Joseph couldn’t help but grin when they told him…
Genesis 40:8 (NLT)
8 And they replied, “We both had dreams last night, but no one can tell us what they mean.” “Interpreting dreams is God’s business,” Joseph replied. “Go ahead and tell me your dreams.”
Now, as Joseph interprets the first dream, watch how he must see the doors start to open for him.
Genesis 40:9–13 (NLT)
9 So the chief cup-bearer told Joseph his dream first. “In my dream,” he said, “I saw a grapevine in front of me.
10 The vine had three branches that began to bud and blossom, and soon it produced clusters of ripe grapes.
11 I was holding Pharaoh’s wine cup in my hand, so I took a cluster of grapes and squeezed the juice into the cup. Then I placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand.”
12 “This is what the dream means,” Joseph said. “The three branches represent three days.
13 Within three days Pharaoh will lift you up and restore you to your position as his chief cup-bearer.
Joseph still has the gift of dream interpretation (which is what initially got him in trouble with his brothers). But here, Joseph’s mind begins to race, and he’s got to be thinking, “This must be how God is going to get me out of this prison.” And so, Joseph says to the cupbearer,
Genesis 40:14–15 (NLT)
14 And please remember me and do me a favor when things go well for you. Mention me to Pharaoh, so he might let me out of this place.
15 For I was kidnapped from my homeland, the land of the Hebrews, and now I’m here in prison, but I did nothing to deserve it.”
This must obviously be God, right? Only the Pharaoh can get Joseph out of this situation, and now God has swung a door wide open for that to happen. And notice, Joseph adds a bit of his testimony – maybe to endear himself to the cupbearer.
It’s true, Joseph had done nothing to deserve this. And Joseph has got to be thinking, “This guy gets thrown in prison – here – now! The keeper of the prison put me in charge of him! And now he has a dream (which is my specialty).” Everything just seems to be orchestrated perfectly by God, and even the timing seems perfect.
But sometimes when we sense God’s hand on our lives, we think, “Okay. This is it! Get ready for things to get better.” But maybe God is saying to us, “Be glad that you see my hand. But don’t assume you know my plan or my timing.” Sometimes even when we see God at work that doesn’t mean we can see his plan or know his timing.
I’m sure Joseph thought, “Man. This must be God.” And it was God. But it was God on God’s terms, not God on Joseph's terms and it was God on God’s timing not God on Joseph’s timing.
Now, the baker is seeing the cupbearer get a favorable interpretation, so the baker asks Joseph to interpret his dream.
Genesis 40:16–19 (NLT)
16 When the chief baker saw that Joseph had given the first dream such a positive interpretation, he said to Joseph, “I had a dream, too. In my dream there were three baskets of white pastries stacked on my head.
17 The top basket contained all kinds of pastries for Pharaoh, but the birds came and ate them from the basket on my head.”
18 “This is what the dream means,” Joseph told him. “The three baskets also represent three days.
19 Three days from now Pharaoh will lift you up and impale your body on a pole. Then birds will come and peck away at your flesh.”
Whoops! The baker was not as happy as the cupbearer. Unfortunately, the baker would have even worse dreams that night! But now, Joseph was seeing it all starting to work out! God had set it all up perfectly. The cupbearer was going to be released. He’d speak up on Joseph’s behalf and everything was going to be good again. Just three days, just two hundred more steps and everything was going to be alright.
Genesis 40:20–22 (NLT)
20 Pharaoh’s birthday came three days later, and he prepared a banquet for all his officials and staff. He summoned his chief cup-bearer and chief baker to join the other officials.
21 He then restored the chief cup-bearer to his former position, so he could again hand Pharaoh his cup.
22 But Pharaoh impaled the chief baker, just as Joseph had predicted when he interpreted his dream.
And so, everything is working perfectly (except for the baker). Joseph is packing his stuff and standing by the cell door… any minute now… any minute.
Like me seeing hallucinations of the parking lot when I was coming down that mountain. And then we see the grand finale of (this part of) God’s plan in the last verse of Genesis Chapter 40.
Genesis 40:23 (NLT) – (Da Da Da DUUHHH)
23 Pharaoh’s chief cup-bearer, however, forgot all about Joseph, never giving him another thought.
WHOA! That is not supposed to happen. That’s now how it’s supposed to work, God! What do you mean, he forgot all about Joseph? How could he just forget about him? Why would he just forget him?
We want so badly the answers to the how or why questions. We can’t have the answers to the how or why questions. Because God says in Isaiah 55,
Isaiah 55:8 (NLT)
8 “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.
And since we can’t think like God and we can’t even imagine his ways, then we can’t have the answers to the how or why questions.
In the life of faith, we only get the answer to the what question. The what question is, what was Joseph supposed to do now? He’s completely discouraged, even worse than me on that trail with the bad counting kid.
The cupbearer completely let him down. He completely forgot about Joseph! Joseph, your expectations have been shattered! You’ve been completely let down. What are you going to do now?
But, wait a minute. Maybe God was just “testing Joseph.” Maybe the cupbearer was actually going to remember and God’s going to come through for Joseph. And God IS going to come through for Joseph – he is! And the next verse tells us how long it will be before God makes his next move.
Genesis 41:1 (NLT)
1 Two full years later, Pharaoh dreamed . . .
Two full years later. For two long years, God put Joseph on hold! Surely Joseph thought God had abandoned him. But God had not abandoned him! God’s plan was working IN God’s timing. But there is no way Joseph could’ve known that and there is no way you and I can know that. But that doesn’t mean that God is not at work in your life. God is at work in your life! But God is at work in his timing. And we must decide whether we believe that, or not.
Paul says in Philippians 1,
Philippians 1:6 (NLT)
6 And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.
The work God started in you – he is continuing, and he will continue it – until it is finished.
God started that work
God is continuing that work
God will finish that work – on the day you see Jesus Christ.
Guys, don’t get discouraged! God is at work in your life, no matter what you see, think, or feel. Don’t get disillusioned with God. In that circumstance, that trial, that difficulty that you are trudging through right now, God is at work in it for your good.
But if you get consumed with questioning, demanding, and doubting God then you will never be able to join him in the work that he’s doing in the midst of that trial. We serve a loving God who is at work in our lives, and we must join him in the work he’s doing…
And we join him by doing the same thing Joseph did… by continuing to walk with God on the path he has us on, no matter the condition of the path. And we continue to do what’s right before God no matter what the difficulty of the path is.
For two long years, Joseph had to decide whether to stomp his feet and demand an answer from God or to continue to walk the path God had him on, and to do what was right regardless of his situation. Joseph chose to trust God AND he chose to just keep walking with God – no matter what. He chose to just keep climbing the switchbacks one step at a time, knowing that God had a glorious meadow waiting when the switchbacks were over.
Joseph is one of the twelve sons of Israel (which became the Twelve Tribes of Israel) and he is the favored son. His dad loves him, but his brothers hate him. And Joseph had a dream that the brothers really didn’t like, so they planned to kill him. But instead, they sold him as a slave into Egypt where he became a servant in the house of the Captain of the Pharaoh’s Palace Guard (named Potiphar). Then, Potiphar’s wife tries to seduce Joseph and he refuses, so she accuses him of trying to rape her. And so, Potiphar throws him into prison and plans on throwing away the key.
And through all of this, Joseph had been doing all the right things and God has been going before him and making everything “right” on Joseph’s behalf. But today, Joseph hits a really difficult section in his walk with the Lord, and Joseph is going to learn about God’s plan and God’s timing.
This is actually one of my own favorite messages because the day before I first taught this message God had me live through an illustration of this chapter.
It was fourteen years ago and I was fourteen years younger but… not really in any better shape than I am today. And I was going on my first extreme hiking event with some very extreme (and young) guys in the church. Pastor Jeff’s son, Mike, and my son, David, were driving these extreme hiking events.
And so, the day before I taught this message, on my first extreme hiking event, I learned four crucial (and painful) life lessons. God had me live through them (barely) during a ten-hour life or death trudge up and down Mount San Jacinto.
1). It became painfully clear to me that a guy my age, that’s as “well-fed” as me, shouldn’t do extreme hiking without some serious conditioning.
2). It became as painfully clear to me that there are both strenuous switchbacks and glorious meadows in our walk with God (a switchback is a zig-zag trail straight up the side of a mountain) and it will kill you with fatigue if you’re not careful.
And there are both the strenuous switchbacks and glorious meadows in our walk with God. But here is the important part: I only got to walk through the glorious meadows because I made a “no-turning-back” decision to make it one step at a time through those strenuous switchbacks. If I had blamed God for the strenuous switchbacks or if I had demanded that I not have to trudge through them, I would have never experienced the glorious meadows that were ahead of me on the trail, and the same is true in our walk with God. If we want to reach the glorious meadows God has for us, it will require that we (at some point) have to lean into the strenuous, grueling switchbacks to get there. And if you bail out on the switchback, you will never see the glorious meadows God has prepared for you up ahead.
King David says the same thing in Psalm 23.
3). It became painfully clear to me the designer of the path I was on, designed it to be hard for a while, then easy for a while. Every hard section was followed by an easier section so a hiker could both make it to the top (using the hard sections) and not die in the process (using the easy sections). And I realized God does the same thing with the path he’s designed for each of us. There are hard stretches followed by not-so-hard – or easier stretches.
The question is, have you made a “no-turning-back” decision to stay on the path God has designed for you… even when your legs are cramping, and you’re dehydrated, and you’re not sure how many more steps you can take? Are you going to stay on the path God designed for you? Trusting that the Lord has a glorious meadow waiting for you to walk through with him – after he carries you through the grueling switchbacks that you think are going to kill you?
The final thing that I painfully learned in my first extreme hiking event (and this one directly relates to our text today),
4). It became painfully clear to me that only God knows how much longer you have on this section of the path that he has you on.
And here’s how I learned this most crucial lesson. As I was in “never say die” mode forcing my body to take just one step at a time, I was seeing mirages of the parking lot that was my salvation from this path I was on, just then, two young boys and their father passed me, and as they passed me one boy said, “Just two hundred more…” and I said, “Excuse me? What did you say?” And he said, “You’re just two hundred steps from the bottom.” And I said, oh! Thank you, Jesus. You’ve sent an angel to encourage me. I can make it just two hundred more steps, and so I began counting the steps, straining my eyes to see the parking lot come into view.
And I counted one hundred, one hundred fifty, two hundred, three hundred, three hundred and something… and when I was sure I had taken at least one thousand more steps, I thought, man, that kid is a bad counter! And then I became totally discouraged. My hope of just two hundred more steps vanished, and I was left alone on the very difficult path God had me on. And today, we are going to see the exact same thing happen to Joseph.
And my biggest lesson was this: only God knows how many more steps there are on this difficult section of the path he has you on. No kid who can’t count, no positive motivational speaker, no pastor, book, or video series – only God knows how many more steps there on this difficult section of the path he has you on. The question is, will you trust him to get you home?
Will you surrender your idea of when this difficult section of the path should be over and will you let God decide, trusting him, and joining him in his plan? That is what we see in the life of Joseph today.
In the previous chapter (Chapter 39), Joseph did everything right regarding Potiphar’s wife and he got thrown into prison for it. But the Lord was with Joseph even in that undeserved, difficult situation, and the keeper of the prison put Joseph in charge of all the other prisoners.
And so, in Chapter 39 we’re thinking, “Okay. Tough situation. But God’s going to come through for Joseph because it’s all in God’s plan, right? (Yeah, right.) But listen, please, it is God’s plan IN God’s timing.
And so, what we see in Genesis Chapter 40, is Joseph trudging up the switchbacks of being wrongly accused and thrown into prison.
Genesis 40:1 (NLT)
1 Some time later (which means Joseph has been there a while), Pharaoh’s chief cup-bearer and chief baker offended their royal master (The Pharaoh).
These were both very important positions in the Pharaoh’s court. The cupbearer tasted all the food for the king. The baker prepared much of what the Pharaoh ate, and so, these two were two of the closest people to the Pharaoh (especially the cupbearer). And they were about to be thrown in prison and put under the care of Joseph.
Genesis 40:2–4 (NLT)
2 Pharaoh became angry with these two officials,
3 and he put them in the prison where Joseph was, in the palace of the captain of the guard.
4 They remained in prison for quite some time, and the captain of the guard assigned them to Joseph, who looked after them.
Notice verse 1 says “some time later” and verse 4 says “for quite some time.” Joseph is on a long set of straight uphill switchbacks.
Now, under normal circumstances, it would be impossible for Joseph to reach the Pharaoh. That would never happen unless God orchestrates it, and so, for “quite some time” Joseph was “taking care” of these two men. And Joseph had to start thinking, “Wow. I’m taking care of two of Pharaoh’s highest officers. I wonder if God is somehow at work here?”
And then in the next verse it happens, and Joseph has got to see it from a mile away because it starts with a dream, and things tend to happen with Joseph and dreams.
Genesis 40:5–7 (NLT)
5 While they were in prison, Pharaoh’s cup-bearer and baker each had a dream one night, and each dream had its own meaning.
6 When Joseph saw them the next morning, he noticed that they both looked upset.
7 “Why do you look so worried today?” he asked them.
And then you know Joseph couldn’t help but grin when they told him…
Genesis 40:8 (NLT)
8 And they replied, “We both had dreams last night, but no one can tell us what they mean.” “Interpreting dreams is God’s business,” Joseph replied. “Go ahead and tell me your dreams.”
Now, as Joseph interprets the first dream, watch how he must see the doors start to open for him.
Genesis 40:9–13 (NLT)
9 So the chief cup-bearer told Joseph his dream first. “In my dream,” he said, “I saw a grapevine in front of me.
10 The vine had three branches that began to bud and blossom, and soon it produced clusters of ripe grapes.
11 I was holding Pharaoh’s wine cup in my hand, so I took a cluster of grapes and squeezed the juice into the cup. Then I placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand.”
12 “This is what the dream means,” Joseph said. “The three branches represent three days.
13 Within three days Pharaoh will lift you up and restore you to your position as his chief cup-bearer.
Joseph still has the gift of dream interpretation (which is what initially got him in trouble with his brothers). But here, Joseph’s mind begins to race, and he’s got to be thinking, “This must be how God is going to get me out of this prison.” And so, Joseph says to the cupbearer,
Genesis 40:14–15 (NLT)
14 And please remember me and do me a favor when things go well for you. Mention me to Pharaoh, so he might let me out of this place.
15 For I was kidnapped from my homeland, the land of the Hebrews, and now I’m here in prison, but I did nothing to deserve it.”
This must obviously be God, right? Only the Pharaoh can get Joseph out of this situation, and now God has swung a door wide open for that to happen. And notice, Joseph adds a bit of his testimony – maybe to endear himself to the cupbearer.
It’s true, Joseph had done nothing to deserve this. And Joseph has got to be thinking, “This guy gets thrown in prison – here – now! The keeper of the prison put me in charge of him! And now he has a dream (which is my specialty).” Everything just seems to be orchestrated perfectly by God, and even the timing seems perfect.
But sometimes when we sense God’s hand on our lives, we think, “Okay. This is it! Get ready for things to get better.” But maybe God is saying to us, “Be glad that you see my hand. But don’t assume you know my plan or my timing.” Sometimes even when we see God at work that doesn’t mean we can see his plan or know his timing.
I’m sure Joseph thought, “Man. This must be God.” And it was God. But it was God on God’s terms, not God on Joseph's terms and it was God on God’s timing not God on Joseph’s timing.
Now, the baker is seeing the cupbearer get a favorable interpretation, so the baker asks Joseph to interpret his dream.
Genesis 40:16–19 (NLT)
16 When the chief baker saw that Joseph had given the first dream such a positive interpretation, he said to Joseph, “I had a dream, too. In my dream there were three baskets of white pastries stacked on my head.
17 The top basket contained all kinds of pastries for Pharaoh, but the birds came and ate them from the basket on my head.”
18 “This is what the dream means,” Joseph told him. “The three baskets also represent three days.
19 Three days from now Pharaoh will lift you up and impale your body on a pole. Then birds will come and peck away at your flesh.”
Whoops! The baker was not as happy as the cupbearer. Unfortunately, the baker would have even worse dreams that night! But now, Joseph was seeing it all starting to work out! God had set it all up perfectly. The cupbearer was going to be released. He’d speak up on Joseph’s behalf and everything was going to be good again. Just three days, just two hundred more steps and everything was going to be alright.
Genesis 40:20–22 (NLT)
20 Pharaoh’s birthday came three days later, and he prepared a banquet for all his officials and staff. He summoned his chief cup-bearer and chief baker to join the other officials.
21 He then restored the chief cup-bearer to his former position, so he could again hand Pharaoh his cup.
22 But Pharaoh impaled the chief baker, just as Joseph had predicted when he interpreted his dream.
And so, everything is working perfectly (except for the baker). Joseph is packing his stuff and standing by the cell door… any minute now… any minute.
Like me seeing hallucinations of the parking lot when I was coming down that mountain. And then we see the grand finale of (this part of) God’s plan in the last verse of Genesis Chapter 40.
Genesis 40:23 (NLT) – (Da Da Da DUUHHH)
23 Pharaoh’s chief cup-bearer, however, forgot all about Joseph, never giving him another thought.
WHOA! That is not supposed to happen. That’s now how it’s supposed to work, God! What do you mean, he forgot all about Joseph? How could he just forget about him? Why would he just forget him?
We want so badly the answers to the how or why questions. We can’t have the answers to the how or why questions. Because God says in Isaiah 55,
Isaiah 55:8 (NLT)
8 “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.
And since we can’t think like God and we can’t even imagine his ways, then we can’t have the answers to the how or why questions.
In the life of faith, we only get the answer to the what question. The what question is, what was Joseph supposed to do now? He’s completely discouraged, even worse than me on that trail with the bad counting kid.
The cupbearer completely let him down. He completely forgot about Joseph! Joseph, your expectations have been shattered! You’ve been completely let down. What are you going to do now?
But, wait a minute. Maybe God was just “testing Joseph.” Maybe the cupbearer was actually going to remember and God’s going to come through for Joseph. And God IS going to come through for Joseph – he is! And the next verse tells us how long it will be before God makes his next move.
Genesis 41:1 (NLT)
1 Two full years later, Pharaoh dreamed . . .
Two full years later. For two long years, God put Joseph on hold! Surely Joseph thought God had abandoned him. But God had not abandoned him! God’s plan was working IN God’s timing. But there is no way Joseph could’ve known that and there is no way you and I can know that. But that doesn’t mean that God is not at work in your life. God is at work in your life! But God is at work in his timing. And we must decide whether we believe that, or not.
Paul says in Philippians 1,
Philippians 1:6 (NLT)
6 And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.
The work God started in you – he is continuing, and he will continue it – until it is finished.
God started that work
God is continuing that work
God will finish that work – on the day you see Jesus Christ.
Guys, don’t get discouraged! God is at work in your life, no matter what you see, think, or feel. Don’t get disillusioned with God. In that circumstance, that trial, that difficulty that you are trudging through right now, God is at work in it for your good.
But if you get consumed with questioning, demanding, and doubting God then you will never be able to join him in the work that he’s doing in the midst of that trial. We serve a loving God who is at work in our lives, and we must join him in the work he’s doing…
And we join him by doing the same thing Joseph did… by continuing to walk with God on the path he has us on, no matter the condition of the path. And we continue to do what’s right before God no matter what the difficulty of the path is.
For two long years, Joseph had to decide whether to stomp his feet and demand an answer from God or to continue to walk the path God had him on, and to do what was right regardless of his situation. Joseph chose to trust God AND he chose to just keep walking with God – no matter what. He chose to just keep climbing the switchbacks one step at a time, knowing that God had a glorious meadow waiting when the switchbacks were over.