Recently, a brother shared his story on this sub, the troubles he’s experiencing, and how he’s wrestling with God over this.

Let me share (or remind you, as I’m sure you know the story) about what God tells us in His Word about Joseph.

Here was man who was betrayed by his brothers, taken from his family, thrown into a pit, sold into slavery and hauled off into a foreign land.

Then, when he finally caught a break and things looked better for awhile, he was falsely accused of rape, lost his job and thrown into prison.

We’re not told what was going through Joseph’s mind, but you can imagine he had hard questions for God. I’m sure he struggled with everything. Had doubts. Didn’t want to go on. Who knows?

And can you blame him if there was any of that, all of it, or more?

We can all relate to varying degrees with what Joseph went through.

Only, we see the “quick” story, the beginning and the end, the important parts of everything in between, but we don’t see the every single day he had to get up and go on. Week after week, wondering how, when or what, if anything, God will do to intervene.

So Joseph endures the hardship, the pressure, the intense agony he must have felt over any one of those aforementioned things, but can you imagine all of them combined?

Joseph lived it.

No one knew what he was going through. Not really, not the deep down “you get me” because you literally walked in my shoes kinda knowing.

And not just for a day or a week, or even a month kinda “Hey I’ve been there” but for the same length of time, to the same degree that he had to live it.

But thankfully, there was one person who knew.

And he didn’t just know, he had a plan.

A plan that was guaranteed to be carried out, to bless a man, to restore a family and to rescue an entire nation!

 

There is one that sticketh closer than a brother

 

When you have no one else, you have him.

And he tells us “For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you, to give you a hope and a future.”

The best part is that no one can stop him, no one can keep him from working in your life and no one can frustrate what he long ago planned for your future.

“Who can stay his hand, or say unto him, ‘What doest thou?’”

For “the heart of the king is in the hand of the LORD, as rivers of water, he turneth it whithersoever he will.”

It is for this (and a great many things) we praise him!

In a jail cell at midnight Paul praised him! It’s easy to read, but not easy to do in reality. When you’re hurting bad enough, it’s tough to even breathe or think straight, but praise Him we should!

 

From praise to promises

 

God tells us “Hope deferred maketh the heart sick.”

How true this is! When you want something (or many somethings) so bad, and yet it never seems to arrive…

You pray, you live for the Lord, you do your best to honor Him… and there’s no promise fulfilled.

You wait days, months, years…

Even decades.

In fact, Abraham waited decades for the fulfillment of the promise of a son being born.

Decades!

And yet, “God is not slack concerning his promise”

Nor has his plans changed for you.

 

When questions abound

 

You may have many.

When you have to wait a long time, it’s like “What good is it to have or experience “abc” when I’m older and can no longer enjoy it as much?

It’s been “xyz” years and time is the one thing I can never get back!

But God is not limited.

Joshua and Caleb waited an 40 extra years when the trip into the promised land could have taken a tiny fraction of the time, and they could have complained “God, I’ve been faithful, look at me! But now I’ve ‘lost’ 40 years because of this mess!”

Then we see what God is capable of when Caleb exclaims “ I am still as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me: as my strength was then, even so is my strength now, for war, both to go out, and to come in.” (Joshua 14:11)

God can keep you.

And God can bless you.

Remember Abraham?

Even his wife Sarah commented “Shall I have pleasure, my Lord being old?” when thinking about sexual relations and conceiving a child.

She knew age had taken her and her husband, and she was realistic about their sex life.

When God blessed Abraham in whatever way He did, He didn’t just give him enough blessing to be with his wife one more time and open Sarah’s womb so she could conceive and bear a child, apparently Abraham got a good dose of whatever God gave him.

Because he took another wife at some point after Sarah died.

Time and age, indeed.

Remember, always remember, God is not limited by your situation.

Perhaps it’s not time, but the depth or the degree of your situation or circumstance that troubles you the most.

Delve into the Word of the LORD and drink deep of it’s contents.

You’ll see God humbling kings and nations, opening “impossible” doors, healing incurable conditions, setting wrongs right, and a host of miraculous events that make even the most hardened skeptic want to experience at least a little of the “power and demonstration of the Spirit” when God gets involved.

Ask Esther and Mordecai. Ask Elijah and the widow with her oil. Ask Abraham and Sarah. Talk to Peter or Paul. Let David, Daniel or Job regale you with how good and great God is!

You can hear them all tell their tales when you see them in Heaven one day, but until then, we have their stories to strengthen and build our faith, we have some of their personal histories to lean on.

We know that God is good and “shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?”

 

When the desire comes

 

In the verse quoted earlier, it’s the latter part I didn’t include that rejoices the heart.

“Hope deferred maketh the heart sick, but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.”

Not if, but when the desire comes.

If God has promised something, he is faithful to fulfill it.

Delays, even long ones, are not denials.

And I love the “raw” expressions throughout the bible. God tells us upfront, delays and deferred hope is heavy on the heart. It can take an awful toll, it makes the heart sick, the mind weary, the body tired.

But thank God for the “buts” in the Bible!

Let’s look at that verse one more time.

“Hope deferred maketh the heart sick, but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.”

Notice the mention of a tree of life after that “but.”

Besides Genesis and Revelation, God mentions a tree of life here. I won’t get into “a” tree vs “the” tree, but finally, after a long delay, when Heaven bursts onto the scene in your specific situation, it is like a tree of life!

There’s much to be made of this, but for now, just know that it is good! Very, very good!

 

Joseph’s “tree of life”

 

At the end of Joseph’s story, we see he is freed from prison, God gave him gifts to understand dreams, he is promoted by Pharaoh to the highest position in the land, second only to Pharaoh, his brothers and family are brought back to him in love, repentance and unity, and he is given wealth, a wife and they have children together.

But don’t miss the beauty in between in all of the pain Joseph went through.

“we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope.

Why does this matter?

 

The reasons for Joseph’s Journey—and probably yours too.

 

In the Old Testament, we are told “for every thing, there is a season” and in the New Testament, we are told there for every thing, there is a reason.

Or, at least, a working together of all that has occurred for the glory of God, and often for the blessing and benefit of you and many others around you.

“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”

Some questions for you to consider…

Looking at Joseph’s blessings (and his newfound responsibilities), do you think what he went through helped him understand, know and be fully equipped for his job that God gave him?

Do you think being in Potiphar’s house, a high ranking official, gave him necessary experience and helped him understand and know more about how things needed to be run, or what things to look out for, or any needed reforms?

Do you think being a stranger in a foreign land, being sold into slavery, false accused of rape and tossed into prison taught him things about freedom and justice and helped him as the second most powerful person in the land?

Do you think what he went through with his family, his parents and brothers and more, helped him in how he conducted himself with his wife and kids?

Every thing that Joseph experienced, all of it, was now being used and brought to bear in where God placed him and in what God gave him.

From wealth and family to the future and survival of Egypt, God used every event to mold and shape Joseph, to give him what was needed so God could do a great work in his life and in the lives of many, many others.

It was beyond painful, I’m sure.

But God has a purpose.

For Joseph’s life, and yours.

Closer to "home" here, I’m reminded of u/Red-Curious and what he’s shared about his wife. I mean no disrespect toward her, but every time I read of it, it’s shockingly bad to me. Outright lies, a dead bedroom for 18 months, other issues.

And yet, after praying and fasting for significant days and vetting like crazy before marrying her, God didn’t warn him or steer him away from her.

Why?

I’d say that although God didn’t want anything bad for him or her in their relationship, God looked far ahead, and because of what he went through, you and I are reading on this subreddit because of his experiences.

I think it’s safe to say that if they hadn’t had any troubles, or just had an average or good marriage, he wouldn’t have created this subreddit and many men wouldn’t have benefited from the wisdom and knowledge he has shared.

It’s not always that God causes things in your life, but he does allow them sometimes (or even often) because he sees the end from the beginning.

He knows the plans and purposes he has for you, and he can use what are often indescribably bad things to mold and make you and me into what he wants and needs to accomplish his will.

It can be tough, I know. And that’s an understatement.

Just know that God can take everything you are, everything you’ve been through, and make something truly extraordinary from it and use it for His glory and your blessings.

Keep the faith.

 

[On a personal note, please pray for me if you will. Despite my (rather thoughtful, ha!) protestations and concerns about potential consequences, it seems the Lord is leading me to begin writing more on a website here about a variety of topics. If that door is opened, I'll share content such as this post that (hopefully) you find helpful and will be a blessing to you.]