Worth the Wait!

I love Joseph's story.  I especially love how the Lord works all the difficult for good in the end, but the length of time it took for the good to come about really struck me as I recently read this very familiar narrative.  Years passed as a rejected brother, then there was the long season as Potiphar's slave, and then finally even more years in the Egyptian prison.  How difficult this must have been?  After Joseph interpreted the cup-bearer's dream, Joseph asked that his name be mentioned to Pharaoh.  Here was a  God-given opportunity to finally get on with his life, but sadly, Joseph was forgotten by the cup-bearer.  FORGOTTEN, the Scriptures say!  Two more years would pass in that lonely prison cell before his name would be remembered and mentioned to Pharaoh.  I tried to envision what that would have been like.  All those long seasons of waiting had to have been torturous at times.  His mind probably often traveled back to those early days when he dreamed dreams.  What good had those dreams been, for he was now separated from the family that he loved, locked away in a prison cell, and forgotten.  Can you relate?  I can.

I've never been locked away in a literal prison cell, but sometimes those steel bars, though invisible to the eye, can clearly be seen in my heart, leaving me immobile and feeling forgotten.  It's in these times of waiting that my faith has been tried the most.  Every time the Lord speaks a Word or gives a dream, encouraging me to believe and step out, there's always a season of waiting.  Sometimes the wait period is short and other times it is painfully long.  Always I am left wondering if I had really heard from Him and asking, "Hadn't You promised, Lord?"  In these moments, only the shield of faith can help me to conquer those fiery darts that the enemy throws at me.

Thankfully, Joseph's story has an ending.  I'm so glad we weren't left to wonder what happened to that awestruck dreamer.  We clearly see in the story that God had not forgotten Joseph nor his dreams. What was intended for evil, God worked for good and many lives were saved as a result.  If we asked Joseph today if it had been worth the wait, I am confident he would have said, "Yes!  A thousand times, YES!"  I needed this reminder this week.  There are some things I've been praying about for years now.  Words of promise I have been believing, yet I remain waiting.  Family and friends I long to see free, dreams yet to be fulfilled, closure to important issues, and more.  I must admit, there are days I wonder if God will ever do what He has promised.  I get tired of waiting and feel forgotten.  God must think I'm a broken record, always laying before Him these concerns.  Then I remember that His Word will not return void!  God will do what He has promised.  His ways, His thoughts are not my own.  They are better . . . infinitely better!  So I will keep waiting and believing, for someday my eyes will see.

"Then Jesus said, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?" (John 11:40)

Dare ya!

I keep hearing Richard's words in my head, "less is more," and after that last blog, you're probably thinking the same thing.  Yeah, yeah, I know, but when my heart is full, it's hard to keep it short and sweet.  However for this blog, I'm going to cut to the chase.  YOU are loved!  For God so loved _____ that He gave His only begotten Son. Go ahead, just put your name right in that blank.  Say it over and over, then look in a mirror and say it again, but don't stop there.  The next step is to believe it!  That's the hard part, at least it was for me, but believing this truth has changed my life!

Yesterday, I was reminded of God's love in a very strange place.  Instead of skipping over that dreaded section of genealogies found in Genesis and Chronicles, I found myself thinking about those names all day.  Countless of men and women, who were fearfully and wonderfully made in our Creator's image and who God knew by name, filled the pages of my Bible and my mind.  That's a lot of names, and He knew each one inside and out.  Amazing!  Then I thought about the women I met earlier this week at the local jail.  I went with the desire to encourage these women with the love of God, yet as I left there it seems that God used these women to encourage me.  Women with a history.  Women whom God knows by name.  Women deeply loved!  I can't even express how this made my heart rejoice.  I didn't see these women as criminals.  What I saw were women with names and stories who longed for love just as I have.  We were no different and in that time of worship, as we sang about our Lord's amazing grace, God's love broke through.  Tears filled the hearts of the broken and we dared to believe, "I am loved!"

Now, go on; fill in that blank with your name and BELIEVE!  I dare you :D