how-longGod’s wise redeeming love is completely compatible with evil things happening to you. Sometimes God’s loving wisdom takes DECADES before He reveals His good intents and purposes for His own glory and your good! Consider Joseph from Genesis…

Joseph was 17 years old when the story begins about him in Genesis 32:7. His dysfunction and that of his family resulted in God acting to redeem him, his family, keep many people alive, not to mention perpetuating the Messianic line so that Christ would be born and all who believe would be saved! In the span of 13 years Joseph was attacked by his brothers who hated him so much they wanted to kill him. Instead they sold him into slavery to Midianites… who sold him further into slavery in Egypt to Potipher… who’s wife falsely accused him of rape. He was then thrown into prison and forgotten for two years by men who promised to get him out.

FINALLY when Joseph was 30 years old he was elevated to second in power under Pharaoh in Egypt (Gen 41:46). Then began 7 years of plenty as grain was stored up in preparation for 7 years of famine (Gen 41:34-36). At some point during the 7 years of famine, Joseph’s brothers came to him asking for grain. That means Joseph was most probably in his 40s, possibly around 44 years old when life started making sense to Joseph! Now let’s think for a moment about a few things…

It is difficult to impossible to find any mention of God in the narrative about Joseph and these events until Genesis 50:20. Never once in Genesis is it recorded that God revealed to Joseph His purposes in all the evil that was happening to him. That means for 13 years Joseph endured evil with the very real possibility of God’s silence from heaven. Adding it all up together, Joseph was 17 when his “troubles” began and there was not a resolution and restoration with his family until he was… let’s say for argument’s sake… 44 years old. That means God’s work of redemption and blessing took 27 years!

If each of those things had not happened the way they did, at the time they did, the Messianic line would have ended from the famine and we would not be saved. Consider God is just as much at work in your life as a believer… and you may perceive it. BUT, you have the story of Joseph to understand what he did not know… namely, God IS at work in your life for His glory AND your good!

You may be in year 1… 10… or 13 of God’s process working in you. You won’t know until.. and IF… God chooses to reveal what He’s doing. That is why we live each day by faith and the reason we have faith AND hope in God!