Then he [Joseph] had another dream, and he told it to his brothers. “Listen,” he said, “I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.”
-Genesis 37:9, NIV
I bet Joseph had a very different expectations for how his life than the reality he experienced following telling his brothers his dreams!
He gets sold into slavery and then imprisoned over false accusations. All of this results in a horrible waiting period of THIRTEEN YEARS before Joseph is elevated to a position of power in Egypt. This is amazing to consider as someone who is not unfamiliar with disappointment.
God gave him dreams of his future. These were clear dreams that made it into our Bibles.
However, I am pretty certain slavery and imprisonment were not on Joseph’s “bingo card” for achieving the status highlighted in those dreams. I expect he had plenty of moments of disappointment.
He could have given up on God and his dreams the moment he was sold into slavery. That would have been understandable. Yet he didn’t. He kept striving, and God blessed him with favor.
He could have given up on God and his dreams when he was imprisoned under false accusations by Potiphar’s wife. But he didn’t. He kept faithful to God and open to Him moving even in the prison where God blessed him with favor.
Thirteen years!
That is a long time to contend with disappointment when things are not appearing to go the “right” way.
I don’t know what year you find yourself in your own story. However, I want to exhort you NOT to give into the lies of disappointment but rather to follow Joseph’s example clinging in faith to God’s promises over you.
