If you know the story of Joseph in the Old Testament, you’ll remember how he was sold into slavery by his brothers. He ended up as a slave in Egypt, and his master’s wife accused him of rape, which of course he didn’t commit. He was thrown into prison for those wrong accusations. While in prison, he met the Egyptian Pharaoh’s baker and butler, who were also thrown into the same prison for various reason. While they were in prison, the baker and butler both had strange dreams which Joseph was able to interpret for them. The baker was soon executed as his dream had foretold and the butler was soon returned to his position at the palace. The butler had told Joseph that he would mention Joseph’s predicament to Pharoah when he got out in hopes that the king would release Joseph, since he had done nothing wrong. However, it was two long years later before Pharaoh had a strange dream and THEN the butler remembered, “Oh yes, I remember – when I was in prison, a young Hebrew was in the prison, and he was able to tell me what my dream meant!” And of course, Joseph was able to interpret Pharaoh’s dream and he became second in command of ALL of Egypt.
Now, lets look back at Joseph for a moment after the butler was released from prison. The butler had told Joseph that he would tell Pharaoh all about him! And so for the next few days, Joseph probably thought, “Finally, I’m going to get out of this prison!” But nothing happened. Then a month passed – nothing happened. Six months passed – nothing happened! And for TWO YEARS – nothing happened!! I’m sure by then, if not long before, Joseph had given up hope. Yet, everything happened according to GOD’s PERFECT timing!
If the butler had told Pharaoh about Joseph as soon as he got out of prison, Joseph might have been set free, but then he would have most likely tried to make his way back to his father’s house in his own country, and he wouldn’t have been around when Pharaoh had the strange dream, which he was able to interpret – and which made him second in command of all of Egypt, and thereby he was able to save thousands of lives during the 7 years of famine that Pharaoh’s dream foretold.
Many times, we get impatient with God. We give our lives to God, and we expect IMMEDIATE results. When stuff doesn’t happen exactly the way we want it to, or in our time table, we get discouraged and even angry at God sometimes. However, we MUST remember – God doesn’t work on OUR timetable or according to OUR plans. The Bible tells us in Psalm 115:3, “But our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases.” and in Psalm 135:6, “Whatever the LORD pleases, He does, In heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all deeps.” He doesn’t owe us any explanation for what He does – He is God!
We simply must learn as Joseph had to – God is in control – wait for Him to work and He’ll do what ONLY He can do. “they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” (Isaiah 40:31) We can either crawl and scrap our way through life, or we can trust COMPLETELY in God and soar through life on eagle wings with Him in control and guiding us one step at a time!