Mark continued his series on Joseph this morning, looking at Genesis 42:1-24. In this passage, Joseph comes face to face with ten of his brothers again as they journey to Egypt for food because of the severity of the famine. As they bow down before him (the second-in-command in Egypt), Joseph is reminded vividly of his dream and is suddenly face to face with the realisation that God is still working all things out. He must have felt shocked, maybe even angry, towards his brothers and perhaps his judgment was clouded because of the rush of emotions as he recognised them. Maybe this was the reason he spoke harshly to them and tested them.
Joseph had never forgotten the dreams God gave him so many years previously, but he was a busy man and had learned to get on with life in the meantime. God gives us all dreams and visions, but often does not tell us the timescales and sometimes we have to wait years for the dream to be fulfilled. When we see signs of that happening, the temptation is to ‘help the dream along’, to give God further assistance through how we behave. We need to understand, however, that God does not need us to work out His plans: He is perfectly capable of doing that Himself!
It must have grated on Joseph to hear his brothers describe themselves as ‘honourable men’, given what they had done to him. But in spite of any wrong reactions on Joseph’s part, fear of God was an integral part of his life and after throwing his brothers into prison for three days, he comes to an alternative arrangements that provides food for them whilst still working out the truth of the story. How do we react when the ‘time is fully right’ and God moves? Are we willing to pray and allow Him to continue to work out His plans, or do we constantly try to work things out in our own strength? We need to know that God accepts us just as we are (failings and wrong reactions included) and is fully able to complete the work that He has begun in our lives. (Phil 1:6) We also need to know that God’s timing is perfect (Ps 18:30, Eccl 3.)
‘Can You take me by the hand?
Can You use me as I am?
Break me into who You want me to be.
When the time is finally right
Will You open up my eyes
And show me everything You want me to see?
This life is not my own…’ (‘To God Alone’, Aaron Shust)