Mark continued his series on Joseph yesterday morning, looking at Genesis 426-43:34. This is the fulfilment of the long-awaited dream, and he looked at the question of ‘what happens when God’s dream is fulfilled in our lives?’
In some ways, chasing a dream keeps us motivated and fuelled. Even though Joseph had endured slavery, false accusations, imprisonment and then a rise to great power, he had remained faithful to God, possibly motivated on those dark days by the dream itself. Now, as his brothers bow before him, he sees the outworking of the dream, but there is still much to be done before he reveals himself to them.
Joseph’s brothers had to travel from Canaan to Egypt for grain, a long journey of 200 miles. As they travelled back, leaving Simeon as hostage, they must have had many questions and the fact that their silver was returned added to their confusion. They blamed God for this (‘What has God done to us?’ Gen 42:28), even though their own actions were largely at the root of their problems, and they were understandably frightened. Nonetheless, as Joseph proves, though we often feel God is punishing us when difficult times hit, even the difficult circumstances of life are used by God to fulfil His purposes! Jacob’s reluctance to lose yet another son is understandable, and yet the famine’s severity meant a return journey became inevitable eventually. Life is so often made up of journeys and God has ways of moving us into the right place, even though at times we are reluctant to move.
When we see God move in power in our lives and fulfil the dreams He has given us, there is rejoicing… but there can also be a subsequent sense of anticlimax. What next? When we moved into the new building on Market Street, was that the end of our journey with God? Far from it! God reveals His plans to us in stages, and when one dream is fulfilled, another dream is unveiled. It’s all about the journey: about learning to walk with God by faith each day. Joseph learned so much from the ‘in-between’ stages, and how we live in the journeying is as important as journey’s end.
‘There is a joy in the journey
There’s a light we can love on the way.
There is a wonder and wildness to life
And freedom for those who obey.’ (‘Joy In the Journey’, Michael Card.)