Have you ever been so hungry but the food was not ready yet? You are both, frustrated but you are expectant because you know, in the right time, dinner will be ready.
Perhaps you are frustrated about your calling not seeing fruitfulness. Some may see your goals hitting wall after wall. Others of you see struggle in the start of your new business venture. Maybe the marriage is not as you thought it would be or , if you are single, you are still waiting for that spouse the Lord has for you. Some of us see a ministry that is not what we felt God told us it would be. In either case, we are living in the tension of being certain of the calling but looking into the face of frustration.
There is a scene in Genesis 45:16-25 that speaks to this tension. Joseph has revealed himself to his brothers (v.1) and has told them that they will get the "best of the land of Egypt" (v. 16). He told them to go and to get their father and in verse 25 it says: "So they went up out of Egypt and came to the land of Canaan to their father Jacob." This verse, by itself, is simple and not seemingly significant in the grand scheme of the narrative. The truth is that it is extremely powerful for what it is communicating to us who know the full story and know what is about to happen in the book of Exodus.
Jacob is in Canaan, and Joseph is in Egypt. Canaan is the land promised to Abraham and his descendants, which includes Jacob and his children and Egypt will be the place of slavery. Note this truth: Jacob is already in the land of promise and we know that what is about to happen in Egypt with the people is 450 years of slavery (Acts 13:20). So here is the question: Why would God have them in the promised land but then send them to Egypt for 450 years under the oppression? I am certain there are deeper answers to this question than what I am going to pose, but I am confident that what I am about to say is true: dinner was not ready yet. Whatever God wanted in and from Israel, whatever needed to take place before they occupied the land of Canaan, not all of it had taken place.
If we are faithful to the Lord in our calling the experience of delay is not the final answer. The delay is teaching us that every ingredient needed for the fulfillment is not ready yet. You labor for years in ministry and it seems that nothing is happening; you pray and have your eyes open for that spouse but what you see is only that which will cause you to settle; you started that business and even small success is slower and harder than you thought it would be. You can tend to believe that something is wrong. But maybe the reality is that everything is right but something or someone is not ready yet?
The crazy thing is that they were in the land they would, 450 later possess. You may very well be in the place of success and greatness right now. You may be speaking to a person everyday not knowing the Lord will change the vibes and cause love to blossom. Right now, however, either you or they are not ready. You may have met the person who, in a little while, will end up being someone who connects you to someone and your business expands. You may already be in the church that will grow one day. Maybe you are the planter and the real harvest comes after you! Something, now, is not yet ready. But here is what I know, something I am confident in but need to remind myself of often: if we remain faithful to Him whatever we experience is preparation for our being made ready.
Here is what we hear from Joseph towards the end of his life. All the pain and frustrations that had happened to him was because of the jealousy of his brothers. Jospeh's take on it all was this, "...you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today" (Genesis 50:20). Joseph had to experience tragedy to come to this perspective. We, through his life, see why the delays in our life happen: God is doing what is best for His glory and, therefore, what is necessary for our greatness.
Dinner is almost ready!
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