I think one of the biggest things I've learned over the last couple years is that we expect blessing in minutes, but God gives blessing in generations. That doesn't mean He doesn't care for us and love us as His children right now, but He doesn't need to rush all of His plans into one person's lifespan, because He has the lifetime of the earth to bring His plan to completion.
So often we look at an event in our lives, or even an international or national event, and we convince ourselves because of what happened today, this week, or even this year, that God has abandoned us, or God doesn't want to bless us, or maybe even that God is mad at us. Sometimes God's greatest victories in our lives come on the back side of these moments. Usually, in my experience, God's greatest blessings come after spending some time in the darkest valleys, as Psalm 23 refers to it.
If you went to jail for a crime you didn't commit, how long would it take before you decided maybe God had turned His back on you?
If you were left for dead in a well, then sold into slavery, how long would it take for you to question whether God heard your voice?
In Genesis 37, Joseph is thrown into a well by his brothers because they were angry that their father loved him more than them. Their intent was for him to die without the blood being directly on their hands, but God had other plans. As Joseph's brothers were still nearby, a caravan ends up coming along and they end up selling him as a slave to the Midianites. He didn't die in the well! But he was now a slave...
As I try to put myself in Joseph's shoes, I know I'd be burning with anger at my brothers for doing this to me. I probably had an idea what I thought God's plans were for my life, and now I'm struggling to figure out how they're ever going to happen. I'm starting to question why God would take me away from my family. Why would God abandon me and let me fall into slavery?
Joseph ends up getting sold to Potiphar, the king's official in charge of the palace guard. Things are starting to look up. Potiphar puts Joseph in charge of his house and all his possessions. Joseph is probably starting to feel pretty good about everything. Things didn't immediately seem like they were going to work out, but certainly God is making the best out of an unfortunate situation and preparing Joseph for something great. He's probably looking for a wife and starting to plan out his life again.
Well, most likely around the same time Joseph started crushing on one of the women in the palace and getting his future plans in order, Potiphar's wife tries to seduce him and when he refuses, she frames him and tells Potiphar that he tried to force himself on her. Once again... life falls apart. Potiphar throws Joseph into jail for two years!
Immediately, I'd be frustrated. A week in, I'd think for sure God was going to do something crazy to get me out of there. A couple months in I'd start to ask God where He had gone. Two years in... I'd feel completely abandoned. All the plans I thought God had for my life aren't ever going to happen. I might as well figure out what my plan is to make the best out of the time that I have, because there's no way God has a plan for my life.
How many of us fall into this?! How quick are we to decide that God isn't listening or that He doesn't care? For two years, Joseph sat in jail, as God prepared for his grand entrance back into Pharaoh's kingdom.
Pharaoh ends up having a dream that no one in his kingdom could interpret, until one man remembers that Joseph had interpreted a dream for him correctly while he was in jail. Two years after being sent to jail, Pharaoh sends for Joseph to come and interpret his dream. Pharaoh trusts his interpretation and trusts that he is a man of God. He makes the decision to entrust his entire kingdom to Joseph, and puts him in charge of all the people to make preparations for the coming famine.
We don't know for sure that Joseph didn't go through any more valleys, but we can see how faithful God was to His servant, even when it might have seemed like all hope was lost. Fortunately, Joseph didn't give up on God, but was available to hear from Him when the opportunity came to interpret Pharaoh's dream.
A lot of times when we talk about being blessed, we expect God to give us finances and good health, but in Joseph's case, the beginning of his blessing was going through the valley of getting thrown into jail for two years. God will teach us things in the valley that we need to bring with us on our way out. If we continue to trust the Lord when all seems lost, He's going to continue to lead us into the life He has planned for His children.
The experiences we have are on purpose - God is giving them to us to prepare us for our future. Don't give up in the valley, because there's a mountain in the distance God is preparing you to climb.
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