joseph saw his brothers and recognized them, but he treated them like strangers and spoke roughly to them. “where do you come from?” he said. they said, “from the land of canaan, to buy food.” and joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him. and joseph remembered the dreams that he had dreamed of them. and he said to them, “you are spies; you have come to see the nakedness of the land.” they said to him, “no, my lord, your servants have come to buy food. we are all sons of one man. we are honest men. your servants have never been spies.” [genesis 42:7-11]
waiting on the Lord…
have you been praying for something for a very long time? have you been waiting on the salvation of a brother? or maybe the healing of your own body? praying for a spouse? maybe something has been promised but not yet fulfilled?
here we see a moment that i can only imagine joseph wondered would ever come. God had given joseph a dream two decades before, and now he is finally seeing it fulfilled in front of his eyes. joseph remembered the dreams that he had dreamed of them. this scene must have looked familiar and brought his dream to mind. i can also only imagine the worship that was happening in his heart to see the faithfulness of the God who fulfills promises!
but 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. [isa 40:31]
- joseph did a lot of waiting for the Lord. he remained faithful because he trusted in the faithfulness of God’s steadfast covenant love for him.– but the Lord was with joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. [genesis 39:21]
- joseph was mounted up with wings as an eagle because he humbled himself to the sovereign plan of this loving God.– humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, [1 peter 5:6]
- joseph’s strength was renewed and so instead of embracing idleness, he served the Lord without growing weary, without fainting. when joseph came to them in the morning, he saw that they were troubled. so he asked pharaoh’s officers who were with him in custody in his master’s house, “why are your faces downcast today?” they said to him, “we have had dreams, and there is no one to interpret them.” and joseph said to them, “do not interpretations belong to God? please tell them to me.” [genesis 40:6-8]
waiting, trusting, serving, walking humbly in obedience, proclaiming the excellencies of the steadfast love of God. may we be men and women of such faithful waiting! may our waiting be filled with fervent prayer, zealous service, and unshakable trust in the sovereign plan of a good, good Father who loves us.
~ arwen eastman