Hearing His Voice #25

Until the time that his word came to pass, the word of the LORD tested [Joseph].

Psalm 105:19, NKJV

Often when God speaks, circumstances begin to move in the opposite direction of what He says. That was certainly the case with Joseph; he had two dreams that depicted him in a position of power, and he saw his family members bowing down to him. Very quickly, some of those family members betrayed him and sold him into slavery, and he found himself at the bottom of Egypt’s social order for the next few years, spending much of that time in prison. This was the antithesis of what God had spoken, and surely Joseph must have wondered what had gone wrong. Did he mishear God? Did God change His mind? Had Joseph blown it by telling everyone the dreams? God clearly wasn’t doing what He had said—if He had even said it in the first place. According to the psalmist, the word of the Lord tested Joseph until what he had been told came to pass.

That’s a common dynamic when God has given a promise or direction. The visible world seems to stretch us in uncomfortable directions while we wait for God to do His part. In the meantime, we ask questions: Did He really speak? Did we hear Him correctly? Did He change His mind? Did we mess it up somehow? The wait can be painfully long, and many are tempted to give up before the fulfillment. But when God has really spoken and we have really heard, waiting in faith is the right response. Even if the wait is excruciating.

We need to understand that God often gives us a view of the end of a matter, not a view of the process. Our choices in the meantime say a lot about what we believe about God’s goodness. As we cling to hope, maintain faith, and learn patience, He works His nature into us. In the process, we eventually receive not only the fulfillment but also a changed nature.

Lord, give me strength to persevere through the process, hope to see from Your perspective, and faith to endure.