After Two Whole Years

This morning I was reading in Genesis 39-41. This is the story of Joseph with Potiphar's wife, his imprisonment, and his dream interpreting. I was struck in reading the first verse in chapter 41, that God's timetable is not ours. Even concerning the godly, which clearly Joseph was - even when one's heart's desire is to please the Lord - God's timing is not always what we would hope and pray for. And it wasn't the case for Joseph. The time between Joseph's interpretation of the cupbearer's dream with his restoration to his position and when Pharaoh was in need of an interpretation for his dream was two whole years. As I sat here pondering that, I was led to wonder why. Why two whole years? Why would Joseph have to continue to sit in that prison for two additional years and wait? I don't know the answer to that, and clearly it's not important or the text would have made it clear as to why. The important things to know are these: 1) God always has a plan for our lives. 2) There are always times in our lives when we must wait on God for His plan to unfold. 3) God always has the best for us. Even if that means sitting in prison for years, whatever your prison is, He has an ultimate plan for your life. His plan wasn't to harm Joseph, but to give him a future and a hope. And sometimes, behind the scenes, other things are unfolding that we are completely unaware of. What a blessing it is to trust in the Lord for all of this - hard as it may be at times since we're programmed by our culture to get what we want now. Jehovah Jireh, our Provider - all we need is found in Him. Praise the Lord!