May 7, 2025
Trusting God When Life Seems Futile
“You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” Genesis 50:20
Have you ever had dreams that you believed God put in your heart, but for whatever reason they never came to pass? It can be frustrating, confusing and even lead to disillusionment. You can easily begin to feel like your life is going nowhere. I mean, what’s the use?
That’s one of the reasons I love the way the Bible presents people’s stories warts and all, complete with failures, setbacks and broken dreams. One of my favorite stories in the Old Testament is the life of Joseph found in Genesis chapters 37-50.
When Joseph was a teenager, he became convinced that God had significant plans for him. Through a series of dreams, God gave him a foreshadowing that one day each of his brothers would bow before him.
When you have a dream like that, it’s hard to keep it to yourself. But the only problem was that Joseph, in all his youth and zeal, hadn’t quite learned to read the room - or to show a little humility.
His brothers were already jealous of him because of their father’s clear favoritism towards him. Due to his old age when Joseph was born, Jacob treated Joseph special. Among other things, he had an ornate coat made for Joseph.
In reading Genesis 37, two things were clearly true, Jacob favored Joseph and there was plenty of dysfunction in that family.
The Bible says that when Joseph told them of his dream that they would bow down to him, they hated him and they put a plan in motion to get rid of him. When Jacob sent Joseph out to meet his brothers who were grazing the flocks, they seized the opportunity to be done with him.
They threw him in a pit and left him to die, but one of the brothers felt that was too harsh, so they sold him into slavery instead. To cover up their actions, they took Joseph’s special coat, dipped it in animal blood and told their father that Joseph had been killed by wild animals.
Thus began a saga that would drastically alter Joseph’s life for the foreseeable future. Over the next 13 years, the dreams of greatness would seemingly fade into oblivion. From the outside looking in, it appeared that no matter how faithful Joseph remained to God, his life was one of futility.
He wound up serving in the house of Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s officials. Joseph’s faithfulness quickly caught the eye of Potiphar and he rewarded Joseph with extra responsibilities. Unfortunately, he also caught the eye of Potiphar’s wife, who repeatedly made advances at him. Joseph resisted her attempts, but on one occasion barely got away with his shirt being ripped away. Offended that Joseph had resisted her advances, Potiphar’s wife falsely accused Joseph of trying to rape him and used his shirt as proof. Potiphar was furious at this seeming betrayal of a man he had trusted and had him thrown in prison, where Joseph would spend the next 12 years of his life.
Even in prison, Joseph remained faithful and earned the favor of the palace guard. He was even placed in charge of all the prisoners.
But in spite of his faithfulness, it appeared that his dreams were still going nowhere.
About 10 years into his prison stay, it appeared that Joseph would catch his big break. The Pharaoh’s cup bearer and baker were thrown into jail with Joseph. Joseph accurately interpreted their dreams. Unfortunately, it was a death sentence for the baker, but for the cup bearer, he was released from jail and restored to his previous position. All Joseph asked was for the cup bearer - whose position gave him great access to Pharaoh - to put in a good word for him. Of course, the cup bearer forgot and another two years would pass with Joseph languishing behind bars. The outlook seemed dismal for Joseph. Would he spend the rest of his days rotting away in that prison and never accomplish the dreams God had put in his heart.
But waiting time isn’t wasted time with God. Joseph was learning lessons in humility, perseverance, faithfulness, leadership and forgiveness that would soon be needed to save a nation.
A couple years later, Pharaoh had a troubling dream that he couldn’t shake. The cup bearer was reminded of how Joseph had interpreted his dream and told the Pharaoh. Joseph was summoned and, with God’s leading, correctly interpreted the dream. The Pharaoh’s dream that Joseph interpreted predicted seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine far exceeding the years of plenty. The Pharaoh decided to put Joseph in charge of all of Egypt, particularly its food supply. In one instant, God moved Joseph from the prison to the palace. Even when God seemed silent in Joseph’s life, He was working in his circumstances, putting steel in his soul and preparing him for the great task that was before him, which was saving Egypt and surrounding areas from starvation. Due to Joseph’s skillful leadership, people came from far and wide for food, which of course, came at a price, making Egypt even more formidable as a nation.
It also led to an unlikely reunion with Joseph’s brothers and father. They were one of the families that came from far and wide for food. Just as God had done in Joseph’s life, He had been working in the lives of his brothers as well, changing their hearts and preparing them for a reunion that would lead to reconciliation and forgiveness (another story for another time).
What can you take away from Joseph’s story?
God’s delays are not God’s denials.
God is shaping and molding you in the waiting time, building your character and preparing you for the task ahead.
God can do in an instant what you could not do for yourself in a lifetime.
God honors your faithfulness. In due time, He will lift you up so that His name will be lifted up.
God’s heart is always reconciliation.