The "wait" of the unknown

Yesterday, in my thoughts on Joseph, I left one thing out. Let me address that today. It actually shows up in the next chapter. One of the things that I had not thought about is Jacob (Israel), his dad. For more than 13 years Jacob has thought his son was dead. For more than 13 years he is grieving over his loss. All during that time God never tells him, "don't worry, everything is ok." All Jacob has is a blood stained robe of many colors and his grief. He doesn't know that his son is alive and God makes no attempt to calm his grief or tell him what the plan is. Jacob grieves, assuming his son is dead, enduring the "wait" of the unknown. God is silent.


Then, something amazing happens. His sons come back from Egypt and announce, "Joseph is alive!" He doesn't believe them. He's in shock at the idea, but when he finally comes to his senses he makes plans to go to Egypt and see this son he has grieved over for more than 13 years.


As he begins the journey to Egypt God speaks to him in chapter 46,


Gen 46:1 So Israel set out with all that he had, and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac.
Gen 46:2 God spoke to Israel in visions of the night and said, "Jacob, Jacob." And he said, "Here I am."
Gen 46:3 He said, "I am God, the God of your father; do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you a great nation there.
Gen 46:4 "I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also surely bring you up again; and Joseph will close your eyes."


Now, as I read that I wondered, why didn't God tell him that Joseph was alive and calm his grief during those long 13 years? Why doesn't he tell us what he's working on in our lives that would make the long wait more endurable? Why must we live in the realm of the unknown until it's time to reveal his plan?

I think Jacob would have done everything he could to go to Egypt, buy Joseph back or bail him out of his dilemma and "save" him, but if he had done that then Joseph wouldn't have been there to tell Pharaoh about his dream, to rule the country, to learn how to manage, or to save thousands of lives. Jacob was only concerned for one life- Joseph, but God was concerned for everyone and Joseph was part of the redemption plan. God had to keep Jacob in the dark, waiting until his plan was finished.

Often, we have to "wait" in the unknown because if God told us how it was all going to work out we would surely mess it up. Often, the silence of "wait" is miserable, but God will tell us what he was working on when the time is right. It should make us look at the "wait" differently. A time of waiting is a time of anticipation....until God reveals what he's been working on in our lives. Waiting is hard, but it will be wonderfully worth it.