The Place of In-Between

When I was fifteen years old, I saw my future husband for the first time. As soon as I laid eyes on him, I had a vision of the two of us getting married. It certainly wasn't by my own accord. At that time, I had a sincere devotion to the man that I would someday marry, and I was immediately consumed with guilt that I had somehow dishonored him. Little did I know that almost four years to the day, I would walk down the aisle and become this young man's wife. But God knew. He didn't give me a timetable or date. He didn't fill me in on all that I would encounter and endure along the way. Just a short glimpse of His will that would one day come to be.

Twenty-three. That's how many years had passed since Joseph's dreams. Had he forgotten them along the way? Perhaps with age, he chose to leave the past in the past. He was now a governor of Egypt, and in charge of dispensing the food in the midst of a famine. Just an ordinary day in Joseph's life. Yet no ordinary day. A day of fulfillment and the beginning of redemption in a broken family:

"Now Joseph was governor over the land. He was the one who sold to

all the people of the land. And Joseph's brothers came and bowed themselves before

him with their faces to the ground. 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."

- Genesis 42:6-9a

What a moment! Joseph saw his brothers for the first time in over two decades. He recognized them, but they did not recognize him. Immediately they bow down, and Joseph is taken back to his seventeen year old self. The dreams. He had dreamt them so long ago. And here it was. Fulfillment! And no doubt, hope restored. Hope in a God that really does work all things for the good of those who love Him. Joseph had finally made it to the other side.

What about you? How are you waiting on God for fulfillment? Has God put a longing on your heart, or a clear message, but you've been stuck in a place of in-between? Maybe it's the hope of a dream job, or the longing for a spouse, or the ache for a child. Maybe it's the need for a fresh start, or release from an addiction. A reconciliation, or a life with purpose. When God sparks a fire, our desire is to see a quick end result. Yet our timeless God isn't bound to the timetables we create. Maybe each setback or challenge we face is actually one step closer to God's will for us. And just when we least expect it, the door we so hope for will finally open.

Until then...