God of the Seemingly Hopeless
Israel said to Joseph, ‘I had not thought to see your face and lo! God has let me see your children also.’ (Gen. 48:11).
Gen. 39:22-33, 48:8-19, 50:20; Ps. 39:7; Ps. 42:11, 146:5; Eph. 2:12-13; Ph. 4:6
What Is God Saying?
Joseph was sold as a slave by his jealous brothers. He was the first son of Jacob's beloved Rachel. One can understand his partiality, but it showed. Joseph was the son who got the long robe with sleeves (the coat of many colors). Favoritism has a record of wrecking families. It certainly made Jacob's family a hornet's nest of troubled siblings. Reuben, who had a cooler head than his brothers, talked them out of murdering Joseph. As a compromise Joseph was sold into slavery and a passing caravan took him to Egypt.
Their father was deceived into thinking that his son was slain by a wild beast, but God had a different plan. ‘They meant it for evil, but God meant it for good’ (Gen. 50:20). These were the words of Joseph who had gone from the rags of slavery to the riches of ruling. He was next to the Pharoah in power and authority That's how it is with the God of the seemingly hopeless. Think of Jacob's grief as he mourned over the loss of Joseph, the son of his old age, who he would never see again. In the Providence of God, the seemingly hopeless came true (as it often does) with a surprising bonus. Not only did he see his son again but his son's sons as well.
How Does This Apply To Us?
God does rule over the seemingly hopeless. Jacob wanted to see his beloved son's face. Through many years he must have told himself over and over that this was completely hopeless. Joseph was dead. The brothers had shown him proof. He would see him no more, but God is above everything we call hopeless. God is greater than all our expectations. He not only gives us more than we deserve, He also gives us more than we expect. That is God's way in this life. We lose the right person in our teens to find the perfect one in our maturity. We lose a good job to find a better one. We discover that God is the God of the seemingly hopeless.
Pray With Me
O God, You are greater than all my expectations. When the purest delight enters my mind, I am just touching the fringe of Your glory and love. When my cup of gladness can hold no more, You send new mercies and it overflows. Israel never expected to see the face of Joseph again, yet You gave him the joy of seeing and holding the children of the child he thought he had lost. In the same way, blessings come to my life and will come, beyond imagination.
With a calm and grateful heart, O Lord, I wait upon You. When the flame of love grows cold, O God of the unexpected, send me a vision of Your Son that I may see love incarnate that is beyond all measure. When hope seems long deferred, O God of the unexpected, let me be stirred and steadied by the promise of Your Word, ‘No mere man has ever seen, heard or even imagined what wonderful things that God has ready for those who love the Lord.’ Give me the confidence of knowing that You ‘can do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think,’ and that for You and in You and through You, I can do the same.
By the living presence of Jesus; for the sake of His glory. Amen.
Moving On In The Life of Prayer
‘In everything by prayer, let your requests be made known to God’ (Phil. 4:6). Let the God of hope deal with us in our hopeless situations. He has the best solutions to the worst situations. In everything, pray.
