Worship Wednesday
He Is… FAITHFUL
“If we are unfaithful, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny who He is.” II Timothy 2:13
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the story of Joseph, maybe because that’s currently my son’s absolute favorite Veggie Tales episode haha. Seriously, if you have not yet seen “The Ballet of Little Joe”, it’s definitely worth your time! But honestly I do love that story. Joseph teaches us so much about trusting in God’s goodness, faithfulness, and provision. Lately however, I’ve begun looking past the story we read about in Genesis 37-50, and have discovered that God’s faithfulness in Joseph’s story actually extends much further than what meets the eye. Maybe it is the derivative from which we see His faithfulness to us today?
On Monday I read an article entitled “God as a Rescuer and a Midwife”. The author shared her personal experiences learning that God doesn’t usually come to our rescue with a quick fix. Instead, He is with us in the waiting. Again, I thought of Joseph. He had a LOT of waiting happening in his life! And just when things seemed to be getting better, they would fall apart and he’d be waiting AGAIN to see God’s faithfulness come through.
Right now, we can all relate to that! Look at us. How long have we been waiting now for our lives to “just get back to normal” or for God to bring on some mind-blowing revelation or great revival? Sometimes God does work in those ways. I bet each of us can reference at least one time in our life, or the life of someone else, where God came to the rescue in a miraculous mighty way. So we know this can happen! But why isn’t it right now? Why are we still waiting to see God’s plan, His faithfulness, come through? But more importantly, how will we spend our time in the waiting?
After Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery, a man named Potiphar purchased him to serve in his house. Now, I don’t know about you, but if I had been SOLD INTO SLAVERY BY MY SIBLINGS, I would be the most bitter and unmotivated slave there ever was. But how does Joseph respond?
“When Joseph was taken to Egypt by the Ishmaelite traders, he was purchased by Potiphar, an Egyptian officer. Potiphar was captain of the guard for Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. The Lord was with Joseph, so he succeeded in everything he did as he served in the home of his Egyptian master. Potiphar noticed this and realized that the Lord was with Joseph, giving him success in everything he did. This pleased Potiphar, so he made Joseph his personal attendant. He put him in charge of his entire household and everything he owned.” Gen. 39:1-4
Joseph chose to believe that God was still with him even in the waiting. That’s the decision I believe we are confronted with today. It’s my choice whether I will engage with God and notice all the ways He’s interacting with me - but He IS there. I think it’s easy as Believers to know in our head that God’s faithful because that’s what we’ve been taught, or read, or experienced. But our tendency is to just wait for His faithfulness to come through because we know that at some point it has to - which is true! II Timothy 2:13 tells us that God cannot be unfaithful, it’s not who He is. But here’s what I’m wondering lately: Am I missing out on Him trying to be with me in the waiting because I’m just ready for it to be over?
Sometimes Conagher asks me to turn on the TV for him (Veggie Tales, of course!). So I’ll turn on an episode, then go to the kitchen table, sit down, and try to get 30 minutes of work done! Usually about 10 minutes in, he’ll come pull on my shirt to come watch with him. If I’m really trying to work, he’ll just sit there quietly in my lap and watch me work on my computer. At the end of the day, he really just wants to be with me. Sure, he’d like me to come sit and watch TV with him. But if I can’t, he just wants to do whatever I’m doing. That’s how I imagine Jesus during our waiting periods. He wants us to invite Him in to whatever we’re doing, whatever we’re feeling that day. He just wants to be with us in the waiting.
After serving Potiphar, Joseph is thrown into prison under false accusations. It’s there that he meets Pharaoh’s chief baker, who later introduces him to Pharaoh, who makes him the second most powerful man in all of Egypt. It seems like this would be the final resolution - God’s faithful has come full circle! But actually, God’s faithfulness through all of Joseph’s waiting extends way beyond his personal experiences. Because of Joseph’s position in Egypt, his family - the 12 tribes of Israel - find provision during a famine that would have wiped out their entire ancestry. From this lineage comes Moses who leads the Israelites out of slavery many years later. Even more than that, from this lineage comes king David, and from king David’s lineage comes Jesus. And NOW we can see God’s faithfulness FULL CIRCLE! If Joseph hadn’t gone through all of that waiting, he wouldn’t have had the position in Egypt that would rescue the entire nation of Israel, and by extension Jesus Christ, who rescued us.
God’s faithfulness always extends WAY beyond what we see in the moment. But what will we do during the lulls? Will we pause to acknowledge that He is with us while we wait for His undeniable faithfulness comes through? Or maybe we need to see that His being with us in the waiting IS His faithfulness - that it doesn’t necessarily show up at the end of the story, it’s woven throughout. As you listen to worship setlist today, ask God to show you how He has been with you in the waiting. Because He Is… FAITHFUL.
