When Waiting Is the Will of God - Treasures of Faith - Week 7 Day 3

TODAY'S TREASURE

The Lord was with Joseph so that he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master.

Genesis 39:2

Transcript

When Waiting Is the Will of God

Chuck and Sharon Betters

Today’s Treasure

The Lord was with Joseph so that he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master.

Genesis 39:2

Waiting is never neutral. It either draws us closer to God or tempts us to despair. Joseph’s life teaches us God does His deepest work in the seasons where it feels like He is doing nothing at all. From the moment Joseph is sold by his brothers to the day he interprets Pharaoh’s dream, thirteen years pass. Thirteen years of waiting. Thirteen years of wondering if the dreams he once treasured were only illusions.

Yet Scripture never tells us Joseph lost faith. What it does tell us, four times in Genesis 39 alone, is that “The Lord was with Joseph”. This phrase becomes the anchor of his story. Not that Joseph escaped hardship. Not that he found favor immediately. But that in the pit, in Potiphar’s house, and even in prison, God never left him. That’s covenant faithfulness. That’s Emmanuel, God with us.

When Potiphar’s wife falsely accused Joseph and he was thrown into prison, his story could have ended in bitterness. But Joseph learned and chose to believe God's providence governs not only our blessings but also our trials. The Heidelberg Catechism asks, “What do you understand by the providence of God?” and answers: “The almighty and ever present power of God by which God upholds…all things…so that nothing happens…without His will.” (Q&A 27)

Joseph’s waiting was not wasted—it was worship. While serving in prison, he continued to use his gifts, interpreted dreams, and lived faithfully before God. He did not demand immediate rescue. He walked slowly, step by step, trusting the same God who gave him dreams would bring them to pass in His own time. This kind of patient endurance is rare, but it’s the fruit of deep-rooted faith.

Faith in waiting is not passive. It is active trust. It resists the lies of the enemy that say, “God has forgotten you,” and instead clings to the character of God. We rest not in outcomes, but in God’s sovereignty. Joseph believed God was still present even when nothing changed externally. He knew the Lord was with him. That assurance was enough.

This is the kind of faith that glorifies God. Not the kind that rejoices only in deliverance, but the kind that clings to hope in prison, in injustice, in silence. The kind that keeps trusting when the cupbearer forgets you for two more years (Genesis 40:23). Joseph's faithfulness in the shadows prepared him for leadership in the light. God was not only preserving Joseph—He was transforming him.

Often we want resurrection without the tomb, glory without the cross, fulfillment without the waiting. But the gospel story teaches us otherwise. Jesus, the greater Joseph, waited thirty years before beginning His public ministry. He waited through desert temptations, misunderstood teaching, and even betrayal. And in the garden, when the cross loomed large, He waited for His Father’s will to unfold. The pattern is clear: God often delays, not to harm us, but to shape us.

If God has you in a season of waiting, do not waste it. Do not grow cold or cynical. Instead, open your hands. Surrender to the refining work of a faithful God. Waiting is not evidence of God’s absence—it is often the clearest stage on which His faithfulness shines.

LIFE-GIVING ENCOURAGEMENT

Are you in a place where your dreams feel distant? Are you wondering if your faithfulness matters when no one sees it? Joseph's story tells us God sees, God knows, and God is with you. The waiting rooms of life are often where God prepares His people for their greatest influence. Don’t despise this season. Use it to grow in obedience, character, and trust.

Instead of asking, “When will this end?” ask, “Lord, what are You doing in me here?” The Lord is with you, not only in the mountaintop victories, but in the mundane and the painful places. The wait is not wasted.

PRAYER

Sovereign Lord, help me to wait with faith. When I feel forgotten or passed by, remind me that You are near. Strengthen me to live faithfully in obscurity, knowing You are shaping me for Your purposes. Teach me to surrender my timeline to You, and help me rest in Your providential love. In the name of Jesus, who waited perfectly, I pray. 

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Adapted from Treasures of Faith by Chuck and Sharon Betters with permission from P&R Publishing

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