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In a Little While from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo.

When Joseph was a young boy of about seventeen years, God gave him a dream showing that he would be a ruler one day. But when Joseph told his brothers about it, they became jealous and angry.

(Genesis 37:5–8 NKJV)  Now Joseph had a dream, and he told it to his brothers; and they hated him even more. So he said to them, "Please hear this dream which I have dreamed: There we were, binding sheaves in the field. Then behold, my sheaf arose and also stood upright; and indeed your sheaves stood all around and bowed down to my sheaf." And his brothers said to him, "Shall you indeed reign over us? Or shall you indeed have dominion over us?" So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.

Some of the brothers wanted to kill Joseph, but they compromised and sold him as a slave to some traveling merchants. Yet, his brother's actions only escalated his dreams and helped them come to pass.

Joseph went through a lot. He was sold by those merchants to an Egyptian and became a servant in Potiphar's house until the master's wife falsely accused him of trying to rape her. Joseph went to prison for a few years for something he didn't do. Joseph's dream had all but faded, and it looked bad for him.

Joseph was now thirty years old. A slave serving time in prison. But after God's clock ticked one more time, he was summoned before Pharaoh and promoted to be the second-in-command of Egypt. Joseph's brothers came and bowed down before him just as he had seen in faithful, no matter what Joseph's circumstances looked like. The dream God gave Joseph came true.

God told Abraham that he would be the father of nations when he was about seventy-five years old (Genesis 12:4), but then ten years passed by with no children. So Abraham and Sarah tried to make sense out of what God had told them. See, you can't be a "Father of Nations" without any children, so they decided to fix that. Sarah gave Abraham her Egyptian servant Hagar as a wife so that he could have children with her. Well, that didn't work out so great, but even that didn't change God's promise.

After about thirteen years passed by, God reminded Abraham of His promise again when Abraham was ninety-nine years old. He made it clear that the son would come through Sarah, who was ninety years old. The son would be named Isaac (Genesis 17:19). A year later, Isaac was born just as God said when Abraham was one hundred years old.

(Genesis 21:5 NKJV) Now Abraham was one hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.

Abraham had waited twenty-five years for the promise of God to come to pass, but it did, just as God had told him. There had been wars and confusion. Sarah had been taken away from Abraham twice. There was strife with family members, delayed promises. Yet, none of it stopped the plan of God from coming to pass.

Moses was about forty years old when "it came into his heart" to go help the children of Israel who were slaves in Egypt (Acts 7:23). Moses tried to help his people using his own strength, but it went badly, and he was exiled. He ended up living as a shepherd in the land of Midian for forty years (Acts 7:29).

When Moses was eighty years old, God appeared to him and sent him back to Egypt to deliver His people (Exodus 7:7). It had been in the heart of Moses for forty years, yet now it became a reality. Moses had long given up on that dream, and he even told God to send someone else, but God wouldn't take no for an answer. Moses did fulfill the calling of God on his life, only forty years later than he thought.

David was a young boy when God had Samuel anoint him as king over Israel. David was probably between ten to fifteen years old when this happened (1 Samuel 16:13). It doesn't give us an exact age, but David was so young that he wasn't even considered to be a contender when they lined up his seven brothers (1 Samuel 16:9).

Yet, David was anointed with oil in front of his brothers, and the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him. From that day forth, David began to grow into his destiny. Difficult obstacles appeared, and divine doors opened. David killed lions, bears, giants (1 Samuel 17:36), and tens of thousands of Philistines (1 Samuel 18:7). David played music for King Saul and became his armor-bearer (1 Samuel 16:21). He loved and he lost (1 Samuel 18:19).

Then at the age of thirty David actually became the king. So there was a gap of fifteen to twenty years between the promise of God, and the fulfillment of His promise. God used this time to refine David, train him, establish him in the eyes of the people, and thoroughly test his character. You could have randomly chosen a day from David's life, and it would have looked pretty mundane, but reading the book of highlights is exciting. God's word to David was fulfilled.

Jesus was thirty years old when He began to teach. This was the age that a man was regarded as fully mature, and when the Levites began their service at the temple (Numbers 4:47). There were so many prophecies about His life and ministry from long before, yet, even Jesus had to go through a time of maturing before He began His ministry. The Bible is full of examples of people who were promised something but then had to endure and mature before they began to live it.

In my own life, the Lord told me to prepare myself for ministry when I was around twenty years old. I went through Bible college, and got ordained, but then ended up working on computers and networks for the next twenty years. Long after I had forgotten about ministry, I suddenly became a pastor. His time had come, and here I am using the skills that I learned along the way at Refreshing Hope.

So don't give up while waiting on God. We are constantly learning, growing, and maturing in our walk with Jesus. When you stumble, be quick to get back up. Repent, and take another step. Be encouraged, for you aren't the first one who had to wait on a promise. Yet, you can rest assured that you are closer now than ever before.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, please strengthen me today. Speak to me and through me, Lord. Let me hear Your voice clearly. Lead me, and I will follow You. May Your will be done in my life as it is in heaven. I believe the things You have put in my heart will come to pass, and I will live my life to the fullest under Your blessing. In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen!