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“And Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt” (Genesis 41:46).
If you go back to Genesis 37:2, you will find that Joseph was seventeen years old when he had his dreams, and it was probably about that time that his brothers sold him into Egypt. Since he was thirty years old when he became governor over the land of Egypt, that means that he was a slave, and later in prison, for thirteen years! That is a long time! Joseph must have wondered sometimes if all his trouble would ever come to an end.
This is a good lesson for us. Sometimes the Lord allows real difficulties in our lives, and perhaps they go on for a long time. Often we do not understand why the Lord is allowing all these problems, and maybe we too wonder when it will all end. But we must remember that just as the Lord brought blessing out of all Joseph’s trouble, so He is using everything in our lives for our good. He knows how difficult things can be sometimes, and we can be assured that He will be with us, and strengthen us, and teach us things that we could not learn any other way. Later on, like Joseph, we will thank Him for all the difficulties He allowed in our lives.
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