GENESIS 37

And so now we come to the story of Joseph, the son whom Jacob loved more than all the others, the son who began having dreams. Joseph and his brothers had grown up in an environment where they were exposed to jealousy and rivalry, so it’s no surprise that Joseph’s brothers don’t much like the dreams he tells them about. Even Jacob takes a little offense: "Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you?" (vs 10)

We could debate the wisdom of Joseph’s relating these dreams to his brothers, but there is no debating the fact that God knew exactly what He was doing. Since we live on the other side of the story, we now know that the dreams Joseph was having were entirely accurate. As the man who would save millions of people from starvation, he would literally be in a position of great authority — even over his own family.

This wasn’t a surprise to God. In fact, it well may be that Joseph’s relating these dreams to his brothers was only the first step in the actual fulfillment of the dreams! At the very least, it ignited his brothers’ jealousies and ended up getting Joseph sent to Egypt. Not that there wasn’t another way God could have gotten Joseph to Egypt, but it is interesting that the brothers’ reaction to Joseph’s dreams moved Joseph one step closer to making those dreams a reality (even though they didn’t know that at the time). Hmmmm…

One thing this should definitely tell us about God is that He is never caught off guard by anything. He doesn’t get surprised or ambushed. He is prepared for whatever comes up, and He goes about also trying to prepare us for what’s to come. Sometimes, like Joseph, we don’t understand much until later. But when we do understand, we can look back and see that God knew all along what was coming.

I don’t know about you, but this gives me great comfort — especially since I’m not an all-knowing, all-sensing being. I don’t know what’s going to come to me today, but God does. And because He knows and He is able to handle whatever comes my way, I don’t have to worry. I can relax and trust Him. Though we may get surprised by life sometimes, God is never caught off guard.