“Soon I will die,” Joseph told his brothers, “but God will surely come to help you and lead you out of this land of Egypt. He will bring you back to the land he solemnly promised to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear an oath, and he said, “When God comes to help you and lead you back, you must take my bones with you.” So Joseph died at the age of 110. The Egyptians embalmed him, and his body was placed in a coffin in Egypt. (Genesis 50:25-26)
Any Journey fans out there? (Okay, so this picture isn’t of Steve Perry…..but it’s close. It’s my husband. 🙂 ) If you are like me, when you read the title of this post, you immediately began to sing the chorus from the Journey song, Don’t Stop Believin’ with a small town girl and a city boy on a midnight train goin’ anywhere who hold on to the feelin’. (Am I dating myself? Sigh!) So, this post is not about Journey, but now you will think of Joseph whenever you hear that song! (You’re welcome!) We don’t want to “hold on to the feelin'” but we do want to hold on and not let go of something…
Joseph never stopped believing. What did he believe, you ask? He believed the promise. He believed that God promised Israel the land of Canaan and that their time in Egypt was limited. (The ones trapped there in slavery 400 years may beg to differ on how “limited” it was, but, I digress.) He lived in Egypt for 97 years, 23 as a slave/prisoner and 80 as ruler of Egypt. But his final words to his family were about his homeland, the Promised Land. He never lost sight of the promise.
A quick aside:
Joseph spent over 3 times as long living out his dream than he did preparing for it — 23 years of prep time versus 80 years of livin’ the dream. Selah…and let that encourage you if you are waiting.
Joseph never lost sight of the promise. Even on his deathbed, he was dreaming about the promise. He trusted God to fulfill it, and even though he would be dead and gone when He did, he still wanted his bones taken home. “Don’t forget to take me with you when you go.” Those were his final words……THAT’S how important it was to him. That is how much he TRUSTED it would happen.
Sometimes it is hard to trust the promise, hard to keep believing, especially when you don’t see it, when everything in your life looks OPPOSITE of what the promise says. But trust isn’t really trust until you HAVE to trust — until everything is out of your control and there is no other option but to trust. Ever been there? Ever done the trust fall with God?
The GOOD NEWS is that He is trustworthy. He did perform His promise — He rescued His people and took them back to the Promised Land. And He will perform His Word for you too. Never let go of your promise! Just Don’t Stop Believin’.
So do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord. Remember the great reward it brings you! Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised. (Hebrews 10:35-36 NLT)