The Past Five Years or So – October 2, 2022

The past five years have been quite a journey for me. Few of my efforts have come to fruition, and those that have, were not as I had planned. Then again, it is God who establishes a man’s steps, and his steps come in the fullness of time. As I ponder this, I think of Joseph, son of Jacob (Genesis Chapters 37-50.) Joseph suffered the abandonment of his brothers when he was thrown into a pit, then later given to passing nomads who took him to Egypt and sold him as a slave. As a servant to Potiphar, Potiphar’s wife falsely accused him of misconduct when he spurned her sexual advances. Joseph was thrown into prison. When in prison, we begin to see the providence of Jehovah further developing Joseph’s gift in interpreting dreams when he correctly interpreted Pharaoh’s dreams. Thus, Joseph was elevated to second in the land and he saved his father and brothers from the famine that swept over Egypt and Canaan.

Now, I suppose you might wonder if that happened to me. Not exactly. However, after my first wife died, I left Colorado to return home to Connecticut, which I left in 1969 to join the Marine Corps. Believe me, there was a pit when I left Colorado. Then, after I moved here, I dealt with many issues… trials and learning curves… mostly born of my sin of pride and self-determination. Father was not about to let me prosper. Sixty five years old and still having to grow up; now I’m seventy. I needed to learn what is needed to truly surrender – allow God to establish my steps, and yes, when Father reveals those steps, I know His Spirit will lead and strengthen me.

As for Joseph, son of Jacob? I was not gifted the way Jehovah revealed in and through Joseph. I wanted to serve my Lord Jesus, and I had many plans in the works, but as I said, few came to fruition, and those fruit that bud soon fell off the branch – withered. Why? It wasn’t time. I wasn’t ready to do the work that God desired me to do ‘as His instrument, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand. (Eph 2:10.)  What God prepared beforehand was not just the ‘work’ (the application of the talent, gift, or resource he gave me), but the timing of the work’s deployment… revelation and use among men.

Anyway, I sense that I’m close today to performing Father’s intended work, in the time that He intended it, and I am grateful. How do I know? The doors are opening, peace fills my heart, and oh! I also sense the famine.