Now Joseph was governor over the land. He was the one who sold to all the people of the land. And Joseph's brothers came and bowed themselves before him with their faces to the ground.
Genesis 42:6
The beginning of seeing a dream come true for Joseph has got to be a surreal experience. I am sure that he had resigned himself to his new political leadership in Egypt. There is a matter-of-fact sort of way in which the text talks about the exercise of his political power. He was the governor charged with the distribution of Egypt's carefully stored grain. And we already know from the text that he was a gifted planner and administrator. I think he thoroughly enjoyed the work. But the day came when unexpectedly the brothers who sold him into slavery show up in obedience to him.
God seems to use this event to get their attention. For the first time, we hear them banter around about their treatment of Joseph. There appear to be serious regrets. Physical famine, and the temporary incarceration of the brothers puts them in a different, more spiritual, frame of mind. And Joseph is seeing his boyhood vision from God begin to come into reality.
So it is with God's providential work. God's work is worth waiting for. God uses all the events in our lives, even the difficulties and pains, to bring about bigger purposes than we can see at the moment. That is the overwhelming spiritual truth that marked the life of Joseph and the sons of Israel. And that is still very much the reality of how God works today!
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