BUT THE DAY CAME by Cynthia Ruchti

Nobody appreciated the dreams that stirred his soul. The people he might have expected would be most supportive did everything in their power to ensure dreams didn’t come true.

He’d lost his mother early in life. The abuse and bullying of his brothers seemed to rip his father’s favor from him. It’s because of people like him that we know what “being in the pits” is all about.

His family sat like vultures around him, waiting for his dreams to die, for him to die. Were they afraid of his success? Eager to say, “I told you so?” Jealous of the fame that wasn’t even a reality yet?

Where were his friends? “I’ll pray for you” rang hollow against the sides of the depression into which he’d been thrown.

But the pit wasn’t his end. He was hacked, losing the last vestiges of security, carried off into slavery to a new system, unfamiliar, hostile. The contracts he counted on failed him. Years passed with his dreams shelved as he did someone else’s bidding.

A ray of hope, then darkness again. A step forward, then a wall rose between him and possibilities.

But the day came…

The day came when every detail of his long-ago dream stood in front of him. The purpose for which he’d been created. People realized his potential. They praised what he’d accomplished. Even his brothers…who would have starved if Joseph hadn’t fed them.

The day came. All that he’d been through resonated with an indisputable truth—God had not abandoned him. He’d been present with Joseph in the pit, in the prison, and in the palace. God was his companion when everyone else ran away, his defense when he seemed weaponless, his defender when falsely accused, his provider when he’d been stripped of everything, including the clothes on his back.

Where does Joseph’s Genesis 37-50 story intersect with yours?

Do you have a dream that irritates others?

Are you mourning the lack of support from the people who should be your chief cheerleaders?

Does your “promising future” seem an eternity away?

Have you been thrown into an environment hostile to your creativity?

Does it seem nothing is within your control as you pursue your dreams…as you work tirelessly just to survive?

Do you feel stripped of the ability to make decisions that will affect your future? Has someone stolen that ability from you?

Is your progress achingly slow?

Are you holding onto hope that God can use you in ways you could never imagine—as He did Joseph—if you remain faithful to Him no matter what?

When Joseph faced his opposition at the time the Lord had prepared long in advance, Joseph said to them, “God sent me before you to make sure you’d survive and to rescue your lives in this amazing way,” Genesis 45:7. Can you imagine how his heart soared when he could finally utter those words? How would that passage have read if Joseph hadn’t forgiven those who abused, bullied, deserted, and conspired to destroy him?

And how will your heart soar when it’s finally clear why your route has stretched out longer than you dreamed?

Cynthia Ruchti is an author and speaker who tells stories of Hope-that-glows-in-the-dark for those wrestling with the kinds of disappointments and concerns Joseph knew. Her recent releases include the novel When the Morning Glory Blooms and the nonfiction Ragged Hope: Surviving the Fallout of Other People’s Choices, both from Abingdon Press. www.cynthiaruchti.com or www.facebook.com/CynthiaRuchtiReaderPage.