Blessings, however, come in different sizes and shapes. In fact, we don’t always recognize them. Even when we are doing everything we think God wants us to do, we may still experience suffering. We are sometimes surprised that God does not answer the way we want or that His timing appears to be tardy.

We see this in Joseph’s life. From a human perspective, we would think that God had forgotten all about him. For more than a decade, Joseph experienced suffering. He was tossed in a pit, sold into slavery, falsely accused, unjustly put in prison. Finally, however, God’s faithfulness to him became evident to all as he was lifted up as a ruler of Egypt and saved many people from famine (Gen. 37–46). C. S. Lewis wrote: “When we lose one blessing, another is often most unexpectedly given in its place.”

God had always had His hand of blessing on Joseph, as He does for all who trust Him. “Oh, how great is Your goodness” (Ps. 31:19). —Cindy Hess Kasper

Lord, You love us with an extravagant love, but so often we don’t trust You in the crisis. Help us to learn and appreciate that You have everything we need—and so much more.

INSIGHT: Because of severe and widespread famine, Joseph’s brothers came to Egypt to buy grain to take home to feed their families (Gen. 42–45). Though Joseph recognized his brothers, they did not recognize him. It seems that from this point forward he set out to bring reconciliation to his broken family. Eventually, Joseph reveals himself to his brothers (45:4-8), forgives them, and promises to care for them (50:16-21). Joseph’s story is one of the great reconciliation stories of all time.