Making Room in our Wagon

 “So it pleased Pharaoh…And Pharaoh said, ‘…do not be concerned about your goods, for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours.’” Genesis 45:16, 20.

This morning I find myself settling in to the climatic reunion of Joseph and his brothers. In the Bible, Joseph’s story begins at the tender age of 17 with his future of greatness ahead of him. He spent his days tending sheep and daydreaming, but no dream matched the dream given to him by God. Revealed in his dream was the prophesy that his parents and brothers would one day bow down to him. I’m sure that dream was replayed day after day in his mind as he leaned on his staff watching the flock. I’ll bet the dream flashed before his eyes as he was thrown into the empty pit by his brothers. How could he ever be master over anyone since he was sold as a slave? The years rolled by and the adversity grew greater with each passing year. But God was with Joseph and kept his dream alive. By the time the dream came true, Joseph longed for fellowship with his family more than he longed for power over them. 

God is still in the business of working miracles and changing hearts. He places our dreams and desires deep within us and begins the heart work of transformation and spiritual growth. He gives us snapshots of our land of ‘exceedingly more’ along the way to encourage us. In our toughest times, He will remind us of what is at stake…the abundance of what it up ahead when our hearts are ready to receive it. But we cannot hold on to the things of the past. As Pharaoh commanded so does God command us to not be concerned of what we are leaving behind when we hook our wagons behind Christ. I love the way Kelly Minter expresses this concept in the story of Joseph’s brothers returning home to gather their father and make the final move from Canaan to Egypt. She writes, ‘Pharaoh encouraged traveling light and leaving some things behind for the abundance of what was ahead…If you’re like me, you tend to lament the stuff you can’t fit into the wagon – the stuff you’ve had to leave behind in the course of following Jesus.’ Finding God Faithful, p. 143.

God will never require us to lay down something greater than what He has for us up ahead. Our responsibility is to ‘make room in the wagon’ and patiently walk with Him to the exceedingly good land He has chosen for us.