Genesis 50:25 And Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones from hence.
We are living in a day of modern marvels with things that our grandparents never could have even imagined taking place. For instance, recently I saw a news story about the development of a flying car. I know they have been talking about this for some time, but it seems that we are getting closer to that being something that comes to pass. It is hard to imagine what the future will be like considering the rapidity with which things are changing every day.
Now we can imagine artificial intelligence, flying cars, and all kinds of marvels in the future, but can you imagine God in your future? Can you imagine confidently the fact that God is present in the future already and that means your future?
Joseph was a man who could have been bitter about his past and fearful about his future, but he was neither. When he was reunited with the brothers who had sold him into slavery in Egypt, they were fearful that Joseph would take revenge. But Joseph said, “But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good.” Joseph realized that even the bad things that had happened to him God had turned for the good. God had a purpose that wouldn’t be thwarted by evil brothers and a vacillating father. Joseph looked back to his past in the pit, in the house of Potipher, in the prison, and in the palace, and Joseph recognized the presence of God.
Now I will tell you what that did for him. Looking back and acknowledging God’s presence gave Joseph confidence regarding the future. The promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that colored Joseph’s own perception of his self-history is the same promise that informed his confidence about the future.
Genesis 50:24-25 says, “And Joseph said unto his brethren, I die: and God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land unto the land which he sware to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. And Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones from hence.” Notice the word “surely.” Joseph said, “I am going to die. I am not going to be with you forever, but God will be. And God will surely visit you, and God will surely give you the land that He promised to our fathers. When that happens, you take my bones and pack them out of here.”
Joseph was imagining a day well beyond his own life. Most of us rarely imagine life without ourselves, or if we do, it is a morbid thing where we worry about our children and grandchildren. We should not be totally oblivious to the fact that the world will not stop rotating on its axis once we are gone, neither should we be fearful for our children and grandchildren in days to come.
Joseph was a man who saw God in his future because he acknowledged God in his past. Those who choose to see God in their past can confidently imagine Him in their future. May God help you to be aware of God’s presence in your past and rely on the fact that God will surely be with you in the future.