Jesus, Where Are You?

Are there times in your life when you are looking for Jesus? You go to the places you think He may be, but you don’t see Him? You have feelings of fear, loneliness, grief, despair, and worry because you need Him, and you can’t find Him. The women, Mary Magdalene and Mary, were afraid because they could not find Jesus. The thought didn’t even cross their minds that maybe He was alive and already working on His next task.

There have been many times in my life that I call out to God to fix a certain situation, heal a loved one, or change a person’s life that is spiraling down and in my opinion He does not answer my prayer. There were times in college that I was going through life wandering, not knowing what I was supposed to do, and making mistakes the entire way. I wondered where God was and why wasn’t He leading me on the path He wanted me on. I didn’t think He was there. I was afraid because I didn’t think I could see Him, feel Him, and I didn’t think He could hear me. Have you felt that way? Maybe you feel that way right now.

Let’s look at the story of Joseph in Genesis chapters 37-42. Joseph’s personality was one that reminds me of a perfectionist. He was overly confident in what he thought was right. He liked for things to go his way when it came to his family dynamics and his father, Jacob, did not help that way of thinking since he considered him his favorite son. His brother’s disliked him because of this way of thinking and ended up conspiring against him because of jealousy.

Jospeh’s brothers decided to sell him into a life of slavery. His own flesh and blood hated him so much that they wanted him out of their family and out of their lives. He was then bought by Potiphar, one of the Egyptian Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard. Joseph lived in Potiphar’s house and was put in charge of everything Potiphar owned. He was then imprisoned because Potiphar’s wife falsely accused him of assaulting her. In prison, Joseph was put in charge of all the prisoners. After 13 years of being in slavery and prison, do you think Joseph wondered where God was and what was God’s plan for his life? Joseph had no idea where he would end up. He believed in God, prayed to God, and trusted God. But do you think He felt God leading him at the time? Do you think God was giving Joseph step by step directions the whole time? I think it’s safe to say “no.”

Joseph did not know the exact date that he would get out of prison, and he did not know how he would get out of prison, but he continued to trust and have faith in God. One day Pharaoh had a dream and heard that Joseph had a reputation of interpreting dreams, so Pharaoh called on Joseph for help. The first thing Joseph said was, “I cannot do it, but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires.” Joseph knew that everything comes from God. This God that allowed him to be sold into slavery by his brothers, the God that allowed him to be thrown into prison under false accusations, the same God that gave him no indication when justice would be given; this very God was the one in control and he trusted Him!

Making a long story short, Joseph was placed as second in command under the Pharaoh. Joseph was delivered from his despair. Through those 13 years of struggle, grief, sorrow, and despair, God molded Joseph into the man he would need to become in order to be in charge of all the land in Egypt and save his people from a terrible famine that would have killed them.. He molded Joseph into a man of humility, confidence, courage, and faith. Even when Joseph could not see God working, God was doing major construction work not only on Joseph but on every person and situation surrounding him. God is always working!

As we go back to the text in Matthew 28 we see that Jesus was not in the tomb waiting for someone to find Him. He was already headed to Galilee to prepare the work for His apostles. In Matthew 28:9 Jesus meets the women as they are running, full of fear and excitement, to the apostles to tell them Jesus was not in the tomb. He says to them, “Greetings. Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.” Jesus goes before us to prepare the way. He doesn’t abandon us. He’s working behind the scenes, not just for us, but for others that will be impacted by our story.

We may think that we are so special that we need to know what is going on at all times. But we do not have the ability to know the full story, only God does. There are things in our life that do not need to be revealed when we think they should. God knows what we can handle, when we are ready, and the perfect way of gently revealing His mighty ways to us. When you wonder where God is and you begin searching for Him and His answers, remember He is working even when you don’t feel it. He is there and never leaves our situations. There is not a situation that God cannot handle. He’s working more than we will ever know.

When I see how God’s mighty hands at work in our lives impacts not only our individual life but also the lives of many others, it changes my outlook on how I respond.  I am brought from a place of selfishness that only wants my plan to play out to opening my eyes to something greater.  I find myself asking, “What is God doing to better His kingdom through me today?”  I realize it’s not just about me.  My choices, my responses, and my understanding makes an impact on people I may not even know personally. 

Digging Deeper:

Read Matthew 28:11-20. What work was Jesus doing in Galilee? How was he preparing the way for His disciples to spread the story of His resurrection?

Recall times in your life where God has shown you how He was working behind the scenes.

How can you give up your worry and fear and trust that God has a plan for your life?