Thirty When He Stood Up
“And Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Egypt.”Genesis 41:46 (KJV)
Joseph spent years in places nobody would choose. Sold by his brothers, a servant in Egypt, then a prisoner for something he didn’t do. Then, in one day, everything changed. “And Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt.”
Centuries later, Luke gives us a similar detail about Jesus at the start of his ministry: “And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age.” Two men, both stepping into their public work around thirty, after long hidden years.
We don’t know much about Jesus’ years in Nazareth. We do know Joseph’s hidden years were not wasted. The pit and the prison were where God was preparing him for the palace.
If you are in a hidden season, it isn’t lost time. God is not in a hurry, and he is not late. The years nobody sees may be the ones that prepare you for what he has next.
Count it yourself
Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh (Genesis 41:46). Jesus began to be about thirty years of age (Luke 3:23).
What hidden season have you been through, or are you in now? How might God be using it?
Lord, I trust you with my hidden years. Use them to prepare me for whatever you have next. Amen.