It's no secret that I waited a long time to get married. I was 37 when I reached that part of my story and my husband, Peter, is the answer to so many prayers that I prayed. That season of waiting is by far the longest I've encountered and I still continue to write about it now. I don't know much about marriage. But I do know a lot about waiting. We're all waiting on something. If it's not marriage, it's babies or healing or community or adventure or breakthrough.

So, I started reading in Exodus chapter one. The Israelites had been in Egypt for a couple hundred years waiting for God to fulfill the covenant he made with Abraham. (Makes my 37-years seem short.) Early on, they waited in relative comfort. Thanks to Joseph's position, their waiting was bearable, manageable, even enjoyable! 

But then Joseph died and suddenly something switched. At Joseph's death, the Lord's protection dramatically changes and begins preparing them for the next stage of His promise.
 
"the Israelites were fruitful and multiplied greatly and became exceedingly numerous, so that the land was filled with them." v. 7

While Joseph was alive, the Israelites were granted favor in the land because of what he had done. But then a new king comes into power and Joseph is forgotten - and the Lord knows they will lose favor and it's time to move. So He makes them abundantly fruitful. I love this. If their status won't protect them, surely their numbers will. 

But people fear fruitfulness and try to control the perceived threat against them. So this new king, out of fear, made them slaves. He tried to limit their abundance by enforcing a system they wouldn't want to birth children into.

Guys, this is important. Because this shift in the Lord's protection actually brought on great oppression. To the Israelites, their waiting just got significantly harder.

Set Backs and Set Ups

But what the Israelites saw as a massive SET BACK was actually a monumental SET UP for the most stunning deliverance out of captivity, out of Egypt, and into the promised land. The Lord needed their numbers. While they thought they'd been forgotten, He was growing an army, preparing them to flee Egypt and to fight to claim the land He had promised to their fathers. This was not a mistake, but the mission. 

The same is true for us. There are times in our waiting that feel relatively easy. We're at peace, it isn't that bad, we can find the good in our situation.

Then there are times in our waiting where we feel the shift. Where suddenly things get harder and we feel the desperation that the Israelites must have surely faced. And that's when we need to know that no oppression, no obstacle, no opposition can ever stand in the way of the promises the Lord has purposed to fulfill in our lives.

What feels like a set back to us, might just be the set up we've been longing for. This shift could be setting the stage for a movement of God in our own lives that defies all human understanding. And that fact alone inspires hope and peace and belief that even in our waiting, God is moving on our behalf.