Jacob had come to the end of his rope. He had lost Joseph. Simeon was in jail in Egypt. Now, in order to free Simeon, Benjamin, Jacob's youngest son, would have to go to Egypt. It was more than Jacob could handle. Jacob could not see the years of preparation for what would be the most exciting time of his life and the life of a nation. The darkest hour is the hour just before daybreak. Jacob was in his darkest hour just before God's daybreak in his life. God's big picture is often too big for us to comprehend. The heartaches don't seem to add up, but Jacob was about to understand the big picture.
Eventually, Benjamin along with Jacob's other sons learned that their brother Joseph was second in command in Egypt. Joseph revealed his identity, and Jacob was reunited with his son whom he had not seen for more than 13 years. He had thought Joseph to be dead.
So often we believe our dreams are dead. There seems to be nothing left in our world to live for. Everything appears to be against us. During these times, God is doing His deepest behind-the-scenes work. During these times, God is performing a deeper work in each of us-a work that cannot be seen.
When clients began leaving my ad agency and it dried up for no apparent reason, it appeared "everything was against me." I could not see that God was orchestrating a whole new calling on my life. At the moment, it seemed like the worst thing in the world. It seemed that I had been a failure. But God said, "No." All the years before had been preparation for what God's ultimate calling would be. One of God's methods for directing His children's steps is through drying up resources: a job loss, a career change, or a disaster. In these times we are willing to listen more intently, and to seek God in ways we would not normally do. C.S. Lewis once wrote, "God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains; it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world." [C.S.Lewis, The Problem of Pain (New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1962), 93.]