Do the math!

Genesis 41:46 - "Joseph was thirty years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh king of
Egypt."

Genesis 37:2 - "Joseph, being seventeen years old...."

Do the math! Joseph spent 23 years (wrongfully) in slavery and prison. Twenty-three years!

Genesis 31:41 - "These twenty years I (Jacob) have been in your house. I served you fourteen years for your two daughters, and six years for your flock, and you have changed my wages ten times." Twenty years!

I don't know about you, but I want "instant maturity!" I don't want to spend 20-23 years learning and re-learning lessons that God has for me. And I'm not so keen on any of that time being spent in difficulty and hardship! I want spiritual maturity now, and I want it to be easy!

So when I find myself in situations where I seem to be needing to re-learn a lesson, or God is pushing me deeper into faith in Himself through difficulties, it helps a lot to come back to these historical accounts and do the math!

God has a plan and a purpose for everything in our lives. His time-frame is not our time frame. He will accomplish His will and plan in His perfect time - even if it takes 20-23 years!