The Goodness We Didn't Arrange

“Israel said to Joseph, “I never expected to see your face again, and now God has allowed me to see your children too.”
Genesis 48:11 NIV

There are things we once hoped for that we hardly think about anymore. Perhaps we hoped a friendship would be restored, waited for an opportunity that never came, or dreamed of something that gradually seemed out of reach. Eventually, life moved on, and so did we. Yet life can still surprise us with something wonderful we never saw coming. It might be what we hoped for, something entirely different from what we once wanted, or something we never thought to wish for at all. And when it happens, we may find ourselves enjoying a moment we never thought we'd have.

Jacob had spent years grieving his favorite son, Joseph, whom he believed was dead. Jealous of Joseph, his brothers sold him into slavery and deceived their father by dipping Joseph's coat in goat's blood, making him believe a wild animal had killed him. But Joseph survived and eventually rose to power in Egypt. Years later, father and son were reunited. And now Jacob was meeting Joseph's two sons, grandchildren he never imagined he would see. What he thought was lost forever had returned, bringing even more joy than he could have hoped for.

Jacob recognized more than a happy reunion. He saw God's generosity in a joy he had stopped expecting. The psalmist celebrates, “How abundant are the good things that you have stored up for those who fear you” (Psalm 31:19). What Jacob could no longer imagine had not exhausted what God could give. His love was not waiting for Jacob to recover his hope or know what to ask for. Could that change how we see our own unanswered hopes? We don't have to find something new to hope for before we can trust that God's goodness still has more to give.

It's one thing to recognize God's goodness in Jacob's reunion. It's another when an ordinary day offers little to look forward to. Yet an unexpected kindness or joy we hadn't thought to seek can still find us. The psalmist speaks of “the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living” (Psalm 27:13). Could there be goodness beyond anything we've imagined or thought to ask for? Jacob's story doesn't promise every longing will be satisfied or every sorrow reversed. But while some hopes remain unfulfilled, we haven't seen all the goodness God may give.

Sometimes a good thing comes in a form we never expected, and we almost miss its source or significance. It may take us a while to recognize just how much we've been given. Jacob's words, “God has allowed me,” reveal something worth remembering. He recognized more than a wonderful surprise. He recognized the loving God behind the gift. And perhaps that is where wonder grows into something deeper, when we begin recognizing not only the gifts themselves, but the goodness of the One who gives them.

Prayer

Father, thank You that Your goodness is not limited by what I know to hope for or imagine. Open my eyes to recognize Your generosity, and let an unexpected gift draw me closer to You. Amen.