I will restore the years the locusts have eaten

This verse from Joel 2:25 came to me as I read Genesis 41:17-42:17. After all that Joseph had gone through following being sold into slavery in Egypt, the Lord had promoted Joseph to second in command in the land. Pharaoh had also given him a wife and she had born him two children Manasseh meaning “God has caused me to forget,” and Ephraim meaning “two fruit land,” He said Manasseh: “For God has made me forget all my suffering and all my father’s house.” And Ephraim: “For God has caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction” (41:51, 52). The other verse that came to mind as I meditated on these things is “God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love” (Hebrews 6:10). Joseph at each stage, had humbled himself, and God had exalted him in His "kairos" time.

Exaltation is promised when we humble ourselves “under the might hand of God” (1Peter 5:6). And it is in the here and now. However “There were those who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection” (Hebrews 11:35). That clearly was a choice, a choice which we perhaps we too may be able to make. On the other hand a verse that has meant a lot to me is Psalm 27:13 (NKJV) “I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.” The next verse instructs us to “Wait on the LORD; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart.” This is what He does in the midst of the trials when we stop fighting people and circumstances that He allows, and in doing so humble ourselves. In case we are in any doubt as to what to do, David repeats the instruction “Wait, I say on the Lord” (verse 14).

The word “kairos” mentioned above,  does not appear in the translation of 1Peter 5:6. There are in fact two words in the Greek that are both translated “time.” The one in the 1 Peter reference is kairos, the other is kronos. We take our word chronology from kronos, it is sequential time, the time of clocks and calendars; it can measured. Herod asked the wise men the time (kronos) since the star appeared (Matthew 2:7). Kronos is mechanistic, we say “Kronos stops for no one” and “Kronos is money.” The word kairos, on the other hand has the meaning of the right time, or a critical, or opportune time. Paul exhorts us to redeem the kairos time (make the most of it), because the days are evil (Ephesians 5:16). The angel tells Zacharias that his (prophetic) words would be fulfilled in their own kronos (Luke 1:20), and there was a kronos time for Joseph's dreams to be fulfilled. There is a kronos time to strike the iron (when it is hot). And there are kronos times and seasons for many often equal and opposite things (Ecclesiastes 3 LXX).

Father, thank You for Your promise to restore what the enemy has stolen. Give us the grace, as good soldiers,  to endure the hardships (2 Timothy 2:3). You have told us that in kairos time we will reap, if we do not faint (Galatians 6:9). Teach us Lord to recognize our kairos moments, and give us courage and wisdom to press into them and redeem them, for the days are indeed evil. We pray these things in Jesus Name Amen