Pharaoh said to Joseph, 'I am Pharaoh, and without you shall no man lift up his hand or his foot in all the land of Egypt.' Pharaoh called Joseph's name Zaphenath-paneah; and he gave him Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On as a wife. Joseph went out over the land of Egypt. Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. Genesis 41:44 WEB

God gave Joseph two dreams when he was a young boy of about seventeen years (Gen. 37:2) showing that he would be a ruler. When he told his brothers, they became very angry with him and ended up selling him into slavery. That only escalated his dream and helped bring it to pass. Joseph went through a lot. He was sold as a slave to an Egyptian and served in his house until the man's wife accused Joseph of trying to rape her. Then he went to prison for a few years for something that he did not do. His dream had all but faded and it looked bad for Joseph.

When God's clock ticked one more time though, Joseph was summoned before Pharaoh and promoted to the second-in-command of all of Egypt. Then his brothers came and bowed down before him just as he had saw in the dream thirteen years before. Joseph was now thirty years old. Gods plan was true and faithful, no matter what the circumstances looked like. Joseph's dream had come true.

God told Abraham that he would be the father of nations when he was seventy-five years old (Gen. 12:4). After about ten years, Abraham and Sarah tried to make sense out of what God had told them. You cannot be a 'Father of Nations' without children, so they decided to remedy that and Sarah gave Abraham her servant Hagar as a wife that he might have children by her. Well that did not work out so great, but it still did not change God's plan.

After about thirteen more years, God renewed the promise again when Abraham was ninety-nine. He made it clear that the son would come through Sarah, who was now ninety years old, and that he would be named Isaac (Gen. 17:19). Isaac was born just as God said when Abraham was one-hundred years old (Gen. 21:5). He had waited twenty-five years for the promise of God to come to pass, but it did, just as God had told him. Wars, confusion, Sarah had been taken away from him twice, strife with family members, delayed promises, none of it stopped the plan of God from coming to pass when God's clock ticked again.

Moses was about forty years old and living as an Egyptian when 'it came into his heart' to go to the children of Israel (Acts 7:23). He tried to help deliver his people using his own strength, but it went badly and he became exiled. Moses ended up living as a shepherd in the land of Midian for forty years (Acts 7:29). When Moses was eighty years old, God appeared to him and sent him to deliver his people (Exodus 7:7). It had been in the heart of Moses for forty years, now it became a reality. Moses had long given up on that dream and told God to send someone else, but God would not take no for an answer. Moses fulfilled the calling of God on his life, forty years later than he originally thought.

David was just a young boy when God had Samuel anoint him as king over Israel. David was probably between ten to fifteen years old when this happened (1 Sam 16:13). It does not give an exact age, but he was so young that he was not even considered to be a contender when they lined up his seven brothers (1 Sam 16:9).

When David was anointed with oil in the midst of his brothers, the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him. From that day forth, David began to grow into his destiny. Difficult obstacles appeared and divine doors opened. David killed lions, bears, giants (1 Sam 17:36) and tens of thousands of Philistines (1 Sam 18:7). He played music for king Saul and became his armor bearer (1 Sam 16:21). He loved and he lost (1 Sam 18:19).

Then at thirty, David actually became king. There was a gap of fifteen to twenty years between the promise of God and the fulfillment of that promise. God used this time to refine David, train him, establish him in the eyes of the people, and thoroughly test his character. You could have randomly chosen a day from David's life and it would have looked pretty mundane, but reading the book of highlights is exciting. When God's clock ticked, the word to David was fulfilled.

Jesus was thirty years old when He began to teach. This was the age that a man was regarded as fully mature and when the Levites began their service at the temple (Num. 4:47). There were so many prophecies about His life and ministry from long before, but even Jesus had to go through a time of maturing before He began.

The Bible is full of examples of people that were promised something, and then endured and matured before they actually lived it. In my own life, the Lord told me to prepare myself for ministry when I was around twenty. So I went through Bible college and then ended up working on computers and networks for twenty years. When I had long given up on ministry and felt like I knew absolutely nothing, He pushed me into full time ministry, whether I was interested or not. The time had come, and here I am using the skills that I learned along the way.

Do not give up while waiting on God. Today is a part of your life as well and we are constantly learning, growing, and maturing in our walk with Jesus. When you stumble, be quick to get up and take another step. Be encouraged because you are not the first one that had to wait on a promise, but you can rest assured that the clock is ticking and that you are closer now than ever before.

Prayer: Father, please strengthen me today. Speak to me and through me Lord. Let me hear Your voice clearly. Lead me and I will follow You. May Your will be done in my life as it is in heaven. I believe that the things that You have put in my heart are coming to pass and I will live my life to the fullest under Your blessing, in the name of Jesus Christ I pray.