When Jacob arrived in Egypt, he was not a happy man. For at least the past 22 years he had been walking through a dark valley of despair. So when he was introduced to Pharaoh and asked how old he was, he responded by expressing discouragement. He said his life had been unpleasant, and he expected to die early. Yet he didn't die right away. In fact, God kept him alive for another 17 years, and by the end of those years, his attitude had changed remarkably. Now he spoke tenderly of God's goodness because these last years changed the way he viewed his life. They were a joyful time of recognizing God's faithfulness. God had not let him die on a sour note but had set a limit on the darkness, bringing him at last into a new day, full of victory. What we see happen to Jacob is not an exceptional display of God's kindness but is in fact an essential part of His nature. He does allow dark valleys to come, but He will never leave us in those valleys. It's important to Him that each of us comes to the moment when we joyfully declare His faithfulness, realizing He has not allowed our enemies to triumph over us (Ps 3:3). As David said in the Psalms, though our weeping may last for the night, we can be confident a shout of joy will come in the morning (Ps 30:5). In God there will always be a morning.

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Ep 65 Waiting for Morning, Gen 47:1-10; 48:11-16