When Two Years Changes Everything

A few weeks ago, the Lord highlighted a passage for me to consider in Genesis 41 about “Two Full Years” passing in Joseph’s life, and how they related to me living in the white space. Now today, the Lord took me to two passages in 2 Samuel 13 and 14 where the phrase “two full years“ shows up again. This time with a totally different outcome and a lesson for me to consider.

The phrase “two full years” appears only three times in the entire Bible—once in the story of Joseph and twice in the story of Absalom. Each moment marks a period of waiting that shapes the destiny of the person involved. When read together, these passages reveal how time can either refine us or ruin us, depending on the posture of the heart.

1. Joseph’s Two Full Years (Genesis 41:1): Waiting on God

Joseph’s “two full years” come after being forgotten in prison. These years are silent and painful, yet they end with God lifting Joseph from confinement to the palace.

Joseph’s waiting is passive but faithful, and God uses it to prepare him for leadership and to save many lives.

2. Absalom’s First Two Full Years (2 Samuel 13:23): Waiting for Revenge

Absalom’s “two full years” follow the violation of his sister Tamar and David’s failure to act. These years are filled not with trust but with simmering anger.

They end with Absalom murdering Amnon.

His waiting is calculated and fueled by bitterness, producing tragedy instead of healing.

3. Absalom’s Second Two Full Years (2 Samuel 14:28): Waiting in Estrangement

After returning to Jerusalem, Absalom lives “two full years” without seeing his father’s face. He is home geographically but still exiled relationally.

This waiting hardens him further, preparing the ground for his later rebellion. His waiting deepens alienation rather than reconciliation.

What These Three Moments Teach Us

• Waiting reveals the heart.

Joseph emerges purified; Absalom emerges poisoned.

• Time itself is not neutral.

The same two years can produce transformation or destruction. The outcome depends on whom we trust. Joseph waits on God; Absalom waits on himself—and each receives what they cultivate.

These passages invite me to ask…

What is time doing to my heart?

Is my season of waiting shaping me toward faith… or toward bitterness, impatience, and self-reliance?

This passage today made me realize there was bitterness, resentment, and unforgiveness I was holding in my heart. Two years ago, my wife was falsely accused and confronted over a situation I’ve come to realize I was holding resentment in my heart over. Just this morning, the situation came up in a conversation with my wife, and as we talked about it, I could see the sadness and the hurt in my wife’s eyes and immediately, anger and resentment rose up in my heart. Today I had to ask the Lord to cleanse me of unforgiveness I was holding on to. What the Lord has been trying to teach me during these two years of “living in the white space“ was being clouded and hindered from resentment and unforgiveness.

Lord, I want this time of waiting in my life to be “full” of purpose rather than “full” of pain or destruction. I do not want anything in my heart that keeps me from seeing my Father’s face during this time of waiting in my life.

Psalm 27:8.

When You said, “Seek My face,” my heart said to You,

“Your face, O LORD, I will seek.”