One of my favorite stories in the Old Testament is the one
of Joseph. He knew what it was
like to fall victim to the sinful acts of others, but despite the evil others
committed against him he always found favor by those in authority. The Scriptures say that not only was
the Lord present with him, but the Lord showed kindness toward him. Those who treated Joseph well received
this kindness, too. Who was this man?
As a young boy Joseph received prophetic dreams from the Lord. In these dreams Joseph’s father and
brothers bowed before him. Joseph constantly
talked about his dreams, and this infuriated his brothers. To make matters worse, Joseph received
a special multi-colored coat from their father. Jacob favored the first-born son from his wife, Rachel,
because the wife he loved was only given to him after being deceived and
bamboozled into marrying her older sister Leah first. She died after giving birth to Joseph’s brother, Benjamin.
One day, Joseph headed out to the fields in search of his
brothers. They couldn't miss him
as they saw the brightness of his coat as he approached. A deep root of anger and jealousy
simmered in their hearts, and now an ideal situation presented itself for them
to lash out and rid their lives of the one that vexed them. They tore his coat from him and hurled
him into a dried out well.
As they ate and contemplated their exact plan of action,
Joseph must have wondered if his dreams actually came from the Lord now. He
probably struggled with how he was partially at fault for his predicament. When his brothers finally decided to
sell him off to some travelers instead of killing him, he still probably
questioned the validity of his dreams and how he might have done things
differently so that his brothers wouldn’t have sold him.
Regrets or not Joseph made the best of his circumstances and
quickly found favor with Poptipher who put him in charge of his household. He
held this position until one day when Potipher’s promiscuous wife got a hold of
his robe and used it as evidence to make false accusations of rape against
him. His continual refusal of her
advances angered her, and this landed him innocently in jail. Even there he
gained favor among those in charge.
By the time Joseph turned thirty he stood before Pharaoh,
king of Egypt and was asked to interpret Pharaoh’s dream. This dream told about seven years of
plenty and then seven years of famine coming to the land. Pharaoh asked Joseph for a plan to save
his people, and his solution so impressed Pharaoh that he placed Joseph second
in command.
It was during this great famine that his life crossed paths
with his brothers again. Their
father heard about a man he believed could help their hunger situation and sent
his sons to Egypt for food. Joseph
instantly recognized his brothers, but his identity remained hidden from them
until Joseph knew it would be safe to make himself known.
Joseph questioned his brother’s intentions and also asked
questions about their family. He
discovered that his father and his brother, Benjamin, were well. Joseph
demanded they bring Benjamin to Egypt.
Only after practically starving to death, did Jacob agree to allow
Benjamin to travel back to Egypt with them. Joseph became overwhelmed with emotion when his brothers
returned with Benjamin but still kept his identity from them. He provided them with food and had a
silver cup secretly placed in Benjamin’s sack. When the brothers did everything to protect Benjamin from
being punished for stealing the cup, Joseph knew their hearts had changed since
his encounter with them as a young boy and revealed his identity to them.
With his entire family now united, Joseph cared for them
throughout the rest of the famine.
Despite his provisions, his brothers never really understood or trusted
the heart of the brother they had mistreated. When their father passed away they continued to reel in
guilt from their choices and feared for their lives. Sensing their fear and distrust for him, Joseph took them
aside and said, "What you meant for evil against me the Lord used for good
for the preservation of many lives."
The bragging young boy had been transformed over their long
years of separation. Joseph recognized the way the Lord weaved great beauty
from the rough places he faced. He
trusted the way the Lord used not only his brother’s sinful response to his
boasting about his dreams but his years in prison to bring about a plan for His
people. Joseph submitted to the Lord’s will and allowed each difficulty to mold
him into a man with a deep trust and faith in God’s sovereignty.
I admire Joseph, and his trust in God’s plan over his
life. It helps me see the way the Lord desires for me to trust in the Lord’s
sovereignty, too. My life has
tasted the pain caused by my sins as well as the sins others committed against
me. I’ve wrestled with the Lord
over some of my experiences but in time have come to accept His plans for me,
and the way He manages to bring good from it.
I imagine Joseph probably wondered where God might be in
the midst of his trials though.
If he was anything like me, he at times pouted, sulked, and sometimes
became angry about his situations, but eventually trusted that the Lord knew
what was best for him. The
Scriptures don’t provide us with the reason Joseph constantly found favor with
those in authority over him, but I believe it had to do with his attitude and
ultimate trust in the Lord.
Trusting during difficult times isn’t easy, especially
when troubles get compounded with many blows at one time. I can pinpoint specific times in my
life when my trials overwhelmed me and how I barely held on to my faith. I even
considered walking away until I realized there was nowhere else to go to find
the Words of Life. Unfortunately, in my times of doubt, I tended to slip back
into unhealthy patterns of dealing with people and circumstances. This eventually resulted in being
alienated from those unable to deal with me in that state. The enemy of my soul reveled in my
unhealthy patterns and condemned me for being difficult for some to handle in
those times.
Thankfully, Jesus reached out His loving and accepting
hands to pick me up out of the muck and mire and redirected my steps. He showed
me that while others pushed me away when I was stressed out, He wanted me to
come to Him so that I might learn to truly rest. He never put His hand up to me
or gave up on me. He started a
good work in me and intended on completing it. Despite my failures, He reminded
me that His death on the cross provided the proof of His commitment to me
forever.
Rehashing the exact details of all that happened to me
offers no help to anyone, but knowing someone endured similar hardships is
helpful for all. My hope is that just like Joseph’s story inspired me, I pray
mine will do the same for others.
My life includes a lot of falling down along the way, but it’s a journey
about getting back up, too. Like
Joseph, it reveals the way beauty truly emerges out of rough places.
As a child from a divorced home, I knew not only the hurt
from only weekend visits with my father, but the way tension increased in a
household when a second marriage brought into the home other hurt and angry
children. I’ve helplessly sat by
and watched the destructive power of alcohol, and the trail of hurts it leaves
on all the family members involved with it. I’ve not only experienced being violated myself, but carried
the burden of trying to protect a child from the same injury and failed.
I’ve experienced multiple times of abandonment from
various important people in my life. It was during these times that a false
belief surfaced that I was not valuable or worth anyone’s time. Since age seven, I’ve struggled with
suicidal thoughts and depression that constantly left me with the sense that
everyone would be much happier if I just died. As an adult, I sometimes needed medications to keep my
anxiety and depression at bay.
My marriage came with some built-in problems due to my
unhealthy emotional responses to my past and my struggles to heal from
them. My marriage faced a time
when divorce seemed to be the best option for everyone, but the Lord
orchestrated through the death of my father a great healing instead. Unfortunately some
of the deepest wounds inflicted on my family and on me came from those within
the church.
However, I can honestly testify with confidence that what
those used by Satan meant for evil against my family and me personally have
been used for good. The more I pursued walking according to the Spirit instead
of the flesh, the more dross the Lord lifted to the surface to remove from my
heart. He helped me face the lies I believed about Him and myself.
With time I’ve learned to release my hurts to Him and
look at my past as His cleansing work in my life to help me become more like my
Savior, gracious and merciful to others.
I know that as long as I take responsibility for my sins against others
and strive to live at peace with others, then the Lord can handle the rest.
Life is filled with rough places. Often times, we find ourselves in a bad
place due to our own sinful choices but other times we are there because of the
sinful choices of others.
Regardless of how we got there, the Lord wants to raise beauty out of
the messes we find ourselves.
What do you need to release into His hands today? Will you open your heart unreserved to
the One Who made you and is committed to healing you? He sees your worth and value and desires for you to see it
too. Will you let Him carry you to
a place of true peace and rest today?
@copyright 6/10/2013
