I have always been amazed to see how God always accomplishes his will. One of my favorite examples of his providence is found in the story of Joseph. Near the end of Genesis, near the end of his life, Joseph’s brothers fear that Joseph is going to turn against them for the years they betrayed him. Instead Joseph acknowledges that God is always in control and that His will, will be done! We read his words in Genesis 50:20 “You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people.” Joseph wrote these words after years of trial that could be traced back to the dysfunctional relationship he had with his family. As a young boy, on two separate occasions, Joseph dreamed that someday his family would bow down before him. We read that when he told the dreams to his family, his brothers hated him. It’s not that they disliked him, or were annoyed by him, they hated him! I can remember as a young boy having many fights with my brother and sister, I picked on them, they told on me, but hatred was never considered. Throughout my life, there have been people I did not like, but I cannot remember hating anybody. I cannot even imagine what was going on with this family. It is a biblical example of everything that can go wrong within a family. As the hatred for Joseph grew, schemes to get rid of him were devised. Eventually Joseph was captured by his brothers sold into slavery to a band of Gypsies. Now this would have been enough for most of us to lose heart, but Joseph pressed on to become a faithful servant in Potiphar’s house. He was put in charge of everything that Potiphar had until he was betrayed and wrongfully accused by Potiphar’s wife of rape. That’s right, she made advances on Joseph over and over again, until one day she found herself alone with him. In an attempt to get away he left his cloak in her hand and ran out. Embarrassed and dejected, with his robe in her hand, she accused an innocent man. Joseph was thrown into prison to spend the rest of his life. Surely now, Joseph would give up, surely now he would relent his dreams and realize that he had it all wrong. Joseph never quit dreaming. As a prisoner, he became a leader. In fact he was put in charge of the entire jail. One day he had the chance to help out the cup bearer and baker of the king by listening and interpreting their dreams. All he asked was that they remember what he had done and tell the King. You guessed it; the cup bearer gets out of jail and forgets about Joseph. It wasn’t until years later when Pharaoh had a dream that that needing interpreted that the cup bearer remembered what Joseph had done for him. So let’s summarize, Joseph was hated by those who should love him, wrongly accused, and when you think it could not get any worse, he was forgotten! Most of us would have given up, deciding that God does not love or care about us. We would assume that we had done something so bad that even God has looked away from us. Joseph never gave up on his dreams and believed that God was still in control. He never gave up! Joseph was correct, God blessed him with the interpretation of Pharaoh’s dream, he was given a place of honor in Egypt second only to Pharaoh, and he saved his family. Today God works through us in many ways to fulfill His will. Like Joseph we will get knocked down, beat up, and feel all alone and forgotten. It would be very easy to say God does not love me, or God does not have a plan for me, or there is nothing good in me for God to use. This simply is not true! I challenge you to think back to the dreams and passions God has placed in your heart. It may have been years ago, and it may require removing the junk that has robbed you of God’s leading, but find it, believe it, and go for it! Who knows it may have been God’s plan all along to use you to save your family, and make a difference for His Kingdom!
~Mike
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