Joseph, of the Old Testament, goes from having it all, to
having nothing. Life goes like that sometimes, doesn’t it? Everything seems to
be going well, and then…we feel as if the rug has been pulled out from under
us.
How do you react when this happens—do you lean in closer to
God, or do you turn away?
To read the first two posts:
But The Lord is With
Us
(First posted at Gloria Dei on September 26, 2012)
Coat of many colors Joseph.
That’s how I grew up knowing him. Scripture introduces us to
Joseph when he is 17 years old, and he is clearly his father’s favorite
child…as evidenced by the beautiful robe given to him.
To set the scene of this family dynamic, think about this
for a moment.
Jacob had two wives, Leah and Rachel. Of these two sisters,
(yes, sisters!) Jacob loved Rachel, but wasn’t interested in Leah. However, Jacob
was tricked (by the girls’ father!) into marrying Leah before he could marry
Rachel. If there wasn’t already some tension between Leah and Rachel, there was
now. (Genesis 29-30)
The relationship between the two goes from bad to worse as
Leah has four sons and Rachel is unable to have children. Jealousy is never a
good thing, and there is plenty of it in this family.
At long last, Rachel gives birth to a son, Joseph. Jacob is
now advanced in years and finally has a son with Rachel—his favorite
son—Joseph.
After years of living with the rivalry between Leah and
Rachel, and Joseph obviously being daddy’s favorite, it’s not surprising that
Jacob’s other sons don’t care for Joseph.
Joseph’s not doing too bad though…he’s got Jacob’s approval,
a beautiful ornate robe, and he’s sharing dreams of others bowing down to him
with his family.
And then the rug gets pulled out from under him.
I wonder if he ever saw it coming.
Do we?
When life takes a turn we didn’t anticipate, what do we do?
In times of trials, we can choose to turn
one of two ways…toward God, where we grow closer to Him and learn to trust,
depend, and rely on God and His promises. Or, away from God, often blaming Him
for our circumstances.
Joseph certainly could have turned away
from God in this lousy turn of events, but it appears that he grew closer to
God.
It’s not until after Joseph has been sold into slavery in
Egypt that Scripture says…
“The
Lord was with Joseph, so he succeeded in everything he did as he served in the
home of his Egyptian master. Potiphar noticed this and realized that the Lord
was with Joseph, giving him success in everything he did.” Genesis 39:2-3
“But
while Joseph was there in the prison, the Lord was with him; he
showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden. So the warden put Joseph
in charge of all those held in the prison, and he was made responsible for all
that was done there. The warden paid no attention to
anything under Joseph’s care, because the Lord was with Joseph and gave him
success in whatever he did. Genesis 39:20b-23
During trial after trial, Joseph turned to
God and trusted Him, and God prepared Joseph for the future.
What if our stories read like Joseph’s?
She struggled through
another miscarriage, but the Lord was with her. He comforted her and walked
beside her.
He lost all that he
had worked for, but the Lord was with him; He lifted him up and showed the man
a new beginning.
The unwanted divorce
papers arrived and crushed what was left of her spirit, but the Lord was with
her. He walked with her through the valley, giving her the strength she needed
to move on.
In our lower stories, all we can see is what’s going on
around us. Often times, it’s impossible to see how good can come from what
we’re going through. But it’s in the trials when God gets our attention. When
we’re broken is when He can do the greatest work in us, preparing us for what
He has planned.
And
we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who
have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28
The Lord sees it all. Just as He knew how Joseph’s lower
story fit into His upper story, the Lord knows the same about us.
In Christ,
Laura
