Remain Faithful and Trust the Lord

The last couple of days I’ve been reading about Joseph’s life.  I know the story well, but as I read it again, it struck me anew just how much God was in the middle of his circumstances.

Joseph’s life was…complicated, to say the least.  He came from a dysfunctional family—his mom was his dad’s favorite wife, his brothers were all a handful, his dad had favorites among the children (Joseph in particular) which created a great deal of hatred and jealousy.

In the midst of this dysfunctionality, something truly amazing happened, God gave Joseph prophetic dreams about his future.  The dreams revealed that his family, particularly his brothers, would all one day bow down to him.  Joseph decided to tell his brothers about their future subservience to him, and believe me, that did not set well with them.  Ultimately, they decided to kill him.

Thanks to Reuben, Joseph’s eldest brother, the plan was thwarted; the brothers instead came up with the “much better plan” of selling Joseph into slavery.  Joseph was eventually sold in Egypt to one of Pharoh’s officials.  One might think, “Well, that’s that,” as if it were the end of the story.  But actually, here is where it gets good…

Genesis 39:2,3 records:  “The Lord was with Joseph so that he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master…the Lord was with him and…the Lord gave him success in everything he did…”  Even though Joseph was hated, mistreated, and sold into slavery, God never abandoned him.  In fact, God was with him every step of the way.

As it is, the narrative takes another turn.  A little bit later, Joseph was falsely accused of attempted rape, lost his job, his good name, and got tossed into jail.  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…the Lord was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did.”  Genesis 39:20-23

This pattern continued until God placed Joseph in just the right place for just the right time.  The prophetic dreams the Lord gave Joseph did in fact come true, and like one big puzzle, each piece of difficulty fit together to reveal a much bigger picture.

Today, consider Joseph.  His only job was to remain faithful and trust the Lord.  Perhaps like Joseph, there is some circumstance that doesn’t make sense and even feels like too much to handle.  Remain faithful and trust the Lord and allow Him to reveal to you the bigger picture when the time is right.