READ: Genesis 49, 50. Psalm 29
Passage referred to:
But Joseph said to them, “Do not
fear, for am I in the place of God? As for
you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it
about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.
Genesis 50:19,20
REFLECTION
Life was a frightening nightmare for Joseph. He was the
youngest and most doted upon by his parents. He was his father’s favourite
child, and the son of his father’s favoured wife. While his brothers were out
in the fields, he was home running errands. How much better could life be for
anyone? And then the unimaginable happened. He became a victim of human
trafficking. Except that the perpetuators were not a gang of kidnappers, but
his own brothers. Suddenly separated from his parents, this child was sold as a
slave in a faraway land. Besides fear and uncertainty, what thoughts might have
passed through Joseph’s mind? “Do my brothers not care that my mother and
father will never see me again? Do they hate me so much that they would do such
a cruel thing to me? Please God, will you rescue me and take me home?” And
there was silence. His brothers really did not care; perhaps God did not
either?
Fast forward several years. Joseph had, through hard work
and faithfulness, won the trust of his slave master Potifar. But faithfulness
does not always bring rewards. In fact, in Joseph’s case, his faithfulness to
his master was the cause of his downfall. Potifar’s wife had attempted to
seduce him, and instead of giving in to her and gaining favours from her, he
rejected her advances because he would not betray his master. His master’s wife
lied about him and he ended up in prison, misunderstood by his master and
receiving his master’s wrath. There is no justice in life. And God seemed too
far away to bother about justice for Joseph.
It's strange that Joseph continued to fear God. Many others
would have abandoned God at best, or cursed God at worst. But Joseph hung on to
God. Perhaps God was not all that silent to Joseph. It appears that God was regularly
revealing truths and speaking to Joseph. Which was why Joseph was known to have
divine abilities to interpret dreams. And then while in prison, a royal baker
and a royal butler had dreams which Joseph interpreted. And as divined by
Joseph, the baker was executed while the butler was restored to his position. Just
before leaving prison, the butler promised to help Joseph get out of prison.
But like many others, the butler forgot his promise and Joseph continued to
languish in prison. Until Pharoah had a dream that no one could interpret and
then the butler remembered Joseph and told Pharoah about him.
That was when the trajectory of Joseph’s fortunes turned
around. He was promoted to the second most powerful position in the Egyptian
empire. And yet, despite his meteoric rise to power, Joseph’s first thought was
not revenge against his brothers, nor even his unbelievably good fortune. Foremost
on his mind was that many people were kept alive. His reply to his nervous brothers
was, “you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it
about that many people should be kept alive.” Perhaps this was the secret of
Joseph’s resilience through the terrible troubles in his life: his focus was
not on his fortunes but on what God could do through his life.
RELATE
We often see ourselves blessed by God when good fortune
visits us. But when misfortune hits us, we see ourselves as abandoned by God,
or at least, not blessed by God. But that is not how God sees life. His
blessing for us is that He is always with us. Through the changing fortunes of his
life, God continued to be with Joseph, speaking to him and often speaking
through him. The truth is that humans are unreliable and often worse than unreliable.
And our fortunes will fluctuate like the unreliability of humans. One day our
friends will pledge unfailing love to us; the next day when such love becomes
uncomfortable or unprofitable, they will flee and leave us in a mess. Or worse,
show us such cruelty as we have never experienced before. Such is life.
But God will stick by us through it all. And He will
steadfastly navigate our lives safely through the storms that others create for
us. Experiencing this truth is perhaps why Joseph never got bitter. He
discovered that even when others were unjust or cruel to him, God was lovingly
navigating his life.
And along the way, Joseph also discovered that God had even
bigger dreams for him. That on his crazy journey through life, he could bring
joy and hope and life to others. And seeing someone’s life being saved, or in
his case, an entire empire’s citizens saved from famine, was a reward far
greater than just his good fortune.
This truth about God applies to everyone who submits to God’s
rule in our lives. God will never leave us, but will gently navigate us through
the storms of life. And in the course of life’s journey will still give us the
privilege of blessing others with love, and hope, and life.
Chiu Ming Li
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