Joseph's Story

Joseph's Story

Megann Graf
Thursday, July 21, 2016

I think that control is probably the biggest battle we face as Christians.  No one likes to feel like they’re not in control, and yet, to rely on Christ we must relinquish our control to allow His will to be done.  It’s not an easy thing to do.  I actually find it pretty amazing that nowhere in the story of Joseph is he found complaining.  He’s thrown into a pit and left to die, and yet no mention of him questioning why.  Then Joseph makes his way to the palace to work under Potiphar, and then is accused of raping Potophar’s wife and is thrown into jail.  No complaints. 

Now, I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that I think that Joseph HAD to have had, at the very least, some thoughts about how all of this was VERY unfair.  He had to have been human enough to think, “why the heck does this keep happening to me.”  But, we never hear any of this.  We never see a mention of any of those thoughts.  So my question is “why?”

Here is what I do know.  After Joseph is sold into slavery after his brothers abandoned him, it says in scripture, “The Lord was with Joseph and he prospered…”  When he was thrown into jail it says, “But while Joseph was there in the prison, the Lord was with him…”  And later, when he was let out of prison to interpret the dreams that the King had, he made it known to the King, “I cannot not do it (interpret the dream), but God will give Pharaoh the answers he desires.”

The story we are told never strays onto the path of complaining, even though there are several events happening where complaining would be well understood.  The story holds on to the fact that, even though horrible things were happening, God was there.  He never left Joseph, even in his trials.  He knew the plans he was setting up for him, and Joseph remained faithful to see them fulfilled. 

It’s so easy to let our story stray to one of complaints.  Trust me, I’m no example of getting it right on this one.  My story is one where complaints sometimes take over the main point of the story.  I want to be in control, and I want to question why things are happening, to me and to others.  There are a lot of injustices in our world today, a lot of reasons to question and complain.  What we learn from Joseph is the reason why we have to let them go.  If Joseph complained, that wasn’t the highlight of his story. 

God could not have used Joseph and elevated him to the level that he did, had Joseph not trusted Him.  Joseph could not have received the peace he received or given the forgiveness that he gave at the end, had he not trusted in what God was doing in his life.  The most beautiful part of this story, is the freedom that is not only given to Joseph, but the freedom he then gives to his family, when at the end he say to them, in Genesis 50:19-20 “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.”