I’ve always been fascinated by the character Joseph in the Bible. He suffers through so much early on in his story in Genesis, then later becomes second in command in Egypt only to Pharaoh.
He is the perfect example of someone whose faith is rock solid, no matter the circumstances. And his faith paid off, as God was with him during all his tribulations.
My question to him would be, How did you manage to keep your faith through all those tough times?
For me, it would be difficult to keep up the faith when my brothers sold me into slavery to the Midianites.
Here is poor Joseph, first thrown down into a pit to be left there, but then brought up just so that his buyers could see him, pay for him, and carry him away.
Surely Joseph must have wondered where God was in all of this, especially when the Midianites later took him to Egypt and sold him to Potiphar, an officer to Pharaoh.
No doubt he wondered what he had done to deserve this kind of treatment. Here, he was far from home with no one in his family even knowing his whereabouts.
It would definitely be hard to keep your faith up at this point. Surely God has forgotten all about me or else I wouldn’t be in this predicament, he must have thought to himself.
Eventually things began to look up for Joseph, but he was soon framed by Potiphar’s wife and thrown into prison.
It would definitely be hard to maintain your faith in God when you’re locked in prison for something you didn’t even do.
Soon, Pharaoh’s cup-bearer and baker joined Joseph in prison. Joseph interpreted dreams for both of them, with the cup-bearer’s dream meaning that he would be reinstated to his former position.
Joseph asked that the cup-bearer remember him when he spoke with Pharaoh, hoping that would help him get out of prison.
Joseph wasn’t about to be let out of prison just yet, as the cup-bearer forgot all about him for two whole years.
What kind of negative thoughts do you think were going through his mind during this time?
Pharaoh eventually had his own puzzling dream, and the cup-bearer at last remembered the dream that Joseph had interpreted for him.
He mentioned Joseph to Pharaoh and Pharaoh had Joseph brought to him to tell him the meaning of his dream.
Joseph interpreted Pharaoh’s dream to mean that there would be seven prosperous years followed by seven years of famine.
Pharaoh then made Joseph second in command in all of Egypt.
Joseph was to oversee a plan to store the country’s grain during the prosperous years so that there would be enough grain during the lean years.
At last, Joseph had reached a level of responsibility brought about by God himself. Even though he was far from his home, he was prospering and well respected in this foreign land.
Eventually, Joseph even reunited with his brothers when they came to buy grain from the Egyptians.
His father, Jacob, eventually traveled to Egypt to see his son again. God had truly blessed them when the surrounding areas were suffering through the famine.
As hard as it must have been, Joseph’s steadfast faith paid off. It took several years, but God brought him and his family back together and blessed them all in the midst of a famine.
We can all learn something from Joseph’s example. As long as we’re putting God first and living so as to honor Him, we can trust Him to ultimately work everything out for our good (Rom. 8:28).
Stick with God, even when it looks like everything is working against you, and everything will be alright.
However, in Genesis perhaps the most powerful image of God as a Judge is found in the account of the great flood. God sees that man has a penchant for wickedness, so He says, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them” (6:7). After reading the story of the flood I vaguely remember wondering how God could kill all of the living creatures on the earth. That seemed so mean and cruel to my young mind.
Along Bumpy Roads 