SEPTEMBER 17 – The dreamer (part 1)

“The LORD was with Joseph, so he succeeded in everything he did as he served in the home of his Egyptian master” - Genesis 39:2

I read an interesting article this week about Joseph, a Bible favourite of many, particularly when they were youngsters.

Joseph was the dreamer of the family, and these dreams were to be his downfall as far as his brothers were concerned. The result was that his life took a detour to the one I'm sure he had imagined. While you and I may not have been sold into slavery or imprisoned, our lives are probably far different now to the ones we had imagined living. Along the way we will have learned a few things about ourselves that we never knew.

Joseph was Rachel's son, and thereby the favourite of Jacob, his father – Rachel had been Jacob's first true love. One day Jacob gave Joseph a special gift in the form of a fancy robe, or tunic. This robe was beautifully coloured, ornate, had long sleeves, and extended down to his ankles. In comparison, Joseph’s brothers likely had shorter, sleeveless tunics that allowed them to more easily do their manual labor. Charles Swindoll writes in his book Joseph: A Man of Integrity and Forgivness, “By giving Joseph this elaborate full-length coat, which was also a sign of nobility in that day, his father was boldly implying, ‘You can wear this beautiful garment because you don’t have to work like those brothers of yours.’"

This coat probably wasn’t the first gift Joseph received that blatantly pointed out the favor he had with his father. Joseph had likely been spoiled and coddled his entire life, until that fateful day where he was forced to leave his father’s favour and blessings. Overcome by their jealousy, his brothers plotted, and one day they threw Joseph into a pit, eventually selling him into slavery. Talk about the end of a spoiled childhood! Joseph was sold on and spent the rest of his life in a foreign land with people who paid to own him, his days of being favoured and coddled were over.

Without Jacob, his father, Joseph had to learn to work. And Joseph did work, and he worked hard. We see Joseph’s gifts of administration and leadership start to bloom as “Potiphar gave Joseph complete administrative responsibility over everything he owned” - Genesis 39:6. Joseph worked hard and was soon given charge of the prison, and eventually became ruler over all of Egypt!  When famine struck the land, it was to be Joseph’s God-given gift of administration and leadership that God used to save Joseph’s family and the whole nation of Egypt from starvation.

By losing his status of “chosen son” and having to work to earn his keep, Joseph’s gifts and talents were able to develop and grow in his life. Had he never had the hardship of being sold into slavery, he never would have tapped into those abilities, and consequently never would have saved his family. Joseph’s life in captivity was filled with what seemed to be setbacks on the surface, but in fact were the very situations that matured him, tested him, and ultimately set him up for God’s plan to be fulfilled through him.

In one of these major setbacks, we see the true, noble character that was the core of who Joseph was.

“These Things Shall Pass” by Johnny Cash is today's choice of music. Click on the picture to listen.