Joseph
Joseph’s brother’s didn’t like him. No, they couldn’t stand him. They knew he was their father’s favorite, and so did Joseph. Joseph seemed to have a knack for rubbing it in their faces.
On an errand for his father, Joseph approached the field where his brothers were working. When the boys spotted him, their anger reached a boiling point so they threw him into a pit, intending on killing him. Instead, they decided to profit from their sin, they sold him into slavery and told their Dad that he died.
Joseph prospered as a slave and became a servant to a high official in Egypt. The official’s wife had designs on Joseph, but because he was a righteous man, he rebuffed her advances. Humiliated by his rejection, she told her husband that Joseph had made advances to her, so he was thrown into prison.
He prospered in prison too, and became the jailer’s assistant, and helped interpret dreams for prisoners. When Pharaoh had dreams that troubled him, he heard about Joseph’s ability to interpret dreams and brought him out of prison.
When he correctly interpreted the dream, Pharaoh made Joseph second in command over Egypt. Later, the same brothers that threw Joseph into the pit, stood before him, asking for food for their family. Joseph had a choice, he could exercise vengeance or forgiveness. He chose the latter. He told his brothers, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” Genesis 50:20 NIV
Man’s evil intents, in the hand of God, often becomes good. God specializes in turning evil into good.
“And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28 NASB)
Jim L. Wilson, Fresh Start Devotionals (Fresno, CA: Willow City Press, 2009).
Comments