Tag Archives: Joseph

Bad Things Happen to Good People

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Bad things happen to good people. The faithful suffer illness and death. The righteous are persecuted by the unrighteous. The devout face ruin and destruction. Such trials have happened since the days of the first couple and they continue even now. People much wiser than I have tried to explain this phenomenon in volumes of writings. How can it be that the God of the Bible can allow such suffering? We cannot argue that suffering is not real or that it is some imagination of an active mind. Good people really do suffer.

But it may help to examine one righteous struggler and see what lessons we can learn. Joseph, son of Jacob is a perfect example.

Joseph’s story is found in Genesis chapters 37 through 50. He was born into a family of 12 boys and one girl. Only one brother was younger. Joseph is born to Rachel, the favored wife of Jacob. He the favored child (Genesis 37:3) and serves his father well although even his mother and father become troubled because of dreams that Joseph has which cast them as subservient to him (Genesis 37:9-11).

The resulting jealousy of his brothers causes Joseph to be kidnapped and sold into slavery by his brothers (Genesis 37:12 ff). He rises to prominence and responsibility in the house of Potiphar, a military commander of Egyptian King Pharaoh (Genesis 39:2-6). An encounter with Potiphar’s wife forces Joseph to choose between good and evil. He chooses good and is falsely accused of attempted rape. He is cast into an Egyptian prison. But even in prison God brings him success and causes him to find favor in the jailer’s eyes (Genesis 39:21-23). Joseph precisely interprets dreams of two fellow inmates but even when one returns to his position of honor at the Pharaoh’s side, Joseph is forgotten and languishes for two years in the prison (Genesis 40:1).

Finally, a troubling dream causes Joseph to be brought before Pharaoh himself. The king is so impressed with Joseph that he not only takes him from prison but elevates him to a position second only to the Pharaoh himself (Genesis 41:40-45). For 13 years (c.f. Genesis 37:2; Genesis 41:46) Joseph had ridden roller coaster. At just the moment life began to look better, everything crashed. But through it all Joseph was faithful. Not one word is written that even hints at Joseph losing faith in Jehovah.

It is true that bad things really do happen to good people. But it is also true that even in the darkest hour, God stays with the faithful and brings them through to better days.

It is also true that God’s will is always done even when we suffer.  Although Joseph is not a direct ancestor of Jesus, his life and struggles were required for the coming of our Lord. Pharaoh’s dreams were a divine warning of a coming famine. Joseph, having interpreted the dream, was put in charge of preparations. Joseph was so successful that his estranged family, living in another country, came to Egypt to buy food so that they could survive the foot shortages. Without Joseph’s work, they likely would have succumbed to hunger and disease thus eliminating the line of Jesus.

Because Joseph was so beloved by Pharaoh and the people, an invitation was extended to his family to come and live in Goshen, a province of Egypt. It was there they grew into a mighty people.

Our lives seem to mirror Joseph’s sometimes. One day things are great and the next we can barely hold our heads up. The lesson from Joseph is one of endurance and faithfulness. God can and will do great things with us when we place all of our faith and trust in him. We see the result of Joseph’s life but he could not. Like us, he could only see the walls of a pit and the walls of a prison. But he trusted that God would bring him to a better place, and he did. Does this encourage you? It should. Trust God!

Monday Memo – Joseph

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“The keeper of the prison paid no attention to anything that was in Joseph’s charge.
because the Lord was with him.
And whatever he did, the Lord made it succeed.
(Genesis 39:23)

CNN told us Friday that Americans were turning to fortune tellers to help them get through the present economic hardships. That only proves what Tusser said,  that “a fool and his money are soon parted.” Happily, many others have chosen to seek their future in God.

Joseph was a young man who struggled with just about every problem that could be imagined. His life looked more like a modern day roller coaster than that of a man with a great future. Yet for every downturn in his life there was a bigger upturn! How and why?

The Genesis 39 account gives us the answer. Joseph was successful because of his relationship with God. Despite his world routinely falling apart, Joseph had discovered that by remaining faithful to God he would be blessed. In fact his blessings were so immense that they were even noticed by the pagan prison Warden.

Read it carefully — “whatever he did, the Lord made it succeed…” You and I can enjoy the same level of blessing when we have the same level of faith and dedication that Joseph displayed.

Will you focus this week on securing and strengthening your relationship with Jesus? Will you walk faithfully with him so that he can bless you? Try it. You may be surprised!

When Evil is Good

Church Bulletin, Daily living, Encouragement, Genesis, ,

There are times when we wonder why we struggle so much. We wonder why there seems to be so much badness or evil in the world. Why must the righteous suffer while the wicked seem to prosper and flourish? Questions like these are neither new nor uncommon. Often the psalmist cried to God for deliverance from his troubles when it seemed the foes of God would be victorious. Truly, it often seems that evil will win.

Joseph likely felt the same way at times. Beginning in Genesis 37, Joseph began to endure a series of up and down events that brought him into direct confrontation with the very worst life has to offer. For example, Joseph was unjustly accused of rape (Genesis 39:7-20) and cast into a prison where he languished for at least two years (Genesis 41:1). He had previously been separated from his loving father and his family when his own brothers sold him as a slave into the hands of traders (Genesis 37:12ff).  Finally, after years of struggling Joseph was freed and rose to a position second only to Pharaoh in Egypt.

Later, the very same brothers who sold him find themselves standing before the brother-turned Egyptian-ruler begging for famine relief. When he reveals his true identity the brothers are terrified of his reprisals. He does not return evil to them but brings them to live in his new country in luxury (Genesis 47:11,12). Later, when their father dies the brothers are again fearful of Joseph (Genesis 50:15) and the possibility of retribution.

Joseph does not seek revenge. Although in a position to bring horror to the lives of his brothers and repay them for the evil they did to him, Joseph instead calms his nervous brethren. Joseph said, “…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 50:20). Through Joseph’s struggles, God protected and preserved the very family  that would eventually bring forth the son of Joseph and Mary, Jesus Christ. Without Joseph in Egypt, the family may well have died from starvation in famine stricken Canaan.

First of all, Joseph recognized that God was ruling from heaven. Although times often seemed dark and despair was all around, God was still in charge. When Joseph had nothing else, he maintained his faith in God Almighty and  trusted in his deliverance. Through his unwavering faithfulness and dependence, this rejected son of Israel, like Jesus later, would be the means through which his people would be saved.

Next, Joseph knew that God’s plans could not be stopped. The Lord made a series of promises to Joseph’s father, grandfather and great-grandfather concerning the future of that particular family. Those promises had not yet been fulfilled. God had also promised to care for and protect all those who trusted in him. God had never been found lacking in his plans. He always did what he said he would – just in his time, not ours. Suffering  Job, in the midst of his own struggles, having confronted God and found himself lacking before his creator declared, “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted” (Job 42:2).

Third, God was able to deliver. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego would later declare what Joseph already knew, “God …is able to deliver” us (Daniel 3:17). These three righteous men were delivered from the fiery furnace and Joseph would be delivered from the hand of his oppressors.

Finally, Joseph learned that God could take evil and turn it into a blessing. In our words, God can turn a lemon into lemonade! Although is brothers intended to do evil to Joseph, God would not sit by and allow his faithful, devoted servant to be consumed. Not only had Joseph survived, he was thriving in a foreign land.

Rest assured that evil will come your way too. But with God deliverance also comes to his faithful children. The key for us, the central demand of our spiritual survival, is faithfulness. Apart from such there is no deliverance and evil wins. But always remember that there is victory in God’s Son, there is victory in Jesus!