One Heck of a Compliment

A reflection on Genesis 39:6-20; 40:9-14; 40:23

Joseph was:

• Sold into slavery
• Falsely accused
• Unjustly imprisoned
• Forgotten in chains

One might say that following God is no promise of an easy life.  Indeed, considering Joseph, following God can be anything but. 

However, read on to the rest of the story:

Genesis 45 4 Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come close to me.” When they had done so, he said, “I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! 5 And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you.  6 For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will be no plowing and reaping. 7 But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. 8 “So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. [Italics added]

God’s promise is not an easy life; rather, it is to love us and to make things right in the end, whether in this present age or the in age to come.  Recall that:

• Joseph had to bear slavery and prison – to save Israel
• Jesus had to bear the cross – to save all of us

Adversity is not a sign that God has somehow failed.  Adversity is not a sign that God really doesn’t care.  Actually, adversity might just be the very plan of God.  Indeed, rather than abandonment, hardship may just mean that God has great confidence in you, confidence that you are sufficiently faithful to be part of his work here on earth.  

James 1 2 My friends, consider yourselves fortunate when all kinds of trials come your way,  3 for you know that when your faith succeeds in facing such trials, the result is the ability to endure. 4 Make sure that your endurance carries you all the way without failing, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

So then, look at adversity* as God’s investment in you, not his abandonment of you. God is not only working on you, but is saying that you are capable of handling it.  Adversity, then, is God's commentary on your capability.

Serious adversity?  That's one heck of a compliment.  

*Notes:  Suffering is suffering.  When a close friend or family member passes, it's not time to "put on a happy face."  Recall Jesus' reaction to the death of Lazarus:  "Jesus wept" (John 11:35). God asks us to be real.  When I quote James, "consider yourselves fortunate," I do not mean to take away from the reality of suffering; neither does God.  I presume suffering to be self evident.  When we are in the midst of suffering, we need no encouragement to feel miserable.  Where I need encouragement is – at some point when the overwhelming pain has subsided a bit – to remember that God is going somewhere with all this; that there is an order and a plan to the universe; and that I need to seek my part in his work.  Where I need encouragement is to remember, "And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose..." (Romans 8:28).