Joseph's Journey

Genesis 45:5-6

“But now, do not therefore be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life.” NKJV

Joseph could no longer hold his composure before his brothers.  He cried aloud before them and then told them who he was.  When the boys were young their father favored Joseph over all of his brothers.  This caused a deep resentment between Joseph and his brothers.  Joseph also had dreams that his brothers would someday bow down to him and this only aroused their anger more and caused them to want to kill him.  :By God’s divine grace they decided to sell him as a slave instead. 

When Joseph was a slave in his master’s house he was falsely accused by his masters wife and then thrown into prison.  There he stayed a number of years until God gave him the interpretation of Pharaoh’s dream.  You can read this story in Genesis 41:17-36.   

This dream told Pharaoh there would be seven good years of plentiful harvest and the following seven years of famine in the land.  Joseph also instructed him to choose a wise man to gather 1/5^th  of the seven year plentiful harvest and store the food and grain as a reserve for the famine to come.  This interpretation was pleasing to Pharaoh and he saw that God was surely upon Joseph and exalted him to be the head over his entire kingdom as his right hand to carry out everything God had shown Joseph in the dream to do. 

When the dream came to pass and the famine grew fierce his father Israel sent his brothers to buy grain from the Egyptians.  His own brothers were now coming before Joseph in desperate need of food.  His childhood dream was also coming to pass as he saw his brothers laying prostate before him not knowing who he was.

Years have passed without Joseph hearing or communicating with his family.  Seeing them after all that time must have been heart breaking and joyful at the same time.  He could no longer keep his identity from them because he still loved them and wanted them to know who he was. 

Bearing in mind all that his brothers had done to him and the trials Joseph experienced; there are a number of scenarios that could have transpired at this moment.  One scenario could have been that Joseph had grown bitter from all his hardship and hated his brothers and used his power to throw them in jail or worse kill them for what they did to him.  He could have sought revenge and tortured them along with their entire household or worse chose to deny them food and grain to take back to their homes and families and allowed them to starve to death.  

Bitterness and resentment could have taken a hold of his heart and turned what was once good and full of light into darkness filled with wickedness... but God was with Joseph through all his trials and hardships and the bible says that everything Joseph did he did to the lord.  He feared God with a holy reverence and when he was exalted by Pharaoh and raised to his right hand by doing  exactly what God had instructed him  to do; Joseph then understood that God had allowed the path for his life, as hard as it was, to go before his family to Egypt for this very reason and purpose - to save many lives. 

This divine knowledge and understanding enabled Joseph to not only forgive his brothers from the heart but also to bless them and their households and we see later in the next few chapters that Joseph brought his entire household his father and their families to him and provided them with land and shelter during the famine. 

There are times we may not understand why God allows the storms and trials to come or why He has us on a certain path that includes going through high mountain tops along with deep valley lows... but through it all we can believe as Joseph did that God is with us and trust in His Sovereign will for our lives and also that His will is always pure and perfect. 

When we understand God’s will is perfect and also that He is sovereign it enables us to accept whatever God brings our way with confidence and assurance along with a surrendered heart as Jesus did when He prayed, “Not my will but thy will be done and Father forgive them for they know not what they do.”  We can believe by faith that God is faithful and we can trust him and praise him through the good times as well as the bad' knowing that He always has our best interests at heart and perhaps to be used like Joseph to save many lives through Jesus Christ. 

Let us pray today that God would give us hearts like Jesus and Joseph and a hearts desire to walk in His righteousness and holiness ; surrendered to God  that cries out, “Abba Father! Not my will but your will be done in me.”   

“Joseph said to them, "Do not be afraid, for am I in the place of God?  But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.  Now therefore, do not be afraid; I will provide for you and your little ones." And he comforted them and spoke kindly to them. “ Genesis 50:19-21 - NKJV

Filoiann Wiedenhoff