What If? More Thoughts on Joseph

Continuing my thoughts on Joseph's story, I can't help but wonder what it must have been like for him to experience all he went through.  He fell far and he fell hard -- from the favored son, to the son thrown into the pit and sold off to be a servant in Egypt; from being part of a large family to being alone in a strange land.  He spent 13 long years in obscurity, in loneliness, and, I would imagine, in doubt and confusion as to what his future could possibly look like.  Would he die as an old man in this foreign prison, never to see his family again?  


When his reputation as an interpreter of dreams landed him the "dream job" in Egypt, what must he have felt?  He'd already been put in a position of responsibility in Potiphar's house but had another great fall from grace as a result of the deception and false accusations of his master's wife, a woman scorned.  Could David believe that this time things would work in his favor?  His track record was pretty shaky!


He had obviously learned a lot in all those years of servitude and imprisonment - learned where to place his faith and trust.  His life had been redeemed, from the prison to prominence:  paraded through the streets as second-in-command, people bowing down to him and honoring him.  When was this going to come crashing down around him?  How could he help but wonder?  What if he hadn't heard God correctly and mis-interpreted those dreams?  What if, instead of speaking God's words, he spoke his own?  David serves Pharaoh through the seven years of plenty, storing up grain in the storehouses and preparing for the seven years of famine yet to come.  What if the plentiful years continued and he ended up with storehouses full of rotting grain?  What if he looked like a fool, or worse yet, a con man who wormed his way into Pharaoh's good graces?  


When we know the end of the story we can easily forget that these are real-life people who had to live out their experiences day by day, trusting in their faithful God to fulfill his promises.  They were just like us - often filled with worry and doubt, wondering how it would all end up.  But because Joseph and the other heroes of our faith ARE just like us, we can draw faith from their stories.  We need to remind ourselves that they probably did struggle with doubt and questions but God, again and again, proved himself faithful.  The seven years of famine happened just as God had foretold and the people were provided for because of God's provision through Joseph.  And that was only the beginning!  We can't miss the bigger picture, the greater blessing:  God's provision for his chosen people, his guiding hand as he moves his people into the land of Egypt and then through deliverance from  Egypt into the promised land.


And that story continues, one that we can't begin to see or imagine.  God's hand has brought us deliverance from the slavery of sin and into the promised land of his Kingdom.  Even when we wonder how our story will turn out, even when the darkness might seem to be "winning", our God is faithful and is bringing to completion his work on this earth.  We are part of that story.

Why do you say, O Jacob, 

and speak, O Israel, 

“My way is hidden from the LORD, 

and my right is disregarded by my God”? 

Have you not known? Have you not heard? 

The LORD is the everlasting God, 

the Creator of the ends of the earth. 

He does not faint or grow weary; 

his understanding is unsearchable. 

He gives power to the faint, 

and to him who has no might he increases strength. 

Even youths shall faint and be weary, 

and young men shall fall exhausted; 

but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; 

they shall mount up with wings like eagles; 

they shall run and not be weary; 

they shall walk and not faint.

(Isaiah 40:27; Isaiah 40:28-31 ESV)