I love Joseph!

The Joseph in Genesis that is. The Bible study that I have been involved with for 6 years has spent this year studying the book of Genesis. While I appreciate that so many flawed people are in the Bible so I can feel like I can relate to them, I love that Joseph gives me an example of someone who made all the right decisions. He may have had some youthful pride (when he told his God-given dreams to his brothers), but after being first thrown into a well and then sold to slave traders, he did not complain. He had complete faith and trust in God, and just worked hard.

While some people may try to sell the "become a Christian and your life will be easy" philosophy, that is not what the Bible teaches. Indeed, becoming a follower of Christ will make you a target for satan and his agents, and you can expect attacks! God actually allows suffering in the lives of believers, not because He is mean or He doesn't care about us, but because going through those hard times is what trains us and molds us into the people He wants us to become.

Here is Joseph, and through no fault of his own he ends up as a slave in Egypt. But because of his faith and hard work, he ends up with many responsibilities in Potiphar's household. He could have easily thought, when Potiphar's wife came on to him that he deserved some pleasure. After all, he had worked hard for many years, and besides, who would know? But Joseph fled from that temptation, and endured the false accusation against him, landing him in prison. Again, Joseph didn't complain about his lot in life. In fact, it was at this time that he noticed the troubled cupbearer and baker there in prison. Because he took the time to care about them, he was able to listen to their dreams and given them God's interpretation. When the cupbearer was restored to his prior position and promised to remember Joseph, but forgot, Joseph continued to be faithful. Never once was he blaming, spiteful or bitter, though by today's standards he had every right to be.

All those years (about 13) prepared Joseph for what was to come. He had taken on increasingly responsibility, both in Potiphar's house, and in prison, and all the while had completely trusted God to fulfill the dreams He had given him years earlier. God had trained Joseph to depend on him, work hard, and not complain. Finally, when the Pharaoh had dreams that couldn't be interpreted, the cupbearer remembered Joseph, and after telling the Pharaoh what the dreams meant, Joseph was exalted to be second in command!

I want to be a Joseph. I don't want to waste any of the hard times I go through, but learn through them what I'm supposed to learn, so that God can make me into who He wants me to be. I want to not waste time or emotion on complaining about what others say or do to me. I just want to work hard and please God. A high, but not impossible goal, and certainly one worth striving for!