Poor Old Joseph

Psalm 105:18,19 His feet were hurt with fetters, his neck was put in a collar of iron; until what he had said came to pass, the word of the Lord kept testing him.

Suffering, on its own, is bad enough. But when the suffering comes at the hands of injustice, it can be almost unbearable. How do you respond when you’re on the wrong end of an injustice? Hmm?

When things happen to us in life that aren’t fair, when our plans get derailed by a twist of fate that doesn’t make sense, it feels as though life has just reached down your throat and torn your heart out, doesn’t it?

Young Joseph of technicolour dream coat fame had something of a rough life. He was sold into slavery by jealous brothers, transported in chains to Egypt, then falsely accused of rape by his master’s wife, thrown into prison even though he was innocent, and left to rot.

Putting ourselves in his shoes just for a moment, you have to kind of wonder – what was God thinking? How could He give this young Joseph such a rough time of it, especially since at every turn of misfortune, Joseph just gets on with doing the right thing. He was quite a guy.

Psalm 105:18,19 His feet were hurt with fetters, his neck was put in a collar of iron; until what he had said came to pass, the word of the Lord kept testing him.(NRSV)

And there it is right there. The word of the Lord kept testing him because God was getting Joseph ready for something big. And even though on those dark days, when without doubt all the injustice and the suffering didn’t make sense to Joseph … two things were going on.

Firstly Joseph, through his behaviour, was proving himself true and secondly, all along, God was hatching a plan that would change the world.

When injustice and suffering feel like they’re tearing your heart out, prove yourself true because God has a plan.

That’s God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.

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Poor Old Joseph

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