Scripture: “So when the Midianite merchants came by, his brothers pulled Joseph up out of the cistern and sold him for twenty shekels of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt.”- Genesis 37:28
Insight:As we’ve been discussing the practical life lessons we can learn and apply to our own lives through the stories of the real life Bible Heroes, today we will look at Joseph. We can learn many lessons from Joseph but the one I want to focus on is perseverance. Joseph had so many times in his life where he could have simply given up for all the horrible things that happened to him. But he never did. Instead of wearing his hurt, he chose to wear his hope. He was bound and determined to not let his circumstances dictate his emotional state. He could only control his outlook, and that led to him ultimately triumphing over ridiculously hard and unfair circumstances. Could we survive such a road of heartache and betrayal and false accusations? Doubtful, but Joseph shows us the only way to do it is through persistence and hope in God Almighty and in His often unseen plans. No one in the Bible, except for maybe Paul, had a harder road than Joseph. He was banadonded and left for dead, and then eventually sold into slavery by his own brothers. He was falsely accused by Potiphar’s wife of making sexual advances towards her when she had done that to him. He was forgotten by the Cup Bearer after he had correctly interpreted his dreams, and as a result of all this he spent many, many years in a dank, dark Egyptian prison. He was probably depressed, confused, angry and heart-broken at how his life was seemingly turning out. But Joseph had one thing that kept him going and that was a thought that God was still working in his circumstances. He kept believing that somehow God would take what many had meant for evil against him and turn it for good, which turned out to be true in the end. ( Genesis 50:20 )
Joseph persevered because he believed that God was bigger than his circumstances and this allowed him to keep hoping, even when others would have given up long ago. We know in the end all of Joseph’s pain was redeemed and he became the 2nd most powerful man in Egypt, and he was even able to provide food for his family and to see his father Jacob before he died. God blessed the end of Joseph’s story, but it was only possible because Joseph never gave up. He always believed God would reveal the truth of his story in a powerful way at the perfect time, and He did. Joseph was persistent because in his heart he believed in the goodness of God and he believed that God would always get the final say and write the final chapter in his story. This is an encouraging story for all of us to learn that we should never give up because no matter how much the odds look stacked against us. God is bigger than any of our circumstances. Like Joseph, we can choose to wear our hope, and not our hurt.
Prayer: Father God, thank you for the lessons you teach us about perseverance through the life of Joseph. He is a great witness for all of us to trust in You alone, no matter how tough the road appears before us. In Jesus’ mighty name we pray. Amen!
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