God had a plan for how to make a home happy when he created man and woman. It was the same plan when he wrote the Bible thru men. His original design can not be improved. A husband and wife with a commitment to each other for the rest of their lives.
Genesis 37:1-3 & Genesis 47:11- 12
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were God's choices for beginning the nation of Israel. The special promise God made to these men was to make of their children a great nation. Jacob and his 12 sons were the foundational families of that promise.
Now, I'm sure having so many sons was hard for Jacob. There weren't enough hours in the day to spend time alone with each.
The older boys had become set in their ways, they sometimes did bad things.
The second to youngest, however, still had a tender conscience. He loved his father and wanted to obey him. He would tell his father the bad things that his brothers would do.
Now, God had not given the ten commandments yet, and every man did what was right i his own eyes. Joseph's brothers resented his tattling so much that they sold him as a slave and told his father that he had died.
Before Joseph was sold, he had learned about God. Because of his desire to please God, he became the best servant he could be. Do you think the character quality of honoring those i charge helped him to work well with or even for other people? God thinks it does. He likes to honor those who honor him. He honored Joseph by placing him in authority during the famine. God had to teach Joseph some things, and they weren't easy to learn. But God had chosen Joseph to be a leader. And a leader needs all sorts of character qualities.
Joseph had a forgiving heart. He knew God and he believed God would take care of him. When you have that kind of confidence, you can relax and let God take care of the problems. You don't need to concern yourself with getting revenge.
Joseph was the best he could be where ever he found himself. As a servant, he became supervisor of the entire staff. As a prisoner, he kept the prisoners in line and they answered to him. It's no wonder that God could trust him with leadership during Egypt's famine.
Joseph moved his brother's and father to Egypt to provide for them when food was scarce. Wait! Does he remember what happened? Did he forget what they did to him?
No, he remembered. But he chose to look at things thru God's grace, and in doing so, he found the grace to forgive. He told his brothers, "Don't be afraid. You thought you were doing evil, but God meant it for good." Joseph looked back on his own life and saw what God had been preparing him for. "He put me here so I would be able to help during the famine and save lives."
At home, Joseph learned about God. He never would've become what he did without God. As a servant, He learned to order and organize. Planning became a valuable tool. But that wasn't all he'd need. He needed to learn to deal with unhappy and even angry people. So God sent him to prison. There, he learned the crucial final character skill that would enable him to preform his job as Egypt's leader. "Do not be afraid." Joseph told his brothers, "I will take care of you and your children."
You don't know what God's plan for your future is. I'm sure God is working to build the character qualities that you need. Some things will be easy to learn, but some things will be hard to learn. Just remember 1 Samuel 2:30- Wherefore the LORD God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me for ever: but now the LORD saith, Be it far from me; for them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.
