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Thoughts on Joseph, Part 1
By daniel | December 12, 2006
The story of Joseph intrigues me. I find it fascinating. The man was put through some real hell for all of his developmental and early adult years, and is recorded as both trusting God through the suffering, and also being able to look back , forgive, and see God's hand through his whole life. That's exciting.
Probably the primary theme in the Joseph story is God's ability to successfully care for His people, even when they (or others) make foolish, or (let's face it) evil decisions. The thought of eleven brothers wanting to kill or profit from the slavery of their brother is evil. The actions of Potiphar's wife were evil. There's no way around that. But through His incomprehensible wisdom, God not only rescues Joseph, and not only his family who betrayed him, but pretty much the entire middle east. And I mean that word exactly. Incomprehensible. I don't think we're ever gonna completely wrap our brains around God's redemption, especially while we are here and so easily hurt or broken, moved by feelings.
We talk sometimes about God allowing evil, and there certainly is some truth to that, and it's a hard topic to talk about. I was talking about this with a friend of mine at lunch today, and just for the heck of it, I jokingly made a rude gesture towards him. I was trying to make the point that I can make decisions that hurt or dishonor others. He can be angry with God for allowing me to do that, or for making me with 'free will', or for even making humans at all, simply because he was hurt by my evil choice. His hurt was valid, and justified, but God wasn't responsible for the choice I, Daniel, made. (My friend was actually a great sport about it - I think he actually laughed so hard he coughed on his drink. I think I suprised him.)
So where does that leave me, or Joseph, or my friend at the restaurant? Joseph chose to endure the pain and watch for God to move in redemption. I'm starting to see redemption as God's way of making things right. Perhaps my relationship with my friend can be restored or used in an even greater way for good, dare I say, because the evil can be redeemed?
This post is Part 1. There will be more parts later. Leave comments here, and let's talk about this.
Topics: Life in the Way, Spirituality - Thoughts, The Word |
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