Growing Up

Growing up isn't easy.  If you've ever tried it, and most of us probably have (even if I try to avoid it regularly), then you know that it isn't easy.  There are all sorts of things that get in the way and challenge us as we go try to go forward.

One of the things that gets in the way are siblings.  Sometimes they can be helpful, but a lot of times they make life more challenging.  Most of the challenges come because they are trying to grow up at the same time.  There is a process to trying to do these things, and the conflicts that come from it can take over the whole thing.

That's one of the things that we're seeing in Joseph's story.  The rivalry between him and his brother's, and the incredibly complicated nature of their relationship and family dynamic was putting more stress on the situation than anyone could really manage.  All of this blew up in Joseph's face, and his brothers sold him into slavery.

There are a lot of details to Joseph's story as it is told.  It starts in Genesis 37, and continues through the end of the book.  There are many places where we can get caught up in the details, if we aren't careful.  As I was reading this story, I was focusing on three big themes.

The details, if we aren't careful, can get in the way of understanding what Joseph was dealing with, and how the whole story goes together.

One of the important things to know was that Joseph understood dreams.  This wasn't something that he started off being able to do well, but he got there.  It was dreams that got him into trouble in the first place.  He tried to tell some of his own dreams, and what they implied infuriated his brothers, and in their anger they sold him off to be a slave.

This led Joseph to finding his second major skill that he had.  Joseph was a very good manager.  He was a slave of Potiphar, and because of what he could do, he became an important part of Potiphar's household because he could keep it running, and running well.

In the middle of this we see a couple of things.  The first is that Joseph always remains faithful to God.  This would be the key part of his strength that would bring him through all that he faced.  The second thing we would see is that Joseph learns another hard lesson.

Potiphar's wife sees Joseph, and propositions him.  Joseph turns her down, which leads her to accusing Joseph of the things he had just turned down!  Potiphar gets wind of this, and thinks it is all Joseph's fault, and sends him to prison.

Joseph learned that sometimes it doesn't matter if you do everything right, others can still cause you to fall and fall hard.  Joseph would spend a lot of time in prison.  But he would find himself imprisoned with a couple of important officials from the King of Egypt.  Pharaoh had them imprisoned, and while they were there they dreamed dreams.

Joseph could interpret their dreams, and do so accurately.  This worked out well for one of them, who would return to his job with Pharaoh, but not so well for the other.  The other one would be killed by Pharaoh.  Then more time would pass.

Eventually, Pharaoh would have a dream that no one else could interpret.

The man who's dream Joseph had interpreted, remembered Joseph.  He called on Joseph, and Joseph interpreted Pharaoh's dream.  He told Pharaoh that there would be a great drought, but that they would have time to prepare.  Pharaoh puts Joseph in charge of the preparations, and makes him one of the most important and powerful men in Egypt.

As the drought starts and things become hard; Joseph's family is in need of supplies to get them through.  Jacob, Joseph's father, has heard that Egypt is doing well and sends his sons to go get supplies.  This sets the stage for the final confrontation.

As Joseph's brothers come to get what they need, Joseph recognizes them.  They don't know who Joseph is, and don't expect to see him, but Joseph knows them.

Now Joseph has a choice.  He can take revenge, or he can reconcile.  Remember, he is a faithful man.  Joseph sets the stage to find out two things.  He is working to reconcile, but he first wants to know if his brothers have grown up, and how his father is doing.  The tests that Joseph puts in front of his brothers almost seem petty, except it was Joseph's way of finding out what he needed to know.

What he finds is that his father is doing well, and that his brothers have grown up.  They aren't the same men that they were.  Joseph reveals himself to his brothers, and then brings the rest of his family to Egypt where they settle down and are able to be happy and prosperous.

There are many lessons to be taken from this story.  For now I look back on the three themes that we started with.  We don't have to be right the first time.  It's expected that we're going to fail.  The point is that we grow from it.  God doesn't expect that we'll be the same people in 10 years that we are today.  We will have grown since then.  That was Samson's problem.  Only at the very end of his life did he begin to get over being a selfish little kid, and know the last, but most important thing. 

God is faithful.  God always goes with us.  It doesn't mean that life will be easy, or that we won't have trouble, or that we won't have to do anything because God will provide.  What it means is that God will be there with us to help us through.  That when we trust in him, we will overcome what we face.

This is a message of hope that can take us through the hard times, and that we can share with others.  So after you read this post, find someone that you can share this hope with.