Exalted By God

God's favorite people to use are usually the most unlikely.

Genesis 41:37-40 Joseph’s suggestions were well received by Pharaoh and his officials. 38 So Pharaoh asked his officials, “Can we find anyone else like this man so obviously filled with the spirit of God?”

39 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has revealed the meaning of the dreams to you, clearly no one else is as intelligent or wise as you are. 40 You will be in charge of my court, and all my people will take orders from you. Only I, sitting on my throne, will have a rank higher than yours.”

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Most of us can relate to the story of Joseph, we have all been loved and yet also hated and just like Joseph it seems like hate is winning most of the time. When Joseph's story begins he is the favorite son and he has prophecies from God predicting his great destiny but then his brothers hatred for him begins a long downward spiral.

Everything looks good until he is betrayed by his brothers, first they want to kill him but then they decide to sell him for the price of a slave, it is the first of three times that Joseph is betrayed, after his brothers it would be Potiphar's wife and then the cup bearer.  They all seemed to have their own agenda and Joseph wasn't included. 

This story bothers us but it is a great lesson for us to remember in our life story. We like to think that good things happen to good people but from the very first book of the Bible God shows us that it doesn't work that way. The Bible proves to us that when things don't go as easy as we want them too, that is a good thing that God has sent your way, the school of faith has opened and you have been enrolled. 

Joseph is just as blind as Job was to the reasons for his miserable suffering, the Book of Job tells us that Job is "blameless— a man of complete integrity. He feared God and stayed away from evil" but that isn't enough to ensure that Job would live without trouble and as good as Joseph is he also had his share of problems.

Just like Job, Joseph probably wasn't aware that God was using him to bring him glory even when it looked like he didn't even have the favor of God. Joseph was down and out without any explanation from God for 22 years, he could have assumed by his circumstances that God didn't like him and his visions of greatness were just crazy dreams. (Genesis 37:1-11)

God brings his own promise to the brink of failure, only to show that he has been in charge all along.

-John Piper

It is easy to forget that God's favorite people to use are the ones that seem to be the least likely. The world will tear you down and remind you of why you can't be used by God but his normal way of doing things is usually to allow things to look impossible so that when he steps in we are reminded that he is in control. God is looking past your hurts, habits and hang-ups to surprise everybody for his glory.

Genesis 50:19-20 But Joseph replied, “Don’t be afraid of me. Am I God, that I can punish you? 20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people.

Joseph gives us a glimpse of Jesus thousands of years before the prophecy of his birth was fulfilled. They both forgave those that wronged them, they were exalted after suffering and their suffering was the vehicle that God used to save his people.

God was not surprised by the evil that happened in Joseph's life, God wasn't caught off guard and think to himself "how can I use that for good," God is in control of everything and it is all being used by God for his purpose. 

God may leave me in the dark about what he is doing but that's okay. I know that he can be trusted with every detail of my life knowing that it will all be used for his glory and for my good. Part of him receiving glory is found in the work of making me into a new, exalted creation that looks more like him as I study his word and apply it to my life. (Romans 8:29-30)

RELATED ARTICLES

Does God Intend Evil for Our Good? (desiringgod.org)

What Does It Mean That God Will Glorify Me? And How? (desiringgod.org)

Betrayed By Man

Through Joseph's story we get a glimpse of Jesus.

Genesis 37:2-4 This is the account of Jacob and his family. When Joseph was seventeen years old, he often tended his father’s flocks. He worked for his half brothers, the sons of his father’s wives Bilhah and Zilpah. But Joseph reported to his father some of the bad things his brothers were doing. 

3 Jacob loved Joseph more than any of his other children because Joseph had been born to him in his old age. So one day Jacob had a special gift made for Joseph— a beautiful robe. 4 But his brothers hated Joseph because their father loved him more than the rest of them. They couldn’t say a kind word to him.

One night Joseph had a dream, and when he told his brothers about it, they hated him more than ever. 

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We have learned a lot about God in the recent post in the book of Genesis, we have seen through the life of Jacob that God is in control and that he takes care of his people. We have seen God promise, prepare, prosper and provide for his people despite the mistakes that they make.

The blessings of the birthright were taken from Reuben because he sinned against his father but instead of the next oldest, the son that received the rights was the second to the last born son. Maybe Joseph was chosen because he is the first born son of Rachel, the wife that Jacob thought that he married at his first wedding, or maybe it was just because Jacob liked him more.

You may come to the conclusion that Joseph is a spoiled brat because of the favoritism, it seems that the fancy coat may have been a symbol of Jacob's decision to give the birthright to Joseph, Jacob has put his son in a situation that is very similar to the situation in his parents home. 

Favoritism destroyed Jacob's family and he was forced to run away from home because of it. Jacob was forced to run from Esau but Joseph would have to leave by force because his brothers were ruthless. It seems that his brothers were as immoral as the Canaanites that were around them. (Genesis 37:1-4) Joseph's willingness to inform his father about his brothers may have been the motivation for sending him to check on them while they were away from home. (Genesis 37:12-14)

It seems that Joseph is headed for greatness, he has the birthright, instead of the clothing of a shepherd he has the fancy coat that a ruler would wear and to top it all off he has God given dreams predicting his rise to a powerful position. What could go wrong?

Betrayed By His Family

Genesis 37:18-36

Joseph’s older brothers are a bunch of rowdy guys who slaughtered a whole village because one guy raped their sister. The Canaanite moms in the household, the maids of Rachel and Leah, may have had a very negative influence on all of the brothers. The family tree can be seem here.

God's people have always had a difficult time being in this world but not of it. You could speculate that the slavery in Egypt was God's way of separating his people from the Canaanites until the day of judgment when the Canaanites would be destroyed. 

How could God use his people to judge the Canaanites if his people looked just like them?

Betrayed By The World

Genesis 39:1-23

What looks like the obvious conclusion may be the furthest from the truth. In this situation, Potiphar thought that he had been betrayed by Joseph when in fact it was his wife that betrayed both of them.

Joseph was about eleven years old when his sister was raped. This may have been part of the reason that he had such an intense reaction to the advances of Potiphar's wife. Joseph knew the devastating effects that sexual sin could have and he didn't want any part of it.

Betrayed By A Friend

Genesis 40:1-23

The only thing that Joseph asked the cupbearer to do when his dream came true was to put in a good word for him. This guys life was spared and he couldn't remember the guy that predicted that it would happen.

Joseph was always the favorite, it make me think that he really wasn't a spoiled brat, he went from being a favorite in his father's house to being a favorite in Potiphar's house and then he became a favorite with the prison warden. Spoiled brats don't usually have that much success at making friends and influencing people. 

But having man's favor doesn't last when you are living for God. If Joseph had shared the values of his brothers or Potiphar's wife things would have gone much better for him from man's perspective.

Genesis 39:2, 21 The Lord was with Joseph

But even if man turned against him, Joseph knew that he was in the presence of God which resulted in receiving the blessings of God. Living for God proves to be the best way even if it means living in a situation that looks like you are being punished. The difficulty we encounter may make us question God's presence and we may forget that his presence is always accompanied with his blessings.

2 Timothy 3:12  Yes, and everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.

Through Joseph's story we get a glimpse of Jesus. The dearly loved son was a shepherd of his fathers flocks, he was sent to his brothers that hated him, they took his robe and sold him for the price of a slave. The father suffered the loss of his favorite son because the son was wrongly accused. The son was placed with two other prisoners which included one that was saved and the other one lost.

I know you may be disappointed where you are. I know you may be unhappy where you are, but I want you to look beyond where you are and thank God for where He's going to take you.

-Tony Evans

Joseph would overcome it all to become God's man that was prepared for God's purpose but for now he is still in prison. This story bothers us because we want good things to happen to good people but the reality is that God is using the good and the bad to shape us and most importantly to accomplish his purpose.

Thank you Lord for your interest in me and allowing me to be a part of your plans. Help me to realize that you are working all thing for my good and for your glory.