Seeking Wisdom in Joseph's Story (2)

 I have not forgotten. I am still seeking wisdom from the story of Joseph (beginning in Genesis 37).

After Joseph's brothers go off to work feeding their father's flocks, their father (Jacob) sends Joseph to check up on them and report back to him. As previously noted: Joseph was great at being an inspector and "telling on them" to their father, Jacob. Joseph was ready & willing to go do so again. He had to do some searching, but with a little help he found them in Dothan. When Joseph's brothers saw him coming, they plotted to kill him. 

V20 says, "....We shall see what becomes of his dreams!" 

So their murderous ideas came from hearts of envy and revenge. Not necessarily against Joseph, specifically, but against the revelations he received from God through his dreams. I can't help but feel like a young Joseph, who had been blatantly favored by Jacob, might have had a bit of arrogance in the manner with which he delivered his dreams' content, but that is speculation because Scripture does not explicitly say so. 

Thankfully one brother, Reuben, wanted to save Joseph's life. He talked his brothers out of killing him but tossing him into a pit instead. He had his own secret plan to later return and get him out. Could Reuben have been seeking to gain a little favor from Jacob? Maybe. 

Joseph's brothers were sick of him and wanted to humiliate him. When he reached them, they stripped him of his special "coat of many colors," and threw him into a pit in the desert. Then they went to grab a bite to eat. I imagine the whole scene took Joseph by surprise. Surely the scene had begun in a similar manner many times before. 

So they look up from their meal and see a group of Ishmaelites approaching. Another brother, Judah, realizes they can not only get rid of Joseph without having to kill him, but make a profit from it also. They sold Joseph as a slave to the Ishmaelites. Reuben seemed distraught when he returned to the pit to find Joseph missing, but it appears he went along with his brothers to kill a goat, dip Joseph's coat in it, and bring it back to Jacob, claiming they found it this way and knew nothing of Joseph's fate. 

Jacob was inconsolable. How diabolically cruel of Joseph's brothers to give their father his special, bloody coat and let his imagination go wild. It seems their envy and thirst for revenge was not merely pointed at Joseph, but at Jacob also. 

Meanwhile, the Midianites who bought Joseph took him to Egypt and sold him to Potiphar, the captain of Pharaoh's guard. 

Just a few thoughts/questions I'm pondering from this portion of the story: 

1) At this point in the story, no one within it is aware of how God's plan will unfold. I wonder what Joseph is thinking: Was he terrified? Confused? Prayerful? Hopeful when they pulled him out of the pit? Calm and full of faith? Is he feeling any regret for consistently sharing his dreams/the way he shared them? Is he wondering what his dreams meant and how they could possibly come to fruition now that he is Potiphar's slave in Egypt?

2) Did that 20 shekels of silver satisfy the brothers' revenge craving? Did it sustain the satisfaction when they saw Jacob's reaction to the perceived, brutal death of his beloved son? Did they feel any regret at all? Did Reuben know what actually happened to Joseph? 

3) Life events, partial information, and misleading messages can cause our imagination to conjure up plenty of untruths. It is important to discover all the facts rather than make assumptions and jump to conclusions. 

4) Even after we have all the facts, the enemy will pounce every chance he gets. He will capitalize on our vulnerabilities to try and convince us that his evil lies are true. What we believe to be true will shape our actions. (Just as Jacob believed Joseph had been ripped to shreds & refused to be consoled). 

5) We are promised eternal life in Christ. How often do I allow my circumstances to drown out that perfect truth? 

We know the end of Joseph's story and that God's perfect plan was at work throughout his life. Pondering these thoughts & truths until next time. 

Woman Crush Wednesday!

Description of a Worthy Woman 

An excellent wife, who can find? For her worth is far above jewels. The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain. She does him good and not evil all the days of her life. She looks for wool and flax and works with her hands in delight. She is like merchant ships; she brings her food from afar. She rises also while it is still night and gives food to her household and portions to her maidens. She considers a field and buys it; from her earnings she plants a vineyard. She girds herself with strength and makes her arms strong. She senses that her gain is good; her lamp does not go out at night. She stretches our her hands to the distaff, and her hands grasp the spindle. She extends her hand to the poor, and she stretches out her hands to the needy. She is not afraid of the snow for her household, for all her household are clothed with scarlet. She makes coverings for herself; her clothing is fine linen and purple. Her husband is known in the gates, when he sits among the elders of the land. She makes linen garments and sells them, and supplies belts to the tradesmen. Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she smiles at the future. She opens her mouth in wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue. She looks well to the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children rise up and bless her; her husband also, and he praises her, saying: "Many daughters have done nobly, but you excel them all."  Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised.  (Proverbs 31: 10-30)

Any woman who has logged even a few hours in church has heard these words and aspired to emulate them. Myself included. Had there been a #WCW in Bible times, everyone would have chosen her! 

Every. Single. Wednesday. 

I consider myself blessed beyond description that I have a woman in my family who would give the virtuous woman a run for her money! 

No, she's not my love interest. 

She's my daughter-in-law!! Wife to my son, and mother to my grandchildren.

It is apparent in reading Biblical accounts of people and occurrences, that our world has transformed since those days. (I know she gets up while it's still dark and feeds Jasper (& probably Oliver), but there's no way she'd be able to wake Kory up!)

Anyone who has the pleasure of knowing her will agree that she is probably the sweetest person they've ever met. She won't be content if she has not spent every ounce of her energy to tend to her loved ones. (And I'm pretty sure "her loved ones" are EVERY human she encounters.) Kory can't praise her enough. Her children adore her. I have witnessed the mastery with which she pours affection onto her sons, somehow having a plethora for the rest of us. I thank God every day for bringing this incredible woman into our lives! 

Years ago, I wrote a post that praised God for removing the obstacles that were preventing me from loving her as I should. They are still m.i.a. (never to return!) 

Our Lord is so faithful!

http://www.royalruminations.com/2011/10/wonderful-beautiful-soul.html

I don't tell her (to her face) how incredibly special she is near often enough. 

Mother-in-law fail.

Tomorrow is her birthday, so I wanted to honor her with a love-post! 

Learning From Children

Ok, so my child is going to be 20 years old in three days.

I learn something from him every time he visits.

There are lessons he probably doesn't even know he's teaching in most conversations!

Is it wrong to just beam with pride just looking at a picture like this one?

Well if it is, then I'm in trouble!

What is he doing here? Reading a "self help" book of some type.

Not an assignment for school. Not a required read.

A hobby.

A constant striving for improvement.

A continued willingness to stand up in front of congregations of people and preach Christ.

Yes, he taught Bible class and preached for us on Sunday morning.

Later, he asked me to recite one memorable thing from either class or the sermon.

My answer?  

When he discussed Jericho and how the Lord (The Commander of the army of the Lord) instructed Joshua to defeat the city. The instructions probably sounded pretty silly, don't you think? Yeah, march around the city for six days. Oh! Then on the seventh day? March around the city seven times and have the priests blow the trumpets

and have all the people shout!

Really?

Then what?

That's all! God's in control so just do what He says and you will win.

PERIOD.

If God's in control and we do what He says, then we can not go wrong.

If we do not do what He says?

We LOSE.

Bottom line. No ifs ands or buts....the end.

He loves the ocean, so when he visits, we frequent the Pacific beaches.

You find solitary in watching, hearing...feeling the rhythm of the waves.

Ever curious as to what he is thinking...I pick his brain as we comb the beach.

As he looks out over the beauty of the Pacific he says,

"Can you imagine how incredible heaven will be? The beauty God has laid before us is impossible to describe with words, and yet He had to use words and images of things we are capable of relating to in an attempt to show it to us...."

To what does he attribute his intense passion for God and self improvement?

He wants to make a difference.

He does not want to be a mediocre human being.

I don't think there's much chance of that!!

I don't know how many 19 year old young men have this type of thing on their mind when they are at the beach, but I would venture to say that it is quite rare. Maybe I'm biased?

A deep discussion continued as we strolled along.

The sheer power of water.

He bent down to dip his fingers in the fluid & splashed me with it and said,

"This wetness should not be powerful enough to toss these massive logs around like twigs, but it is...and God just spoke it into existence."

It reminds me of how insignificant we truly are and yet...

 God send Christ here to be perfect and to die for me.

God gave me a wonderful child who has taught me valuable lessons through the years and continues to do so today. He is devoted to being a man after God's own heart.

I thank the Lord for blessing me so greatly. Especially because I know I am so undeserving.

What an awesome God we serve.



The Mustard Seed

Matthew 17:20 And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.

Luke 13:19 It is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and cast into his garden; and it grew, and waxed a great tree; and the fowls of the air lodged in the branches of it.

Luke 17:6  And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you.

So I ask myself, do I have enough faith to take each day as it comes and do my very best to portray Christ through my words, my actions, my attitude?

Do I have the faith of a mustard seed?

Do you?

People are often unreasonable, illogical and self-centered; Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives; Be kind anyway.

 

If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies; Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you; Be honest and frank anyway.

What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight; Build anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous; Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow; Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough; Give the world the best you've got anyway.

Do it for Him...

He did it for you.