God’s Divine Purposes Are Being Worked Out In The Midst of Life’s Chaos
God’s divine purposes are being worked out in our lives but often we cannot see them.God can see what the human eyes cannot see. This is reflected in the amazing story of Joseph.
Joseph was favoured and blessed by God and he could interpret dreams. His older brothers were jealous of him and sold him to a group of people called the Ishmaelites. This would have been a daunting experience for Joseph who was only a young boy.
The Ishmaelites sold him to Potiphar in Egypt. Joseph was now a slave in Potiphar’s house. Joseph very soon gained favour with Potiphar because God was with him. Joseph was totally trustworthy and he worked whole heartedly for Potiphar. Potiphar was being blessed because of Joseph. Unknown to Joseph his life was being shaped to later serve God with greater a responsibility.
Potiphar’s wife falsely accused Joseph of rape and he was sent to prison. In prison Joseph, found favour with the prison warder because God was with him. The prison warder gave Joseph the responsibility of looking after other prisoners.
Again unknown to Joseph, his life was being shaped for later to serve God with a greater responsibility.
One day two others were sent to the prison where Joseph was-Pharaoh’s Baker and Pharaoh’s Cupbearer. Both of these men had dreams. Joseph used his gift of interpretation and told them what their dreams meant. He asked the Cupbearer not to forget him in prison. As Joseph foretold, the Baker was hung from a tree, whilst the Cupbearer was released to present the cup to the Pharaoh once again.
But two years later, Joseph was still in prison. This may have been the time when Joseph was giving up hope. He must have felt that he had been abandoned by God. He would have probably cried, “Where is God?”
Then Pharaoh had a dream that troubled him and that no one could interpret for him. The Cupbearer remembered Joseph and told Pharaoh about him. Joseph was called before the Pharaoh and God gave Joseph the interpretation of Pharaoh’s dream.
The dream was that there would be seven years with plenty of food followed by seven years of famine. Pharaoh saw that God was with Joseph. He made Joseph the president of Egypt. Joseph ensured that during the years with plenty of food, enough was saved ready for the seven years of famine.
Joseph’s wisdom ensured that many millions of lives were saved from starvation. In the end Joseph was also reconciled with his brothers who had sold him. This story tells us that God’s divine purposes were being worked out in the midst of the setbacks in life. The setbacks produced the man God wanted Joseph to be.
God’s divine purposes are being worked out in our own lives too in the midst of the difficulties we are going through. Remember God can see what our human eyes cannot see.
(The story of Joseph is found in the Bible in the Book of Genesis Chapters 37-47 in the Old Testament).
Dear God,
Please let your divine purposes unfold in my life.
I ask this in Jesus name.
Amen.
By Harbajan (servant of Jesus) 14/01/2015