Joseph endured a season of torture, even worse than being abandoned by his family he was betrayed by them. He had nothing and was sold into slavery. It is easy for us to recognize how his faith lived out in his time of meaning very little to the land and time in which he lived. But we should also remember, Joseph brought blessing to whomever he served, both as a slave and as a ruler. What would have happened if Joseph had refused the ruling position? What if he said "I cannot accept. I'm certain that having a good attitude in the midst of slavery shows that my God is great in a way that a position of power never could." What if Joseph thought he knew God's plans better than God Himself knew them? The avenue God was providing for relationship restoration with his family would have been closed. People would have gone hungry. People would have died.
We tend to look at Joseph's story as a rags to riches, a happy ending, which it is. It always is for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. But what is our good? We seem to think that Joseph received his justice, his blessing, simply because he was faithful with a little. Now maybe that's the truth, that's part of the promise, but maybe there's more.
There is neither disgrace in a season of barrenness, nor a right to boast in seasons of wealth. In the same way, humble positions should not be worshiped as sacrificial martyrdom, nor should we claim that abundance in itself is an unnecessary evil. More it is an opportunity to discover how we can use the combination of who and where we are.
God sometimes provides a glimpse of His greatness by requiring wisdom of us (stockpile for the seven years), by the utilization of our gifts, our position, and our favor with man; yet at other times it makes much more of who He is to draw attention to the fact that we have nothing aside from Him. We need nothing aside from Him.
God works all things together for our good. His plan is bigger than our whole life, yet His focus is on even the smallest details in our life, because He loves us. For us it is about loving and bringing glory to Him. To Him that comes in the form of caring for orphans and widows, encouraging the disheartened, challenging our brothers and sisters in love, walking in the Holy Spirit for wisdom from the smallest daily detail to the decisions that we know will effect the very fiber of who our family is. This is, of course, not an exhaustive list. That's the Bible's job. Finally we can bring glory by giving thanks. In all situations. In all seasons.
With the season of material little that we are in, and knowing that many, many of you are right here with us, we wanted to remind you- whether you have much, or little matters naught, but what you do with what you are given.
If we don't remember this in seasons of drought... we'll never remember it in seasons of plenty.
