Genesis 39-40, Matthew 11

Genesis 39-40 is the story of Joseph and his experience being sold into slavery to the Egyptians.

Joseph was sold into slavery and Gen. 39:2 says "The Lord was with Joseph and he prospered, and he lived in the house of this Egyptian master." but then then the wife of his master told lies about him and he was put in prison but then in the end of verse 20 and 21 it says "But while Joseph was there in the prison, the Lord was with him; he showed him favor in the eyes of the prison warden." Of course, I've heard this story a hundred times and know that God used Joseph's presence in Egypt to save his family from the upcoming drought. Knowing the end, it is amazing to see God's plan unfold. But in the midst of the story Joseph says "For I was forcibly carried off from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing to deserve being put in a dungeon." He feels like he's had a string of bad luck and injustice. In the short term he is absolutely correct. Although he is constantly described as receiving the Lord's blessing, I'm not sure Joseph thought of it that way all the time.

This is a good story to remember when we go through bad times. I'm beginning to trust God to be faithful for the end of the story. Things happen to us for his glory, we must trust him with the big picture.

Matthew 11 is a comfort for me, having just read all of the warnings of Matthew 10 where he tells us that family will turn against us and we will experience persecution for his sake (again, this is terrible now but earns us eternal rewards). Matthew 11 tells us that we aren't in this alone. Matt 11:28-30 "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Jesus gives us hard experiences, but he helps us to carry them. Even in the story of Joseph he asks Joseph to go through hard things but he gives his blessing to Joseph along the way.

When I was training for a marathon I didn't just run and run with no purpose, I was training for a particular day and a particular race. Sometimes the question comes to mind: what am I training for right now? I think the answer is that sometimes hard things happen in life, although I don't know the day, but training gives us the spiritual maturity to handle the hardships that come our way. That is one of the things that I am training for.