Rest For A Weary Soul Daily Devotional - February 11, 2010
Praise the Lord and Good Evening,
Joseph was blessed, Ruth was blessed, David was blessed, Esther was blessed....all of these people (and more) were blessed on an individual basis, but the Lord used their life's blessings to set in motion corporate blessings as well. The blessings did more than bless the recipient.....yes, Joseph reaped a reward that was years in the making...but it didn't stop with Joseph and his family......the actual purpose behind the blessing was to have a larger reach than Joseph and his family. The Bible doesn't detail what happened to Potipher's wife, but I'd guess that someone connected to her ate from the harvest collected by Joseph's wise instructions.
Sorry, I'm stuck on Joseph again.....Joseph's brothers lied about his death for 20 years (they never whispered the truth to their father)....Potipher's wife lied about the allegations of rape to her husband....she watched a man go to prison for a crime she knew had not been committed, yet she never told the truth.....this is what life was like for Joseph....
....fast forward to his brothers showing up when Joseph was governor. ...from the very first moment he saw them in Egypt to purchase grain, he knew who they were...but he chose not to say a word but chose to treat them harshly....Joseph tried to live through the lies he allowed his brothers to believe........he was pretty rough with them at first....even going as far as to put them in prison but by the third day, he had to back off becaue he said he "feared God" and let all but one go free while the rest returned home with food......he filled their sacks with grain, returned their money and then had his servants "catch" them as if they'd stolen everything.....but in all of this he can barely keep his emotions in check.....finally, he can't take it and he has to reveal the truth!!
It is clear that God had worked on Joseph because when he did reveal himself, Joseph was finally in position to lift them from their grief. He was able to encourage them that the whole situation was designed by God! He wasn't angry.....he couldn't keep up the facade because that wasn't who he was any longer (could it be that he had conjured up ideas of revenge....his attitude to treat them terribly was short lived because God had done a work on him).....he couldn't live the lies for long....God knew Joseph needed to be a deliverer in more ways than one......
And this leads me to this point.....we are blessed to be able to learn from Joseph....why hold distain for those who did you wrong? Why sit and consider what vindication you'd like to get if only you had the chance? There's multiple purposes in what you're dealing with....God knows who lied, why, what hardship is attached to every perception of you receiving a raw deal? Isn't God in the picture? Absolutely....sure Joseph had a natural right to slam a painful shoe on the foot of his brothers....but he didn't have a spiritual right. God caused Joseph to come clean.....completely clean....so clean that he had to embrace who he was....even though he lived through the lies....he couldn't live the lies!! God had more...Joseph felt it and soon had to embrace it....living a lie wasn't what those years had done to him.....everything made him realize this was God.....and that was the truth he ended up living!!
Then Joseph could not refrain himself before all them that stood by him; and he cried, cause every man to go out from me. And there stood no man with him, while Joseph made himself known unto his brethren. Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life. (Genesis 45:1 and 5 KJV)
In the Master's Service,
Pastor Michele D. Turner
Rehoboth Apostolic Ministries, Inc.
Author/Publisher of Rest For A Weary Soul Daily Devotional
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Email: restforwearysoul@aol.com
Matt 11:28-29 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
