An obedient servant is not a term we hear much anymore. Yet, God still expects obedience, complete obedience, from His children. Today we will look at the life of Joseph and how he handled the adversities that would cause most of us to disobey. There is much that can be learned from the life of Joseph. The attributes I want to focus on today are trust and obedience. We first find Joseph in Genesis 30:24. Here is recorded the birth of this long-awaited son. He was the firstborn of Rachel. In chapter 37 we find him at the age of 17 tending sheep. Joseph was the most loved son of Jacob.
Genesis 37:3 & 4 “Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colors. And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him.”
Genesis 37:2b “These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren;”
Even though he was the beloved of his father, take note that he was not left idle. He was working tending sheep. Jacob calls for him to come. He comes at the request of his father. He then obeys when told to go find his brothers. Joseph was to go to Shechem to make sure they were ok. He starts out on his journey because he loved his father and wanted to obey. Joseph trusted that his obedience was the right thing to do, even though he knew his brothers were jealous and envious of him. In Genesis 37:4 we are told that his brothers hated him. He had to have known how they felt, but he obeyed.
When he arrived at Shechem he did not find them. It would have been very easy to go home with the report that they were not there. However, Joseph sought to obey completely. He saw a man and inquired where they might be, and was told they had gone to Dothan.
Joseph finds his brothers and they throw him into a pit. The original plan was to kill Joseph, but his brother Ruben saved his life by convincing his brothers to place Joseph in a pit. Ruben spared Joseph’s life. It is ironic that it was Ruben because as the oldest, his livelihood was threatened more than any of the other brothers by this favorite Son. While Ruben was away from the rest of the brothers Judah convinced them to sell Joseph to the Midianites.
Joseph obviously continued to pursue God and obey him. He was sold into slavery yet, nowhere in scripture do you find him having a pity party. We never see him seeking comfort over living righteously. He must have been an obedient slave because He was elevated from a mere slave to the overseer of the household of Potiphar.
Genesis 39:2 “And the LORD was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian.”
Genesis 39:4 “And Joseph found grace in his sight, and he served him: and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put into his hand.”
These verses are evidence of a life surrendered through obedience to the Master. His trust was still in Jehovah, the Eternal One, Unchangeable, Who was, and is, and is to come. The One who had been faithful to him in all his circumstances. He must have been an extraordinary man of God. Exhibiting godly behavior in all circumstances. Joseph continued to build his reputation as an honorable, trustworthy man. Things were going along very well until Satan seeks to tempt him with Potiphar’s wife.
In Genesis chapter 39, she seeks Joseph day after day. Her design is to tempt him to commit adultery with her. He refuses over and over. In verse 11 she makes a plan. As Joseph refuses, she grabs his coat, and rather than succumb to her, he comes out of his coat and runs. He escapes and does not sin. However, she screams for the servants and lies about Joseph. When her husband returns, she lies about Joseph, and Joseph is thrown into prison.
Joseph chooses to suffer rather than sin! Joseph did not know at that time that God would avenge him, but he was determined to do the right thing. Would to God we would all be like Joseph. He trusted and obeyed when there seemed to be no hope. Tempted, tried, convicted, and wrongly imprisoned, but still, he stayed true to his God.
As time progresses, Joseph is released from prison and now he is given the position next to Pharaoh.
Genesis 41:40 “Thou shalt be over my house, and according unto thy word shall all my people be ruled: only in the throne will I be greater than thou.”
Joseph oversaw everything. When the severe famine came and Joseph’s family came to Egypt needing food. Joseph still did the right thing. He sustained his family. His father had been told he was dead, and his brothers thought he was a slave or dead. He not only provided food for them, but he also had the entire family move to Egypt.
Joseph continued to trust God for his future and his present. He obeyed when it cost him much. Joseph never wavered, not even when his life was threatened. To read this wonderful story of truth, honor, and obedience, read Genesis chapters 30 through 50. You will be intrigued and amazed.
How much do you trust God with your life? Partial trust is not authentic trust.
Do you choose to obey when all your friends are doing wrong?
How do you react when your friends are going to an event and missing church to do so?
Do you seek to be the best for God that you can be? Not just doing what is considered by man as ok, but seeking what is excellent?
