Up to this point in the "Go and . . ." series, each of the commands to go and do something have been issued by the Lord. This week, we look at an order that came from a human agent, this time Jacob, Joseph's father. We know Joseph was his father's favorite son, so he kept him close to home while the other sons were out tending the herds. The other brothers hated Joseph, and Jacob miscalculated the depth of their hatred, so he naively sent Joseph on a reconnaissance mission to check on how the brothers were doing: “Go and see if your brothers are safe and if the flock is all right; then come back and tell me.” So his father sent him on his way from Hebron Valley" (Genesis 37:14a).
Little did Joseph and Jacob know that this would be the last time they would see each other for 22 years. Joseph found his brothers but never got to bring back a report because they sold him into slavery, then sealed their crime with a lie that he had been attacked and killed by a wild animal.
GOD WAS IN IT
There is an interesting twist to the story that is found in the verses immediately following Jacob's commissioning:
Joseph arrived at Shechem and was wandering around in the country when a man saw him and asked him, “What are you looking for?” "I am looking for my brothers, who are taking care of their flock,” he answered. “Can you tell me where they are?” The man said, “They have already left. I heard them say that they were going to Dothan.” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan (Genesis 37:14b-17).
Who was this man who helped guide Joseph to his fate at the hands of his brothers? We don't know, but without him, Joseph would not have found his brothers. God used the man to ensure that Joseph would get to Egypt and carry out God's plan, as Joseph later acknowledged: “Don't be afraid; I can't put myself in the place of God. You plotted evil against me, but God turned it into good, in order to preserve the lives of many people who are alive today because of what happened" (Genesis 50:19b-20). The psalmist corroborated Joseph's perspective when he wrote:
The Lord sent famine to their country and took away all their food. But he sent a man ahead of them, Joseph, who had been sold as a slave. His feet were kept in chains,and an iron collar was around his neck until what he had predicted came true. The word of the Lord proved him right (Psalm 105:16-19).
RESTING IN HIM
Your life may have been changed forever by a chance meeting, an accident, or an unexpected catastrophe or setback, and you have reflected on that event, wondering "what if" it had never happened. You may still be in the midst of the consequences so the full result has not ripened or appeared for the event to make sense. That is where faith comes in. I once read that the less we feel or understand, the more we should trust. If your life doesn't make sense, if there was an event you considered routine that turned into a life-changer, then it's time to trust God all the more.
I have been reflecting lately on the many life disappointments I have had in ministry. It seems most of what I have done or begun has not ended the way I had hoped, and I have been facing the reality that I have a broken heart where ministry is concerned. I am not sharing that for sympathy, but it is a reality, and I find myself often declaring, "Lord, I trust You, I trust You." I am speaking the truth, but that truth cannot gloss over or anesthetize the pain that is there. I look back and see my times where I went to find my brothers, only to be sent off in a direction I did not anticipate, and I feel like I am still waiting for the outcome and resolution, which may not come before I pass into God's presence.
I am resting in God these days and not my own perspective, for my insight is limited, and as Joseph said, "I can't put myself in the place of God." I am trusting the Lord that my path is the one He ordained, even when I lack His understanding on the end result. I invite you to join me as we follow in the steps of Joseph to walk out our lives, trusting that what we have often declared is really the truth: The Lord reigns. Have a blessed week.
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