Joseph was Jacob’s eleventh son, the first son born to the favored wife, Rachel. He was favored over the others because his mother was loved. It was a pattern repeated from Jacob’s own childhood, and it had the same disastrous results.
Sometimes God reveals the plan he has for each of us, but most of the time he doesn’t. For Joseph, God revealed bits and pieces in the form of dreams. In these dreams, God showed Joseph that sometime in the future his brothers would bow down to him. This did, in fact, happen – later. But Joseph made the mistake of telling his brothers, who already resented him because of Jacob’s favoritism, and they took their revenge.
They sold him into slavery. The caravan took him to Egypt and sold him to one of Pharaoh’s officials. Joseph was falsely accused of a crime, thrown into prison, and forgotten. But each time Joseph experienced a setback, God raised him up to a position of influence. He was eventually given a high position in Pharaoh's household, just in time for a famine that reached far and wide. It affected the area where his parents and brothers still lived. The ten oldest brothers traveled to Egypt because they had heard there was food. They bowed down to the man in charge, not recognizing him as their brother.
He could have taken his own revenge, denying them any food. Instead, he offered forgiveness, because getting him to Egypt was all part of God’s plan.
We don’t always know the ins and outs of God’s plan for our lives, but there is one! And because God is loving, kind, and good, we can trust that his plan will be for our good and for his glory.
Prayer: Dear God, thank you for loving me. You created me with a plan in mind. I don’t know what that plan includes, but I know I want to live my life for you. Help me to do that with joy! Amen