The pastor made a good point: God was with Joseph in spite of his situation. God prospered him. Good enough. Encouraging. My brain went into tangent mode.
If you have not read it recently the basic focus was Genesis 39. Joseph had been sold into slavery by his brothers and the slave caravan took him to Egypt where he was purchased by Potiphar, the captain of Pharaoh’s body guards. He was quickly promoted to run Potipahr’s entire household and Potiphar prospered greatly. Then the wife falsely accused Joseph of trying to rape her and he was thrown into prison. In prison he was almost immediately appointed by the chief jailer to be in charge of all the prisoners. You can see how this goes.
Thus the pastor observed that no matter what curve balls life threw at Joseph, God caused him to prosper. My tangent noticed that Joseph was also a blessing to those he came in contact with. God does bless us but the Bible has a strong theme that we are blessed so we can pass the blessing on to others. It would be possible that God would even direct us toward hardship if there was a desired result.
Culturally we would see this in terms of a Christian, or Jewish, minority being a real asset to the dominate culture. They will often fill positions in medicine and the sciences. They provide a framework of honesty and hard work. I think of it in terms of being salt. Believers can season the entire social structure if they are faithful to their calling. It is frustrating to hear people talk about the Golden Age of Islam and have them ignore that most of the gold was produced by Christians and Jews or by recent converts.
As I look at our current culture I think in terms of critical mass. How much salt does it take to preserve a fish? How much to save Western civilization? Remember the dialogue between God and Abraham in Genesis 18 where God finally said he would preserve Sodom for 10 righteous. How many will it take for America? Are you part of the salt or the putrefaction?
As followers of Jesus we have the hope of eternal life. If we stop there then we have stopped too soon. We are called to be a blessing to the world in which we live. Joseph was a good example. We should follow it and be part of the solution.
homo unius libri
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