IT IS NECESSARY

DAY 137
FAITH FILE: JOSEPH
SCRIPTURES: GENESIS 37:3-6, 18-20

Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age. Also he made him a tunic of many colors. But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peaceably to him. Now Joseph had a dream, and he told it to his brothers; and they hated him even more. So he said to them, “Please hear this dream which I have dreamed… Now when they saw him afar off, even before he came near them, they conspired against him to kill him. Then they said to one another, “Look, this dreamer is coming! 20Come therefore, let us now kill him and cast him into some pit; and we shall say, ‘Some wild beast has devoured him.’ We shall see what will become of his dreams!”

In most homes with more than one child, there is always a favorite one. Especially if there are more than 3 children. Parents say they love us equally but we know who they love most. We can tell. For my Mom, Amanda, her second child, was her favorite. Mom would always use her as an example and that hurt them. Her clothes were neat after school and her notes were prim and proper, she was also the only baby that didn’t trouble my mom. From conception till she passed she was the golden child.

The thing about favorite children is that they are often unaware of how their position impacts others. As a result, they become the envy of the other siblings and they do not understand why. For example, my other sister and I would gang up against Amanda. But no matter how she was bullied or set up to take the fall for us (which never worked btw), she always came back to ask for our help, share things with us and play with us. She wanted us to love her like she did us. But we were too young to care (all that changed later though).

I am inclined to think that Joseph was probably the same way. He was the preferred son of Jacob. When we read about him, it is often easy for us to wonder why he would knowingly share his dreams with his brothers if he knew they hated him. It would seem unwise to take something as precious as a dream to those who think nothing good of you. And this has been featured in the content of motivational speeches for decades.

Believe The Dream

Joseph, like most favorite kids, was probably unaware of said hatred or he was just trying to get in good with his brothers. We know not for sure. What we do know is that no one shares something they do not believe. Nothing proceeds out of the mouth of any man without first being abundant in his heart.

This man of courage dared to believe in the dream enough to share it with his brothers. Have you ever had something revealed in your heart so strongly that you just had to tell it? He shared his heart with the closest people to him at the time. He didn’t hate them, he wasn’t trying to make them feel inferior, and he probably didn’t fully comprehend the dream he had. But it was in him, he had seen it and he couldn’t shake it off. Besides, he would have never imagined that his brothers could kill or sell him off. Yes, they didn’t like him, but kill him? no one would have guessed that.

So I can only imagine how scared and shocked he must have been in the pit before they sold him. He may have wondered why they did this. And discovering it was because of a dream, I imagine that he regretted saying it to them. But he begged for his life nonetheless (Genesis 42:21). We discover later that telling them the dream was a necessary part of God’s plan. His family would have perished had he stayed silent. And God also promised Abraham that Israel will be slaves in Egypt for 400yrs. That’s plan had to come to pass and Joseph was the one to make that happen.

It’s In The Plan

Sometimes the plan of God will compel you to take steps you shouldn’t by human standards. That’s why it is important for us to maintain a relationship with God. If telling the dream was not the plan, when God showed him the second dream, it would have come with a warning. We have an example of this with the 3 wise men from the East. Herod was not to know about Jesus, they made the mistake of going to him in the first place. An Angel appeared to them and corrected the mistake. And in order to save Jesus, Joseph, his father, was also instructed to take Jesus to Egypt.

Beloved, you may feel like you made a terrible mistake on the journey of your purpose but it might be in the plan. Joseph probably felt he shouldn’t have blabbed, but hey, how would he have become prime minister of one of the largest economies of his day? Those who love God and always seek to be in God’s will have their lives predestined. What you call a mistake might be necessary. So if you are in the pit now or the prison, rest assured that your end will be good.

Take a moment to ask the Father to enable you to see His hand in everything you go through. Ask Him to keep you in His will and grace you with courage.

Shalom.