Genesis chapter 41

You look at all that Joseph has been through over the past years and it is all changed in an instant.  Instead of wearing prison garb, having long hair and a beard (I know, l'm making assumptions here!), he is taken out, given a hot bath, clean clothes, a shave and a hair cut and taken to see Pharaoh. 

It would have been so easy to tell Pharaoh that yes, he could interpret dreams and then to take the reward for himself.  Instead, Joseph puts God first, makes a suggestion about putting a  wise man in charge of the problem and does not push himself forward at all.  It just shows the reality of the change in Joseph from someone who was boasting to his brothers that they would all bow down before him to someone who trusts and relies on God rather than putting himself forward. 

This is difficult to imagine in this day and age, when it seems that it is every man for himself, that you have to always be pushing yourself forward, presenting yourself in the best possible light to get on, get moving, get rich.  Imagine what a  better place the workplace would be if everyone took this attitude?  If instead of stabbing in the back a colleague, trying to outdo others all the time, get the promotion, the favour of the boss, you actually took the time and the trouble to give the glory to God, because after all, isn't he the one who has given you the ability to do that job?  Yes you may have studied and gained the qualifications, you may have applied for the job and had the experience they were looking for, were prepared to work for that pay and do those hours, but God is the one who gave you the experience, the intelligence to pass the exams, the patience to do those hours, and so on. 

Joseph could have literally have written his own blank cheque there and had Pharaoh sign it, but instead, he gave the glory to God and was rewarded accordingly.  He could have also completely turned against God, blaming him for the situation he was in..  After all, if God had never given him the dreams in the first place, then his brothers wouldn't have thrown him in the pit or sold him into slavery.  Absolutely all God's fault……….  You may think it far fetched for people to think like this, but I know from experience with my husband that God gets blamed for just about everything………..It is far easier in some instances to sit there blaming God for everything that has happened in your life than it is to turn around and give God the glory for the good things that are happening in your life.  Living life in a pit of depression is really no life at all as all you do is continually dwell on the bad things in life and rehash things that people have said or done, mistakes you have made and so on.  I know it is not necessarily as simple or straight cut as that, but that is often how it appears to me when I see my husband just wallowing in depression (can you tell he is going through a bad patch at the moment?).

How often do we do that - blame God for things that have happened or just try to sort things out ourselves?  More often than not, it is a case of forgetting God, of trusting in our own abilities to get the job done, whatever the job may be, and ignoring God in the process.  All too often I try to do things on my own, giving God barely a look in yet all things are possible through faith.  When do I recall my faith?  When do I trust in God to sort things out rather than get up and get doing myself?  Joseph didn't really  have much of a choice in the matter when he was serving Potiphar and then in prison.  He was completely dependent on others so he just had to trust God.  It seems so much harder today when we have the internet, a fast moving world where we can get just about anything instantaneouosly (or at least as quickly as Amazon will deliver;) ).   It is easier to do the job ourselves (or in my case lock myself away in my office so I don't have to listen to my husband sighing continually, moaning at anyone and everyone, being in a permanent grump and letting us all know this) rather than wait on God but maybe doing the job is something God doesn't want us to do, or maybe wants us to do in a different way.

I reckon we all need to slow down, to take the time to wait on God and to see what He would have us do.  I know this is really true of me as I always rush in to solve one problem after another without even asking God although I know this comes in part form having a family who always turn to me for help, not their father (in fact, they all come to me, hubbie as well….).  Joseph had an enforced waiting on God where he grew as a person, and really developed in his relationship with God whereas we have the choice nowadays to live life as everyone else does (rushing around, being busy, trying to achieve our own goals, our own agendas, being taken up with everything this world has to offer) or to live life focusing on God, to put Him first in our lives and to seek His will, not ours.