In Good Times and In Bad Times

Discovering the Comings of Christ

and Trust in the Midst of Trial

through the Life of Joseph

This post begins the third and final section of our devotional study in Genesis. I hope you have been blessed by the journey thus far and in all sincerity I can't imagine how you could not be blessed, encouraged, strengthened, and filled with hope as we continue this journey through the Word of God. Let us keep going and be led by the Spirit of God into the recorded life of Joseph, son of Jacob...

Joseph, when seventeen years of age,

was pasturing the flock with his brothers

while he was still a youth.

Genesis 37:2

We now begin the story of Joseph—the firstborn of Rachel, Jacob’s most favored son from his most loved wife. There is so much to learn from the life of Joseph. He is the most accurate picture of Christ in the Old Testament; the similarities and the foreshadowing are eye opening.

One thing that still amazes me is that God, in his sovereignty, chose for Christ to come through the line of Judah as opposed to the line of Joseph. At this point, by all human merit and reasoning, Judah is far from holiness and righteousness and justice. Yet God does not work according to human reasoning; His thoughts are not our thoughts, and His ways are not our ways (Isaiah 55:8).

What we learn from these chapters about the life of Joseph is that obedience to God sometimes brings hatred from others. God’s favor on our lives sometimes brings jealousy from those who are not seeking or striving toward obedience to God and His Word.

Joseph will go through a lot in the next thirteen chapters of Genesis, yet through it all, he holds fast to God. Might we learn from the life of Joseph how to handle the things in life that we just don’t understand.

Oh Father,

When I don’t understand why, help me to not forget the who—the who being You, my God. May I cling to and remember Your Word when times of trouble try to overtake me. You have given me Your Word that I might know that You are God. You have recorded the lives of Your saints that I might know that You are faithful. You are my God, and You are with me wherever I go. You never forsake those who seek You (Psalm 9:10). My Father and my God, I trust in You, and I know that You are never caught by surprise, nor are You ever caught off guard. In good times and in bad times, You are my Adonai.

My Jesus, it is in Your name I pray,

Amen.