One day Joseph’s brothers were out watching the flocks in the fields (and in the sun), and Joseph was kept at home to relax. Later on, their dad sent Joseph out to check on the brothers. When the brothers saw Joseph coming from a distance, they hated him so much that they talked about killing him. After some discussion, they decided to beat him up and threw him into a large, dried out, underground water storage container. Later, they pulled him back out. Joseph thought his ordeal was over, but instead his brothers sold him to a caravan of traveling merchants. Joseph pleaded with them for mercy, but his brothers just smiled and waved goodbye. You can read about this in Genesis 37 and some of the following chapters also reveal some of the details. Joseph had basically done nothing wrong, but he found himself betrayed by his own brothers and sold into slavery.
Sometimes people think that if they do everything right, then no bad things will ever happen to them. Sometimes people are very cautious in order to avoid problems or troubles. Some people think that if they serve God without making any mistakes, they will then have a nearly perfect life. But life doesn’t work in these ways. Joseph did nothing wrong, but he was sold into slavery. In John 16:33, Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble.” The Bible never promises us an easy, trouble free life. In fact, we are promised we will have trouble.
Joseph was taken to Egypt as a slave, but during his time there, he would see God’s plan unfold for his life. A much greater good would occur because of his time as a slave. Perhaps some day you will face tough times when God is trying to bring about long term good. It will be hard to face at the time, but in the long term, you will see God’s hand at work in your life.
-Jason Turner
SeekGrowLove.com 