Tag Archives: Joseph and the coat of many colors

February 6, 2023 · 5:48 AM

Facing Adversity

Most of us can point to a period of adversity in our lives that shaped up. Some of us look back on that time with a bit of sorrow or even bitterness because of how bad it was and where it left them. Others look back on it as a bad time that created a positive outcome in their life. It could have been just as bad as someone else’s, but because the end result was different, they change how they look at it. How do you view that time? How far had God brought you since then? It’s hard to see God’s hand in our lives the closer we are to that time. However, the farther away we get, if we look back, we should be able to see God’s hand in it carrying us or moving us into a position through it. We rarely know everything He is doing, but with some distance and perspective we should be able to see how He can work everything out for our good.

In Genesis, we find the story of Joseph. He was a man that went through 13 years of adversity without letting it make him bitter towards God or others. His own family beat him, threw him in a pit and sold him as a slave. The man who purchased him from the slave traders lived in a foreign land. Joseph was a hard worker despite his circumstances. He was given more and more responsibility until his master’s wife made a pass at him. Because he rejected her, she lied and had him thrown in prison with no parole. He was left there and forgotten even though he helped people there. After he interpreted pharaoh’s dream, he was given all authority in Egypt to make decisions as he led them for 7 years of blessings and through 7 years of famine. During those 14 years, he got married and had two kids, Manasseh and Ephraim.

Genesis 41:52 says, “He named the second [son] Ephraim (fruitfulness), for ‘God has caused me to be fruitful and very successful in the land of my suffering.’” The more Joseph looked back on that time, the more he could see the faithfulness of God who was positioning him so that the dreams God gave him as a boy could be fulfilled. He didn’t allow bitterness to grow in his heart towards God or others. In doing so, he was able to be fruitful and successful even though he didn’t understand as he went through it. Our attitude in adversity, and even after, will often affect our outcome. God is faithful and able to turn any situation around for our good, no matter how bad it was. When I’m discouraged in times of adversity, I find hope when I look at Joseph knowing that God can make me fruitful and successful no matter how bad things get, and that He will be faithful to His Word through it.

Photo by Brad Barmore on Unsplash

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February 1, 2023 · 5:43 AM

Even Though

In 2008, Heather Dormiden was running the 600 meter race for the Big Ten championship. She was out front with about 200 meters to go when she tripped and fell flat on her face. Instead of being mad at herself or being embarrassed and staying down, she decided to finish the race. Team points were important and her university was close to the top. She had to finish to get any points. She began to sprint as fast as she could. She started passing other racers which made her push harder. In the last 50 meters, she said she found a gear she didn’t know she had. Hearing the roar of the crowd energized her as she sprinted towards the finish line. To everyone’s amazement, Heather won the race even though she fell because she didn’t give up when she fell down.

In Genesis 39, Joseph’s brothers resented him. He was clearly his father’s favorite son out of 12. He had been given a bright, colorful coat so all the world would know it. Then he started having dreams that his brothers and his parents would bow down to him. The brothers had enough. They seized him and threw him into a cistern while they decided how to kill him. A caravan was passing by on its way to Egypt when they decided to sell him as a slave. He was purchased by a man named Potiphar and put to work. Instead of sulking and being bitter, he worked hard. Verse 2 says, “The Lord was with Joseph, and he [even though a slave] became a successful and prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master, the Egyptian” (AMP). Joseph prospered even though he was a slave because he worked hard where he was and received the Lord’s favor.

Proverbs 24:16 says, “For the lovers of God may suffer adversity and stumble seven times, but they will continue to rise over and over again” (TPT). Even though you’ve fallen down, get back up. Even though life has felt you blow after blow, get back up. Even though things are hard, God will bless you when you keep getting back up. You have a race to run with an eternal prize. I know what it’s like to have the bottom keep falling out until you hit rock bottom. It’s not easy to get back up, but we’re not alone and we don’t have to do it in our strength. Call on the Holy Spirit to rise up in you when you feel like you can’t. Ask for God’s favor as you rise. The race isn’t won by the fastest, the most gifted or the wealthy. It’s won by those who continue to rise even though they fall because God favors those who trust in Him for His strength when they are weak.

Photo by Elisa Kennemer on Unsplash

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January 6, 2021 · 5:59 AM

Becoming More Fruitful

In the 90”s, one of the t-shirts that was popular said, “No Pain No Gain”. They were referring to working out, but I believe that’s true in a lot of areas in life. People like complacency and they don’t like pain. Because of that, we often find ourselves in ruts doing the same thing day in and day out. The problem is that the processes in our lives can only produce so much, and many of us have been in a rut so long that we have reached a plateau and we’re coasting. The greatest motivator for change is pain. It’s not until we’re faced with pain of some sort that we change. When you change how you do things, you change the results you’re getting in life. Sometimes we get the choice to make the change, and other times God forces the change in our lives.

Joseph, in the Old Testament, is one of the most intriguing people in the Bible to me. When he was 17 years old, his brothers beat him up and threw him in a pit with the intention of killing him. Instead, they sold him as a slave where he was taken to a foreign land. There he made the most of his situation and became the highest producer in the household. The owner’s wife took a liking to him, but he held to his integrity even though life had dumped on him. He was thrown in jail where he was forgotten, but he continued to persevere in the pain. 17 years after his brother’s sold him, he became a free man, and then became second in command of the nation. He was a man who went through much pain, suffering and affliction, but you never read where he questioned God or doubted Him.

After he was married, he had two sons. Genesis 41:52 says, “He named the second [son] Ephraim (fruitfulness), for ‘God has caused me to be fruitful and very successful in the land of my suffering’” (AMP). God has a plan for our lives that contains suffering, but with that suffering comes the potential of fruitfulness and success. How do you respond to times of pain and suffering? I believe our response is what determines the extent of that fruitfulness. God will do whatever He needs to in our lives to get us to a place where we can be fruitful for Him and His purposes, but along with that comes the potential for greater things. Some of the most successful people you know have endured some of the hardest times. If you’re going through a season of pain and suffering like Joseph, take courage. God is working in your life to produce some amazing fruit. Ask Him for the strength to endure and the wisdom in how to make the most of it.

Photo by Dailos Medina on Unsplash

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