Daily Devotional: Impact

As I was reading through Genesis I was really impacted by the life of Joseph. Through each stage of Joseph's life you can look at the events through a miopic lens, only seeing his life from one situation to the next. He tattles on several of his brothers who already know that their father Jacob loves him more. When he shares his dreams with these brothers they are angry and jealous of him and I'm sure they let their father know how they felt.  And Jacob, probably not wanting them to feel like he was playing favorites and also maybe feeling like he needed to nip some arrogance in the bud, rebuked his son. But have you noticed the following sentence… "And his brothers envied him, but his father kept the matter in mind."(Gen. 37:11) I wonder how many times Jacob went back to this time and wondered what might have happened if he had responded differently (perspective).

For many years dreams continue to be a big part of Joseph's life (You might want to read about the life of Joseph and all the details that led to the saving of so many people, in particular, Israel (Gen. 37-46). Joseph didn't have the advantage of overall perspective. He could only respond to each situation as it happened. But as I observed his life, I was struck that at some point he learned that his gift of interpreting dreams was from God. Throughout his hardships he learned to give credit and glory to God when called on to use his gift.

Rather than looking at Joseph's life through the miopic lens of situation to situation, I was able to see it from God's perspective. God gave him a gift and began orchestrating his circumstances, using this gift to bring him to the exact time and place of influence that would save the children of Israel.

In the midst of the battle sometimes all we can see is the immediacy of the situation. But I was so encouraged and felt an amazing sense of expectancy when I read through the story of Joseph during this season of COVID-19. It made me aware of the importance of each of our gifts in the carrying out of God's plans. Joseph's life should instill trust and hope in God in the midst of the immediacy of our life circumstances. Trust, because God has a plan. Hope, because His plan is to save those that belong to Him. I am so grateful that I am one of HIS!

New King James Version (NKJV)
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.