November 3

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Joseph said to them (his brothers) … ‘But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.’ Genesis 50:20

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🔊 Joseph’s most Christ-like quality was his ability to be confident in God’s hand in all his circumstances. He was never bitter towards his brothers. He never despaired when he was betrayed and later wrongfully accused. He did not become proud when he was exalted to the most honoured position in the land of Egypt. He kept a calm trust in God’s goodness, and saw all that happened to him as part of a great plan to bless him and his loved ones. The greatest mark of a person who walks with God is their ability to see God all around them, and not to indulge in despair when things go badly, or in self-congratulation when things go well. Out of all the trials that Joseph went through, the hardest was probably his elevation to the most favoured place in Pharaoh’s government. Joseph was clearly a man of conscience and high moral standards. He must have found much in the court of Pharaoh that grieved him. Yet, like Daniel hundreds of years later, he was able to walk with God in the midst of the world without being of the world. Of all the things we can do to maintain peace in our hearts, the most important is to acknowledge the righteous hand of God that is shaping our circumstances and planning our steps to do us good. This is the cutting edge of faith, and the dynamic heart of worship. When we praise God just the same throughout both the ups and downs of our lives, it is then that we truly bring glory to Him.