1.

Joseph’s pain was the key to his greatness

Joseph was the favorite son because he was the first son born to Jacob’s true love,
Rachel. One day Jacob gave Joseph a special gift in the form of fancy robe, or tunic.
This robe was beautiful, ornate, had long sleeves, and extended down to his ankles. In
comparison, Joseph’s brothers likely had shorter, sleeveless tunics that allowed them
to more easily do their manual labor. Charles Swindoll writes in his book Joseph: A Man
of Integrity and Forgivness, “By giving Joseph this elaborate full-length coat, which was
also a sign of nobility in that day, his father was boldly implying, ‘You can wear this
beautiful garment because you don’t have to work like those brothers of yours.’"
I’m guessing that this coat wasn’t the first gift Joseph received that blatantly pointed
out the favor he had with his father. Joseph was likely spoiled and coddled his entire
life, until that fateful day where he was forced to leave his father’s favor and blessings.
His brothers’ jealousy built up and eventually overcame them so much that one day
they threw Joseph into a pit and eventually sold him into slavery. Talk about the end of
a spoiled childhood! Once Joseph belonged to foreign people who paid to own him, his
days of being favored and coddled were over.
“The LORD was with Joseph, so he succeeded in everything he did as he served in the
home of his Egyptian master” (Genesis 39:2, emphasis added).
Joseph had to learn to work because daddy was no longer around to let him off the
hook. The beauty is that Joseph did work, and he worked hard. We see Joseph’s gifts of
administration and oversight start to bloom as “Potiphar gave Joseph complete
administrative responsibility over everything he owned” (Genesis 39:6). We continue to
see Joseph’s hard work and his giftings developed as he worked hard and became in
charge of the prison he was in and eventually over all of Egypt!
In the end, it was Joseph’s God-given gift of administration and oversight that God used
to save Joseph’s family and the whole nation of Egypt from starvation. Going through
the pain of losing his status of “chosen son” and having to work to earn his keep is the
only reason that Joseph’s gift was able to develop and grow in his life. Had he never had
the hardship of being sold into slavery, he never would have tapped into that gift and
consequently never would have saved his family.
2. Joseph ministered to others in his darkest time
Joseph’s life was filled with what seemed to be setbacks on the surface, but in fact were
the very situations that matured him, tested him, and ultimately set him up for God’s
plan to be manifested through him. In one of these major setbacks, we see the true,
noble character that was the core of who Joseph was. After being wrongfully charged
for an offense he did not commit, Joseph found himself in prison. One day he received
two new cell mates, Pharaoh’s chief baker and his chief cup-bearer. Since Joseph was
responsible and skilled, he was ultimately placed in charge of these two prisoners.
Having this kind of authority, Joseph could have easily lorded it over them and been
rude and disrespectful. Instead, we see that Joseph was kind and compassionate to
them, acknowledging their feelings and reaching out to them.
While they were in prison, Pharaoh’s cup-bearer and baker each had a dream one night,
and each dream had its own meaning. When Joseph saw them the next morning, he
noticed that they both looked upset.
“Why do you look so worried today?” he asked them (Genesis 4:5-7).
Can you imagine being wrongfully accused and thrown in jail when all you’ve been trying
to do is serve God faithfully and honestly? Then some other prisoners, who were likely
actually guilty of some crime, are moaning and complaining (that is my own
interpretation, but that could have easily been the case) about their distress right in
front of you? My first instinct would be to tell them they have nothing to complain about
and explain the plight of my circumstances and show why I have it so much harder than
they do.
Not Joseph! He reached out and basically offered himself as a shoulder to cry on. Then
not only did he listen to their distress, he also offered to solve their problem by
interpreting their dreams. What amazing character Joseph had to put himself aside and
help others in the midst of his own suffering!
3. He didn’t try to push his own agenda in his life
After Joseph interprets the baker’s and cup-bearer’s dreams, he asks the cup-bearer,
whom he knew would soon be promoted back to his job, to remember him and hopefully
aid in getting him freed from his wrongful imprisonment. Joseph reached out and helped
someone despite his suffering, so it seems right that he would receive a reward and a
blessing from that. But once the cup-bearer was restored to his position, he forgot all
about Joseph, thus he remained in prison for two more long years. I bet it was really
tempting for Joseph to try to manipulate and scheme things to get himself out of there.
In contrast, it seems that he instead grew closer to God and grew in faith during this
time. We know that by how he acted when we see him next.
Two years after Joseph interpreted his dream, the cup-bearer did finally remember him
when Pharaoh needed someone to interpret his dream. Finally Joseph was brought out
of prison to be able to share one of his God-given gifts and help someone in authority.
After Joseph interpreted Pharaoh's dream about the forthcoming prosperity and famine,
he told Pharaoh what he thought the best course of action would be.
Pharaoh should find an intelligent and wise man and put him in charge of the entire
land of Egypt (Genesis 41:33). Joseph’s suggestions were well received by Pharaoh and
his officials. So Pharaoh asked his officials, “Can we find anyone else like this man so
obviously filled with the spirit of God?” (Genesis 41:37-38).
If I were Joseph, I’d probably want to shout from the rooftops “Pick me, pick me!!!”
Joseph was very capable of doing this job and he would do it well because he was
experienced and gifted at it! But Joseph was quiet. He didn’t promote himself or try to
prove that he would be the best at this. Instead he sat back and watched as God
promoted him, by only his grace and outside of any of Joseph’s own efforts. And God
did just that:
Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has revealed the meaning of the dreams to you,
clearly no one else is as intelligent or wise as you are. You will be in charge of my court,
and all my people will take orders from you. Only I, sitting on my throne, will have a rank
higher than yours.” Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I hereby put you in charge of the entire land
of Egypt” (Genesis 41:39-41).
Joseph was released from prison and put into a place of high authority in just one day
and it brought glory to God instead of himself.
Joseph was an amazing man of patience, integrity and character. So many of us have
read his story over and over again and marveled at how God brought justice and blessing
to him, despite being treated unfairly. Looking at Joseph more closely and analyzing his
actions (and lack of action in certain circumstances) we can see a shining example of
one of God’s loyal servants whom God saw worthy of being promoted to the high calling
he had. When we have times in our lives where we are being treated unfairly or things
seem to be continually against us, we can look to Joseph for a great example of how to
keep our eyes on God and continue to live in integrity and have confidence that God will
come through for us at his perfect timing.