First, those dreams. I wonder how it would feel to have two dreams in which you're told you will be head over your brothers and parents? Freaky, I'm guessing. Especially when you're that young and your brothers all come from different mamas.
Then, you oopsie by letting your future-subservient bro's get wind of it. Not good in a culture where order of birth is the only career ladder and you're at the bottom.
But Joe kept on being Joe. He actually went out in to the countryside to check on his brothers who hated him. I'm no genius, but...
So, as you most likely know, Brother A wants to kill, Brother B says no, Brothers C-J decide to sell him and fake his death. Complete with goat's blood chalk outline.
What would it feel like to be abandoned in a pit by your brothers, and all because of Pa's favoritism? I have to believe that Joseph wasn't just sitting there, playing BrickBreaker on his Blackberry. I would imagine he was heart-broken, scared, bawling his eyes out, and wondering what went wrong. One minute he's walking to Dothan to check on his family, his loved ones, and the next he's curled up in a hole, awaiting his fate by their hands. I'm guessing that hurt a bit.
Years later, Joseph is Potiphar's butler. The Bible says that, "The Lord was with Joseph, and he became a successful man." BMOC at Potiphar's crib. Then, the lady of the house gets all touchy-feely and ruins it. Joseph had "found favor in Potiphar's sight" but then Miss "Real Housewife of Egypt"screws it all up. And good master and boss Potiphar puts Joe in the brig. Abandoned again by those he had come to trust.
But the very next verse (40:21) is one of those hallelujah moments for me. It says, "But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love." Apparently, Joseph's being in prison was of no concern to God's overall plan, whatsoever. It was just one more way of showing His glory. And Joseph finds favor in the sight of the warden.
Joseph takes on a sidejob as dream whisperer for Pharaoh's kitchen staff while he's there. He asks the cupbearer to remember him and mention him to Pharaoh, but the cupbearer forgets him. How do you forget the one person who gave you hope while you were in prison? It's beyond me, but still, Joseph is abandoned yet again, for two whole years.
So how would you react if your life was characterized by the people you love, the people you're closest to, the people you trust with your life abandoning you over and over? Me? Not nearly as honorable as Joseph reacted.
All through his life, Joseph faced the pain of being thrown around by the decisions and whims of other people. But there's no indication that he ever let it destroy him. I find that fascinating.
What's even more fascinating to me is that throughout the rest of Genesis (9 chapters), Joseph weeps 7 times. But it's not the "Awww, there, there" kind. He weeps from joy, compassion, tenderness. He has one of those Vestal Goodman hanky-wavin' cries and it involves his being reunited with those rotten brothers from the pit episode, and his diddy.
Wow. A lifetime of people turning their backs on him and he still has the kindness to forgive and let it go. Unbelievable.
I wish I could be like Joseph.
