So after being sold to the Ishmaelites, Joseph is now Egypt-bound.
I wonder what was going through his mind right about now.
Did he wonder about his dreams?
Was he beginning to think that maybe God had abandoned him?
Maybe he was thinking, “I got so excited because I had a vision about something great that I thought God was going to do in my life, but maybe it wasn’t a dream from God after all, maybe it was just something I conjured up”.
Joseph had just been sold to the Ishmaelites.
They were terrorists and enemies of Israel.
This would be the equivalent of being sold to ISIS in our day.
Joseph must have been thinking to himself…
“I’ve blown it!”
“I am no longer in God’s will!”
WRONG!
The truth is Joseph is right smack in the middle of God’s will for his life.
I think we err greatly when we assume we are not in God’s will because some great misfortune has befallen us.
Because of the trauma he went through, no doubt Joseph will cry himself to sleep night after night for a long time to come.
He had been viciously betrayed by his brothers and separated from his family with no hope that he would ever see them again.
Yet, in the midst of this heart wrenching tragedy, I reiterate my point.
Joseph was smack dab in the middle of God’s will for his life.
Never, ever automatically assume that just because you’re in the midst of adversity that you’re not in God’s will for your life.
Many great men in our Bibles went through unspeakable adversity before God freed them from their difficult circumstances.
I think there are two main reasons why God brings adversity into our lives.
The first reason is to keep us dependent on him.
Given how fickle we human beings are, no doubt a trouble-free life would result in us forgetting our God.
The second reason is to prepare us for the future.
It is a season of disciplined training in the fire to ready us for what lies ahead.
God is going to raise Joseph up to heights he himself probably never imagined in his wildest dreams.
But before that, God has to bring Joseph down to a level he never would have imagined in his worst nightmares
NEXT TIME WE BEGIN GENESIS CHAPTER 38
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