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Character
'The Lord tested Joseph's character.' PSALM 105:19
If we can learn anything from Joseph it's that there's no gain without pain. Joseph is a textbook example of putting up with the pain and hanging in there with God. The story begins with a classic case of Golden Child syndrome. Jacob had many sons, but only Golden Child Joseph is given the now world-famous Technicolor Dreamcoat. This, understandably, miffed his brothers good and proper. Later, when he reports an arrogant dream he has had about them, things get rough for the golden one. His brothers leave him for dead, he's sold to people traffickers, then gets banged up in prison for a crime he didn't even commit, and he's pretty much left there, as everyone forgets all about him.
A horrific chain of events sparked off all because he was a bit big headed and stupid as a teenager. Yet he hung in there, and that should give us all hope. Joseph's character was being tested (all the big headedness being booted out of him along the way), with plenty of occasions for him to get the hump with God, but as he keeps on in there his character gets refined. The story ends with all of Joseph's earlier dreams coming true, but that doesn't seem to be the point. The point seems to be that God wants more than to just do stuff through you, he wants to do it in you.
written by Bob Gass
