“As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive.”
Genesis 50:20
Big God … little me
One of the most inspiring stories in the Bible is found in Genesis. It’s about the life of Joseph, son of the patriarch Jacob. As a young child, he had a couple of dreams and shared them with his brothers. The dreams alluded to the brothers one day bowing down to Joseph. His brothers, obviously annoyed at Joseph for being so arrogant, sold him to a traveling caravan headed for Egypt. In Egypt, he was sold as a slave to the captain of Pharaoh’s Egyptian Guard, Potiphar. He earned favor from Potiphar until Potiphar’s wife falsely accused Joseph of trying to rape her. He was thrown into an Egyptian prison where, once again, he wins the favor of his captors by interpreting their dreams. Through what seemed like impossible feats, his big God enables him to correctly interpret a dream of the Pharaoh which miraculously earns him the position of second-in-command in Egypt.
What makes this story so inspiring is how Joseph reacted to the adversity he faced. He had many options he could have exercised; hate, revenge, and pity to name just a few. But he chose to live his life as if he was serving an almighty big God in every circumstance. In other words, he had the right perspective in every situation. He chose to not focus on himself, but on serving his Creator that he learned about as a young boy. He chose to be the best “slave” he could be by winning the favor of his master. Later, he became an ideal prisoner winning the favor of the prison warden. Even as second-in-command he chose to put the needs of the country ahead of his own.
One more thing… Joseph’s position allowed him to pretty much do anything he desired. He could have had Potiphar and his falsely accusing wife put in jail, or better yet, executed. We’re not told if he did or didn’t, but my guess is that he left them alone. Even as second-in-command he had the “big picture” perspective his big God had placed in his heart.
Joseph’s life example leads us to conclude that we humans often have a narrow vision of the future, whereas God has a perfect “big picture” view of it. If we truly desire to do the will of God, like Joseph, we must first clearly see and understand His perspective on things. To do this it helps if we first rid ourselves of all human emotions and rationality because they both fuel our wants and needs. We must get alone with God, seek His help and guidance, and begin to see our circumstances from His point of view. We must develop the big picture which usually excludes our desires and puts the needs and wants of others before ours. Then, we must be obedient in serving others with the utmost love and respect that our God calls us to exhibit.
I must admit, this isn’t easy, nor is it usually favorable to us. But, then again, we’re just sojourners in this world and servants of the Most High God. This is not our world, it’s only temporary. And like Joseph, whatever evil someone else plans against us will be turned around to bring good for His glory!
I want to encourage you to live the “big picture” life, the one that lines up with the will of our big God and eventually brings Him the greatest glory!
Eyes on Christ,
Dave
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