Joseph – Reflections (5)

 

 

“And He called for a famine upon the land; He broke the whole staff of bead. He sent a man before them, Joseph, who was sold as a slave. They afflicted his feet with fetters, he himself [his soul] was laid in irons; until the time that his word came to pass, the word of the LORD tested him” (Psalm 105:16 – 19).

 

There are seasons of life in which our soul is “laid in irons.” During this time the Word of God tests us in at least two ways. The first way is our vision, our dream, our calling in God’s Word is tested and purified. The second is that there is a purifying of our souls by the Word (Heb. 4:12 – 13).

 

Jospeh’s dreams were tested while in captivity. Were the dreams from God, or were they the result of eating bad mushrooms? Could God bring His Word to Joseph to pass? Would God bring His Word to pass? In spite of appearances, was God going to fulfill His Word?

 

On the road to Damascus Jesus gave Paul an expansive Word that was Messianic in nature, telling Paul that he was being sent to the nations “To open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me” (Acts 26:18).

 

This Word was tired many times in Paul’s life (2 Cor. 6:1 – 10; 11:23 – 33; 1 Cor. 4:9 – 13). Perhaps at no time to the extent as when he and his coworkers “despaired of life” (2 Cor. 1:3 -9).  

 

When God gives us His Word, He will likely try that Word within us, and in testing that Word He will test our hearts and minds, thereby transforming us into the image of Jesus Christ.

 

“The words of the LORD are pure words; as silver tried in a furnace on the earth, refined seven times” (Psalm 12:6).

 

Are we not the furnace on earth, both individually and collectively?

 

There is a reason the Word of the LORD is often portrayed as a burden in prophetic writings. It is a burden in that we must carry its import and message. It is a burden in that we have no choice but to fulfill it, to be a steward of it. It is a burden in that it tries our minds and hearts and souls, it affects every fiber of our being. The Word of the LORD will bring a man or woman to the end of himself or herself. The Word of God will wring every ounce of ego and self-generated strength out of a person. The Word of God will make a person the prisoner of the call of God, the message of God, a debtor to all men.

 

“I am a debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish” (Rom. 1:14).

“For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for I am under compulsion; for woe is me if I do not preach the gospel” (1 Cor. 9:16).

 

So called Christian leaders who act as if they are God’s entrepreneurs, who appear to be operating motivational enterprises and selling franchise opportunities, who are selling experiences – are not faithful stewards of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Gospel brings us to the end of ourselves, we take up our cross and follow Jesus (Mark 8:34 – 38), we live for others and not for ourselves, and we submit to the Word of God through the Holy Spirit.

 

Faithful stewards of the Gospel are well aware of what they are calling people to in the name of Jesus Christ, as Bonhoeffer writes, “When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die.” How cruel to substitute cotton candy for the Cross of Christ.

 

Faithful stewards also know that the call to the Cross is the call to treasures beyond comprehension, it is a call to the glory of God, to the New Jerusalem, to eternity with Living Water and the Tree of Life – to fellowship beyond what we can imagine.

 

As God’s Word works within us, it is not unusual for us to gravitate toward a particular facet (or facets) of that Word in different seasons of life – all centered in Christ and flowing from Christ and portraying Jesus Christ. After all, we are on a lifelong pilgrimage.

 

We may be focused on Isaiah, or Haggai, or 1 Corinthians, or the Gospel of Luke…often we are challenged by a combination of elements of Scripture – but whatever the case, Jesus Christ is the center, the beginning, and the end.

 

During these seasons the Word will test our hearts and minds, our souls may be in challenging places, we may face severe opposition – all so that we are transformed into the image of Jesus and in order that others may have the life of Christ.

 

Just as Jospeh, we may not understand why we are facing such things. In fact, our circumstances may appear to contradict our vision of the Word. When Joesph was betrayed by his brothers do you think he thought, “Great, God’s Word is being fulfilled!”? When Potiphar put Jospeh in prison, do you think Jospeh shouted, “This is wonderful. God is fulfilling the dream I had, the Word I saw!”?

 

What did the disciples think as Jesus was betrayed and crucified? Were they rejoicing that God was fulfilling His promise of a Messiah?

 

It is not unusual for us to have seasons when our “souls are laid in irons.” Such times are when the Cross does its work, they are times when the Word of God tries us, times when the heat is turned up in our very own “furnace of earth.” In such times we do not want to medicate ourselves out of God’s work within us, we do not want to avoid the Cross – instead we want to know Jesus in the power of His resurrection and the koinonia of His sufferings, being conformed to His death (Phil. 3:10).

 

Before Joseph could be exalted, his soul first had to be laid in irons. Before resurrection, there is crucifixion and death.

 

How has your Father taught you in difficult times?

 

How is He teaching you?

 

“I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Romans 8:18; see also 1 Peter 1:3 – 9).