Josephcoaster

“Now, therefore, it was not you who sent me here, but God…” (Genesis 45:8)

I’m not a big fan of Six Flags…I could live the rest of my life, never darkening the gates of Six Flags again & on my death bed say that I’ve lived a wonderful & fulfilled life…but I work with youth who love that place. most of them love the roller coasters…me, I have a problem with them, as I do with planes, a problem of trusting a man made machine with my life. But there is one roller coaster that I love to ride…the “Mindbender” or now I think it’s “the Joker”. I like this roller coaster because it is attached to the rails, it has a rap around wheel system that seems more secure, and more like it can’t come off the tracks than lets say the “Scream Machine” where with every hill you come out of your seat.

Joseph, back in Genesis knew a lot about roller coasters, he lived on one. Joseph’s life was anything but normal & talking about a dysfunctional family…Joseph’s family was messed up. His dad Jacob had several wives (all at one time) & by those wives had several sons, next to the youngest was Joseph, his father’s favorite & his father showed that, which made Joseph’s brothers hate him. His brother’s hated him so bad that when he came out to check on them where they were watching the sheep, they decided to throw him in a pit & kill him. Now I had an older brother & he may have at times wished he could throw me in a pit, but I know he never wanted to kill me.

Joseph’s brothers were stopped from killing him by the convicted heart of his brother Reuben, instead they sold him to some slave traders…now I know without a doubt that if my brother could have sold me he would have. May be at trade day or somewhere. But what they were meaning to be bad for Joseph, God meant for his good & the good of many others.

After Joseph’s brothers put him on their version of “e-bay”, he wound up in Egypt in the house of a man named Potiphar, who was head of all of Pharaoh’s bodyguards. Now Potiphar saw something in Joseph that he didn’t in the other servants, so he put him in charge of his other servants & when he decided to go on a trip, he put him in charge of his whole house hold while he was gone.
Long story short, & I will probably write a blog on this later, Joseph was propositioned & almost raped by Potiphar’s wife. But he ran away from her (very smart move), she yelled rape & Joseph was now in prison.

While in prison, Joseph has the opportunity to interpret a dream for two cellmates & later Pharaoh had a dream that he wanted to know the meaning of & hears that Joseph is the man to see. Joseph seeks God for the answer & he sees that there will be a great famine in the land & God shows him how to handle it so that the people of the land will survive. Pharaoh just like Potiphar, sees something in Joseph, & is so pleased with him that he places Joseph second in command of all of Egypt.

The famine that came to that land also helped to bring Joseph’s brothers, to have to stand before him in search of food. Now of course they had no idea that the man that would hold their life in his hand would be the very brother that they sold, but Joseph didn’t seek revenge, but reconciliation. This brought his father Jacob & little brother Benjamin who he had longed to see & even wondered if they were still alive to Egypt to live with him, where the Israelites would grow into a great nation & the place that Moses would be born. Later to return to the land of Canaan to posses it as their own, but during their time in Egypt, the idolatrous people of Canaan would be given 400 plus years to turn to God.

The roller coaster ride of the life of Joseph had plenty of ups & downs, as well as many sharp curves & upside down situations, but just like “The Joker”, it was right on track. He was in the will of God, because he stayed devoted to God through it all & through his life many were saved.
Going through some tough times, ups, downs, curves & loops? Stay close to God & count it as an adventure in His will…& you will be right on track.


Vern