Today, we will start learning about the life of Joseph and God’s plan for him. There are lots of things that we can learn from the story of Joseph; his preparation, his family, his values, his humility and forgiveness.

God gave Joseph a vision – If God is calling someone to work for him, God “usually” give vision or a hint to that someone of what he will become in the future.  We talked about Abraham and then Jacob for the last couple of months and from there we can see that there is one thing common to them, and that’s how God communicates to them. And it is no different with Joseph. God gave dreams to Joseph so that he can have a glimpse of what it is to come in the future.

We can take note about the reaction of his brothers and even of Jacob about his dreams. They are his own family but not only that they do not believe in his dreams, they were also very militant about it because they know Joseph means that it is them who will be bowing before him which means that he is to rule over them.

Not all visions that are coming from the Lord are good for the ears of other people, not even to your own family. However, if you are called person who is having visions about your calling, nothing will ever stop it from happening, for indeed it will come to pass.

God stripped Joseph of whatever he has – The next thing that happened to Joseph is the stripping of whatever he has. It doesn’t matter of who he is, but if that is a called person, God will strip you of everything that will hold you in serving him. This is why you will see that usually the called people are very dedicated to their work, to the tasks that God gave them because this is one of the things that God does to them.

So if it is about stripping, does it mean that they will live in poverty and simplicity of life? Not at all. What we are talking here is about God stripping you of things that is holding you to serve Him. Now, first notice how Jacob was stripped of everything he has? He became a servant of Laban, Abraham when he called him, Abraham is just a stranger from nowhere, separated from his family. Now, our main character is Joseph, his father’s favourite, yet he will lost everything and become a slave.

When God called someone, He wants His servant to be fully dependent on Him. He does not want that His servant will have hesitations in following His words. It’s not an option. This is consistent in what Jesus taught in the New Testament: “Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.” (Matthew 10:39).

If God called you, God wants you to be dependent on Him, not to your wealth, not to your family, not to your friend, and definitely not to yourself. He wants you to be dependent to Him. And you will only learn that, when you lose everything.

God set Joseph aside for a higher purpose – When God called you, you are set aside from the rest of your world. You will no longer be a part of your family in one sense, you will no longer be a part of the society, you will no longer be a part of the culture that you grow up with, because in you God will be revealed to other people.

In our story, we can see that Joseph was completely separated from the rest of the family and that he was sold to the caravan of the Ishmaelites who will also sell him to Egypt. He will not be able to see his family for a period of time until he becomes ready to fulfil the things that God wants him to do.

Notice that nearly all the characters in the Bible who were task by God to do something special are usually separated from the rest of the family, or at least from the community they grew up with.

God wants you to be unique, to be fully consumed for His glory. This is why even our own community will hate us. God will mould you to be better servant, to be better person, fitted for His service.

Challenge:

Are you seeing this in your life? Remember, God already separated you from the world. He gives vision to people whom he is calling and experiencing God will change you forever.

NOTE: This study came from Genesis 37

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