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I was spending time in study this week when the Lord dropped a word in my heart. I was following a reading plan that I had created which had me start in the last chapter of Genesis. In this Chapter, the patriarch Jacob, has just passed after addressing his sons.

The chapter records the response of one of Jacob’s sons Joseph. Joseph was in a place of authority in Egypt, his family had come to live in Egypt after a large famine had hit the land. To gain a proper orientation of the story turn with me to Genesis 50 we are going to read the whole chapter.

In this story, we see the final chapter of a man’s life. The end of his relationship with his father, his familial relationship with his brothers, the influence of his work position, and ultimately his death.

It would be easy to brush over the story and move on to the next, but the Lord drew my heart to the broader story of Joseph and his response to his family at the end of his life.

Genesis 50:21 specifically caught my attention, it says, “Now therefore, do not be afraid; I will provide for you and your little ones.” And he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.”

Let me give you a general overview of Joseph’s life story. He had been born into a family filled with competition and envy. He is the son of Jacob and Rachel. His mom had a sister Leah who was also married to Jacob, and they had persistent contention.

Jacob favored Rachel, causing much insecurity in Leah. The result was competition between the two concerning offspring. Leah was fertile and Rachel was barren, and it was a recipe for strife and contention.

God opened the womb of Rachel, and she had Joseph. Jacob played favorites with his children and loved Joseph more than the rest and was shown special treatment. This naturally caused a rift with his other siblings.

As a young man, Joseph received a dream from God about his life at the age of 17. He was meant to rule. His brothers filled with anger, hated him, and made a plan to kill him. While in the process of carrying out the plan, one brother Rueben, delivered him from the hands of his brothers.

Instead of murdering him, they decide to cast him into a pit and tell their father a wild beast killed him. While he was in the pit a company of traders passed by, and they chose to sell him into slavery. Joseph becomes a slave in Egypt to a man named Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh.

Joseph is successful, the Lord caused everything he did to prosper. While serving faithfully, his master’s wife began to pursue him to have an affair with him. He in integrity refuses day after day. One day she makes sure all the servants are out of the house, and she grabs him by the garment to force him.

He rushes out of the house to not dishonor his master leaving his garment in her hand. Because he did not consent, she falsely accuses him of attempting to force himself on her, and he ends up in prison. While in prison, God continues to bless the work of his hands. He is set over the affairs of the prison.

He interprets the dreams of two individuals successfully, but when he asks them to remember him to get him out of prison, they forget about him. A few years pass and Pharoah has dreams that none could interpret. One of the men who had his dream interpreted by Joseph suddenly remembers and tells Pharaoh.

Joseph reveals the meaning of the dreams and has a solution. He is elevated to power to carry out the solution and becomes second in command over all of Egypt. During the famine, he is reconnected to his family and, ultimately, his father.

What intrigues me about his story is that his response is not what you would expect. You would expect for him to get even. After all, he is now in a place to be able to do it, and by normal human reasoning, you would think that he would be justified in doing it.

But what do you see in the end? Genesis 50:21 “Now therefore, do not be afraid; I will provide for you and your little ones.” And he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.”

This is not what you would expect. What happened?
I shared this entire story for this thought.

God purifies and positions us in life through fiery trials.

I think at times we look to avoid the very things that God intends to use to refine and position us to fulfill the dreams He has placed in our hearts. What I sensed this week from the Lord is that we need a mindset shift.

Trials, tribulations, persecutions, and hardships should not be avoided but embraced as part of the process of refinement in our journey with Christ.

The hardships of Joseph’s life brought him to a place of confident trust in God. It cultivated resilience resulting in an unshakeable faith. It brought him to a place of understanding that the hard things in his life had God-given purpose.

Even though he was treated unjustly in the beginning, his refinement by God positioned him to be compassionate in the end.

This morning, you might feel like you are going through one test after another. You may feel like you are going through the fire, and being treated unjustly and find you wondering where God is?