Passing the Test

Has God ever revealed things and you wondered how He could bring them to pass?  His way are higher than ours, and He is able to do the impossible.  The life of Joseph provides a riveting tale of how God used difficult circumstances to accomplish His will.  Joseph's brothers sold him into slavery, but God meant it for good.  We read in scripture when his brothers sold Joseph to merchants God was sending him to Egypt.  How important it is to maintain a view God remains in control, even when life is out of our control.

God sent Joseph to Egypt in chains to save His people, including the very men who hated Joseph.  We read in Psalm 105:17-20 of God's grace and wisdom:  "He sent a man before them-- Joseph--who was sold as a slave. ¹⁸  They hurt his feet with fetters, he was laid in irons. ¹⁹  Until the time that his word came to pass, the word of the LORD tested him. ²⁰  The king sent and released him, the ruler of the people let him go free."  God had given Joseph dreams as a lad he would be a ruler, that his brothers and even his parents would bow before him.  As Joseph considered God's promise to him as he lay in irons, there seemed no possible way this could be accomplished.  How could a slave become a ruler?  What chance could a man rotting in a foreign prison govern?

Given Joseph's troubling circumstances, God's word tested him.  Had Joseph's life followed a clear path of ascendance, rising quickly through the ranks as a public servant, making contacts with influential officers, and gaining a reputation among his peers for his political savvy, perhaps Joseph would have predicted how God would make good on His promise.  But Joseph did not see it coming, nor as he lay in irons could he have predicted how God would even arrange his release - much less his promotion to second to Pharaoh in Egypt!  In painful irons Joseph chose to believe God's promise to him and trusted God.  It was the word of the LORD which tested Joseph, and when the word was fulfilled Joseph could look back in awe and say of his slavery and imprisonment, "Even in my darkest days, God was there."  God is always true to His Word.

Is God's word testing you today?  Will you continue to believe His promises, even if it seems like there is no possible way it could come to pass?  Trust in God, for He is able to do exceedingly above what we could ever ask or think.  Those who believe Him will be richly rewarded for such faith.  Their eyes will see the salvation of the LORD.