Stepping in the Light

“And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, It is not in me: God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace.” Genesis 41:16

Pharaoh had a dream, and none of his wise men could tell him what it meant. When Pharaoh heard that there was a Hebrew prisoner who could interpret dreams, he sent for him right away. When the messenger came for Joseph, I wonder what he was thinking. I wonder how much the messenger told Joseph about what Pharaoh wanted and how Joseph felt about the prospect of standing before the king. I wonder if he thought about the dreams that he interpreted in the prison for Pharaoh’s servants. I wonder if he thought about the dreams that he had as a teenager. I wonder if he got nervous thinking about appearing before Pharaoh, who had the power of life and death over him. Joseph had experienced more than his fair share of hardship since his brothers had sold him into slavery. Perhaps now he would have the opportunity to turn things around. Now people would see that he had a talent that made him special; one that made him extremely valuable. If Joseph had been thinking that way, this would have been his opportunity to let the world know how special he was. But instead of pointing out his own value, Joseph gave all of the glory to God. “It is not in me: God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace.” Joseph immediately let Pharaoh know that God was the source of any help he could provide. Joseph acknowledged God in this extraordinary situation, and God used it to direct Joseph’s path to the palace.

“And he asked Pharaoh’s officers that were with him in the ward of his lord’s house, saying, Wherefore look ye so sadly to day?” Genesis 40:7

Joseph was in prison. His brothers had sold him to a band of Midianites, and the Midianites sold him as a slave to Potiphar, the captain of the guard for Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Potiphar’s wife had lied about Joseph, and Potiphar had thrown him in prison. Before long, the keeper of the prison began to give Joseph responsibilities within the prison. One day, when Joseph saw two of Pharaoh’s officers who were imprisoned there, he thought that they looked sad. He asked them, “Wherefore look ye so sadly to day?” Try to put yourself in Joseph’s situation. He was many miles from home. His brothers had sold him into slavery and told their father that he was dead. He was in prison. It seems that he would have had every excuse to be sad, and the same was true of the other prisoners. They had been doing important jobs for Pharaoh and had lost them because of something that they had done. But instead of being sad and depressed, Joseph was happy. In spite of the circumstances, he not only kept his own spirits up, but he was determined to keep everyone else around him encouraged!

How is your attitude today? Are you happy? Is it obvious? You can be happy today if you decide to be. Why not let Joseph’s example challenge you to always have a great attitude?

“And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren: and they hated him yet the more.” Genesis 37:5

The story of Joseph’s life is one of the most powerful examples of perseverance through difficult circumstances in the entire Bible. Joseph’s father favored him above his brothers and they hated him because of it. Then Joseph had a dream. In his dream, he and his brothers were binding sheaves of wheat in the field. Joseph’s sheaf stood upright, and his brothers’ sheaves came and bowed down to it. When Joseph told his brothers the dream, they hated him even more.

Joseph’s brothers did not know that God was preparing him to deliver them and their entire region of the world from starvation during a devastating seven-year famine. If they could have seen what was going to happen in the future, they would have been very happy about Joseph’s dream, but none of them knew exactly what the dream meant, not even Joseph.

None of us are likely to have anything quite as dramatic occur in our lives as what happened to Joseph, but we do have aspirations, hopes, and dreams. Many times God uses those dreams to guide us into His plan for our lives. You may not save an entire nation from starvation, but God has something important for you to do, and He will guide and protect you as you carry it out. He is working to accomplish great things through your aspirations, even when they seem impossible.

“But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.” Matthew 9:36

We like to think of ourselves as being capable, resourceful, and self-sufficient. We tend to believe that we can make our own way in life, and that if we work hard enough we can accomplish anything we set our minds to. The way that God sees us is quite different from that. When Jesus saw the multitudes, He saw them as sheep. Sheep are helpless animals. They don’t know how to defend themselves. They need someone to help them find food and water. They need someone to provide shelter from the elements, a place for them to sleep at night, and protection from predators. They need someone to shear their wool and look after their general health. They need a shepherd.

When Jesus sees us, He sees our need of a shepherd. We need sustenance, protection, and guidance. He is the Great Shepherd, and He wants to provide for us. He knows that we need Him, but He allows us to choose how closely we follow Him. Of course, the first step is to accept Him as Saviour. After we are saved, He promises to give us everlasting life. A guarantee of living in heaven forever provides a complete assurance, and that assurance can lead to self-sufficiency. We must remember that after we are saved, we are still sheep. We still need our Shepherd. We need Him for everything. We must constantly look to Him as our Great Shepherd.

“And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners? But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” Matthew 9:10-13

Self-righteousness, in its essence, is thinly veiled pride; and it separates us from God. In their efforts to please God and live holy lives, the Pharisees lost their focus on the original object of their affections and began to be enamored with their own goodness. They had been right in wanting to please God, but they were wrong in trying to impress everyone else with how well they were doing at it.

When the Pharisees came to Jesus, they were skeptical about Who He claimed to be and the validity of the miracles which He performed. Jesus did not fit into their private universe of godliness. He healed people on the Sabbath day, a day in which no manner of work was to be performed. Now they saw Him spending time with publicans and sinners, people that they would never associate with. They were convinced of their own goodness. They did not need any help, and that attitude was precisely what separated them from Jesus.

“And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm. But the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!” Matthew 8:26-27

Jesus was with His disciples in a boat on the sea. A terrible storm arose and the waves came crashing in and filled the boat with water. All the while, Jesus was asleep. The disciples awakened Jesus and said, “Lord, save us!” These experienced seamen had done all they knew to do, but the boat was still sinking. As a last ditch effort, they hoped that Jesus could do something to save them. However, when Jesus awoke, He expressed a bit of frustration with them. “Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?” Jesus rebuked the winds and the sea became calm. The disciples were amazed that Jesus could do such a thing. Their reaction to this miracle helps us to see where their faith was lacking. If they really believed that Jesus was the Messiah, then they should have understood that it would be impossible for the boat to sink while Jesus was on board. They would not have even needed to wake Him up.

Like the disciples, our faith is often weak. We have an incomplete understanding of Who God is and what He is able to do. What God wants from us more than anything else is faith. Are you willing to exercise complete faith in Him? It is impossible for Him to fail. He will see you through!

“And Jacob said, Swear to me this day; and he sware unto him: and he sold his birthright unto Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentiles; and he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way: thus Esau despised his birthright.” Genesis 25:33-34

Esau traded his birthright for a bowl of soup. There was undoubtedly a great deal of spiritual significance to the birthright, but in a practical sense, it was a matter of an additional share of the inheritance (see Genesis 48:22). Jacob and Esau’s father, Isaac, was extremely wealthy. It is difficult to bring biblical monetary values into our present day currency, but let’s assume for a moment that the total value of Isaac’s possessions was three million dollars. Isaac had two sons, Jacob and Esau. In order to give one of them a double portion of the inheritance, he would need to divide everything he owned into three portions. Esau was the oldest, so by our assumed values he stood to receive two million dollars, and Jacob stood to receive only one. Jacob probably had thought about that one million dollars many times, and when he saw his brother was desperate, he took advantage of the situation. Jacob proposed a deal; the soup for the birthright (an even trade), and Esau took the deal. One million dollars for a bowl of soup! This may have been the worst deal in history! This story begs the question, what is it in our lives that we have undervalued? May God help us never to trade away so much for so little!

“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.” Matthew 7:7-8

Ask, seek, and knock. These are simple and straightforward instructions. The Greek text here gives the sense of continual action. Ask and keep on asking. Seek and keep on seeking. Knock and keep on knocking. As you continue to ask, you will eventually receive. As you continue to seek, you will eventually find. As you continue to knock, it will eventually be opened to you. God wants us to be persistent in our quest to know Him, to follow His will, and to experience the fullness of the abundant life He wants us to know.

Perhaps we can also see an element of resourcefulness. When you have a need, begin by asking. If that doesn’t work, go looking. If your search brings you to a closed door, start knocking. We have a tendency to give up too easily. Are there things that you have prayed for but have not received? Are you still praying for them? For each of those unanswered prayers, is there a trail along which you have actively and tirelessly sought for the answer? If so, are you still seeking? Is it time to widen your search area? As you have prayed and sought for the answer, have you encountered closed doors that make it seem impossible for God to come through? Did you knock? Are you still knocking? Persistence is often the key to answered prayer.

“Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Matthew 6:19-21

It is often said that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. What one person would cast aside as useless, another would see great value in. The verb form of the word treasure could be simply defined: to value. Based on Christ’s teaching here, if you will show me what you value, what you treasure, then I will show you your heart.

Jesus said to lay up treasures in heaven. Our heart should be in heaven, not on earth. The things that we value should be heavenly things. He is not speaking here of pearly gates or streets of gold. He is speaking of finding out what is valuable to God and making it valuable to ourselves. Ultimately, we get to decide what is valuable to us. We decide what we treasure.

God treasures the souls of men and women. He treasures a pure heart. He treasures deeds of kindness. He treasures the truth of His Word. He treasures the love and devotion of His children. Are these things important to you? You can lay up treasure in heaven by telling others about Jesus Christ, by reading God’s Word, by spending time in prayer, by speaking words of kindness, and by helping those in need.

“Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.” Matthew 6:8

When you pray, what are you thinking? Do you think that God hears you? Do you think that He is listening? Do you think that He cares about you? When we think about prayer, we tend to think of what we could potentially get out of prayer. We need something, so we ask God for it in hopes that we might receive it. Our focus tends to be on what we stand to gain. As Jesus taught His disciples about prayer in Matthew 6, one of the truths that He emphasized was pertaining to our attitude as we approach God. We are to think of God as our Father. We are to envision Him in heaven. We are to approach His throne with reverence and to honor His name. We are to pray for the advancement of His kingdom and for His will to be done. Then we may ask for our needs to be met. When we take the time to follow this process, we develop a deeper understanding of the power of God and the true meaning of our relationship with Him. Jesus prefaced these instructions by letting us know that God already knows what we need. He knows. We don’t go to prayer because God needs to be informed of our situation. He knows. That means that He does care. He does love us. He does hear us. He does want to meet our needs. This one thought has the potential to transform our attitude toward prayer. We must realize that if God already knows what we need, then prayer is more about a relationship with God than it is about receiving.