Yesterday we got to see the account of Esau and today we get to start the account of Jacob. It’s rather a lengthy account. We are introduced to the story after they have settled back into Canaan. That is where Wendy’s first point jumped out at her. It really doesn’t have anything to do with the rest of her points today, but this is just too good to pass up. In Genesis 37:1 Wendy loved that it said, “settled again”. She needs many “again’s” in her life. She usually does her blog video in one take, but today she has started it repeatedly and she’s laughing at the Lord as He’s going, “again, again, again”. She hears You Lord. Wendy needs many agains. We need many agains. Our God is a God of many agains. When we leave that area of promise like Jacob did, when we wilfully disobey, it doesn’t mean our promise is over. It doesn’t negate His promise or change His plan for us when we leave our land of promise. He can still orchestrate our lives, our situations, our circumstances to bring us back to our land of milk and honey. A place that is fertile, prosperous and where He wants us to be. He can work all things out to bring us back. Jacob was willing to listen and go back. God blessed that willingness with an again. Wendy doesn’t know about us, but it’s freeing to her that she can have more agains than she deserves.
Now, onto Joseph. Joseph appears today as a bratty 17 year old. He’s a tattletale, reporting to his father the bad things his brothers are doing. Being a tattletale is enough to cause sibling rivalry, but Joseph’s dad gives him a coat that is really beautiful and his brothers obviously see that Joseph is loved more by their dad than they are loved. We have the tattletale, the coat and then we have the dream. Joseph starts having these dreams and it sounds like to Wendy, the way the brothers refer to the dream, Joseph is very proud of his dreams and he’s very happy to share his dreams with his brothers…his OLDER brothers. After the first dream, the brother’s say in Genesis 37:8, and this is Wendy’s first point, “they hated him all the more”, which indicates they already hated him, and now they are hating him even more now that he’s having dreams. It’s the way Joseph talked about the dreams. Wendy’s lesson here is that we need to be careful what we say and also how we say it. When we receive words from the Lord, or a prophecy, dream or vision, a blessing that is beyond ourselves, be careful how it is presented. Present it with humility and make sure God receives the glory. Remove ourselves from the picture. Wendy wasn’t there when Joseph shared his dream, but our reading indicates that his brothers did not like the way he talked about his dream, especially considering the fact that they are going to serve him later.
The second thing we see here is that Joseph has been asked again to go check on his brothers. He leaves the valley of Hebron to go to Shechem. Before today Wendy just thought this was another neighbourhood. After some research Wendy learned that Shechem was 45 miles away from Hebron. Dothan was an additional 14 miles away. This was a long way. His brother’s weren’t excited to see him. What Wendy took from this was stay where you are suppose to be. They were in Shechem and they were sent to Shechem and should have remained in Shechem. So many times Wendy says she wilfully chooses to do something different. That goes back to her first point of having an again and an again with the Lord. She has grown in her relationship with the Lord that she now loves the boundaries He gives her. The lines He draws in the sand give her security. She wants to be a person who doesn’t move unless He say’s “Girl go”. Now sometimes He says “Girl Go” and she sticks her fingers in her ears and sings, “Lalalalalala” because she doesn’t want to do what He wants her to do. Sometimes she gets too comfortable where she is and doesn’t want to move. If God tells us to move we need to move, but if He doesn’t direct us anywhere, stay put. Dig your toes in the sand and stay where you are suppose to be until He tells you to move.
The last point in today’s reading comes after the whole fiasco with Potiphar’s wife. Genesis 39 opens up the way it ended, “The Lord was with Joseph”. Through all that happened with Potiphar’s wife, the Lord was with Joseph and caused him to be prosperous. Regardless of what Joseph did there with Potiphar’s wife, he told the truth. He did not succumb. It would have been easy to succumb and Wendy’s sure that Mrs. Potiphar probably had success with other servants in that area, but Joseph was willing to stand his ground. He did the right thing. The right thing didn’t work in his favour.
In Genesis 39:20 it says, “So he took Joseph and threw him into the prison where the king’s prisoners were held, and there he remained.” Sometimes doing the right thing doesn’t end in the right way for us, but that doesn’t negate the fact that we should still do what is right. It’s not always going to end the right way. It’s not always going to be the best for us. Being in prison certainly wasn’t one of the comfort creatures Joseph would have chosen in his life. He had finally risen to be in charge of the whole household of Potiphar and all of a sudden there he goes back into prison. You know what? Things get better. Tomorrow the dreamer turns into the interpreter and things get better for Joseph. Things are looking better on the horizon.
Wendy can’t wait to see you tomorrow….again.
(All thoughts transcribed from Wendy's blog to aid those whose computers are not capatible to view these videos.)
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