Family Trials to Triumph
Scripture reading: Genesis 45:1–13
“And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt. Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life,” Genesis 45:4–5.
Family Trials to Triumph
Father God, we pray today for the grace of more love, more power, and more of you in our lives. Lord, apart from you we can do nothing. Father, help us to factor you into everywhere we go, everything we say, and everything we do so that you are the center of our joy and of our lives. Today, give us the grace to gain insight from your Word to help our relationships.
In Genesis 45:1–13 we are told: “Then Joseph could not refrain himself before all them that stood by him; and he cried, Cause every man to go out from me. And there stood no man with him, while Joseph made himself known unto his brethren. And he wept aloud: and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard. And Joseph said unto his brethren, I am Joseph; doth my father yet live? And his brethren could not answer him; for they were troubled at his presence. And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you.
And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt. Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life. For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest. And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt. Haste ye, and go up to my father, and say unto him, Thus saith thy son Joseph, God hath made me lord of all Egypt: come down unto me, tarry not: And thou shalt dwell in the land of Goshen, and thou shalt be near unto me, thou, and thy children, and thy children’s children, and thy flocks, and thy herds, and all that thou hast: And there will I nourish thee; for yet there are five years of famine; lest thou, and thy household, and all that thou hast, come to poverty.
And, behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that it is my mouth that speaketh unto you. And ye shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and of all that ye have seen; and ye shall haste and bring down my father hither.”
In reality, today we find relationships, particularly family relationships, sometimes trying and sometimes triumphant, sometimes testing and sometimes thrilling. Of all the relationships we have, our family is what God chose for us. We can choose our friends but not our family. If we look at the family God chose for Joseph, we wonder how his brothers could have sold him out of jealousy, resentment, rivalry, and anger. But God knew that Joseph needed a family that would betray him. Joseph needed siblings who would be jealous enough to sell him into his destiny. Joseph had that insight; he saw God in the situation. He respected the fact that God chose this family for him and said, “God did send me,” Genesis 45:5. God chose his father, mother, and brothers, and every trial that came in that relationship always came with the cover of God.
Even when we make wrong choices in marriage, God covers us. I always say if you are in the Presence of God, there is nothing that any member of your family can do to you negatively that can affect you permanently. Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery; in fact, they planned to kill him but one of them was a merciful wicked man and suggested selling him. As a slave Joseph faced tough trials. He could be sitting there thinking, “I who had all the love for my father and all these prospects, am now languishing in jail because my brothers sold me into slavery. I was sent to a heathen house where the master’s wife eyed me and I refused to compromise. Now she has lied, and I’m in jail.” He could be crying, “Lord why me?” But Joseph was wise. That betrayal was a stepping stone to his destiny. He went from being a prisoner to a prime minister.
Through these trials, Joseph understood that God matured him. Joseph was thrown out of his comfort zone, tested in a foreign land, and dumped in prison. But the Spirit of God was with him. He was able to decode a dream, find favour with Pharaoh, and be put in charge of Pharaoh’s lands.
Beloved, are you going through a challenge now? Let it become a testimony, because God is involved. I encourage you today to stay in the presence of God in your circumstance and God will cause it to work together for your good. As God turned Joseph’s family trial to triumph in making him lord of Egypt, He will also turn your family trial to triumph.
Prayer Points:
But God cannot work for you in the fullness of His love towards you except you give your life to Him. I pray today that you will surrender your life to Jesus. If you are not born again, pray with me now, “Dear Lord Jesus, I surrender my life to you. Write my name in the book of life. Bless me with the priviledge of being your child and working for you in Jesus’ name. Amen.” And if you are already born again and challenges have distracted you, get back into the Presence of God so that He can turn today’s trials into tomorrow’s triumphs.
