Life Circumstances - Predestined or One's Choice????

[PinkPebbles]

In these past few days I’ve been studying the story of Joseph in Genesis. In the book of Genesis, God made a promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He promised them that they will birth forth nations and kings.

As I continued to read, I pondered on a few questions. In my mind, in order for God to fulfill these promises He has to set up a plan. For instance, strategically orchestrate the people, timing of birth and region.


On the other hand, when things happen in our lives that we sometime call a misfortune, is it really a misfortune or a set up for a predestined assignment from the Lord? How does one know? What did God promise to your great grandparents, parents, and even you? Are you now walking in the promises of generations that were before you? Have you sought the Lord to know His perfect Will for your life?
(By the way, these are hypothetical questions that I asked myself)

In reading the story of Joseph, I was able to answer these questions about his life which led me to examine my own.
- Joseph was the son of Jacob and Rachel
- Jacob favored Joseph more because he was the son of his true love Rachel
- Before Rachel had Joseph she was barren for a while; meanwhile her sister Leah was able to have sons by Jacob
- Joseph’s half brothers were jealous of him because his father favored him more
- Joseph’s half brothers envied him more and developed hatred for him once he shared his dream with them all
- Joseph was sold into slavery by his half brothers
- Joseph was falsely accused for making sexual advances at Potiphar’s wife and was sent to prison.

With all that going on in Joseph’s youth and young adult life, I could only imagine the feelings of betrayal and abandonment he must have felt toward his brothers. And to top it off, falsely accused by a woman in a strange land and then sent to prison.

However, the bible verses continuously state "But God was with him...."
Finally, Joseph got his breakthrough after he interpreted Pharoah’s dream which led to God’s purpose being revealed.

Continued Below....

 

[PinkPebbles]

What stood out to me in Joseph’s story are the verses below, which also helped me answer the hypothetical questions of his life.

Gen 37:5-10
One night Joseph had a dream, and when he told his brothers about it, they hated him more than ever. 6 "Listen to this dream," he said. 7 "We were out in the field, tying up bundles of grain. Suddenly my bundle stood up, and your bundles all gathered around and bowed low before mine!"

8 His brothers responded, "So you think you will be our king, do you? Do you actually think you will reign over us?" And they hated him all the more because of his dreams and the way he talked about them.

9 Soon Joseph had another dream, and again he told his brothers about it. "Listen, I have had another dream," he said. "The sun, moon, and eleven stars bowed low before me!"

10 This time he told the dream to his father as well as to his brothers, but his father scolded him. "What kind of dream is that?" he asked. "Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow to the ground before you?" 11 But while his brothers were jealous of Joseph, his father wondered what the dreams meant.

Gen 37:18, 26, 31
18 When Joseph’s brothers saw him coming, they recognized him in the distance. As he approached, they made plans to kill him. 19 "Here comes the dreamer!" they said. 20 "Come on, let’s kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns. We can tell our father, ‘A wild animal has eaten him.’ Then we’ll see what becomes of his dreams!"

26 Judah said to his brothers, "What will we gain by killing our brother? His blood would just give us a guilty conscience. 27 Instead of hurting him, let’s sell him to those Ishmaelite traders. After all, he is our brother—our own flesh and blood!" And his brothers agreed. 28 So when the Ishmaelites, who were Midianite traders, came by, Joseph’s brothers pulled him out of the cistern and sold him to them for twenty pieces
of silver. And the traders took him to Egypt.

31 Then the brothers killed a young goat and dipped Joseph’s robe in its blood. 32 They sent the beautiful robe to their father with this message: "Look at what we found. Doesn’t this robe belong to your son?"

Gen 45:3-11 Several years later God’s purpose and plan revealed...

3 "I am Joseph!" he said to his brothers. "Is my father still alive?" But his brothers were speechless! They were stunned to realize that Joseph was standing there in front of them. 4 "Please, come closer," he said to them. So they came closer. And he said again, "I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into slavery in Egypt. 5 But don’t be upset, and don’t be angry with yourselves for selling me to this place. It was God who sent me here ahead of you to preserve your lives. 6 This famine that has ravaged the land for two years will last five more years, and there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. 7 God has sent me ahead of you to keep you and your families alive and to preserve many survivors.
8 So it was God who sent me here, not you! And he is the one who made me an adviser[a0 b] to Pharaoh—the manager of his entire palace and the governor of all Egypt.
9 "Now hurry back to my father and tell him, ‘This is what your son Joseph says: God has made me master over all the land of Egypt. So come down to me immediately! 10 You can live in the region of Goshen, where you can be near me with all your children and grandchildren, your flocks and herds, and everything you own. 11 I will take care of you there, for there are still five years of famine ahead of us. Otherwise you, your household, and all your animals will starve.’"

While reading the story of Joseph, my mother’s comment about me came to my remembrance. She said, please remember when you think things are not going your way and your plans are not being fulfilled; don’t get upset. That’s the worst part of your personality. Try to think things through and perhaps you will come up with a better solution.

My mom was right about me. The more I pray and study the word of God I’m convinced that God has a purpose and a plan for my life. And I believe He will reveal His purpose and plan for each one of our lives.

Joseph’s story has taught me that there is a purpose when things happen that is out of our control. If we stick with God Almighty and continue to pray and reverence Him; His spirit will sustain us; keep us from losing our mind; reveal His purpose at the appropriate time; and restore us in more ways than we could imagine!

I love the story of Joseph and so many lessons can be learned from it. And I wanted to share with my sisters in Christ!

I think Joseph’s story can be a great dialogue amongst us. What have you learned from Joseph’s story?

 

[inthepink]

I love Joseph's story. When I'm going through trials, I just try to remember that it could be preparation for something great.

 

[PinkPebbles]

I love Joseph's story. When I'm going through trials, I just try to remember that it could be preparation for something great.

ITA....This is so true....!