God Is In Our Story

For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. They are plans for good and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11 The Living Bible

Good Morning Girlfriends:

You must have heard that old term "the black sheep of the family," and I'm sure many of us have felt that way at one time or another. Thinking about all of this made me start thinking about Joseph's life and what happened to him, but not only that, but "why" it happened to Joseph.

Not only was Joseph the youngest son, but he was also thought to be the favorite son, that's what the other brothers had always said, especially when Joseph had received the coat of many colors. (Gen. 37:3) It was also because Joseph was born to Jacob when he was in his very old age. Then one night Joseph had a dream and shared it with his brothers the next day, which made them even more jealous and angry with Joseph, because in the dream that was shared, the brothers would be bowing down to him and they did not like the thoughts of that, which made them become even more angry with Joseph. (Vs 5-8)

Can you imagine being sold into slavery by your very own brothers, because of jealousy? Further into Josephs life, after he was bought by Potiphar, he had been taken to Potiphar's home and was highly favored by God, as Potiphar could see (Gen. 39:3) and Joseph became favored in Potiphar's eyes as well. There were other eyes watching Joseph, and that was they eyes of Potiphar's wife, which caused Joseph to become thrown under the bus so to say again, by her lies of Joseph raping her. (Gen. 39:7-18)

Now Joseph was thrown into prison because of Potiphar's wife, (vs. 19) he was also favored in the prison by God, being granted the head over administration from the head jailer. (vs, 21,22) No matter what happened to Joseph, he diligently worked away doing his very best at whatever it was he was doing. Years later after the cupbearer had been released from prison, Pharaoh had a very disturbing dream that no one was able to interpret. The cupbearer remembering that Joseph had helped him with his dream, (Gen. 40:9-13) remembered Joseph so Potiphar sent for him to come to interpret yet another dream. (Gen. 41:14)

Girlfriends, we know the end of Joseph's story, where Pharaoh's dream was revealed that there would be seven good years of crops then seven harsh years would come, but they would be saved because of the crops that were stored up for the seven bad ones. In this event, Joseph not only helped save the Egyptians, but all of his very own family as well. Joseph's brothers came with all of their families as well as Joseph's father, in which Joseph could give food and grain to all so that none would perish.

There are many lessons we can learn from Joseph, one, he was a good steward doing whatever he needed to do. Two, he forgave all of his brother's who meant harm for his life, God turned it all around in order to save their lives in the end. Joseph most likely felt like the black sheep of the family, he was different, he had special gifts, he may not have understood it all at first, but God used him in the end in a very big way.

It gets me to thinking, maybe you feel like the black sheep, maybe you are very different than your brothers or your sisters. Maybe they don't understand you, maybe you don't understand you. The thing of it is, God made you different, He made you the way you are, He gave you different gifts and talents, so don't be discouraged or disappointed of who you are. God has a big plan for your life as well, not only Joseph, or David, or Moses, Mary, Esther, but He has a big plan for your life as well. Keep going, doing the best at everything that you can, don't give up caring, don't give up loving, or waiting for that special person to be in your life. God has a special plan, and He definitely has a purpose for your life.

Joseph realized that everything he went through was ordained by God and became the main purpose in his life. You too may feel like the black sheep in your family, other people may think that you are, but God sees you in a different way. He made you the way you are for a reason, He has a plan for you, God is in your story, so let it continue to play out and one day you will see the full reason of everything, there will be a revelation, Amen?

Let's Pray,

Father God, I thank You for this marvelous day. I thank You that You are in our story and You and only You are the one that can bring good out of each and every one of our stories. Father God, I pray that each of our stories will be used for Your glory, to reach other's that may be going some of the very same things we have already been through. Lord use us to be a testimony for Your glory in the Mighty name of Jesus, Amen.

Be blessed and pass the blessings on. Thank you for passing this message on.