Joseph's Testing
In Psalm 105 we read this about Joseph
17 He had sent a man ahead of them [that is, ahead of Jacob and his family]—
Joseph, who was sold as a slave.
18 They hurt his feet with shackles;
his neck was put in an iron collar.
19 Until the time his prediction came true,
the word of the Lord tested him.
20 The king sent for him and released him;
the ruler of peoples set him free.
The word of the Lord tested him...
It does not say his circumstances tested him, but the word of the LORD tested or refined him, the promises God had revealed to Joseph of his exaltation above all his brothers, above even his father and mother [Genesis 37:5-11].
It is an unusual way of putting it, but it is true. The unrealised promises we have received from God test our trust in God where our experience does not seem to match what is promised.
'The unrealised promises we have received from God test our trust in God where our experience does not seem to match what is promised.'
That was definitely true for Joseph. It is hard to imagine a situation less like what had been promised him than being a servant of the Egyptian Potiphar and then an imprisoned servant of prisoners in a goal in Egypt, a foreign land far from his family. Not the top of the pile as he was in his dreams, but the very bottom.
What was promised Joseph did not match his reality for years, but he remained faithful to God, continued to entrust himself to Him. We see that in his rejection of the enticements of Potiphar’s wife. He could have thought ‘What have I got to live for? I have been betrayed by my family and abandoned by my God. I live in a land where other gods rule. This is my opportunity for a little pleasure, for a little relief with my mistress’ favour from the loneliness and rigours of a slave’s life.’ Perhaps he could have thought it was his opportunity for revenge on his Egyptian oppressors, and thought himself entitled by his suffering to that pleasure and revenge.
He could have, but didn’t. He kept trusting his God and said to Potiphar’s wife ‘How could I do this immense evil, and how could I sin against God’ [Gen. 39:9]. When he was later ensnared by her and could have excused himself by saying he had no choice but to give way to her entreaties, he fled.
The word of the Lord tested him, tested his continuing trust in God who made him those promises, and Joseph was proved faithful in that test.
Our Testing
Perhaps you have felt tested by the word of the Lord during this pandemic. God has given us great promises that the Lord Jesus will be with us, that He will work all things for our good, that where we seek first His kingdom and His righteousness He will supply all we need. And yet at times you have felt that what you are experiencing seems inconsistent with what is promised. You have felt alone, can’t see any good in what has been happening to you, have been anxious about your rent or next mortgage payment. Or perhaps you have not experienced the peace promised to those who trust in the Lord Jesus, or felt that your prayers for help have not been heard.
The word of the Lord tests us to see if we will endure trusting God even when our experience does not seem to match what is promised, and not just in this pandemic, but all our lives as believers. We are promised resurrection, yet our bodies know decay. We are promised the revealing of the glory of the Son, and yet He seems to be publicly ignored, or despised. The word of the Lord tests us, refines and proves our faithfulness all our lives.
'The word of the Lord tests us to see if we will endure trusting God even when our experience does not seem to match what is promised, and not just in this pandemic, but all our lives as believers'
The enticements we face to abandon trusting God, to take matters into our own hands to secure our own happiness, may not be as dramatic as Joseph’s. Our temptations might be to grumble and complain and claim we have the right to do so because we have been so let down by God or others, or to allow ourselves to be impatient or irritable with our family because it is all so hard, or to opt for a selfish life that withdraws from all and just cares for me and mine, or to be governed by fear, or to abandon prayer because it doesn’t seem to make a difference.
Temptations not as dramatic, but just as real, and the issue is the same. Will we keep trusting the word of the Lord and be guided in our behaviour by the conviction of the truth of what He has said, the conviction that the God who promises is trustworthy because He is the living, almighty, faithful God? With that conviction we will live faithfully, fleeing from sinning against God in any circumstance.
We have more encouragements than Joseph to keep trusting God even when our experience does not seem to match what is promised. We have the example of Joseph’s vindication, and of other Old Testament saints who endured hardship faithfully, like David. We have the fulfilment of God’s promises in the ministry of the Lord Jesus. We have the cross, that seemed the complete contradiction of the promises of Psalm 2 or Isaiah 9, promises of the triumph of God’s Christ, and yet that cross was the means of their fulfilment, just as Joseph’s suffering was the means of God fulfilling the promises made to him.
And we have the Spirit of God, the downpayment on all that God has promised us, the guarantee to believers of the promised resurrection.
But still the word of the Lord can test us as we go through life, test us to see if we will remain faithful to the God who makes us such good and gracious promises. It is good to recognise that as it focuses the question we must answer in any trial in which we find ourselves. That question is not ‘what can I do to make my life easier or happier’, but “will I keep trusting God to keep the promises of His word” and so live accordingly, live obeying His word, live that life of grateful love that looks to the interests of others, the life we are called to in Christ.
'That question is not ‘what can I do to make my life easier or happier’, but “will I keep trusting God to keep the promises of His word”?'
Joseph, his faith tested and refined, did come to be exalted over his family as God had said. Our Lord is exalted over all, and the nations are His possession, as God had promised Him. Even when our experience does not seem to match what is promised we can be confident God will keep His promises to us, and so let the word of the Lord continue to test and refine our faith through this time, to His glory and our everlasting benefit.
Two notes:
1. Thanks to the GSF team for an enjoyable games morning, and to those who have volunteered to serve in holiday Sunday School.
2. Holiday Sunday School will start this Sunday, Lord willing. Please send your child with a snack and their own drink bottle.
