BULLETIN ARTICLE
3 November 2019
MAKE ME A BLESSING
We are blessed to be a blessing. We see God fulfilling this promise in Joseph’s life of ups and downs. After being sabotaged by his brothers and sold to Egypt, Joseph was blessed by God, finding favour with Potiphar. Potiphar’s household in turn was blessed by Joseph’s appointment. After being unjustly imprisoned, he was blessed by God to find favour with the prison warden. His appointment resulted in the successful management of the prison. Next, God blessed Joseph with the ability to interpret dreams for Pharaoh’s chief cupbearer and Pharaoh’s chief baker and subsequently the troubled Pharaoh himself who had exhausted all other options to understand the meaning of his dreams. Pharaoh made a radical decision to move Joseph from prison to be in charge of all of Egypt – “Only with respect to the throne will I be greater than you.” Joseph used his God-given blessing to manage the abundance in Egypt in the 7 years preceding the 7 years of famine. This was critical in enabling Egypt to have sufficient food and even provide for the neighbouring nations during the famine. Eventually, Israel was blessed and preserved as well, as they came to Egypt to find food. How has God blessed us? He has placed us in various positions of influence at home, in school, the workplace, etc. He has blessed us with many gifts: the gift of money, time, energy, spiritual gifts. How have we used these blessings to serve God and others wherever we are and whenever we can just like Joseph did?
The other thing of note is the example of Joseph. It had been 13 long years of ups and downs for Joseph. He did not become embittered with God when God gave and took away positions of favour. He could have turned his back on God when he was sabotaged and sold to Egypt or when he was wrongly thrown into prison due to the false accusations or when he successfully interpreted the dreams but got forgotten for 2 years by the chief cupbearer. After all this, he was still recognised by Pharaoh to be a man filled with God’s Spirit, a man who hears from God and speaks with wisdom and discernment. After his installation as second-in-command in Egypt, he did not forget God. He named his two sons in gratitude before God. Joseph thanked God for helping him forget his troubles and the evil his family did against him. He recognized that God is the one who made him fruitful in this land of suffering. What a statement to make, after 13 long and tumultuous years living in a foreign land, having to fend for himself since a tender age of 17. God in his sovereignty allows for ups and downs in our lives, he gives and takes away in his infinite wisdom. How have we responded in these ups and downs? Have we continued to walk with God and not become embittered, turning away from him? Have we continually expressed gratitude to God for his goodness to us? In our daily Christian living, let us always ask God: “Make me a blessing to someone today”.
