A New View
Genesis 41
Gen 41:40 “You shall
be in charge of my palace, and all my people are to submit to your orders. Only
with respect to the throne will I be greater than you.”
WE were talking in a Bible study the other day
about mental models. We all have them. For example, when you were a teenager, you
likely had a mental model of what your life would be like. You saw a picture in
your mind of life in the next few years. The picture, though, likely changed, and
you had to adjust to life’s reality. How well you adjusted affected a measure of
success and satisfaction in your life.
God
is really good at changing our mental models. Joseph’s life is a perfect
example of how God acts in very different ways than we would anticipate. He seldom
moves our lives smoothly from one step to the next. Instead, he places obstacles
in our way to see how we’ll respond. He tests our faith and shows us his power to
bring change. He makes it clear that our lives are not our own. Paul said that
in his letter to the Corinthians: “Do you
not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you
have received from God? You are not your own; (1 Cor 6:19)
Joseph
had a great life with his dad. He lost that through his brothers’ sin and Potiphar’s
imprisonment. Then God acted through Pharaoh’s two disturbing dreams, Pharaoh’s
willingness to believe Joseph’s interpretations and Pharaoh’s promotion of Joseph
to the second highest office in Egypt.
Certainly
Joseph had no mental model of being the second most powerful man in the known world.
God had acted through Joseph’s misery to bring extraordinary victory. He certainly
wants to do the same with you.
LIFE Link: See your life as God’s own.
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