Reading the story of Joseph this week has inspired me to think about trust.
Imagine trusting somebody to oversee all your affairs? That’s: money, clothes, mortgage and all related bills, managing your business, keeping your social diary and buying presents for your spouse etc…! All you’d have to concern yourself with is getting food into your mouth.
It seems almost ludicrous for anybody let alone people who have a lot of power and possessions to put so much trust in one person. I think the fear of being usurped could become overwhelming almost to the point of paranoia.
But Joseph seemed to be gain this kind of trust. Even Pharaoh, the most powerful man in Egypt ends up trusting him implicitly. If I were a member of Pharaohs entourage I would be very concerned that he had been seriously deceived by a foreign, detestable, ex slave, convict, con-man and his dodgy religion – which is after all probably a fair assessment – except deceived, con-man and dodgy. (Ever felt like that?)
Jealousy must have been rife. Indeed Potiphar’s wife and his own brothers grew increasingly upset as Joseph's seemingly ‘self righteous’ attitude fed their growing feelings of resentment towards his popularity. His brothers needed little encouragement as he spectacularly hammered the last nail into the proverbial coffin with his impetuous dreams! I simply can’t imagine going to people who have a serious problem with me and telling them that I dreamt they would bow down to me one day. It’s not endearing, it would make a bad situation worse and I’d keep it to myself.
So after telling them more than once, they sold him into slavery.
But no matter what happened to Joseph he didn’t grow in resentment himself. He grew in wisdom and grace. He became less concerned with himself and more concerned with the welfare of those around him. He did not harbour un-forgiveness and he didn’t want to destroy those that had treated him so unjustifiably cruelly.
As Joseph followed the Lord and chose righteousness he became increasingly trustworthy. And ‘trust’ is a priceless commodity.
In his pursuit of doing what was right before God Joseph had gained the trust of people who had a lot to lose, especially it seems of those who would otherwise find it truly detestable to even eat with him (He was Hebrew and they were Egyptians).
Joseph’s story this week has inspired me to be trustworthy because, whilst I do want to do what is right, I can also see that it must reflect on God.
If I am trustworthy, because I trust God, maybe it will encourage people to trust God too.
If people do not trust me then it must decrease the possibility of them ever trusting the God that I am professing to follow.
So - Let us not bring unrighteousness into any of our dealings even if our motives are good. Tricks and deceptions simply increase mis-trust.
I’d like to thank Joseph for that story, Moses (most likely) for recording it, William Tyndale and the many others who worked tirelessly translating the bible into English (1611) and God who hasn’t given up on us.
Father God - Help us never to believe that God is not trustworthy and help us to be trustworthy. Amen
Paul Ad