Making the Best of A Bad Situation
“Forgive I pray thee now the trespass of thy brethren, and their sin: for they did unto thee evil: and now, we pray thee, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of thy father. And Joseph wept when they spake unto him.” Genesis 50:17
Politicians don’t like to let a crisis go to waste, and neither did Joseph, eleventh son of Jacob. who was the father of the twelve tribes of Israel. Joseph’s crisis that he suffered was that of being kidnapped and sold into slavery by his very own brothers. But he decided to make the best of a bad situation by trusting God for a good outcome. He ended up in Egypt under the control of Potiphar, the captain of Pharaoh’s guard. Potiphar was impressed by Joseph’s loyalty to his God and made him overseer of his entire household. So far, so good. That, hopefully, was an indication that things would go smoothly for Joseph, but the day wasn’t over. Potiphar’s wife apparently found Joseph an attractive man and tried to seduce him to go to bed with her. He adamantly refused because he was an honorable man, but she wouldn’t give up. One day he went into the house to do some task. There were no other men in the vicinity. He walked past Potiphar’s wife, who grabbed his outer tunic, but he managed to slip out of it and left it in her hand. I imagine that he had been trying to avoid her like the plague, but she was likely on the lookout for him and managed to be where he would pass by.
What is it that they say about a woman scorned? Well, she certainly tried to get her revenge. She falsely accused Joseph of trying to seduce her, and he went to prison. But even while incarcerated, he found favor with God who put it into the heart of the warden to give Joseph charge over the other prisoners. Joseph had a God-given talent of interpreting dreams, doing so for one of his fellow prisoners who was released back to his position of butler in Pharaoh’s palace. Pharaoh had a dream, and the butler finally remembered Joseph and his ability to interpret dreams. Joseph was released to interpret Pharaoh’s dream, which was a premonition of a coming famine. Being placed back into his position, Joseph prepared Egypt for the famine by storing grain. When Jacob, Joseph’s father, heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent ten of his sons to buy grain from Pharaoh.
When they arrived at Pharaoh’s palace, Joseph recognized them, but they did not recognize him. If Joseph had been a man of revenge, he could have had his brothers executed, or, at the very least, sent home empty-handed. But that was not Joseph’s reaction. He didn’t reveal himself immediately, but later, when he did, his brothers were fearful because of what they had done to him. However, Joseph forgave them completely. He was wise enough to know that all that had happened, God had used to preserve their lives. Joseph said, “Fear not: for am I in the place of God? But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive” (Genesis 50:19-20). Their descendants would eventually leave Egypt, journey to the promised land, and form the nation of Israel from whom would be born Jesus Christ, God’s Son, who would make the final sacrifice to save all who would believe. God can always make the best of a bad situation.