Genesis 37:6-8 “So he (Joseph) said to them, Please hear this dream which I have dreamed:…And his brothers said to him, Shall you indeed reign over us? Or shall you indeed have dominion over us? So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.”
Genesis 40:8 “…So Joseph said to them, Do not interpretations belong to God?...”
In reading the story of Joseph and his life we see that God had an amazing purpose for him. His hand was upon Joseph and Joseph was blessed with many gifts and abilities. What about Joseph’s brothers? Were they cursed? We often times are quick to see the wrong that the brothers committed toward Joseph and the disproportionate way in which Jacob showed love toward his sons and by focusing in on that we miss that fact that Joseph’s brothers had no trouble interpreting Joseph’s dreams as well. Re-read the section in Genesis 37 in which Joseph tells his brothers the dreams in which he had. They needed no explanation; they knew exactly what his dreams meant. Were they gifted as well? Now we can sit back and say well those were easy to interpret, or Joseph must have made it obvious during his explanation, maybe that is true, but it does not dismiss the fact that Joseph’s brothers had abilities, had gifts, had talents, they just simply choose to use their gifts (or refused to use their gifts) in a different manner. One of the saddest parts of the lives of pit vipers and pit dwellers (those that have decided to just give up and make the pit their permanent home) is the fact that they are not incapable, they are unwilling. They are not cursed they just spend their time on this earth cursing. Embracing the fact that God has a purpose for our lives will assist us in being willing to use what we have been blessed with instead of burying it in the pit with us. (For additional reading on burying your gifts instead of using them read Matthew 25:14-30 & Luke 19:11-27)
Your abilities and gifts are present, the question we must always ask ourselves is: Are we willing to be available to use them when God so desires? Even Joseph had to learn that his gift of interpretation was not his own, but it belonged to God (see the difference in Joseph’s explanation of dreams from chapter 37 (did not give God credit) to chapter 40 (gave God full credit).
Joseph understands that God was the provider of what he had and this made a huge impact on the way Joseph conducted his life (think about how you treat a car you borrow from a friend compared to your own car). It was fuel for him when serving as a slave in Potiphar’s household; it was the fire in his soul when serving time in prison after the second betrayal and it held him firm the day he stood before Pharaoh and the entire nation of Egypt. There was no longer a power struggle between himself and God going on within his heart. His position, his abilities, his gifts were all from God, they belonged to God and that being said should be used for His glory and for His purpose. If Joseph found himself in a pit then he was going to make that pit aglow with the glory of God, there is no place dark enough on earth that the light of God can’t penetrate.
Joseph’s brothers and their sons continued to struggle with this quest for power and control. Read the sordid tale in Genesis 38 and see what happened to Judah’s son Onan (Genesis 38:8-10), ugly ending to a man who choose to have a power struggle with God. As odd as this custom may seem to us living today, it was Onan’s responsibility to his family and to his brother (see Deuteronomy 25:5) but yet he chooses not to take responsibility because he “knew that the heir would not be his.”(Emphasis mine). He wanted control, he wanted power, and he wanted things that did not belong to him so he forfeited his life. Judah then took control and would not give Shelah, the third son to Tamar (38:11, 26) and he too fell into sin because of his desire to seize power away from God.
Is that what God is all about? Seizing power? Belittling us? No it is about providing that which is the very best for us. He has a purpose for your life and He will equip you for that purpose and that purpose is not for evil but for good.
The Apostle Paul would one day write to the church at Corinth, “That you were enriched in everything by Him in all utterance and all knowledge, even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you, so that you come short in no gift, eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ,” 1 Corinthians 1:5-7
The fact is God does not desire you and I to come up short in any gift. We simply need to realize that it is a gift. Joseph’s brothers were gifted, yet they desired their brother’s gift, they wanted their power to remain supreme. The pit vipers continue to seek control and power, by attacking and poisoning you. The pit dwellers have lost hope in ever having anything good occur in their lives and they are sure to let you know that you will never have good in your life either so you might as well quit and grow comfortable in your pit. When you fall into your pit you must learn to see through these two voices and listen to the One voice that is calling to you from outside of the pit. That is the voice of Christ the One who was resurrected from the pit.
Questions to Think Upon….
How has God gifted me?
Have I thanked God for my gifts?
How am I using my gifts?
If I’m not using my gifts why aren’t I? (If your answer places the blame on another for your inability to use your gift, remember you will stand before God on your own, not with someone else)
Whose kingdom is your gifts furthering, yours or God’s?
If you are unsure how God has gifted you make it a point to sit down with someone you trust to begin seeking those gifts out and then put together a plan to start using those gifts! God doesn’t desire that you come up short! (1 Corinthians 1:7)
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