Tuesday, February 09, 2016

In our last visit I illustrated from Joseph’s life an impact statement: God wants me to walk, work and worship with divine clarity while living in the midst of human ambiguity and ambivalence. Joseph did this well while experiencing many undeserved setbacks. When God honored him for this by making him second in power to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, he continued to walk, work and worship with divine clarity. Sometimes it’s harder to do that when things are going well than when you’re faced with ambiguity and ambivalence. Joseph, however, maintained his focus, and led the nation with divine clarity, during both a period of plenty and then during a famine. When his father sent his brothers to Egypt to get some grain Joseph had the opportunity to pay them back for what they did to him years earlier. He was tempted, but couldn’t pull it off. When you walk, work and worship with divine clarity over a long period of time this discipline gets engrained and it becomes the natural thing for you to do. It’s not that you can’t compromise or get led astray, but you’ll be pulled in the direction of pleasing God. When he finally told his brothers who he was they were frightened, wondering what he would do to them. Joseph, however, responded in keeping with his heart commitment. In Genesis 50:20 he said: “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” That illustrates living with divine clarity while in the midst of human ambiguity and ambivalence.