Work for Your Blessing: How Joseph went from Slave to Savior
A discussion on the story of Joseph and what it teaches about consistency and work ethic
Nothing makes you question your own knowledge of the Bible like reading Genesis.
Where were all these stories when I was in Sunday School? Sarah kicking Hagar out of their camp, Lot’s incestuous daughters, Tamar’s seduction of Judah1, the defiling of Dinah? Well… I understand why they left out those last few. Not exactly family-friendly.
I’ve been reading the book of Genesis as part of my quiet time for the past few weeks, and almost every day, I’ve come across something I had no idea was in there!
When I came to the story of Joseph, I thought I was finally in familiar territory. I must have heard this story at least a thousand times. I’ve heard it in sermons, seen it acted out by caffeinated volunteers, and watched as it was played out in musical form by cartoon vegetables.
During my reading this week, I discovered that the sermons, plays, and vegetables taught me a lot, but certainly not everything. As the living and active Word2 often does, the story of Joseph had a whole lot to say about my own life, and I’m betting it has quite a bit to say about yours, too.
The Story of Joseph
So, what did Joseph surprise me with this week?
First off, I thought the brothers’ plan was always to sell Joseph into slavery; I didn’t know they were plotting to murder the guy! I understand that Joe was definitely an annoying little brother, always wearing his fancy rainbow cloak and talking about his dreams where he ruled over his entire family, but did he really deserve to die?
Secondly, everyone acts like the story ends when Joseph becomes ruler over Egypt, but that’s not even close to the end.3 It’s barely the beginning! If you’re lucky enough to have a really thorough preacher, they might tell you about his brothers having to come to him and grovel for grain so they could save their families from starvation, but that’s not the true end of the story either. Joseph's story starts in Genesis 37 and goes through to Genesis 50, the final chapter of the book (with a brief pause in chapter 38 to talk about the whole Judah/Tamar debacle). Joseph rises to power in chapter 41, and his brothers visit him in Egypt in chapter 42. That means we still have 8 more chapters to account for!
I always thought that when Joseph’s brothers came to Egpyt, he didn’t reveal his true identity to them for a few minutes, and then dropped the act and told them who he really was. In reality, Joseph took months to reveal his identity, and he really gave his brothers hell in the meantime.
When the brothers first come to Egypt, Joseph demands that one of them remain there until the rest of them go home and get their youngest brother, proving that they are all indeed related and not spies. The brothers leave poor Simeon in jail in Egypt and begin the long trek home to get their baby brother Benjamin.
Now that Joseph is presumed to have died, Benjamin has become their father Jacob’s new favorite. Why is he the new favorite? Because, like Joseph, his mother was Jacob’s favorite wife, Rachel. If you haven’t noticed already, Jacob has a pretty major problem with playing favorites, but for a longer discussion on that, please see my post:
So, the brothers finally make it back home, and guess what? Jacob won’t let them take precious Benji back to Egypt with them. I can understand why he would be nervous after losing Joseph so tragically, but you can’t just leave Simeon stuck in Egypt! And Simeon ends up remaining in Egypt for months. It is not until Jacob and his family run out of food and face the necessity of another trip to Egypt for more grain that he finally decides it's worth sending Benjamin with them so the entire family doesn’t starve to death.
After they make it all the way back to Egypt, Joseph then frames Benjamin for theft. This nearly gives the rest of the brothers a heart attack. Only after Judah offers to take the punishment for Benjamin does Joseph finally reveal his true identity.
I can understand why Joseph felt the need to do all this. For one, it was wildly entertaining, and for two, he needed to see if his brothers had really changed. Were they willing to stick up for one another? To protect their youngest brother, even though their father was still playing favorites? Once Joseph sees that his brothers are truly repentant, he not only forgives them but provides food, land, and jobs for their entire families in Egypt.
Another thing I’ve never heard preached — did you know that Joseph ended up buying all of Egypt for Pharoh? Joseph prepared for the famine so well that once everyone in Egypt had given him all the money they had for food, they had to sell him all their land, and then they had to sell themselves as servants. How crazy is it that a kid sold into slavery eventually ended up owning every cent, acre, and person in Egypt? Never underestimate the blessing of God.
What I Learned
Looking past his annoying teenage years, Joseph was a pretty amazing guy. I know his success was due to God’s blessing on his life, but God would never have been able to bless Joseph if he hadn’t been willing to show up day after day, year after year, and do the work.
It wasn’t like Joseph was lounging around, twiddling his thumbs when he came to rule over Egypt; he was working hard.
When Joseph was sold into slavery, he could have thrown in the towel and decided to just do the bare minimum for the rest of his life, but he worked hard even with no hope of being freed. He was rewarded well for this until Potiphar decided to ruin everything, but that was a blessing in disguise, too! When Joseph was unjustly thrown into prison, he continued to work hard and serve others, which the Lord used to elevate him to second in command of Egypt. And he was only 30 years old!
It’s also worth noting that Joseph didn’t stop working hard once he achieved success. There was no better position for Joseph to get, no ladder left to climb, but he continued to work faithfully until he owned literally all of Egypt.
I think the story of Joseph says a lot about the blessing of God. I am well aware that God can do whatever he wants — if he wants to bless a loafer, he certainly could, but I think the story of Joseph tells us that God likes to bless people who show up and consistently work hard.
You can’t ask God to bless your fitness journey if you’re not willing to get up and go to the gym. You can’t ask God for a promotion at work if you’re not willing to show up every day and give your best to your job. You can’t ask God to bless your relationships if you’re not willing to take the time to invest in them. You can’t ask to know God better if you’re not willing to pick up your Bible every day and read it. I mean, you can ask, but I don’t think you’re going to get a very favorable answer.
God won’t bless what you aren’t willing to work for.
I’ve been asking God to bless a whole lot of things lately, but Joseph’s story caused me to pause, take a look in the mirror, and ask myself if I was really putting in the work.
I have wanted to write a novel for a long time, but there always seemed to be a reason not to. I said I was too busy with school, work, or church, and I allowed everything to become an excuse. I asked God often to bless me in my goal of becoming a writer and to help me write a book that would glorify him, but I wasn’t doing a whole lot on my end to make that happen. Sure, I’d done lots of dreaming about the book, but I hadn’t done a whole lot of actually sitting down to write the dang thing. I wasn’t giving God a whole lot of material to bless.
When it came to my novel, I wanted to be blessed before I did the work. In reality, I needed to do the work so that I might be blessed.4
The story of Joseph also reminded me that you have no idea what opportunity is right around the corner. How could Joseph have known that working hard in the prison would lead him to the palace? You never know what God will do with your faithful work. Joseph simply worked consistently wherever he was, and God eventually put him where he was supposed to be. So, if you’re a fast food worker, serve with a smile, put those sauces in the bag with joy, and watch where God will take you. If you’re a stay-at-home parent, keep folding that laundry, serving your children well, and see what God will do with it. If you’re a student with no idea where to go next, work hard in your classes, get involved on campus, and trust that God will honor your work and show you the next steps. Your responsibility is to work faithfully wherever you are; God will take care of the rest.
What a beautiful opportunity we have — to partner with God in the pursuit of our dreams.
This week, the story of Joseph pushed me to get to my keyboard and get to work. What will it do for you?
If you enjoyed today’s post, please let me know by liking, commenting, restacking, or sharing! Thank you for reading ❤️🌱
Which was apparently the right thing to do? Genesis 39:26.
Hebrew 4:12
Second to Pharoh, of course, but we know who was doing all the work.
Jesus teaches this lesson in the Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25:14-30.
Love this post!! Such great perspective and is definitely motivating me to take action and work on excellence in what I do! Going to put in a plan of action steps to work the hardest I can at what God has put in front of me! Thank you for these wise words and encouragement Lydia!!
Great wisdom in the fast paced world we live in of instant gratification & expecting quick results ! So true- we never know where our current situation & relationships will lead us, how God is maneuvering us and others to his path. It may take years to see where God was working, but at my age I can now look back and see our paths and how God led us . Thank you for yet another great read!