I'm moving on from acknowledging the general depravity of these early bible characters. It's like watching a slasher movie - eventually the gore loses it's impact and you start looking for some plot. Not that you'll find any in the movie, but I'm sure there's plenty in this book!
So Jacob has a bunch of sons one of whom is Joseph, and makes the mistake of openly loving him more than the others. Joseph adds to the resultant jealousy and hatred by either arrogantly or innocently retelling the (figurative) dreams he has that he will rule over his brothers and parents. The story is well told (thanks Andrew Lloyd Webber!) and Joseph starts his significant life journey with a trip down a well followed by slavery. Who could ask for a better start?
I'm stealing from Matthew Henry's commentary here, but isn't that typical of life? We have dreams, hopes, visions and plans but always seem to end up in a hole or a slave to something - time, commitment to work, church (careful Russ), family, people etc. I am about to set off on a path to reach a personal goal and to be honest I am expecting to have to get through some tough times to start with. Let's see where Joseph's journey takes him, maybe there's some solutions for us.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
Oops...is there something wrong if stealing from Matthew Henry's commentary isn't typical of my life?
ReplyDeleteI think if I'm honest, I can identify with the start of Joseph's story - you start life with a strong desire to make an impact in everything you do, but you soon realise that for the most part your impact is almost insignificant in the greater scheme of things. I feel torn at the moment between the desire for recognition and embracing obscurity.
James 4:13-17 and Ecclesiastes are checks for me in this.
So what stops us from making a bigger impact? Why should it be insignificant? Is it God stopping us or do we just not really believe? I agree that our motives need to be right and that we are NOT all called to greatness but does that excuse us from trying? I don't expect that we will all be Ghandi, but can we be Ross, Russell, Tim, Susan all with a vision and a passion to get there? And Ross I know you so can assure you that you are making a differrence in peoples lives ;-)
ReplyDeleteHow do you define greatness or measure impact? I think Mother Theresa said something like "We are not called to be successful, we are called to be faithful."
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure that I'm satisfied with the difference that I'm making in peoples lives, or should I say that the 'dreams' I had when I was younger are not what I'm living out now. I'm sure Joseph must have had similar thoughts/doubts at many junctions in his life, but at the end of the day, it was God's intervention/guidance that brought about the fulfillment of his dreams at the right time.
I don't think we have any excuse for not doing all that we can with what we have been given, but even thats a big ask, and one that I think we all fall short of (or at least I do every day).
Maybe its a fear of failure speaking (quite likely), or maybe its about being honest about who I am, but I don't want to reach the end of a life filled with dissappointment. I don't see that being possible unless I can learn to be content in all circumstances, and that only seems possible if I embrace whatever God has for me - even over my own plans/dreams.
Sorry if this is a whole lot of meandering off topic, but the post got me thinking...
I hear you. Good to be thinking about things though hey?
ReplyDelete