Genesis 41:46-52

Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Egypt. In the seven plenteous years the earth produced abundantly. He gathered up all the food of the seven years which were in the land of Egypt, and laid up the food in the cities: the food of the field, which was around every city, he laid up in the same. Joseph laid up grain as the sand of the sea, very much, until he stopped counting, for it was without number. To Joseph were born two sons before the year of famine came, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On, bore to him. Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh, “For,” he said, “God has made me forget all my toil, and all my father’s house.” The name of the second, he called Ephraim: “For God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.”

Joseph lost many good years between the ages of 17 and 30 to slavery. Technically, Joseph was still a slave, it’s just that he was given power over most free people of Egypt. Even as a slave, though, God caused Joseph to “forget all” of his toil. God can heal a person to the point that, even after years of trouble, things can be good again. It is good to know that this is the kind of God we have. It is difficult to believe that so many years of badness can be erased by God, but we can read here that it can be.

All along the way, God was taking care of Joseph and I am glad to read that He continued to take care of him as he started prospering. We need God when things are bad and when things are going great. It is easy for the sin inside of us to take advantage of wealth and do things against the one who gave us wealth. It appears that God had prepared Joseph for it because He continued to have God on his mind even as he forgot about the troubles in
his father’s house.

There is wisdom in continuing to labor even in a very good time. There was so much food that Joseph collected that he stopped counting. He continued to prepare, though. It would have been pretty tempting to wonder if things could ever get as bad as God had said. Faith in God often requires that we believe what He says over what we see. He doesn’t try to deceive us. God had told Joseph about the good years as well as the bad. The good years were a sign that what God told Joseph was true. God has given signs to us today that warn us of His coming judgment against mankind. Faithful people will keep believing in God’s word, no matter how unlikely it may seem at the moment.