Doing God’s will in times of stress – Part 2

While Jacob exhibited conducts that showed that he treasured his relationship with God above everything else, his son, Joseph, portrayed the stoicism of a man who believed in God and never allowed personal misfortune, sufferings and pains, to distract him from following aged precepts, and holding tightly to the dream God has given him.

Joseph was a servant who never deviated from godly way. When he met his brethren, he forgot all they had done to him in the past and comforted them. He knew that “God did send (him ahead) to preserve life.” Afterwards, “Joseph nourished his father, and his brethren, and all his father’s household, with bread according to their families.” He made use of what God had provided to nourish His people. Like him, we ought to forgive and forget past hurtful deeds against us. His life and character shows that he possessed the sanctified heart of the just.

A sanctified heart with true love does not keep malice, bear grudges or avenge. It heeds the command: “Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. I am the Lord.”

Believers must learn to forgive the offences of others and not brood over them so they do not affect our prayers and relationship with God and other brethren. Joseph’s life of non-retaliation reveals his pure heart. Those who lack the sanctification experience, which enables us to forgive and forget, must go to the “God of peace to sanctify them wholly” in order to be “preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

In Joseph also, we see clearly the expressed selfless hard work of a man that trusted God totally. Joseph exemplified real sanctification. He was able to organise, manage, train and engage the people who cooperated with him. Joseph was industrious and dutiful. He supervised the work himself and did not delegate duty, while being idle. He was present at the selling point, which enabled him to see his brethren. The Lord calls us to do “whatsoever our hands findeth to do …with all our mind and might,” Ecclesiastes 9:10. Like Joseph, we must be faithful and honest at our point of duty because God is watching.

He also showed sincere humility with joyfulness in all his vicissitudes. Our actions and joyfulness in the service of the Lord tell whether we have the spirit of God or not. God’s Spirit does not dwell in people who handle His work with burdened and sorrowful mind. Joseph had experienced a lot, yet when he came before Pharaoh, he interpreted his dream joyfully. Like him, we must be filled with joy and excitement in any service we render to God and humanity. This is one way for believers to justify their separation from the God-less world.

Joseph allocated Goshen, the fertile part of Egypt, to his father and brethren because “every shepherd is an abomination unto the Egyptians.” The Israelites were shepherds; therefore, they lived separately “in the land of Goshen.” The Lord orchestrated the separation so that they will be different from the people of Egypt. The Lord wants us to be “separate” from the filthy, godless people of the world in every way, particularly in appearance, business and marriage; and to keep ourselves pure and unspotted from the world. God Himself has not just decreed, but ensured the severance of His saints from the Godless.

“And ye shall be holy unto me: for I the Lord am holy, and have severed you from other people that ye should be mine.” As believers, we must separate completely from the vain and godless customs, traditions and ways of life of the world because the Lord does not want us to be defiled by them. And as a result, He has set us apart unto Himself as His spiritual sons and daughters. “But know that the Lord hath set apart him that is godly for himself.”

The will of God is for His children to be set apart and not to mingle with the people of the world nor be involved in their sinful practices. As spiritual sons and daughters unto God, we must not sin or copy their immoral lifestyles. The scripture warns: “Let everyone that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.” By so doing, the Lord will elevate us to high places on the earth and reward us duly when we get to heaven at the end.

• Further reading (King James Version): Genesis 15:13,14; 46:1-4. Genesis 45:4, 5; 47:12. Leviticus 19:18; John 17:14,17; 1 Thessalonians 5:22-24. Genesis 41:46-49; 47:14, 19, 20. Genesis 41:16, 32, 33, 38-40. Genesis 46:33,34. Genesis 43:32; 2 Corinthians 6:17,18; James 1:26,27. Leviticus 20:26; Jeremiah 10:1-3. Psalm 4:3,4; 2 Timothy 2:19, 21, 22.