Genesis 37: 12-17: “And his brethren went to feed their father’s flock in Shechem. And Israel said unto Joseph, Do not thy brethren feed the flock in Shechem? come, and I will send thee unto them. And he said to him, Here am I. And he said to him, Go, I pray thee, see whether it be well with thy brethren, and well with the flocks; and bring me word again. So he sent him out of the vale of Hebron, and he came to Shechem. And a certain man found him, and, behold, he was wandering in the field: and the man asked him, saying, What seekest thou? And he said, I seek my brethren: tell me, I pray thee, where they feed their flocks. And the man said, They are departed hence; for I heard them say, Let us go to Dothan. And Joseph went after his brethren, and found them in Dothan.”
Even though Joseph was precocious and annoyed his brothers, he wasn’t stupid. He understood that he still had to please his father, even though he was the favourite. He knew that things may not always be the same as they were at that stage and he has to protect his own interests. This was the reason why he was careful to keep his father happy by doing whatever his father asked him to do. It would have been easy for him to come home and tell his father that his brothers weren’t were they were meant to be but he made the extra effort and found out where his brothers had moved on to. Joseph may have been the favourite son but this didn’t protect him from the hard road that the Lord gave him to walk. He survived because he wasn’t stupid; and because God was working for good in his life. God has promised not to forsake those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ (see Heb 13: 5 “Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”) We can always rely on God but we can also expect to live with the consequences of being stupid.
(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
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