What a rise to power! After being in a cistern pit ... a slave in a foreign land (he would have to learn the language, remember - no small task!) ... falsely accused of attempted rape ... imprisoned ... now there is this meteoric rise to the second-most powerful figure in the most powerful country in the world. Amazing.
I would like to share a couple of things that seem important to me. I have previously written about the integrity and work ethic that characterizes Joseph. He worked honorably wherever he was - in whatever circumstances he found himself. This plunge into prosperity did not change that. Notice verse 46. Joseph goes out throughout the entire land of Egypt - immediately. I think Joseph was following his self-chosen path of doing his work with integrity. He was getting the lay of the land - himself - not by report - not by hearsay - by personal involvement. I like that about him. It shows authentic leadership. And it confirms to me that prosperity does not change his character. In adversity ... he was an honorable man. In prosperity ... he remains an honorable man.
So ... think about yourself. Sometimes we are so intent on seeking God when in adversity ... and once the trouble has passed ... we go on our merry way, too busy to seek the face of God. Times of peace in our lives are not times to ignore our spiritual discipline. You are not in a season of peace because of anything you have done to deserve it! You are there by the grace of God ... a time of rest ... a time of refreshment. Keep God central in the times of peace and prosperity.
The second thing today is ... look again at verse 51 and notice the meaning behind the name of Joseph's firstborn son ... Manasseh. Manasseh means "forgetting". Joseph chose the name because he said that God has made him forget the trouble from his past. Think for a few minutes about this forgetting business. God says often that He forgets the sins of his people who confess them to Him. One example is Jeremiah 31:34 - "For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more." OK - so does that mean the God somehow becomes less than omniscient? Less than all-knowing? It can't mean that. What I believe it means is that God chooses to not let that wickedness be the lens through which His child is seen. It no longer drives the identity of the person. God lays it aside to never pick it up again.
Now, Joseph's forgetting the pain of his past and his father's household is not some kind of science fiction mind zapping. His memory is not wiped out as with a drug. We know that because of the "rest of the story" that is coming. Joseph is choosing to no longer give that pain the power to drive his current life. He is choosing to move forward. He chooses to "forget" the past. This, my friends, is the tiny seed from which forgiveness grows.
The apostle Paul, in writing to the Philippian church, said: "Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:13-14) Does that mean he no longer remembers the life he lived as a Pharisee, consenting to the death of Stephen and persecuting the early church? Does it mean that he no longer has memory of the stonings and the hardship, the persecution and the struggles that he has endured since he became an ambassador for Christ? Of course not! It means that he does not allow things from his past to bind him or cripple him from moving forward into his future.
Think about your own circumstances. Is there something you need to "forget"? I have a circumstance in my own life that is in my mind right now. Do you? If I am going to move forward into the next place God would have me go ... I must "forget" the past and the pain inflicted. I, also, need to have a "manasseh". And what does that mean? It means the "event" will no longer define me ... it will not determine my thoughts, my plans, my life. It is "forgotten". Learn from Joseph. Our lives will be much better if we learn to "forget".
I think this will take a miracle. But, take heart, we have a miracle-working God.
Lord, I choose to forget the past. I choose to lay the pain down. I choose to move forward without the albatross of past hurt. Through Your Spirit ... may it be!
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