Genesis 50:15-20 (NIV)
When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “What if Joseph holds a grudge against us and pays us back for all the wrongs we did to him?” So they sent word to Joseph, saying, “Your father left these instructions before he died: ‘This is what you are to say to Joseph: I ask you to forgive your brothers the sins and the wrongs they committed in treating you so badly.’ Now please forgive the sins of the servants of the God of your father.” When their message came to him, Joseph wept. His brothers then came and threw themselves down before him. “We are your slaves,” they said. But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be friends with a Bible character? I have many times. One person I keep wishing I could befriend is Joseph.
Joseph was the youngest in his family and Jacob’s favorite son. His father even gave him a multicolored coat which he wore proudly, stirring up anger and resentment in his brothers. Jacob was also a dreamer. He had huge dreams for his future that caused his brothers to hate him even more.
The hatred finally boiled over when they sold him into slavery and told their father he was killed by a wild animal. During his time as a slave in Egypt, he was accused of a crime he didn’t commit and was sent to jail. After being in jail for a while, he thought he found a way out when a fellow prisoner promised to tell Pharaoh about Joseph when he was restored to his old job… but, he forgot.
If I were Joseph’s friend I would’ve been so tempted to think to myself, “I guess those dreams from your childhood were just dreams… Sorry buddy.” I’m sorry to say that I would’ve doubted that there was more to his future.
I know those thoughts would have crossed my mind because sometimes I struggle to hold on to my own dreams. There have been times when I felt like obstacles, mistakes and circumstances have nullified my chances of going after the God-given dreams I keep hidden in my heart.
But, God is bigger than our obstacles, mistakes and circumstances. He is bigger than the wrongs people have done to us. He took all the awful circumstances that surrounded Joseph and used them to catalyze the very dreams that seemed dead. In a single day, Joseph went from being a prisoner to being second in command in Egypt!
The desire to write a song about Joseph's story had been growing in me for some time. Then I went to Nashville for a songwriting trip and as I sat down with Cindy Morgan and Jeremy Bose for a co-writing session, the song "It's Not Over Yet" was born.
In God, no matter what we face, we have the opportunity to proclaim, “It’s Not Over Yet”!
COMMENT BELOW: What Bible character or historical figure would you have loved to befriend?