December 8 Joseph: Gen. 37:23-28; 45:3-15

Joseph! The very first thought I had when it came time to read about Joseph was my experience many years ago of watching my fourth grade daughter perform with Patrick Cassidy and one of the American Idols (and of course a bunch of other people) when Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat! came to Fort Myers. (This link is not from Fort Myers - I couldn't find any video of that particular show.)  It was a full Broadway show and as is their practice, they chose a local elementary school to cast the children in the play. It was an experience of all of our lifetimes! My most vivid memory of that show was at the end when Joseph came out with a new and improved dreamcoat. It sparkled and glimmered and caught every single stage light. It dazzled. The audience took in a collective breath. It was the most beautiful dreamcoat anyone could imagine.

Interestingly, the bible passages recommended for this day don't dwell on that coat though. The coat was just a means to an end. Because of the coat, the brothers got jealous. Because the brothers got jealous, they threw Joseph in a well. Because they threw him in a well, they felt guilty. Because they felt guilty, they pulled him out of the well and sold him into slavery. Because they sold him into slavery, God used his life to save many others. Because God used his life, he forgave his brothers and saved theirs. All because of the coat they tore off of him in anger. God's good at using bad situations for good.

I was always struck at Joseph's ability to completely forgive his brothers. They tried to kill him. They shunned him and sold him. I can't think of too many things brothers can do that are worse than that. Instead of moping around and giving up, Joseph instead kept searching for God's hand in this situation. As Joseph rose in stature, he found himself in a place where he could save many from starving. He relied on God. He identified his brothers' actions not as an act of jealousy, but instead as a necessity to complete God's work. I'm betting his brothers didn't feel that way when they saw him. No, likely they hit themselves in the forehead and said, "Doh!" They remembered all of Joseph's dreams and their jealousy. They remembered that Joseph foretold all of this, but they didn't listen.

How many times do we face adversity and instead of asking God, what do you want me to do with this situation? We plead and moan and say, "Why me?" How many opportunities do we miss because we are so busy feeling sorry for ourselves because of a predicament that we're in instead of finding a way to do God's work and exploit the situation for God's glory?

In my reflections today, I'm going to try to find God's hand in some of today's tragedies. The anniversary of Newtown is coming up. What can we learn from that? Nelson Mandela was jailed for 25 years before becoming president -a s we reflect on his life now, why was that jail sentence necessary for his amazing accomplishments? Those are some big things to reflect on. I may not be able to find all those answers, so maybe I'll try to reflect on some of the little annoyances or obstacles that are in my life today to see if I can find God's hand. What good will He do today and how does it fit into the big picture? I'm going to look for that new and improved dreamcoat.