". . There is a scripture in Psalm 105:17,18 which says: "Joseph, who was sold for a servant: whose feet they hurt with fetters: he was laid in iron." The iron was not only round Joseph's neck, it pierced his soul also. Today we know the end of the story, the trouble is Joseph did not have the manuscrpts of the last chapters of his life. We have them and we read them comfortably in our armchairs. And yet today many children of God have iron chains round their necks and they are pierced by that iron. We remember once again the truth the Lord taught us: "All things work together for good to them that love God."
Training.
Training.
Training.
Joseph went through severe training. There were reasons for that severe training. He was sent to open a way for Jacob's family and all the tribes of Israel. He was sent to save them from hunger and bring them to Egypt so they could develop as a nation.
Years went by. Resentment, anger, the wounds caused by the betrayal were no longer there. He could look at his brothers face to face without vengeance or malediction.
I read about a Chinese man who fasted for forty days in prison. God was with him in a special way. Great things happened. He became ill. He was so ill that his body was placed with those who were dead or almost dead. The doctors knew he would not recover. Then something extraordinary happened. An angel stood beside him dressed as a doctor with a stethoscope hanging round his neck. He took something like a tube and blew inside the sick man and life entered into him. The fever left and he recovered instantly. The angel took him by the hand and went with him through the closed door. He took him up to the office of the head doctor and left him there. The doctor was very impressed when he heard his testimony and he was converted. The angel did not take the man out of prison. He could have done so. He just took him to the office and left him there. God was in the matter. Before he left the prison half the people were converted.
God left Joseph in prison till all the iron that had pierced his soul: betrayals, wounds, anger, resentment was no longer there. Then the Lord removed him from that hard place and exalted him before his brothers.
One of the last declarations we read in the book of Genesis is what Joseph said to his brothers: "Ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive."
If we could but understand and see that God is in every circumstance of life!
It does not matter how much we have been wounded or betrayed; God is in it.
Let us lift up our head and praise God. Let us rejoice because He has taken us in His hands and has said: "I will form you. I will train you. I will make you in my image. You will stand through the ages glorified."
God did not train Joseph the same way as David or Moses. Each one was prepared for the place destined for him.
Some steps are ordered in difficult places, very difficult.
For Paul it meant prison, for Joni Eareckson a wheelchair, for Fanny Crosby, writer of famous hymns, blindness.
Yes, God trained Joseph to save his people and protect them till they became a nation.
He is also training His children to fulfil His divine purposes in them."
- R. Edward Miller
