When your vision makes you different - Joseph in Genesis

Overcoming adversity, building character and wisdom

A story for people in leading positions and business owners

Joseph turned adversity into wisdom, all while building a strong character that kept him connected to his purpose.

In the book of Genesis, Joseph, at the age of seventeen, was favoured and highly confident. He had no idea that the visions God gave him would cost him everything before they would come to fulfilment.

Young and inexperienced, Joseph when sharing his visions with his family, couldn’t fully get them across. Also, maybe because Joseph himself didn’t know at that point how they would unfold. His family was startled and didn’t respond positively. His father, though Joseph being his favorite child, did not understand him. His brothers, jealous because of Joseph’s favored position with their father, couldn’t handle the favor on his life and rejected him.

Genesis 37:8 (ESV) “His brothers said to him, “Are you indeed to reign over us? Or are you indeed to rule over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.”

Genesis 37:10-11 (ESV) “(10) But when he told it to his father and to his brothers, his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves to the ground before you?” (11) And his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the saying in mind.”

Calling often begins with not being understood and supported from the people around you. People around you might feel unsettled by what you have set out to do, leaving you feeling isolated, making the journey at times a lonely one. This is especially true when you are nurturing a vision that others don’t see yet, either because they have not fully grasped it yet or we haven’t done a good job in explaining it well enough.

Joseph, being obedient to his father’s wish to check on his brother while they were out with their herds, was stripped of everything by his brothers. They seized the moment to rid themselves of their father’s favorite son. They threw him in a pit, plotted to kill him and sat down to eat. Reuben, the oldest son, could talk the brothers out of killing of their younger brother, but he couldn’t prevent that they sold him off to a caravan that was travelling to Egypt.

At times it is not distant people turning against you. It’s the ones close(est) to you that wound you deeply. The people you trusted. Your journey as a business owner will require you to navigate opposition mostly expressed through jealousy, resistance, resentment, bitterness, rejection, betrayal. And like Joseph, you might find yourself in a pit wondering, “What did just happen? Why did it get this bad?”

Leaders face challenging situations at times. These situations might have their origin in internal stress, external opposition, difficult circumstances, awkward people or some unexpected disaster. In such circumstances, some leaders are driven to drink or drugs, some panic and fall apart, some blame others. It is key to maintain your spiritual discipline in such situations. Don’t let hard times make you abandon them. Know that your problems are not unique. Many people have faced and are currently facing similar challenges. The Bible is filled with stories of leadership challenges and how people overcame them.

Being in a pit is a place of great discomfort, despair, accompanied by the lurking temptation to give in to the negative emotions, sometimes being at the brink of giving up. But being in a pit doesn’t cancel your dream. It prepares you for it. Being in a pit teaches you how to rise above earthly circumstances, challenges, difficulties, problems. What others meant for evil, God is working together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

Remember, when God gives you a vision, it is a divine assignment for conflict. The word spoken over you attracts difficulty and opposition. Every adversity along the way is an opportunity to make a choice between following God’s wisdom or the path of folly. And every choice you make provides a basis for a reward.

And not only that. God uses your pursuit of your vision to evolve and shape you into the person He needs you to become to carry the weight of His blessing, so that you are able steward it well. God wants you to mature inwardly so that you can steward the fulfilment of your vision according to His heart, without being crushed by it. If you don’t understand this, you will be frustrated at every stage of your journey that involves conflict, disappointment, etc. God is not done with you; this is only the beginning. The Lord protects what he blesses.

Let’s have a look how Joseph’s story unfolds after he had been sold to the caravan. After a cruel journey through the desert, Joseph arrives in Egypt and is sold as a slave to Potiphar. The Lord’s presence with Joseph in Egypt enables him to find favor with the people around him. His character and integrity show when he exercises the authority given to him without seeing it as an opportunity to betray or exploit others.

Genesis 39:2-5 (ESV) “(2) The LORD was with Joseph, and he became a successful man, and he was in the house of his Egyptian master. (3) His master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD caused all that he did to succeed in his hands. (4) So Joseph found favor in his sight and attended him, and he made him overseer of his house and put him in charge of all that he had. (5) From the time that he made him overseer in his house and over all that he had, the LORD blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; the blessing of the LORD was on all that he had, in house and field.”

As a result of standing firm in his integrity during his service in the house of Potiphar, he is thrown into an Egyptian prison. But also, in prison, the Lord’s presence is with Joseph, resulting in Joseph being trusted with running the prison.

Genesis 39:21-23 (ESV) “(21) But the LORD was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. (22) And the keeper of the prison put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners who were in the prison. Whatever was done there, he was the one who did it. (23) The keeper of the prison paid no attention to anything that was in Joseph’s charge, because the LORD was with him. And whatever he did, the LORD made it succeed.”

Joseph spends minimum 2 years in prison, forgotten by all whom he helped and served, At God’s timing, Joseph is remembered and called to interpret Pharaoh’s dreams. When standing in front of Pharaoh, Joseph praises God publicly by saying that it is not him who interprets dreams, but God.

Genesis 41:16 (ESV) “Joseph answered Pharaoh, “It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer.”

After interpreting Pharaoh’s dream, Pharaoh is looking for someone who can steward the looming situation well and in favor of his kingdom. With the Lord’s blessing on his life, Joseph, all while being humble and not pushing himself into the limelight, is called by Pharaoh to become second in command in Egypt. Only Pharaoh being higher in rank.

Genesis 41:38-41 (ESV) “(38) And Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find a man like this, in whom is the Spirit of God?” (39) Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has shown you all this, there is none so discerning and wise as you are. (40) You shall be over my house, and all my people shall order themselves as you command. Only as regards the throne will I be greater than you.” (41) And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.”

Being second in command in Egypt leads Joseph to ultimately saving the lives of his family during the seven-year famine that is devasting the wider region.

Genesis 45:5-8 (ESV) “(5) And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. (6) For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are yet five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. (7) And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. (8) So it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt."

Most of what you were born for is on the other side of adversity. On the other side of opposition, difficulties – all the things that are not fun. If we don’t know how to navigate through such challenges of life, we will find ourselves in a position where are tempted to quit as the easy way out of this position of great discomfort. But being able, to manage the attitude of our heart and the confession of our tongue in situations of adversity, can help us to advance in the most difficult seasons. And through this reaching our destination of fulfilment. When your vision makes you different it is a wonderful invitation to a lifelong journey of building wisdom and character.