Vote… Today is an election day. We have the opportunity to have our opinion considered about some issues. It matters. Amidst all the many opinions, yes…just one person’s opinion matters.
Jacob had twelve boys. The young Joseph was the golden child, the apple of his father’s eye, the child of his most loved wife. Jacob was getting old when this boy Joseph was born, (Gen.37:3)…he doted on him, perhaps realizing as we parents do, how quickly they grow up. Maybe he looked like his mother..or had a way with a smile. I wonder at what a brat he might have been. His brothers ‘could not speak a kind word to him.’ (Gen. 37:4)
His father gave him a lavish gift of a robe that was not in any way the common garment of the day…(Gen.37:3)...it had what we’d call a designer label… everyone would recognize it. It would be like sending our children to school with a Louis Vuitton backpack. (Jacob might have been wiser, knowing this was just asking for trouble, and inciting jealousy.)
God has a plan for every life, and He had a plan for Joseph’s life. I don’t think God ‘made’ the brothers do the bad things they did…..that does not fit the Character of my God. But when Joseph’s brothers came up with their scheme, true to God’s nature, He brought about His purposes in spite of it, and He even brought blessing out of it. Years later, to his long lost brothers, “ Joseph said, ‘…you intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.’ ”(Gen. 50:20)
The plan was to be rid of a bratty brother who dreamed dreams of being great…greater than his older siblings. But the voice of one of them had changed the course of events, (Gen. 37:21), saved Joseph’s life, and would eventually rescue the entire clan from famine.
Judah was in on the plot, but for whatever reason, he ‘said to his brother, “What will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? Come, let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him, after all, he is our brother, our own flesh and blood,” His brothers agreed.’ (Gen. 37: 26,27)
So it was decided…they wouldn’t kill him, or leave him trapped in a pit for the wild beasts to kill. He would be alive…just as a slave in a foreign land, and out of their hair.
One voice was heard, and it made a difference. It’s an intriguing story. The people involved had no idea of the eternal repercussions.
We too, have no idea of the eternal results of how we use our voice and influence.,,,,whether for bad, or for good. Choose and act… prayerfully.
It matters.
