This morning during my devotion time, I read the story of Joseph. I really feel like God led me to this passage this morning to show me something important. This caught my attention as I began to read:"...Joseph, being seventeen years old..." (Gen. 37:2) "Huh," I thought to myself. "Only one year older than me.'
Joseph was a teenager when God started working in his heart and giving him dreams. This really inspired me. It showed me that God is interested in using young people to further His kingdom. There are several other instances of this in the Old Testament. David and Ruth are a couple of the first ones that come to my mind, but I'm sure there are others. Jesus, at just twelve years old, impressed grown, educated men in the temple with his knowledge of spiritual things. (Luke 2:41-52)
But anyway, back to Joseph. There is so much to be learned from his story. One of the things I noticed was that he found favor with everyone he met. From his father, to Potiphar in Egypt, his jailer when he was in prison, and even the pharaoh himself! People recognized that there was something different about him, and they also seemed to have no problem with putting great trust in him. That is the way that I want to be!!! I'm not saying I want to be super popular, but I am saying I want people to see Christ in me, wherever I go. What an awesome testimony to the world.
Joseph also stayed true to God and his family. Joseph went through so much. He was put in the midst of horrible circumstances, but he never questioned the Lord. He was surrounded by a pagan people and culture, but none of this seemed to influence him at all. Then, there's what his brothers did to him. They sold him into slavery! I can't even imagine the pain he must have felt. But in the end, he forgave them. Wow. That is amazing to me.
He also saw, in the end, God's grand design. "Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life. For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest. And God sent me before you to a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God." (Gen. 45:5-8a) I have personally seen God do this in my own life. After coming through a trial, it is so amazing to look back and see that it wasn't for naught. That you came out better than you could have even imagined. That's how awesome our God is.
Maybe I'll be able to blog more about young people in the Bible. This is a topic I really love, and it inspires me so much. I know that unless this generation of Christian teens rises up and stands for Christ, America may fall. That thought makes me want to just strengthen my relationship with God, go deeper in His Word, and witness to the lost and discouraged. I'll leave y'all with this verse.:
"Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity." 1 Tim. 4:12
Wow, Hannah, I am really impressed with your writing skills, you insight into the scriptures, and your willingness to share your faith with others. Having taught both your parents, I can tell you that I believe you are even more intuitive than they were. Or maybe I just didn't assign them the right topics. Keep up the good work. "Someone" (Johnna) is a good teacher, and you are very fortunate to have her as your teacher and Scotty as your father.
ReplyDeleteWow, thank you so much, Mrs. Gillman! That means a lot to me! I don't get much feedback from my writing except from my parents.
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