Importance of Trust in God: The case of Joseph

Trust in God is one of the key themes emphasized in the Old Testament. Many people are impatient with God’s promises, especially when the fulfillment of the promises takes a long time. Loss of trust in God occurs as a result of loss of hope. However, God eventually fulfills His promises to people who maintain trust in Him. The time for fulfillment may be short or long, but the scriptures in the Old Testament demonstrate that there is a need to maintain trust in God even during worst circumstances. The importance of trust in God is demonstrated by the case of Joseph, among other cases in the Old Testament. The case of Joseph is described in Genesis 37-50.

Joseph was the second-last, out of twelve sons of Jacob. Jacob and his sons lived in Canaan. As a young boy, Joseph was able to interpret dreams and also received revelations from God. For instance, he interpreted his father’s dreams and made a revelation to his brothers that he would become great leader. As a result, he was highly adored by his father. However, Joseph’s revelations and ability to interpret dreams did not please his brothers. His brothers hated him and as a result, they decided to sell him to Egyptians as a slave.

After Joseph was sold to Egyptians, he was resold to an official in Pharaoh’s leadership called Potiphar. Potiphar’s wife approached Joseph to have sex with him, but Joseph rejected to engage in the sinful act. As a result, the wife of Potiphar reported that Joseph had tried to rape her. This led Joseph to be imprisoned. By then, Joseph had learned to trust and obey God. He wondered why he was facing suffering, but he had trust that God would make him a great person one day. Joseph worked hard when he was in prison to the extent that he was the officials decided to put him in charge of prisoners. He interpreted dreams for other prisoners, which became true.

After staying in prison for two years, Joseph was called by Pharaoh to interpret his dream. Pharaoh’s dream implied that Egypt would be hit by famine for a period of seven years, as interpreted by Joseph. As a result of the interpretation, Pharaoh realized that Joseph had an exceptional gift. This led Joseph to be moved out of prison. Pharaoh further noted that Joseph had exceptional wisdom. Consequently, Pharaoh put him in charge of Egypt on the matters relating to production and storage of food. Joseph led a campaign that involved influencing Egyptians to grow more food that they would use during the time of famine. Consequently, Egyptians kept extra food in their storages to use during the time of famine.

When famine hit Canaan later, Joseph’s brothers went to purchase in Egypt. The brothers did not recognize Joseph initially since many years had passed and Joseph had become an adult. Joseph made several tests on them to determine whether they recognized him, but they did not. However, he eventually revealed himself to them. Even though they had sold him, he forgave them and sent them to bring his father and youngest brother to Egypt. They all settled in a land they were given by pharaoh.

Remarkably, it took a long time before Joseph realized his dream of becoming a great leader. Also, Joseph faced numerous adversities that could have easily influenced him to lose his trust in God’s promise. However, Joseph maintained his trust in God despite going through the adversities. Eventually, he became a great leader and his brothers, who had sold him, had to bow to him. All Egyptians recognized him as a great leader. Thus, it is vital to maintain trust in God’s promises in the midst of adversities, as Joseph did.