Genesis 39-41 Patriarchs and Prophets Chapter 20
This reading is best experienced with this soundtrack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oy-5LMBO8Go
"Joseph with his captors was on the way to Egypt...Bitterly he wept at thought of that loving father in his loneliness and affliction...He saw his angry brothers and felt their fierce glances bent upon him. The stinging, insulting words that had met his agonized entreaties were ringing in his ears. With a trembling heart he looked forward to the future." (PP 213.1).
While the situation we're in isn't as harsh, it can often feel just the same, the sting of rejection. Loving someone dearly, and being pierced in the heart with betrayal. Forcing you to continue alone with nobody to comfort you.
Story time! (Please don't feel the need to give empathy or sympathy.)
I experienced this with my two old friends, Jeremiah and Kayden. I loved them deeply, however, I didn't want to hide how I felt about their transgenderism, it was wrong for me to hide my feelings. I told them that I just couldn't see them as anything besides who they were. Around this time I was receiving Bible studies and growing closer to God, as I was doing so, they became even more secular. They told me to stop putting God above them, and they forced me to choose one over the other. I loved them so much, but ignoring my emotions I told them I stand with everything I said. and I was left alone, nobody to comfort me, a different pathway opened. But I had to go into it alone. When I'm upset I always go to others but there was nobody to turn to anymore. I was alone with God for the first time. This was my first trial.
"But, in the providence of God, even this experience was to be a blessing to him. He had learned in a few hours that which years might not otherwise have taught him. His father, strong and tender as his love had been, had done him wrong by his partiality and indulgence. This unwise preference had angered his brothers and provoked them to the cruel deed that had separated him from his home...Faults had been encouraged that were now to be corrected...Accustomed to the tenderness of his father's care, he felt that he was unprepared to cope with the difficulties before him, in the bitter, uncared-for life of a stranger and a slave." (PP 213.2). "Then his thoughts turned to his father's God...He had been told of the Lord's promises to Jacob, and how they had been fulfilled—how, in the hour of need, the angels of God had come to instruct, comfort, and protect him. Now all these precious lessons came vividly before him. Joseph believed that the God of his fathers would be his God. He then and there gave himself fully to the Lord, and he prayed that the Keeper of Israel would be with him in the land of his exile." (PP 213.3).
Shortly after this, I was friends with someone from Australia, we played Phasmophobia, and I made 2 new friends, that would shortly stop talking. It was around this time I joined SDA Youth, I was a foreigner in a strange land like Egypt to me. I was still getting over swearing, and I was in the transition out of 'old' Esti. God had been with me, and I kept reminding of myself of the fact that it was in His hands.
"He would serve the Lord with undivided heart...One day's experience had been the turning point in Joseph's life. Its terrible calamity had transformed him from a petted child to a man, thoughtful, courageous, and self-possessed." (PP 214.1). "Arriving in Egypt, Joseph was sold to Potiphar, captain of the king's guard...He was here exposed to temptations of no ordinary character. He was in the midst of idolatry...Yet Joseph preserved his simplicity and his fidelity to God. The sights and sounds of vice were all about him, but he was as one who saw and heard not. His thoughts were not permitted to linger upon forbidden subjects...to gain the favor of the Egyptians could not cause him to conceal his principles. Had he attempted to do this, he would have been overcome by temptation;" (PP 214.2). "Potiphar's confidence in Joseph increased daily, and he finally promoted him to be his steward, with full control over all his possessions." (PP 214.3) "The marked prosperity which attended everything placed under Joseph's care was not the result of a direct miracle; but his industry, care, and energy were crowned with the divine blessing...Without steadfast, well-directed effort, however, success could never have been attained. God was glorified by the faithfulness of His servant. It was His purpose that in purity and uprightness the believer in God should appear in marked contrast to the worshipers of idols" (PP 214.4).
"Joseph's gentleness and fidelity won the heart of the chief captain, who came to regard him as a son rather than a slave. The youth was brought in contact with men of rank and learning, and he acquired a knowledge of science, of languages, and of affairs—an education needful to the future prime minister of Egypt." (PP 217.1). "But Joseph's faith and integrity were to be tested by fiery trials. His master's wife endeavored to entice the young man to transgress the law of God...but this temptation, so sudden, so strong, so seductive—how should it be met? Joseph knew well what would be the consequence of resistance. On the one hand were concealment, favor, and rewards; on the other, disgrace, imprisonment, perhaps death." (PP 217.2). "Joseph's answer reveals the power of religious principle. He would not betray the confidence of his master on earth, and, whatever the consequences, he would be true to his Master in heaven." (PP 217.3). "If we were to cherish an habitual impression that God sees and hears all that we do and say and keeps a faithful record of our words and actions, and that we must meet it all, we would fear to sin. Let the young ever remember that wherever they are, and whatever they do, they are in the presence of God. No part of our conduct escapes observation. We cannot hide our ways from the Most High... The very motives of his heart are open to divine inspection. Every act, every word, every thought, is as distinctly marked as though there were only one person in the whole world, and the attention of heaven were centered upon him." (PP 217.4).
"for his tempter revenged herself by accusing him of a foul crime, and causing him to be thrust into prison. Had Potiphar believed his wife's charge against Joseph, the young Hebrew would have lost his life; but the modesty and uprightness that had uniformly characterized his conduct were proof of his innocence; and yet, to save the reputation of his master's house, he was abandoned to disgrace and bondage. " (PP 218.1). "At the first Joseph was treated with great severity by his jailers... But Joseph's real character shines out, even in the darkness of the dungeon...He did not brood upon his own wrongs, but forgot his sorrow in trying to lighten the sorrows of others. He found a work to do." (PP 218.2). "Joseph gradually gained the confidence of the keeper of the prison, and was finally entrusted with the charge of all the prisoners...the integrity of his daily life and his sympathy for those who were in trouble and distress—that opened the way for his future prosperity and honor...Every kind and sympathizing word spoken to the sorrowful, every act to relieve the oppressed, and every gift to the needy, if prompted by a right motive, will result in blessings to the giver." (PP 218.3).
"The king's cupbearer had professed the deepest gratitude to Joseph, both for the cheering interpretation of his dream and for many acts of kind attention; and in return the latter, referring in a most touching manner to his own unjust captivity, entreated that his case be brought before the king..." I pray thee, unto me, and make mention of me unto Pharaoh, and bring me out of this house: for indeed I was stolen away out of the land of the Hebrews: and here also have I done nothing that they should put me into the dungeon.”... For two years longer Joseph remained a prisoner. The hope that had been kindled in his heart gradually died out, and to all other trials was added the bitter sting of ingratitude." (PP 219.2). "But a divine hand was about to open the prison gates. The king of Egypt had in one night two dreams, apparently pointing to the same event and seeming to foreshadow some great calamity. He could not determine their significance, yet they continued to trouble his mind...The king's perplexity and distress increased, and terror spread throughout his palace. The general agitation recalled to the chief butler's mind the circumstances of his own dream; with it came the memory of Joseph, and a pang of remorse for his forgetfulness and ingratitude. He at once informed the king how his own dream and that of the chief baker had been interpreted by a Hebrew captive, and how the predictions had been fulfilled." (PP 219.3).
"t was humiliating to Pharaoh to turn away from the magicians and wise men of his kingdom to consult an alien and a slave, but he was ready to accept the lowliest service if his troubled mind might find relief. Joseph was immediately sent for;" (PP 220.1). "Joseph's reply to the king reveals his humility and his faith in God. He modestly disclaims the honor of possessing in himself superior wisdom. “It is not in me.” God alone can explain these mysteries." (PP 220.2).
I remember one night I struggled with a conflict myself, because I wanted my imagination, my story, but it felt like I had to sacrifice it. That's when Hero introduced me to the message of mercy. much like Joseph revealed the Pharaoh's dream. Without this, I would be left on my own to determine scripture and find my way through. It is a blessing to have come across my two closest friends.
"The interpretation was so reasonable and consistent, and the policy which it recommended was so sound and shrewd, that its correctness could not be doubted...Upon the wisdom of this choice depended the nation's preservation. The king was troubled. For some time the matter of the appointment was under consideration...The cupbearer, now filled with self-reproach, endeavored to atone for his former ingratitude, by the warmest praise of his benefactor; and further inquiry by the king proved the correctness of his report. In all the realm Joseph was the only man gifted with wisdom to point out the danger that threatened the kingdom and the preparation necessary to meet it; and the king was convinced that he was the one best qualified to execute the plans which he had proposed... “Can we find such a one as this is, a man in whom the Spirit of God is?”". (PP 221.1).
"From the dungeon Joseph was exalted to be ruler over all the land of Egypt. It was a position of high honor, yet it was beset with difficulty and peril. One cannot stand upon a lofty height without danger. As the tempest leaves unharmed the lowly flower of the valley, while it uproots the stately tree upon the mountaintop, so those who have maintained their integrity in humble life may be dragged down to the pit by the temptations that assail worldly success and honor. But Joseph's character bore the test alike of adversity and prosperity" (PP 222.1). "There are few who realize the influence of the little things of life upon the development of character. Nothing with which we have to do is really small. The varied circumstances that we meet day by day are designed to test our faithfulness and to qualify us for greater trusts... Minds thus disciplined are not wavering between right and wrong, like the reed trembling in the wind; they are loyal to duty because they have trained themselves to habits of fidelity and truth." (PP 222.3).
"An upright character is of greater worth than the gold of Ophir. Without it none can rise to an honorable eminence. But character is not inherited. It cannot be bought. Moral excellence and fine mental qualities are not the result of accident. The most precious gifts are of no value unless they are improved" (PP 223.1).
Therapy was cancelled today, it was rather emotional writing this today looking back on my experiences. especially with the music in background, I'm not upset. I like it rather.