More lessons from Joseph

Now that I am not working with the Young Women anymore, I have been asked to teach Gospel Doctrine, or adult Sunday school.  And I'm super excited about it because this year we are studying the Old Testament which I absolutely love.

I taught my first lesson this past Sunday and the topic was Joseph in Egypt, which was perfect timing considering my post from two weeks ago.  As I really dove into the story again, even though I had just read it, it was amazing to me how many things we can truly learn from this story.  I could probably continue with a "lessons from Joseph" mini series for the blog.  But for now, I will stick to just one more.

As you know, I've been seriously contemplating what faith means, and now what trust in God means. And wow is Joseph the perfect example of both things.  Something just clicked this time as I read the story about why our faith and trust in God matter.  And it comes down to being prepared.  Being spiritually prepared.  The story of Joseph shows us great examples of being spiritually prepared, but also of being temporally prepared.  The temporal preparedness would obviously be him leading Egypt to storing lots of food during their 7 years of plenty so that they had enough to live on and sell to others during the 7 years of famine.  But his spiritual preparedness is what allowed him to get to that point.  His faith during times of hardship is what made the big difference.

When Joseph was put into prison for something he did not even do, it would have been so easy for him to say "Ok well I guess God has forgotten me."  It would have been so easy for him to turn bitter.  Or if nothing else, it would have at least been easy for him to become complacent in his faith and just kind of apathetically exist.  To know that God is there, but not really do anything about it.  I know there have been times in my life where I have felt God has forgotten me.  But there have been even more times where times got tough and I didn't necessarily say "Ok God forgot me," but I just kind of sat on the bench for the while, waiting (in a very apathetic manner) for whatever it was to pass.  Like with the match, (I know, I talk about this a lot, but it's my life right now) I kind of just threw my hands up in the air and said "You know what? God is going to do what he's going to do.  Me praying about it won't change anything.  Me exercising faith won't change anything. What's going to happen is just going to happen." And Joseph could have easily said that same thing when he was thrown into prison.  Or he could have at least gotten to that point after a year. Or two years.

But he didn't. He kept the faith.  He kept his trust in God strong.  He built his faith even more, so that when that opportunity came, he would be prepared. He would be ready.  And you know what? That opportunity did come. When he was given the chance to interpret dreams, he was ready to do so.  With the help and power of God.  But what if he had just been sitting there, kind of just existing, waiting for something to happen and hadn't strengthened his faith? What if he hadn't been spiritually prepared to interpret those dreams? His story would have gone a little differently.  Joseph's faith mattered.  It mattered in his own outcome, it mattered to those other men in prison, it mattered to the Pharaoh, it mattered to all of Egypt, and it ultimately mattered to all of the surrounding areas and therefore to his family and their future.  The faith of a single person can truly change the world.  It cannot only make a difference but the difference.

I want to remember this lesson.  I want to take my hard times and turn them into opportunities to build my faith.  Take them as opportunities to bulk up my spiritual reservoir so that when the time comes, I will be ready, and I can make a difference.  What a blessing it is to have the scriptures to teach us lessons like this.  If I trust God, everything else will all work out.  Joseph knew that, and I'm so glad he did.