Horribly unfair things happened to Joseph, but he survived them all without seeking revenge or feeling sorry for himself. He never played the victim card, nor did he shame and blame anyone for what they’d done to him. He didn’t harbour any ill will, or use his success to humiliate those who’d wanted him dead, nor did he seek compensation for being sold into slavery (Genesis 37:28), or for being thrown into prison (39:13-20).
He was so different to his brothers, who wanted to kill him and lie about how he died (37:20), but he was able to navigate the swamp of injustice and the influence of his siblings, and not get sucked into their depths.
Imagine being able to do that today, in a world where the slightest hint of discrimination or inequity or lack of diversity and inclusion, has people screaming “hate” and “racism” and protesting in mobs, and destroying the lives and reputations of anyone who disagrees with their sensitivities.
How Joseph survived such lunacy, hate and injustice in his life has relevance for us today then, doesn’t it? And fortunately, Scripture explains how he did it in Genesis 39:2, which simply says, “The Lord was with Joseph,” repeated twice more in the same chapter (verses 21 and 23), which drops a rather strong hint that we humans cannot survive injustice without the Lord being with us.
And King David took that hint when he struggled with injustice in his life. He admits in Psalm 73 that it really got to him seeing “fat cats who have everything their hearts could ever wish for, who scoff and speak only evil, and in their arrogance crush others, who boast against the very heavens” (7-9) while “enjoying a life of ease and only getting richer” (12).
What’s the point, then, he asks, of “keeping my heart pure, and keeping myself innocent when I get nothing but trouble all day long?” (13-14). We could ask too: “Why bother being a good person when bad people can do whatever they like and get away with it?” But “Then,” David says in verse 17, “I went into your sanctuary, O God, and I understood the destiny of the wicked,” that God would deal with them in due time (18-20).
In the meantime he looked to God to be “the strength of my heart” (26) to keep him from becoming bitter (21). And the Lord was with him, just as he was with Joseph, to show us this is how we survive the injustices against us. And also from Joseph’s story to show us: “The importance of integrity” too….(next blog)
Buck To Basics 