Victorious Love

September 20, 2020 Background Scripture: Genesis 42 Lesson Passage: Genesis 42:6 – 25 I believe the character of a person is best judged when they are successful rather than when they face adversity. Adversity will often force the best out of people—even those we refer to as bad people. The proud become humble and ingrates will be made grateful through adversity. Humility and gratitude are great character traits to have. Too often it requires pressure in life to extract them from many people. It is very much like a saturated sponge. The best way to determine what a saturated sponge is holding on the inside is to squeeze it—or apply some pressure! Only when the sponge is overly saturated will it tend to leak out some of its contents without pressure. Likewise, if people are not overly saturated with certain character traits, those traits will not likely be seen until life applies some pressure on them. In a very similar manner, that which one is overly saturated with seeps out with no pressure applied. That’s why I believe it is easier to judge a person’s character when they are successful. The time of success will leave many saturated—or as we sometimes say, full of themselves. And what they are saturated with seeps out all by itself. If one is saturated with love, peace, joy, patience, mercy, wisdom, and the like, it will be revealed as readily during success as it will during trying times. The last two lessons have reviewed the life of Joseph during times that tested his character. We saw good qualities exhibited by Joseph as life pressured him and treated him unfairly. As stated earlier, that should not be too surprising; of course, I think I would have snapped during some of those hardships. Today’s lesson presents Joseph as a successful man. He has risen to the top position in Egypt other than the Pharaoh himself. (Of course, Joseph wouldn’t have qualified for Pharaoh’s position since the Egyptians viewed Pharaohs as gods. Joseph understood that there is no other God but Jehovah.) Joseph was seventeen years old when his life spun out of control—thanks to the jealousy and meanness of his brothers. In today’s lesson, Joseph is now thirty-nine years old. Joseph is essentially Secretary of Agriculture in Egypt. Two years of famine has caused his brothers to come to Egypt seeking food to keep the family from dying of starvation. Joseph’s brothers came before him and bowed without knowing who he was. Twenty-two years had passed and in the Egyptian culture, Joseph would have been clean-shaven and well-dressed. The nomadic Hebrews would have had long beards and not have been dressed as finely. Joseph spoke to his brothers through an interpreter to conceal his identity; thus, adding to his anonymity. Now that he was successful, what were Joseph’s character traits really like. Joseph's character was just as impeccable as when he was suffering. Joseph still looked out for his brothers’ needs while testing them to see if their hearts had changed over the years. Joseph’s actions exhibited true love. He was motivated to meet their needs even while testing their characters. Success did not ruin Joseph. Joseph had a heart of gold at the peak of his success just as he did as a household slave and prisoner. In trials and tribulations, Joseph showed kindness to those around him. In victory, Joseph walked in love. Robert C. Hudson September 10, 2020