Can you stand to be blessed?

This is an important question for each of us as we walk with God, anticipating the fulfillment of His promises in our lives. I can hardly imagine a more disappointing reality than to be in line for God’s blessing, but be unready or unable to receive it. In fact, the only thing I can think of worse than not being under the flow of God’s blessing, is to be there, and to forfeit His goodness and faithfulness toward us.

In Genesis 41, Joseph has been used of God to so sufficiently resolve Pharaoh’s dilemma that the king of Egypt responds by promoting him to a position of national authority that is second in power only to Pharaoh himself. Overnight, Joseph has gone from the prison to the palace, his circumstances changing suddenly and radically as he is “…clothed…in garments of fine linen…” and decorated with “…a gold chain around his neck.”

There are several lessons we can glean from Joseph’s sudden rise from bondage to blessing, as we prepare to answer affirmatively the key question, can I stand to be blessed? As we walk with God through difficult, daunting and sometimes dark circumstances, we would do well to remember three lessons from the life of Joseph....