“And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, ‘It is not in me: God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace.'” Genesis 41:16
Dear Ones:
It was O. Hallesby who once said, “God doesn’t use many men these days; they are too big.” What did he mean by this, and is it true?
The story of Joseph in the Old Testament reveals to us that God deals with men in the New Testament, and today, as He did in Joseph’s day. Joseph was sold by his brothers into slavery, and carried away captive to Egypt. They had seen “…the anguish of his soul, when he besought them, and they would not hear,” and yet, God would permit that Joseph be separated from his family, be sold as a slave, and carried away to a foreign country, possibly to never see his family again. There in Egypt, God would prosper his work in the house of Potiphar, but then all changed suddenly when he was cast into prison because of the advances and false accusations of Potiphar’s wife. God was with Joseph in prison, but there he would remain. When hope did arise for his deliverance, it was soon extinguished for two full years. What happened to Joseph during that time? God brought Joseph to a place of complete, total surrender of his life, and existence. To God would be entrusted all that Joseph was, had, and could ever be. The day that he is brought before Pharaoh, having now the possibility of pleading his case for his deliverance, he instead declared what he had come to realize, and which was now true of him. With regard to the interpretation of Pharaoh’s dream, Joseph would declare: “It is NOT in me: but God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace.” Why could he say this with confidence? Because he had been brought to the place where he put ALL of his hope and confidence in Christ, and not in himself. Joseph was no longer “big.” The smaller he became, the larger Christ became…until Christ filled his whole vision.
In the New Testament, when Paul penned the famous words: “…Not I, but Christ…,” he revealed to us God’s dealings with him, as He dealt with Joseph. As is the case with all Christians, Paul had to become smaller in order for Christ to become larger. Paul would face the foe of idolatrous “self,” and the consequent trusting in “self’s” own supposed resources. The Bible calls it, trusting in the flesh. But there would come a day, when the great reality of God’s sufficiency in Christ for every need would reach Paul’s heart, and he would truly understand that which Joseph came to understand. Paul wrote: “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of Christ.” (2 Corinthians 3:5) Paul had become very small in his own eyes, and Christ had become all. Thus, all trust was in the sufficiency of Christ for every need. It was Charles Wesley who later wrote: “ALL my trust on Thee is stayed; ALL my help from Thee I bring; Cover my defenseless head, with the shadow of Thy wing.”
Dear Father, may we ever decrease, and Thy Son increase, in our vision, and in our trust. Give us in this hour to prove the sweet omnipotence of Thy love as we place ALL our hope in Thee. Then we shall see Thee GIVE an answer, and show Thyself sufficient for every need. We thank Thee in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Love, Dad