They hurt his feet with fetters, he was laid in irons. Until the time that his word came to pass, the word of the Lord tested him. (Psalm 105:18-19)

The Bible tells us that, having been sold into slavery, Joseph was taken into the house of Potiphar as a servant. The Bible also tells us that, because he did the right thing — he rejected the advances of his master’s wife — he was tossed into jail falsely accused. Not only was he placed in a prison cell, but he was bound in chains and, most likely, tortured. If we did not know how the story turned out — if we were not allowed to see why this factored into the plan of God — the injustice of the situation would be maddening beyond description. Why would God allows something so unfair to happen to someone who chose to do the right thing in the eyes of God? Where was God in this situation?

But we do know how it turned out and we do get to see why this was important to the plan of God for His people at that time. Put simply, God ordained that Joseph be enslaved, imprisoned and humiliated in order that his soul and character might be purified. That is not to say that Joseph was a degenerate before these trials; it is to say that, in order to fulfill what God had called him to be, he had to be perfected beyond what others might be subjected to. Think about it: his father, Jacob, had to endure baseless accusations, treachery and physical threats, for decades, before God would place upon him the name Israel. Likewise, to be God’s vehicle of salvation and restoration, Joseph had to be purified by stringent trials and years of suffering.

The psalmist says that it was the Word of the Lord that tested him, and that the testing continued until the assigned time for His Word to come to pass. It occurs to me that, for those God has chosen, we also have a choice to make — will we consent to whatever God has called us to do and will we submit to whatever testing He deems necessary in order to bring it to pass? Will we continue in His service willingly even when He allows our righteous actions to be punished with injustice at the hands of wicked men? Will we allow His Word to test us in order to purify all things that are counterproductive to His perfect Will? He has chosen us for specific reasons that come with specific trials; it is for us to choose whether or not we will say, “Not my will but Yours be done.”

Blessings and Shalom,  

Bill