Wherever Joseph went, whatever he did, he made a difference. Has it ever struck you how wealthy Joseph’s family was? Why did his father Jacob ask Joseph to take food for his brothers in the fields? Why not one of the servants? Surely Jacob knew how dangerous it could have been for him. We can only speculate, but if we consider what happened when Joseph reached Shechem, maybe we will see why Jacob placed his confidence in sending Joseph.
When Joseph got to Shechem where his Dad had sent him, he went on to Dothan to find his brothers. We cannot tell you how much further that was but a servant may well have turned back and said: “Sorry boss but I went where you sent me, searched all over there and they were nowhere to be found.” . But Joseph was not doing this merely to please his Dad. He genuinely wanted to determine the welfare of his brothers and was fully prepared to travel an extra 12 miles to the north to Dothan to find them.
He displayed this same generous spirit in Potiphar’s house where he was again mistreated for doing the right thing. In prison, he was placed in charge. Is this person for real? Excuse me, but you were here for punishment and instead of being miserable and complaining, you work hard at making your fellow prisoners happy? With this in mind, is there anything we can ever be upset about?
And today, God is constantly putting opportunities in our way for us to take and use as best as we can. Every day we pass people who are thirsting for the truth. Everyday we pass people who are miserable, upset, losing faith and hope. And yet for all this, we have a fire within us that can be used to tell people that God loves them. We have the opportunity to listen to their problems, offer a shoulder to cry on. A friendly smile costs nothing, all it costs is the realization that we want to make a difference every day that we live.
Will you walk an extra mile to make a difference to those around us and contribute to making everyone’s lives a better place?
