I read the story of Joseph this entire week. This has been one of my favorite narratives in all Scripture ever since I was a kid. Think it has something to do with the animated film, Joseph: King of Dreams, that I saw and always seemed to resonate. 

But I always thought the story intense. I’d watch the drama play out in the movie and on the pages, and I’d wonder at how such family problems could make their way into canon. Or, how God could use such brokenness and vice, such fragmentation and animosity? How could He move in the midst of all this? 

And yet, it’s always spoken to me. Has it you? 

It’s in Genesis chapters 37-50. 

A few details of the story I’d overlooked for years until reading it again for the first time this week:

1. How God’s hand is steadily tracing the entire narrative. I see it in the different details that shape the way the story unfolds. 

I see it in Joseph’s oldest brother, Reuben, who along with Judah convinced the rest of his brothers not to kill Joseph out of jealousy at the beginning of the story. I believe this redirection was God looking out for Joseph. 

I see it in how Joseph was sold to the captain of Pharaoh’s guard, Potiphar, a high-ranking official whose household Joseph lived in and managed. This determines where he ends up in prison later, which proves to be instrumental in elevating him to have an audience with Pharaoh himself. 

And in how everything Joseph touched turned to gold, even in captivity. Like in Potiphar’s house. The Scriptures say, “The Lord was with Joseph, and he became a successful man, and he was in the house of his Egyptian master. His master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord caused all that he did to succeed in his hands” (Genesis 39:2-3).

But also, I see it in how God was with Joseph when he was thrown in prison, after Potiphar’s wife falsely accused him. It says in Genesis 39:21-23, “But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. And the keeper of the prison put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners who were in the prison. Whatever was done there, he was the one who did it. The keeper of the prison paid no attention to anything that was in Joseph's charge, because the Lord was with him. And whatever he did, the Lord made it succeed.”

2. How God prepared Joseph those years he spent in captivity. I always knew Adonai was maturing him spiritually and chiseling some things out of him to prepare him for what he’d become. But what I never realized was how practical God was being—how I believe He was giving Joseph the real world, hands-on, experiential preparation, skillset, and knowledge to be later promoted to a place perhaps Joseph couldn’t even imagine. 

When Joseph appears before Pharaoh—going from staring at the walls of the prison for years, to suddenly, the palace—he not only is the sole person who can interpret Pharaoh’s dream, but he also gives Pharaoh the solution for a kingdom-wide problem that will happen in the future. 

God enables Joseph to foretell 7 years of famine to visit Egypt after 7 years of plenty. The solution? Joseph proposes, “Let Pharaoh proceed to appoint overseers over the land and take one-fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt during the seven plentiful years.  And let them gather all the food of these good years that are coming and store up grain under the authority of Pharaoh for food in the cities, and let them keep it. That food shall be a reserve for the land against the seven years of famine that are to occur in the land of Egypt, so that the land may not perish through the famine” (Genesis 41:34-36). 

I never caught how Joseph’s background working and managing the house affairs of royal officials must have quite literally prepared him for his role overseeing the entire house of Egypt. I never until now caught what God was doing there. 

3. The fairytale ending. 

And who said there’s no such thing as fairytales? When in the Word of God, despite all the bad that has happened, you have conclusions to years of suffering like in the story of Joseph?

Who said that God doesn’t like a happy ending when written down is a victory at the very end of Scripture, prefaced by victories threading throughout the entire biblical narrative, not the least of which is Christ’s victory on the cross?

Who said the bad can’t turn around for good, when in all things, God works for the good of those who love Him and who have been called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28)?

The resolution of the main conflict that concludes in Genesis 41:37-57, where Pharaoh promotes Joseph to second in command of all Egypt, reads to me like a storybook ending that gets better and better the further you go, until the chapter ends. 

It’s so good, in fact, that God’s restoration of Joseph’s life eclipses all his former suffering. Joseph named his firstborn son, Manasseh, because: “God has made me forget all my hardship and all my father's house” (Genesis 41:51). 

He oversaw all of Egypt, only second to Pharaoh himself. And he led Egypt well, even reuniting with his family and reconciling with his brothers in the end. 

It’s a beautiful ending to an intense story that opens up with all of the human vices, shortcomings, sins, and flaws splattered in ink onto the page. 

But somehow, at the end, we find Adonai himself having pieced everything together and having looked out for Joseph the entire time, even in the bad throughout the process. Truly bringing meaning to Joseph’s words to his brothers at the conclusion of the story: 

“As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today” (Genesis 50:20).

So, let us not pretend that God isn’t looking out for us even in the midst of the hard things in life. Let us not overlook the millions of ways He shows us grace and orchestrates our stories so that they can bring glory to Him, showing people just how masterful He is at storytelling and at bringing everything together. Showing people just how loving He is towards us.

But lastly, let us not pretend like we don’t know the ending of this here story in Genesis that begins with a broken family (say it with me)—

and Joseph lived happily ever after. :)