Good morning, and happy Sunday.

Heading back to Los Angeles, I’m feeling refreshed and excited for what is to come.

As I shared last week about Mississippi, everyone there’s got a story to tell. So, it’d be remiss of me if I didn’t start with a story today.

On Friday, I had the chance to visit the BB King Museum in Indianola, Mississippi— a small and quaint town that is also Mary’s hometown. Known around the world as the King of Blues, BB King was born and raised in the Mississippi Delta and was known around the town as Riley, the Blues Boy.

It’s pretty neat that Mary gets to say she’s from a small town that is the birthplace of modern American music.

BB King was a musical genius. There will never be another like him.

But the main thing that stood out to me about him was that despite being an iconic figure, he remained rooted in his identity. BB King never forgot who he was nor where he came from: a black child born in the Deep South in the 20s without parental love and care. He’d share later in life that he’d pay anything to have a picture of his mum. Honestly, my heart aches when I imagine what he must’ve gone through growing up.

Yet, he was proud of his upbringing and his hometown despite the many hardships he faced. And he never forgot to pay his blessings forward—

Every summer, he would return to Indianola to perform a free concert at the good ole Fletcher Park. The whole town would gather as one and jam to his tunes.

Whenever he performed, with a childlike heart, BB King would call kids up to the stage to dance alongside his band. Fun fact: I learned that one of Mary’s siblings was once called up and rocked the stage pretty hard!

BB King was also a man who worked relentlessly to make every day count— performing all year around year after year and even playing an active role in supporting the civil rights movement. As a man of faith, he knew his time on earth was limited.

The hardships he grew up with did not stall him from pursuing his calling and mission. BB King instead leaned into them to bring forth beautiful melodies and changed the world for the better: a little warmer and more accepting.

Today’s story is about Joseph, the eleventh son of Jacob. Like BB King, Joseph faced a number of trials in his life but persevered in faith in order to bring life to others.

Without further ado, let’s get into the Word.

If anyone crosses your mind as you read, I encourage you to put your faith into action by forwarding this post along, perhaps coupled with a loving word of encouragement. You just may make someone’s day without knowing it.

The Word of God

The 1-2-3 of What I Found Encouraging

1. What Joseph’s brothers intended for harm, God intended it for good

Growing up, Joseph was a subject of jealousy among his siblings. Later on, his brothers schemed and went so far as to sell Joseph to Midianites, leading him to years of slavery in a foreign land of Egypt.

If that weren’t enough, Joseph was falsely accused of sexual assault by his master’s wife and sent to prison for years. However, despite the trials, “the Lord was with him and… the Lord gave him success in everything he did” (Gen. 39:3).

Look at what God did every time Joseph was put in a dire situation:

• Under Potiphar, his master, Joseph was put in charge of everything.

• While in prison, the warden put Joseph in charge of everything.

• Joseph’s God-given ability to interpret dreams led him out of prison to Pharaoh, who then put Joseph in charge of the entire land of Egypt.

Once finally out of slavery and imprisonment, Joseph praised God and said, “God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering” (Gen. 41:52).

“God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering.”

Let that sink in.

Isn’t it wonderful we have Father in heaven who is relentlessly redeeming acts of evil? And that He is in the business of saving lives?

One of my favorite songs of late called “Firm Foundation” by Maverick City comes to mind as I’m writing. Here are the opening lyrics:

“Christ is my firm foundation
The rock on which I stand
When everything around me is shaken
I've never been more glad
That I put my faith in Jesus
'Cause He's never let me down
He's faithful through generations
So why would He fail now?
He won't”

This truth is yours to keep.

2. Joseph’s heart of forgiveness

Twice, Joseph tells his worrying brothers not to be afraid.

When Joseph and his brothers reunite after all those years, Joseph tells them, “Do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you” (Gen. 45:5).

And then later on, after Jacob passes, the brothers fear for their lives thinking that now that their father is dead, Joseph may finally pay them back for what they had done. So, they lie to him by saying Jacob’s last wish was for Joseph to forgive them and then they proceed to “[throw] themselves down before him. “We are your slaves,” they said” (Gen. 50:18).

Instead of getting angry about their selfishness, Joseph hits them back with kindness:

“Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.” And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.

Both times, Joseph had every reason to be upset, yet he showed grace.

Just to put myself in Joseph’s shoes here for a second. He was abused and sold into slavery at a young age, torn away from his family by his own siblings. He spent 13 years of his youth in slavery and in prison— wrongly accused, forgotten, and disappointed by those around him.

After that kind of drama and trauma, there’s nothing of this world that could have given Joseph the ability to forgive his brothers. Only the work of God’s hands could have made it possible for him to forgive them for what they had done.

Joseph’s eyes were set on God, not himself. And because his eyes were set on God, he was able to see the bigger picture of the purpose his trials served rather than being fixated on the ways in which he was wronged.

If it were not for Joseph being in Egypt at the right time to interpret Pharaoh’s dream of the famine to come, neither Egypt nor the world at large would have been able to survive the seven years of famine that soon overtook the world.

3. Joseph’s embodiment of what walking with God looks like

God walked with Joseph and Joseph with God.

When Pharaoh called for Joseph to interpret his dreams, Joseph told Pharaoh, “I cannot do it,... but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires” (Gen. 41:16).

What was Pharaoh’s response to Joseph’s interpretation?

“Can we find anyone like this man, one in who is the spirit of God?” (Gen. 41:38)

The uplifting nature of godly success is that others can smell the fragrance of Christ from those who follow God. When we humble ourselves and let the Spirit move, people take notice and cannot help but seek what we have.

How about the time when the brothers threw themselves at Joseph’s feet to seek his favor? Joseph said, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God?” (Gen. 50:19)

Joseph knew it wasn’t his place to judge and was quick to love them instead.

When we walk with God, we inevitably bear the fruit of the Spirit: “love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Gal. 5:22-23).

This is neither a laundry list to memorize nor qualities to focus on embracing one by one. These are outcomes of our faith, not inputs.

My Encouragement for You

I was having a hard time thinking of a single encouragement to leave you with.

I prayed to God for His guidance, and the Spirit spoke to my heart:

“Encourage my people to forgive. To forgive those around them.”

Both Joseph and BB King had valid reasons to remain in bitterness and resentment, but they chose love. They chose to follow God: God who forgave us whilst we were His enemies.

Like Joseph, let us recognize we are not in the place of God and forgive those who wronged us. Let us not be like Joseph’s brothers who were driven by jealousy and fear, the deceitful temptations of our enemy.

Only when we are walking with God and driven with love can we make a lasting impact.

There are people around you that need your specific way of loving. I am sure of this.

With love, Jae

Got any prayer requests or praises? You’re welcome to share them here.

“Your Word is a lamp unto my feet, a light unto my path.” (Psalms 119:105)