Giving God the Glory
I overheard a conversation where someone was asked about their health and the response was : its all in God’s hand. This is so true, and even though I believe this, I asked myself, would I answer likewise?
I was reading about Joseph, and I noticed that Joseph always gave God the glory.
Genesis 39:9-10
9 He is not greater in this house than I am, nor has he kept back anything from me except you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?” 10 And as she spoke to Joseph day after day, he would not listen to her, to lie beside her or to be with her.
Genesis 40:8
8 They said to him, “We have had dreams, and there is no one to interpret them.” And Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Please tell them to me.”
Genesis 41:15-16
15 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I have had a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it. I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.” 16 Joseph answered Pharaoh, “It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer.”
Genesis 41:38:41
38 And Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find a man like this, in whom is the Spirit of God?”[c] 39 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has shown you all this, there is none so discerning and wise as you are. 40 You shall be over my house, and all my people shall order themselves as you command.[d] Only as regards the throne will I be greater than you.” 41 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.”
Genesis 41:50-52
50 Before the year of famine came, two sons were born to Joseph. Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On, bore them to him. 51 Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh. “For,” he said, “God has made me forget all my hardship and all my father’s house.”[f] 52 The name of the second he called Ephraim, “For God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.”[g]
Genesis 45:4:8
4 So Joseph said to his brothers, “Come near to me, please.” And they came near. And he said, “I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. 5 And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. 6 For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are yet five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. 7 And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. 8 So it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt.
Joseph did even more than just giving God the glory, He put God in everything. He refused to sin against God even when it was to his detriment; he gave God the glory for all that he did, and he did great things. He honoured God when he named his sons. When Joseph had every reason to be angry at his brothers, who almost cost him his life, he forgave them on account that God used it for good. So, let’s meditate on the Joesph story and put God in everything.