Message from Phil Adams, Principal JH/SH & Central Elementary

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. And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. 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. And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. 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.


Genesis 45:4-8

We never get tired of wishing life were different. It is not recorded that Joseph ever did so when he was first betrayed by his brothers. And yet he was as human as we are. He had the same frailties and weaknesses common to all of us. When he first met his brothers he was very emotional. Probably a mixture of anger, hurt, and relief that they were alive since the famine had overtaken that region. By the time he spoke to them as their brother he had composed himself and spoke to them as a wise and experienced elder statesman, a “father to Pharaoh”.

He had come to grips with God’s sovereignty over his life and that of the many thousands whose lives were spared because of his wise leadership and counsel. He could not have guessed how significant his life would be when he was in the pit his brothers tossed him in or when he was in the Egyptian prison. What an amazing story. Like most, I tend to whine a lot to God about this or that. God’s plans are so much bigger and grander than my limited vision.