Why on earth would you want to read anything about rejection, accusation and/or neglect? None of those things sound remotely appealing, and we’d prefer to run away from such horrible things! Nevertheless, all of us have had experiences that we could put into at least one—if not all three—of these categories. Having such experiences is germane to being human, so these things aren’t novel.
The more important question to consider relates to the potential upside of these experiences. Is there anything positive that can result from going through such painful events?
I’ve been thinking about these items while reading about Joseph, Jacob’s favorite son, in Genesis. In my recent reading, it struck me that Joseph underwent each of these tragedies in epic proportions.
For example, Joseph was massively rejected by his brothers when they sold him into slavery. In particular, his brothers decided to make a profit by selling Joseph rather than just murdering him. Consider Judah’s idea in Genesis 37:26-27, “What profit is it for us to kill our brother and cover up his blood? Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.” I’m pretty sure Joseph knew that his brothers hated his guts! But maybe he didn’t think they would go so far as to sell him into slavery and that he would be carried away into some unknown existence! I think that’s pretty high-octane rejection!
But wait, there’s more. Joseph was bought by Potipher, an Egyptian leader, and he was employed to take total care of Potipher’s house. Joseph did this with excellence, so much that Potipher didn’t concern himself with anything in his house except the food he ate. But some high-grade false accusations undercut all of the favor Joseph acquired as Potipher’s personal servant.
If you read the account, you’ll note that Joseph was handsome, and Potipher’s wife repeatedly tried to allure him to sleep with her. Every time that she tried to seduce him, Joseph resisted her, until finally, she trapped him. He resisted her efforts and ran away from her but lost his garment during his flight. This became the prime opportunity for Potipher’s wife to falsely accuse Joseph to her husband. “Then she spoke to him with these words, ‘The Hebrew slave, whom you brought to us, came in to me to make sport of me; and as I raised my voice and screamed, he left his garment beside me and fled outside’” (Genesis 39:17-18). Her accusation got Joseph unjustly thrown into jail without judicial process.
And finally, how about some neglect that could lead to significant depression? In thinking about this as it relates to Joseph, consider what happened after he interpreted the dream of Pharoah’s cupbearer who was in the prison with him. He rightly interpreted the cupbearer’s dream and asked the cupbearer to remember him. In Genesis 40:14-15, Joseph says, “Only keep me in mind when it goes well with you, and please do me a kindness by mentioning me to Pharaoh and get me out of this house. For I was in fact kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing that they should have put me into the dungeon.”
After this request, the cupbearer was restored to his position in Pharoah’s house, but he forgot about Joseph for two years—a very long time to neglect the person who interpreted his dream and gave him hope for the future. It’s very possible that Joseph experienced depression and hopelessness from being stuck in prison and neglected by the cupbearer.
With these horrific experiences of rejection, accusation and neglect, Joseph experienced some really intense fertilizer! But these were fertilizer experiences rather than burial dirt, maybe for the simple reason that Joseph chose to keep his hope in God. I say this because if you watch Joseph’s words and choices, he continually affirms his belief in God no matter his circumstances. He recognizes God’s favor, giftings and engagement in his life. Consider Joseph’s final words to his brothers after their dad died and they were afraid of his potential retribution. “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive” (Genesis 50:20).
It’s no doubt that we go through difficult experiences that include rejection, accusation and neglect. Let’s determine, nevertheless, to keep our hope and faith in God, seeing such experiences as fertilizer rather than burial dirt! God can turn ashes into beauty and mourning into joy.
