Invigorating Faith

    "By faith Joseph, when he died, made mention of the departing of the children of Israel, and gave commandments concerning his bones."
     "And Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel, saying 'God will surely visit you, and you will carry my bones from here.'  So Joseph died, being a hundred and ten years old, and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt."
     The book of Genesis that had such a promising start--"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth"--ends "in a coffin in Egypt."  At first glance that appears to be a depressing conclusion.  But it's not.  For invigorating faith is displayed in Joseph's buried bones.
     And it is only fitting that it should be so.  No one in Scripture more consistently displayed an absolute confidence in the goodness of God--the essence of faith--than Joseph.  For faith is not confidence in a religious system or in one's personal sense of commitment and holiness, but rather, confidence in the unchanging character and promises of God.
      True faith rests on three immutable facts about God.  First, that He is able.  Second, that He is willing.  Third, that He is sovereign.  To complain about events or circumstances is to question God's sovereign rights, His wisdom, and His love.  It is the opposite of faith; it is unbelief.  "The fool has said in his heart that there is no God."  Oh, we never say it out loud, just in the murmurings in our hearts.  How often do we play the fool, the practical atheist, by doubting the goodness of God?
     This man, Joseph, was not such a complainer; although, from a human perspective, he had every reason to be.  Why not rebel against a God who allowed you to be sold by your brothers, enslaved in Egypt, and convicted of a crime you didn't commit?  Why not?  Because Joseph believed that regardless of what the circumstances seemed to be, God was working behind the scenes doing good.  All of Joseph's experiences screamed that God was a liar.  Yet, Joseph remained faithful.  He believed that even if man meant it for evil, that God meant it for good.  He believed it; and consequently, he lived it everyday in every circumstance.  He was a reliable son, a faithful slave, a resister of temptation no matter what the cost, and a model prisoner.
     Yet, all these acts of faith were surpassed by Joseph's deathbed command that when the children of Israel left Egypt, they were to take his bones with them.  What was so encouraging about Joseph's request?  First, it was a clear statement to Israel that God never forgets a promise.  No matter what you see around you.  No matter what you are experiencing.  Trust Him.  Second, Joseph's commandment concerning his bones was a clear proclamation that he was not an Egyptian but an Israelite--a child of God.  Dead or alive his inheritance was with the people of God.  He would rather be remembered as God's servant than the prime minister of Egypt.  I have often wondered how Joseph's testimony influenced a young man like Moses who "refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God."  And that last aspect of Joseph's faith is perhaps his greatest legacy.  The faithfulness of Joseph has been an encouragement and exhortation to countless Christians down through the ages.  May each of us so live in pit or prison or palace that others will say of us:  his life and death radiated his confidence in the eternal truth that God is good, that His love endures forever.