Go Go Go Joseph

Thanks to Broadway, there's a Bible story we all know just a little better than most: the story of Joseph, his coat of many colors, and his brothers of many jealousies. It strikes chords of common experience in practically every human with a pulse. The story of Jacob's family rivals any reality TV show of today in drama, and there's something for everyone to relate to and learn from in studying it.

Joseph was my favorite Bible story long before the fabulous musical came along; I've loved it since I was a little kid. Without fully understanding why, I knew Joseph was different - even special. Talk about what to do with those lemons life hands you. Of course, this was before I knew he was my grandpa. Even as a little kid, I could recognize exceptional behavior in difficult circumstances, and hoped I was a person capable of that.

Joseph's life pre-Egypt was complicated enough; you can't tell me those brothers loved and adored him till Dad gave him a coat. There had to have already been obvious preference shown, just as there was between the wives. And kids would notice something like tension between their mothers. Then Joseph guilelessly shares his dreams - I like to think it was guileless anyway, maybe just my opinion... And then the coat.

"But the Lord was with Joseph..." (Genesis 39:21)

Warning: I am going to do a LOT of extrapolating now to lay out a theory, based on what I've learned from my own trials.

I've handled a few of my trials with the grace of Joseph. No, it's true - the Lord actually confirmed this through the power of the Holy Ghost, so I'm only reporting the facts. That's one end on the scale of how I handle life's afflictions. However, the way I handle most of my trials lands firmly on the other end of that scale and has all the grace of a petulant toddler.

Let's start with some absolutes: believers know that God is always good. This is His character. It's completely against His nature as God to ever DO anything unkind, cruel, or evil.

Of course, this is a sticking point with non-believers who insist there must not be a God because the world is so full of unkindness, cruelty and evil. They fail to acknowledge these are products of a fallen world, and the individual agency of humans. But - if you start from a premise that the SOURCE of these things is never God - and that He CAN'T by His very nature AS God - DO anything evil - that means the source of the evil will never be Him.

Believers know that God loves all His children - unequivocally, eternally, and equally. Our value to Him is completely independent of our behavior. THANK. HEAVENS.

So what does THAT mean - "the Lord was with Joseph" ?? If He is always with His children and loves us all the same - what is up with all these different outcomes? SOME people serve as slaves and never get put in charge of the household - God's with THEM, isn't He? Others go to prison for years and rot there - unjustly - and God is with them as well? What gives?

This is the part where I extrapolate.

If you ask a person who has gone through something extreme: waiting for days to be rescued from the bottom of a well, being forced into slavery - because there's more slavery today than ever before in history - being unjustly accused of something you didn't do and not being believed, or languishing years in prison even though you're innocent - believers will tell you God was with you the whole time.

Yet sometimes, in the waiting, it really can feel like you're completely alone. If Jesus Himself can cry from the cross, "Why hast Thou forsaken me?" (Matthew 27:46), then clearly we're meant to experience the sensation of total abandonment as part of mortality.

The meme that perkily suggests: "Remember when it feels like God has abandoned you: the teacher is always silent during the test" is SO not helpful while the suffering continues - and even increases.

But if the Lord is with US - as He was with Joseph - OUR job is to be WITH HIM.

Be here now.

Maintaining a spiritual focus is some of the highest, holiest stuff we practice in this life, and if we start with the premise that He is in fact - with us - than the practice is to find Him - feel Him - tell Him you're not having a great time - ask Him to just be with you and mourn with you. In my worst moments, I found myself going straight to Gethsemane or Calvary in my mind, and asking in wonder, "This is wrecking me - breaking me - and You did worse for all of us. How did you do it? WHY did you do it?"

In answering this, I would come back to the unequivocal, eternal, and equal love. He did it because He loves us - for the joy that was set before Him (Hebrews 12:2) knowing His infinite sacrifice was our only way home. THIS is what finally taught me to praising Him for the experience.

My own suffering has led me to this conclusion: if I'm willing to be in the moment of suffering with Jesus, the space of suffering is so tiny that you can't help but bump into Him there. He's right there.

When the scriptures tell us the Lord was WITH Joseph, that's code for "and He'll be with you, too." Those six words mean Joseph didn't abandon God because of unexpected outcomes and circumstances - so God didn't abandon Him.

To be clear: while some humans MAY abandon God in their suffering - allowing it to turn into misery - God will never abandon you. Ever. First premise: it's against His nature to do so.

Never-ending trials are calculus problems on our earth test. When I was in my worst, several rescue packs were sent by the power of the Holy Ghost to buoy me up and help me drown out the voice of the destroyer that would demand answers and meaning immediately.

I read or listened to these talks repeatedly over months of illness and recovery. They were salve to spiritual wounds and articulated emotions I was experiencing:

• "Lessons from Liberty Jail," Jeffrey R. Holland, BYU Devotional, September 7, 2008 (https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/jeffrey-r-holland/lessons-liberty-jail/)

• "Hope Ya Know, We Had a Hard Time," Quentin L. Cook, General Conference, October 2008 (https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2008/10/hope-ya-know-we-had-a-hard-time?lang=eng)

• "One Percent Better," Michael A. Dunn, General Conference, October 2021 (https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2021/10/54dunn?lang=eng)

As God's beloved children, there is room to go to Him and say "ouch." Repeatedly. Telling Him we're having a hard time is not murmuring. Telling Him we're discouraged that the progress is slow is not whining. More often than delivering us, Jesus strengthens our backs for burdens too heavy to carry, or gives us strength to forgive the unforgivable. Sometimes - all He does is sit with us and mourn with us, because He knows we're having a hard time. He's already had it.

Jesus didn't go into that garden and die on the cross - completely alone - to leave you to do it alone. He lived the worst couple of days ever lived by a human - half human that He was - so you don't have to do it alone.

The Lord will be with you. It's not in His character to ever leave you.