His brothers betrayed him.

Sold into slavery.

Falsely accused and thrown into prison.

And forgotten.

As a young teenager Joseph had been given divine dreams that promised a future of high honor and position. But at the age of 17 and for the next 13 years, those dreams receded into the realm of impossibility as his life went from bad to worse. Yet through it all, Joseph never lost his faith and hope in God. Even in the darkest and most desperate moments, he remained honorable in all he did. 

Now God didn’t cause Joseph’s brother to hate him. It was his father’s (Jacob’s) blatant favoritism that fueled this hatred.

God didn’t cause Joseph to be thrown into prison. It was the amorous advances and false accusation of Potipher’s wife.

Joseph didn’t deserve to be enslaved or imprisoned. So why did God wait 13 years until He miraculously intervened? The Psalmist provides an answer:

“Until the time came to fulfill his dreams, the LORD tested Joseph’s character.” (Ps. 105:19)

God used this season of adversity to test Joseph’s character—and Joseph passed the test!

Adversity did not make Joseph adversarial. Adversity had not embittered him. Instead, Joseph showed grace, mercy and forgiveness in the midst of adversity. When Joseph was miraculously elevated from prison to a prince of Egypt, he understood how God had used adversity to form in him a godly character—a character that was that  necessary in order for his life’s purpose to be fulfilled.

And now millennia later, like Joseph we, too, are living in a season of adversity. 

Maybe we aren’t in a physical prison, but certainly with COVID-19 we are living with restrictions our generation has never experienced before. We may not be falsely accused of sexual assault like Joseph, but we certainly have felt the bitter assault of conflicting political opinions. The exposure of racial injustice and the ensuing racial tensions have pierced the soul of this nation. Economic uncertainty looms on every side. 

So how can God work all of this adversity for our good? (Rom. 8:28) He can use this time of adversity to test and perfect our character. It’s a time to evaluate and do a “heart” check. 

In the midst of this adversity, have we become adversarial? Do we taste our words before we speak them? Are they laced with invectives and condemnations?Or are they bathed with grace and love?

Do we reread our posts before we share them? Do we consider how they may be written in a way that will wound someone who holds a differing opinion? Or how they may provoke an inflamed reaction?

Perhaps this is a season where God wants all of us to consider how our words and actions reveal our character, especially when we are interacting with those who think or believe differently than we do. 

During this time of adversity, let’s reflect God’s grace and love by what we say, by what we write, by how we act, by how we react. Let’s pass the character test!