And He called for a famine upon the land; He broke the whole staff of bread. He sent a man before them, Joseph, who was sold as a slave. They afflicted his feet with fetters, he himself was laid in irons; until the time that his word came to pass, the word of the LORD tested him. (Psalm 105:16-19)
A sovereign God sends misery, miracles, and messengers to draw men to His mercy. In the midst of God's story about Himself and His people this seems to be a recurring theme. His word tests us. All too often the people of God finds themselves in a mess of someone's making. The purpose of God's promise is to shape us into people who simply believe God. We cannot be tested or refined unless we are faced with the option of doubting what God has said...the ancient test that began in the garden. Adversity has a way of bringing us into a place of decision. The decision to trust God in the midst of our trouble is based on certain stimuli...such as enduring misery when we are faced with something that doesn't resemble the blessing of God.
Joseph, sold into slavery by his brothers, imprisoned on account of false and slanderous allegations in Egypt, is given to us by the psalmist as a man in the middle of a mess. God was with Joseph. In fact, we are told that God's word tested him. Hard times in our human experience can lead us to Someone. Misery is often God's environment for miraculous deliverance. God will send men as messengers in the midst of that misery to proclaim His glory, power, and miraculous ways. Recounting the plagues of Egypt a few centuries later, we can know that the same God who judged Pharaoh still strikes down all false gods and delivers His people. But in the deliverance He will certainly test those He uses as His instruments. His word has tested us all. Joseph and Moses and me have been and are being tested to believe that all the LORD has said is true. The LORD, He is God. Receive it. Believe it. Be grateful for it.
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