Mr. Gerald Weston: Lessons From Joseph’s Life
Author: David Markopoulos | Living Education
These posts summarize the forums that our Living Education-Charlotte students attend each week.
As this year of Living Education-Charlotte comes to a close, the students were privileged to receive a final forum address from Mr. Gerald Weston, Presiding Evangelist of the Living Church of God. In Mr. Weston’s message, he discussed an individual in the Bible who became unusually successful on more than one front, and who shared some lessons we can draw from his life – the character of Joseph.
How Do You Count Success?
Mr. Weston began by asking the students this question. It’s easy to try and measure success by human metrics: money, popularity, status, or resources. But real success is measured by obedience to God and living according to His principles. In turn, God is the One who blesses us with more than we could ever imagine – even if we don’t always see how things will work out.
That is what happened to Joseph. Genesis 37:1 states that Joseph was merely 17 when his life began to change in some very dramatic ways. Joseph was young, and while clearly living according to a different standard of morality than some of his brothers, was at times a little too exuberant in his demeanor. His dreams angered his brothers, and his quickness to tell his brothers all about it led them to sell him into slavery.
Not the End of the Story
As Mr. Weston pointed out, if we didn’t know how the story ended, it would be easy to draw some rather reasonable conclusions and leave it at that. Here was a young man who, while trying to do the right thing, should perhaps have been a little more tactful, and here was a seemingly hopeless ending.
But the story doesn’t end with despair. In fact, it’s only the beginning. Proverbs 16:7 states that “when a man’s ways please the Lord, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.” Even though he was in a foreign land, Joseph found favor with his new master, Potiphar – such that he was given responsibility over his entire house.
Joseph Excelled
Joseph distinguished himself among Potiphar’s other servants. He went above and beyond, and impressed Potiphar to the point of elevating him above the others. Mr. Weston pointed out that there was a noticeable difference between Joseph and the other servants, and that Potiphar was capable of recognizing it.
Even when faced with false accusations of misconduct by Potiphar’s wife, Potiphar may not have fully believed her. Instead of executing Joseph, he allowed him to live in prison, and even in those dire circumstances, Joseph did not lose heart. In fact, Joseph continued to find favor with the authorities in prison, and distinguished himself even in those difficult circumstances.
God Has a Time For Each of Us
It wasn’t God’s plan for Joseph to remain in prison forever – in time, He did release him. But even in a time of waiting, God did not leave Joseph to his own devices and forget about him – God was preparing him for a time when he would be in charge over all Egypt. Similarly, God allows us to go through times of blessings and times of difficulty in order to teach us lessons, as well as to prepare us for future roles and responsibilities. What we do in the meantime is just as important as what we do when it becomes our time.
Joseph could not have predicted that he would meet Pharaoh’s cupbearer and baker, or the role they would play in his life. He could not have predicted that he would be released to meet Pharaoh. And he could not have predicted that God would allow him to be elevated to the station he would later fill. But even though he didn’t have a picture of what his future would be, Joseph never wavered in his faith or his principles. He still carried himself with intention and applied quality to his behavior – even taking the time to shave before meeting Pharaoh. Through all of it, Joseph gave credit to God for his success.
Lessons From Joseph
Joseph was a young man who distinguished himself among his peers because of his character, values, and commitment to living God’s way in spite of his popularity. He was hardworking and trustworthy, and was an excellent example of Proverbs 22:29: “Do you see a man who excels in his work? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before unknown men.” God chooses to elevate or humble us depending on the lessons He wants us to learn – but regardless of the circumstances in which we find ourselves, we should be grateful for His involvement in our lives, and we should strive to adhere to His principles faithfully. Like Joseph, we must do our part, strive for excellence in our conduct and the endeavors we take on, and stay focused.
Success can be measured in many ways – but our real goal should be to become part of God’s Family in the Kingdom. Matthew 6:33 tells us to “seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” While it’s not wrong to have earthly goals, we need to stay focused on what is important. It’s important for us to have a balance between keeping that focus, and trying to do well at what we have been given here and now.
When it comes to our own lives, we have the same choice Joseph did – how will we choose to conduct ourselves? If choose to live our lives like Joseph did, we’re staying committed to a way of life that is bigger than any earthly successes we could ever imagine.
David Markopoulos is a Living Education alumnus from the 2023-2025 school years. Originally hailing from Chicago, he currently works for the Living Education program.