Genesis 37:18-30 KJV
And when they saw him afar off, even before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him. [19] And they said one to another, Behold, this dreamer cometh. [20] Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will say, Some evil beast hath devoured him: and we shall see what will become of his dreams. [21] And Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands; and said, Let us not kill him. [22] And Reuben said unto them, Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit that is in the wilderness, and lay no hand upon him; that he might rid him out of their hands, to deliver him to his father again. [23] And it came to pass, when Joseph was come unto his brethren, that they stript Joseph out of his coat, his coat of many colours that was on him; [24] And they took him, and cast him into a pit: and the pit was empty, there was no water in it. [25] And they sat down to eat bread: and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and, behold, a company of Ishmeelites came from Gilead with their camels bearing spicery and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt. [26] And Judah said unto his brethren, What profit is it if we slay our brother, and conceal his blood? [27] Come, and let us sell him to the Ishmeelites, and let not our hand be upon him; for he is our brother and our flesh. And his brethren were content. [28] Then there passed by Midianites merchantmen; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmeelites for twenty pieces of silver: and they brought Joseph into Egypt. [29] And Reuben returned unto the pit; and, behold, Joseph was not in the pit; and he rent his clothes. [30] And he returned unto his brethren, and said, The child is not; and I, whither shall I go?


Have you ever heard the phrase, that isn't all? This is just the beginning?

This could be said of Joseph. He has been thrown into the pit and his coat has been stripped off of him only because of the hatred that his brothers had.

Joseph's life is seeming like its going downward while his brothers lives are going upward. Sounds like it for the moment but it was the truth at all.

In fact this is just the beginning of a set of trials that Joseph must face that will lead him in second in command to help Egypt and the surrounding area to live through the famine.

While Joseph's life seems like its going downward, you must remember that Gods way up is down and before he can promote Joseph to second in command he must prune away Joseph so he could receive the promotion.

We all the tine hear of things happening and we always say that isn't all that was just the start but when its all said and done we can look back at how God worked in the lives of those while in trial.

It was said that John Wesley in his diary wrote on numerous occasions that he was run off here and told not to come back there and even went into a cow pasture and a bull was let loose then one day ten thousand people came to hear him.

The start seemed like failure but the end was full of triumph.

Lessons learned

1. We must always remember there is a reason for why we go through what we go through.

2. Keep your eyes on Christ and not on your circumstance

3. Remember God's pruning will always lead to God's blessings.

Thank you for reading today's fire-starter devotional. Please share this with someone. Also please send your prayer request to prayer@rtfministries.net by tomorrow evening and subscribe to my youtube channel @rekindlingthefire