Bible Study Review: Finding God Faithful by Kelly Minter
Every Wednesday for the past 8 weeks or so, a group of ladies from my church has been gathering to go through "Finding God Faithful: A Study On The Life Of Joseph" by Kelly Minter. I have to admit that when this study was first picked, I was not super excited to focus in on Joseph; a patriarch whose story I thought I was already very familiar with. However, I quickly learned there were so many subtle lessons packed away in Joseph's life that I had previously missed. These lessons I've found are not only extremely helpful in my daily life, but more importantly have brought me closer to Jesus. I was absolutely overwhelmed at all the parallels between Joseph's life and Jesus' life. I had simply never noticed it before. My poor women's group is probably so sick of hearing me nerd out about it, so I decided to write an extra blog post this month to share my notes with you!
8 parallels between Joseph and Jesus - and what it means for you today:
After years of hurt, bad decisions, and separation; Joseph reconciled his entire family with a single act of forgiveness. After years of humanity's sins, Jesus came to reconcile the entire world with God the Father in a single act of forgiveness.
When Joseph was born his mother Rachel said, "God has taken away my disgrace." Jesus would later be born to take away the sin and disgrace of the entire world.
During the great famine, Joseph saved Egypt and it's surrounding nations with grain from his storehouses. Later, Jesus would prove to be the Bread of Life that would save all nations.
Joseph's robe would be torn and dipped in blood; only to later be a symbol of redemption. Similarly, Jesus' clothes were torn off and his body left bloody; only to later be symbol of redemption all over the world.
Joseph's sinful brothers had an important role to play in the story of their people's deliverance; just like the people in Jesus' time who condemned him to death played an important role in the story of our deliverance.
Joseph's brothers had no idea the complex story they were putting into motion when they sold him into slavery. It would require more mercy than they could even imagine for Joseph to forgive them and yet he did. We as humans need more mercy from Jesus than we can even imagine and yet he forgives us.
During the period of time when Joseph was testing his brother's character, he didn't know exactly how God would work out all the details. He didn't worry himself over logistics and simply held tight to God's promise. Jesus also did not worry himself over every little detail of how his story would play out, but rather focused on God. Jesus literally said in Matthew 6:34, "So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today." This is a huge lesson for us, especially during this time. The devil wants us focused on the details, but God wants us focused on him.
I know I referenced Joseph's storehouses before, but this was a big takeaway for me. The grain Joseph had stored away was enough to get the people of the land through the food shortage. They had put a little at a time away during their time of abundance, so that they had something to draw on during their time of famine. Similarly, the sacrifice that Jesus made for us is enough to get us through any shortage. We need to store a little of that faith away during our times of abundance, so that we have something to draw on during our times of famine. And if you find yourself with faith to spare while your neighbor is struggling, by all means share your faith with them!
Now, on Sundays I typically share my shopping picks with you. Today my shopping list for you only has one item on it: the "Finding God Faithful" study book from LifeWay. This is a non-sponsored or affiliated post. It's that important to me that you read this study. LifeWay is even doing a special where you can get the study book in an e-book format for only $5! Check it out at the link below and please let me know what the Lord shares with you through it!
https://www.lifeway.com/content/lifeway/us/en/product-family/finding-god-faithful.html
XO - Olivia