Yesterday in a sermon we had a guest speaker talking about Joseph in Egypt (Genesis 37:13-36, and chapters 39-41). He pointed out some things about Joseph that made him a good leader, like his diligence, helpfulness, and humility.
Joseph must have been a man of good character before he even got to Egypt, otherwise he probably wouldn’t have done anywhere near so well. While a slave in Potiphar’s house, he could have just done the bare minimum, stewing in anger over what his brothers had done to him, and plotting an escape. But instead Joseph was diligent, helpful, and humble. He did the best job he could and ended up in charge as an administrator or steward of the household. Potiphar wasn’t worried about anything because he knew Joseph had things taken care of.
But then Potiphar’s wife falsely accused Joseph of assault and landed him in prison. Joseph could have sulked there, complaining about how this wasn’t fair while sitting and pining for home. Instead he was diligent, helpful, and humble. He did such a good job even in prison that he ended up in charge of everything there, too! The jailor noticed Joseph was an upstanding and diligent man, so wasn’t even worried about things whenever Joseph was in charge of them.
Still, prison isn’t really a place you want to stay, so as soon as Joseph had an opportunity to get out, he took it. God gave Joseph the ability to interpret the dreams of two of the Pharaoh’s close servants, and one of them, the butler, was able to put in a good word for Joseph so he could get out of jail. Joseph didn’t make demands of the butler or the baker, he simply served and helped them. He then politely asked the butler to speak to the Pharaoh. Joseph was diligent, helpful, and humble yet again. But then the butler forgot about Joseph for two years until Pharaoh had two super strange dreams. At this point the butler remembered that he knew a guy who could interpret.
Pharaoh called for Joseph, and God gave Joseph the ability to interpret Pharaoh’s dreams. Here is where Joseph could have laid out some demands like, “Yeah, I’ll interpret your dreams, Pharaoh, but I have some things I need you to do for me.” Joseph could even have simply interpreted the dreams, told Pharaoh the bad news about the famine, and just left it at that and gone wherever. But without stipulating demands, Joseph let Pharaoh know that God was showing him some important good news and bad news, told him what it was, and then he offered help unprompted. Joseph sat there and did a little quick math in his head, figuring about how much the Egyptians would need to put away during the years of plenty so they could survive the years of famine afterwards, and told Pharaoh the best course of action. He was being diligent, helpful, and humble yet again.
At this, Pharaoh realized that Joseph really knew what he was doing, so he up and put Joseph in charge of the solution. In the span of just a few hours, Joseph went from prison to being just under Pharaoh in Egyptian authority! And then he continued to be diligent, helpful, and humble. He did his job right and he did it well, and many more people around the Egyptians survived the famine thanks to Joseph’s leadership.
Concluding the sermon, the preacher summarized leadership again. Diligence, helpfulness, and humility are character traits you need to be a good leader. You lead by example. You do what’s right, even when it’s easier not to. You do what’s right with the right attitude, even when it’s easier not to. You don’t have to boss people around. You don’t have to make demands. You don’t always have to have specific incentive to do something helpful. You do your work to magnify God and not for personal gain. It isn’t wrong to have personal gain, but if that’s your reason, then you’re not doing things for the right reason. The changeable environment around you will stop being motivating more often than not, so if God isn’t your motivation, you can easily give up on working hard for the right things.
Whether you’re officially leading or not, these are all important things to gain and keep in your life. Keep your focus on God’s plan, and things will eventually fall into place. Keep your focus on God’s love and grace, and you’ll be able to get where you’re supposed to be going just fine.
Related:
How Did Joseph Feel in Egypt?
Faith Outside of Trials