JOSEPH.

He was the favored son of twelve, and his dad made him a colorful coat. He wore it–big mistake. Then he had a dream about his brothers bowing down to him, and he told them. Big mistake #2. They were jealous and hated him, finally selling him as a slave. So much for a fancy coat.

He could have been bitter, but instead he did what he could for his new boss. Captain Potiphar could see that Joseph was trustworthy and gave him charge of his home. Then he got framed by Potiphar’s wife for wisely refusing her advances–and landed in prison.

But the same thing happened. Rather than turning resentful and becoming a victim, he did what he could. The guard could see that he had character and put him in charge of all the prisoners. We are told, “Whatever was done there, he was the one who did it” (Genesis 39:22).

So while he kept going down and down, from son to slave to prisoner, he accepted his situation without growing bitter or hateful, and the Lord gave him success.

Then he interpreted dreams accurately for the butler and baker and asked the butler to remember him before Pharaoh when he was reinstated. He forgot. Again, he could have grown so resentful as to become unusable to the Lord or to people. But he maintained his positive spirit in the presence of pain rather than surrendering to doubt or depression, which would have blocked his ability to perform his duties.

When Pharaoh needed an interpreter for his two dreams, the magicians and wise men all failed. Then the cupbearer remembered the young man in prison, the Hebrew–two lousy years later. Joseph could have been consumed with unforgiveness, blocking him from the ability to interpret dreams.

Not Joseph. He was up for the challenge, and he became the second most powerful person on the planet. Had he given in to discouragement, which would have been understandable, he would have sacrificed his future. Way to go, Joe!

JOSHUA.

Moses is dead. He had totally dismantled the most powerful nation of the world with ten plagues in two weeks. He managed to wipe out the Egyptian army with one wave of his rod. He was the human instrument for signs and wonders of colossal proportion never seen before or since on the planet. He took a nation of two million on a hike for forty years through barren land.

During that time their shoes and clothes did not wear out. They were served up breakfast from heaven–every day. He made water flow from a rock two times. He spoke with God face to face on a regular basis.

Now Joshua is taking over. “Okay, go for it, Josh.” Hard act to follow? No. Forty years of hard acts. Joshua is told to bring the nation across the river and into a hostile land that would be theirs–if they can overcome the nationals who have other plans for them, some of whom are giants.

God speaks to Joshua, at least hesitant about his job description if not shaking in his sandals: “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9).

That word is repeated three more times in the same chapter. Really? Don’t be discouraged? With what he has been handed? Impossible command. Who could obey it? How could he not give in from time to time? Come to think of it, what command from God is possible? How about, “Pray without ceasing,” or “Rejoice in the Lord always,” or “Have no anxiety about anything?”

Every command is an impossibility. If they were not, we could pull off the Christian life without the aid of the Holy Spirit. Joshua put his trust in the right place, and he carried out his assignment to the fullest. Good going, Josh!

DAVID.

When he as a fugitive returned to Ziklag with his fighting men, they found that the Amalekites had raided their camp, burned it and had taken captive all the women and children. The men wept “until they had no more strength to weep” (1 Samuel 30:4).

“And David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because all the people were bitter in soul…But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God” (6b). He asked the Lord, “Shall I pursue after this band? Shall I overtake them?” The Lord answered him, “Pursue, for you shall surely overtake and shall surely rescue all” (8). He went after the enemy with six hundred.

An Egyptian was found that tipped them off on where the Amalekites were. They attacked them by surprise and recovered everyone and everything! Way to encourage yourself in God rather than giving in to despair. Nice save, Dave!

PAUL

When Paul and Silas came to Philippi, they went to a place of prayer down by a riverside and spoke to a group of women. One of them, Lydia, opened her heart, was baptized together with her household, and convinced them to stay at her house.

Going again to the place of prayer, Paul and Silas were met by a demonized slave girl who made her owners rich by fortune-telling. After days of annoyance, Paul commanded the demon to leave. The angry owners dragged Paul and Silas to the magistrates, who along with the crowd tore off their clothes and beat them with rods. Then they threw them into prison and fastened their feet in stocks.

So what should you do if you were badly beaten unjustly, uncomfortable with stocks, and sleep eludes you? At midnight Paul leaned over and asked Silas if he knew any good worship choruses. They sang while the other prisoners listened.

An earthquake shook the foundations of the prison and opened all the doors. The jailer assumed that he had lost all the prisoners and drew his sword. Paul stopped him saying that no one had escaped. Amazing for Paul to have that kind of authority with all the prisoners. This made the jailer fall before Paul and ask how he and his household could be saved. After the wounds were washed, the happy jailer and his family were baptized. A new church in Philippi, one that Paul felt especially close to, was launched out of great suffering. Nice call, Paul!