Emily Romrell

Estimated Reading Time 10 Minutes

Hey you! Welcome to the Vibrant Life Podcast. I’m Emily Romrell. I am doing great. Life is good. I love spring. I love watching the world wake up after the long sleep of winter. Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “The earth laughs in flowers.” And I think that’s true. Blooms are popping out everywhere and the air is fresh and new with possibility. Everything feels more hopeful in the Spring.

Things are moving along with the podcast. We made it to episode six people. I really appreciate the support I’ve received so far. If you have time, a review on iTunes or Spotify would be spectacular. Thanks for helping me reach more listeners and getting this podcast to as many people as possible.

Today we’re talking about Prospering By Degrees. This is something that I’ve thought a lot about over a long period of time. I’ve contemplated the nature of growth and achievement and what it means to become a higher version of yourself. What is required to level up in life?

The truth is that personal development is a process. It doesn’t happen instantaneously. If you look at any big success or achievement you can break it down into building blocks of ideas and actions. These ideas and actions grow in fascinating ways and compound exponentially. Sometimes the growth is rapid because the excitement and energy behind the effort are massive. Other times things take longer to develop. But the timeframe is not necessarily as important as the process or model it takes to get where you want to go.

One of the best examples demonstrating this process of prospering by degrees is the story of Joseph of Egypt. It’s an Old Testament tale so if you practice Christianity, Judaism, or Islam, you are probably familiar with it. It’s one of the oldest dramas in history containing a great amount of wisdom.

So Joseph was the second to the youngest son of Jacob who later became Israel. He had 10 older brothers who in society held a higher standing than he did. But Jacob loved Joseph best because he was the son of his favorite wife Rachel. Basically what you need to know is that Joseph was born into the middle of a large and important family. And like most families, there were some dysfunctional things happening.

One of the fascinating things about Joseph is that he had some special talents. He had the ability to both receive prophetic dreams and interpret them. So Joseph is seventeen years old and he’s a shepherd taking care of his father’s flocks. It’s not really a position of power in the family. But he has a couple of these dreams and tells his brothers that he’s destined to become a ruler over them. The brothers who already envy Joseph because he’s the favorite are understandably pretty upset by this. So they decide to kill him.

There’s a couple of points that I want to make here at the beginning. First, Joseph was born into a complicated family. Like all of us, there were both good and bad things about his situation. Sometimes it’s easy to blame the circumstances of our birth for the results of where we end up in life. Sure, it can influence the beginning, but ultimately it’s our own actions and choices that determine our destiny. I think the story of Joseph shows us that.

Okay, so the brothers set up this plan to kill Joseph in the desert. They dig a big pit and plan to abandon him there. but while this is happening they see some Ishmaelites coming and think, “Hey, maybe we could make some money.” So instead of leaving Joseph to die they sell him into slavery. Then the brothers take Joseph’s famous coat of many colors and smear it with blood from a goat and they give the coat to Jacob telling him that Joseph was killed.

Things were looking pretty bad for Joseph. You can’t go much lower than a slave in life. But he obviously made an impact even to the slave traders because he was sold to a very important man named Potiphar. In the bible it describes Potiphar as the captain of the guard. There is some dispute what that means. The Hebrew phrase translates to “chief of the butchers or slaughterers.” so some scholars think that he was the chief cook or steward in the house of the pharaoh. Other academics believe it refers to being an executioner making Potiphar the “commanding officer of the royal bodyguard, who executed the capital sentences ordered by the king” Both positions were significant, but if he was the royal executioner, Potiphar would have been especially powerful in Egypt.

So things are starting to look better for Joseph. He works hard and becomes Potiphar’s most trusted servant. Multiple times in the scriptures it says “The Lord was with Joseph” and “The Lord made all that he did to prosper in his hand”. It even says that Potiphar left so much to Joseph that Potiphar didn’t even know what he possessed except for the bread that he ate at night.

In my mind, I think Joseph prospered because he stayed true to himself and his beliefs. He believed in God and I don’t think he hid that fact. He was a Jewish shepherd living with the Egyptians. He stood out. I think he recognized this gave him advantages. Jacob was an important man and I’m sure he taught Joseph how to run an organization efficiently. Joseph didn’t sit around and moan about his troubles. He used his skills to better his situation. And important people took notice.

But hang on, right when things were looking up, Potiphar’s wife decides Joseph looks pretty snazzy and tries to seduce him. Joseph is loyal to Potiphar and denies the wife many times but one time she manages to grab his garment as he runs away. So the wife claims that Joseph tried to sleep with her and that he ran away when she cried out. This of course, makes Potiphar angry and Joseph is thrown into prison.

I think it’s so interesting when you look at stories of success, they are often stories of reversals. They say life is like a rollercoaster with its ups and downs. I like to think of it like the heartbeat lines on an electrocardiogram. The highs and lows let you know you’re alive. Everything seemed to be going great for Joseph but then he got knocked down even lower. I’ve definitely experienced that in my life. You think everything is finally okay, then the ground crumbles under your feet. It’s easy to get discouraged. I’m sure Joseph experienced all the negative feelings you’d expect. But he didn’t let life keep him down.

In prison, the Lord was still with Joseph and he prospered. So much so, that the keeper of the prison turned the whole management of the prison over to Joseph. He was trusted to handle everything. During this time, two of Pharaoh’s servants were sentenced to spend time in prison. The chief butler and the chief baker were both incarcerated at the same time. During the same night, both the butler and baker had significant dreams that they were unable to make sense of. When Joseph checked on them the next morning he noticed they were upset and you guessed it, he was able to interpret their dreams. It was good news for the butler. Joseph predicted that in three days the Pharaoh would restore him back to his place of honor. And Joseph asked the butler to tell the Pharaoh of his innocence and get him released from prison. The baker wasn’t so lucky. He asked Joseph to interpret his dream and was told that in three days he would be hanged. Everything happened just as Joseph foretold. The baker was executed and the butler was reinstated in the Pharaoh’s court. But the butler forgot about Joseph and didn’t mention him to the Pharaoh.

We don’t really know how long Joseph had to wait in prison. We know that he enjoyed more freedom than most in prison and the trust he received was remarkable. On the road to success or prosperity, there are often periods of waiting. Sometimes good things have to marinate for while. Like Tom Petty says, “The waiting is the hardest part.” Trusting in God’s timing is one of the most difficult aspects of faith. But I think it’s a critical part of being a believer. I love this quote from Corrie Ten Boom. She said, “Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.” Joseph is a prime example of that kind of faith. And again, Joseph didn’t sulk and despair during his periods of trial. He continued to use his talents and abilities. That is another feature of faith; continuing to do your best despite difficult circumstances.

The scriptures do tell us that it was two years after the butler had his experience in the prison before the story moves forward. When that time elapsed, Pharaoh had his own momentous dreams. And like others in this tale, Pharaoh is troubled because he doesn’t know what the dreams mean. He gets all his magicians and wise men together but no one is able to help. Then whaddayaknow? The butler remembers Joseph. So they bring Joseph before the Pharaoh and he interprets the Pharaoh’s dreams. Joseph explains that there will be seven years of plenty in Egypt followed by seven years of famine. God has given Pharaoh the dreams so he can prepare for the tough years coming. Joseph advises the Pharaoh that he should find a man to organize a food storage plan for the next seven years so Egypt can survive the following famine.

Who do you think the Pharaoh chose for this project? You guessed it. Joseph was put in charge of gathering the grain. But not only that. Pharaoh made Joseph ruler over all of Egypt second only to the Pharaoh himself. Talk about power. And how do you think Joseph was prepared to handle this power and the heavy tasks he was assigned? Well, he was 17 when he was sold into Egypt and He was 30 when he met the king. So for 23 years he was being shaped by his experiences and taught how to manage others in different situations. He learned from his father as a child. He learned how to manage Potiphar’s household, and he ran a prison. I think it’s a safe bet that Joseph knew how to run things efficiently. Because he trusted in God, and because he continued to refine his talents and skills, Joseph was positioned to save thousands of people from starvation. But the story gets even more poignant.

All of this time that Joseph was in Egypt, his family continued living their lives in Canaan. But when the famine came they go to Egypt to get food. There is quite a bit of back and forth between Joseph and His brothers that I won’t go into in this podcast. Ultimately though, Joseph sees that his initial dreams have come true and his brothers have bowed down to him as a ruler of Egypt. And because of Joseph’s faith and endurance through intense trials, he is the one that saves his family from the famine. Not only that, Joseph forgives his brothers for their mistreatment of him and acknowledges that his life played out just as it should have. He truly was a wise and honorable man.

I know this has been a pretty long story. But it’s the best account I know of that reflects what it means to prosper by degrees. And it took place around 2500 plus years ago. Talk about making an impression on humanity. Three major religions of the world consider this scripture. But even if you don’t believe that, the simple history of Joseph in Egypt is awe-inspiring. I’ve tried to explain the principles of prospering by degrees along the way. But just as a quick summary:

1. Don’t blame your circumstances for the results in your life. Whether it’s the circumstances you are born into or others that you are thrown into along the way.
2. Embrace your God-given talents and abilities, even if it seems to make things harder at first.
3. Stay true to your beliefs and who you are as a unique child of God.
4. Remember that there are usually many reversals on the road to success. In my mind I imagine switchbacks on mountain trails. There is a lot of back and forth, but you continue to climb higher and higher.
5. Many times long periods of waiting are required while experience refines us into who we need to be.
6. It’s important to continue to develop our skills and talents during these waiting periods.
7. Often people are placed in our path that lead to future connections and opportunities.
8. When we make the most of ourselves, we are positioned to serve others in wonderful ways.

I hope you’ve been able to find value in the podcast today. Sometimes I think it’s easy to feel that we are disadvantaged or that our dreams are taking too long to be realized. It’s easy to forget that life is a journey and it takes a lot of work to achieve big things. And many times setbacks are not really setbacks. They are necessary switchbacks on the personal mountains we all have to climb. When we finally reach the top, I think we’ll be able to appreciate the view and see how important all of those switchbacks were. When we get there, that sight is going to be spectacular.

Thanks again for spending some time with me today. Have a great week everybody and Live the Vibrant Life!