The Right Time

We've made a lot about Joseph's character.  Joseph said no to temptation at the most critical moment of his life.  He said no the easy way out.  He said no to a life of sensory fulfillment.  And in so doing, he set himself on a life trajectory that he couldn't have predicted ... not in his wildest dreams.  Well ... let me take that back ... I guess he did predict it his wildest dreams.  You remember his dreams, don't you? Joseph is standing in the center and everyone in his family, including his mother and father, are bowing down to him. They were pretty heady dreams. But while he was subexisting in a dark and damp Egyptian prison cell he must have second-guessed the dreams.  Surely, this was not the road to the lap of luxury and royal power.

It shouldn't be too much of a surprise when Joseph is able to stand against temptation.  Joseph's ability to say no -- to wait for the appropriate time -- was something that could be found in him pretty early on.  He has the dreams.  He foolishly, almost naively announces the content of the dreams (it almost gets him killed).  But right after the dream is announced, his father sends him on an errand, and he obeys.  No questions asked.  No smart retort.  No complaining.  Just simple obedience.  The dreams tell him that he will rule over his father.  But Joseph knows inherently that the dream's time has not yet come.  For the moment, the father still rules over the son.  So Joseph obeys.  The future ruler is first a dutiful son.

Many years later, after Joseph comes into power in Egypt, his brothers come to him for help. He recognizes them.  They do not recognize him.  They bow before him.  Joseph has a flashback to the dream.  He now has the power to do unto them as they did unto him.  But Jospeh doesn't do that.  Instead, overwrought with emotion, with a big group hug, he forgives them. 

The day that he shared the dreams as a young boy was not the right time to make them come true. The sexual advances of Potiphar's wife was not the right time or the right way to grab for power.  The moment that his brothers bowed before him begging for mercy was not the right time to avenge the past. Here is another secret to Joseph's success: He has the ability to wait for the right time.
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