Proverbs 19:10 Situations
Solomon points out that our station in life governs our situation too. Moving from one ‘station’ to another is often under God’s hand.
This is another stand-alone proverb, according to my bible helps. I honestly can’t say I have seen one exactly like it before. We have come across similar themes that speak of fitting roles for fools and righteous men. Let’s see where the Spirit leads us with this proverb.
The most famous story about a ‘change in station’ is the story of Joseph. He went from favored son to slave to prince of all Egypt and savior of his people. He didn’t move himself along this path; God did. God used his brothers to place him where he needed to be to save his people. Other than that station, he had to be prepared for his next station.
We don’t know the exact timeline of each of Joseph’s changes in station. We do know that the full process took 13 years. But there were even years of training before he was thrown into the role of a servant. As Jacob’s favorite son, I have no doubt that he taught Joseph how to read, write, and make calculations. Joseph also learned obedience, responsibility, integrity, and a degree of oversight of others. THE most important thing Joseph learned in those first 17 years was about God. He learned to seek Him and how to hear Him. Joseph may not have always understood the dreams he received from God right away but he knew to trust them. I have a feeling that the two dreams we hear about are not the only ones he had.
Joseph’s first lesson when he became a slave was humility. Joseph’s station had always been near the top of his family. Now he was in the station of the lowest of men. He got a bonus lesson in sorrow and hopefully trust in God.
Imagine Joseph’s day as he is hauled onto the auction block in Egypt. His handlers are peppered with questions about his skills. His body is inspected for strength and health. Even his teeth are examined in this process. He may have been asked if he could read. We don’t know how many of his talents were discovered before Potiphar purchased his life. Was there a bidding war for him? Was he thought one of the lesser desirable slaves because of his race?
Potiphar brings Joseph home. He may have started out a household slave or he may have been put in with the field workers. Wherever he was at he had to learn his new station. He had to learn what was expected. How to bow to Potiphar and his wife. How the house was to be cleaned or the fields worked.
As Joseph learned the tasks required of him he began to stand out among his peers. His sense of responsibility served him well. His full value was finally recognized and he was put in charge of all that Potiphar owned. But there was a ‘fly in the ointment’. Potiphar’s wife had her eyes fixed on him. We don’t know how long she chased him but our bible says it went on “day by day.” How many days it was before she finally had him in the house alone, no one alive today knows. She taught Joseph some lessons with her pursuit. Joseph learned loyalty to his master, master over his own physical desires, and treachery. He also learned that, as a slave, his word carried little weight. Potiphar easily believed his wife over Joseph.
Joseph’s next station was convict/prisoner. He learned how to calm himself in a confined space, what his jailers expected of him, and how to win their favor. He again stood out among his peers. Maybe those around him were violent and Joseph wasn’t. Maybe they were demanding of the guards. Whatever it was that Joseph did, he found himself in another new role; jailer’s assistant. He learned how to care for the other prisoners, what to report to his masters, and what to keep to himself. He also learned how to relate to the other prisoners. He was not ‘proud’ in his role. He was humble and willing to serve. He continued to cling to the promise of his dreams and hold fast to his faith.
When Joseph was brought before Pharaoh he had already learned how to oversee others. He had learned how to be a leader and inspire others. He had the background and early training required in his next position. Loyalty, accountability, integrity were all part of who he had become. He had learned how to motivate people and he used it well to bring the people of Egypt to conform to his plans.
Other crucial lessons he also learned was forgiveness and mercy. These would be used not only on his brothers but for Potiphar, his wife, and all of Egypt as they came to him for food. Joseph learned well how to increase his wealth, thereby increasing Pharaoh’s wealth too. He didn’t feed the people for free. By the time the famine ended Pharaoh owned ALL the land and the people in it. Only the land where his family lived was free of Pharaoh’s liens.
ALL THIS is to say that the “fool” who lives in luxury and the slave who rules over princes cannot step from one station to the next. They would have to have training, as Joseph did. The Prince and the Pauper story can’t happen. The slave would have no idea how to rule. The fool would have no care with the fortune he had been given. One must have understanding of their own station in life to be of any value. And they must prepare if they are to move to a different station.
Another example that just popped into my mind was the transition from slavery to freedom in America. The slave had ALL the knowledge for working the fields. They knew how to care for their families and homes. But they had no training in reading, writing, managing money, and ownership of property. They were taken advantage of by their former masters with the promise of a better life. They were no longer whipped at the master’s discretion but they lived in indentured servitude by the money charged to them for farming their newly leased property. It took time for them to learn the rules of their new station. And it took a LONG time for those already occupying that new station to accept them as equals.
As children of God we occupy a special ‘station’. We too have to learn the rules and roles of our station. We do this by reading God’s word and talking with Him through prayer. The Holy Spirit is our main teacher and He is preparing us for the next phase of that station; living with God in Heaven. We wouldn’t fit in well if we moved to the next station immediately. We would stick out like the wedding guest who didn’t change into appropriate clothes for the ceremony.
Father God, thank You for training me to be Your child forever. For ‘house breaking’ me. I want everything I do to be a reflection of Your love and Your time spent preparing me for eternity with You. Please continue shaping my life into what it needs to be.
