I know it’s a little hard to see, but while walking the other day I noticed among the weeds, among the dullness of brown weeds, there was just a splash of color. Can you see it? Little eye treasures. Purple, yellow, cornflower blue. If you weren’t looking, you just might miss the color. I thought of Joseph. You know, the favorite son of Jacob who was gifted with a robe from his dad. The coat of many colors. Coats, cloaks or robes of that day were so important. Robes were used for everything from swaddling a baby, a pillow for your head, as security for a loan. They were usually colorless, short-sleeved, and knee-length, a pretty simple design, that was just downright bland. Those Israelites could be a very practical group of folks. These robes, coats, cloaks served a purpose. There was no need for them to make a fashion statement.
However, there were some robes, coats, cloaks that were quite fancy. The fancy ones would have been for folks of royalty. Those would have had long sleeves, been ankle length, and full of color. They may have had a sash or even a pocket. But, your regular Joe(seph) – haha, get it – would typically have had a plain ole robe. Not Jacob’s Joseph, though.
Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colours. Genesis 37:3
Joseph’s coat caused quite a stir in the fam. His brothers were ticked off. Jacob showed favoritism to his very youngest son which eventually led to a heap of trouble for all of them. Afterall, Jacob had 11 other sons and a daughter. How do you think that worked out?
But, when I looked at the colors of these flowers against the brownness of the other weeds, I thought to myself – isn’t that what the Lord did for us? Aren’t we wearing robes of royalty because the Lord favored us? He made it just for us to show us his favoritism. He favors us! We live in a dark world. A bland world. A world without color. But God the Father has chosen for us to live in this world with a touch a color. If it weren’t for the dull, the bland, the barren around color, the color would not be so noticeable.
The Lord was with Joseph and blessed him greatly as he served in the home of his Egyptian master. Psalm 39:2
Well, Joseph got off to a rocky start with that robe as a result of Jacob’s favor. We all know the story – his brothers were jealous, they plotted to kill him, one got cold feet, after some epic twists and turns, they sold him into slavery. Exactly where the Lord wanted him. Here’s the thing – The Lord had some major plans for Joseph which could not be accomplished had things not turned out the way they did. It might not look like it, but the Lord showed favor on Joseph. In the pit, in the sale, with his new master.
But the Lord was with Joseph there too, and he granted Joseph favor with the chief jailer. Genesis 39:21
Favored. As Children of God, with vital, meaningful, relationships with our Lord, we too can shine in the world around us – we too can be the vivid colors in a world that is broken, hurting, self-destructive, colorless. Even in prison, a barren, colorless place, the Lord showed favor to Joseph.
We are royalty – we are Children of the King — does not our Lord show favor to his children?