A Story Within A Story, Within A Story, Within...

By thebumblinggenius

The climax of a heart-wrenching story occurs when a distraught and broken-hearted Joseph reveals his true identity to his brothers. Everything is made right. Then an explanation for Joseph's suffering and his brothers' evil is given in Genesis 50:20: "As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result."

But Joseph's story of being betrayed, enslaved, imprisoned, then raised to a position of authority is a story within a much larger story. There was going to be a famine in Canaan you see. And knowing that this famine was coming God used these event to establish his man in Egypt to save Jacob from starvation.

But if you see the world as I do, this story raises questions. Why would God put Joseph through such suffering? Could He not have simply made it rain in Canaan, and thereby prevented the famine? This is just the way my mind works. And this divergence in thinking styles become more obvious in my relationships with others. Someone says to me something like, "Isn't God good? He knew that I was going to lock my keys in the car so he caused my husband to get off work early so that he would be available to rescue me."

"Well, I suppose." I respond, "But wouldn't it have been simpler if He had simply reminded you to take your keys?"

You see, I have a story. And you have a story also. But there is a larger story within which our stories are taking place. And chances are that those stories are occurring within even larger stories that span a time far beyond our own years on this earth or understanding.  So what is that story? In an attempt to grapple with that question, let’s go back to Joseph's story.

Because of Joseph's suffering his family was saved from starvation. They all moved into Egypt and set up shop there ... and lived happily ever after. Well ... maybe not. We get a clue that there is more going on as Joseph's life draws to a close.  On his deathbed, he tells his family to take his bones with them when they leave. Joseph knew that his story was but a piece in a much larger story that was still being written.

This larger story begins to unfold as we read these ominous words in chapter 1 of Exodus. Verse 8: "Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph." So did God fail again? Couldn't God have caused the people to remember? Well as it turns out God was about to expand the horizons of this story. The modern Pharaoh was about to oppress the Isaralites. In our modern vernacular one might say that the Pharaoh was Herbrewphobic. The children of Israel then cried out to God and He began to orchestrate a rescue.

So Moses comes onto the scene and leads the people out of the land that had earlier been a refuge. Through miraculous events the "Children of Israel" delivered. God came to the rescue again. But is this just another story that tacks onto the previous one? Or is it still a story within a story, and if so, what is that story?

The key I think can be found as God repeatedly reminds His people from their great exodus on to remember "the God that brought you up out of Egypt." So why would God remind them over and over that he was their deliverer; that he He was the God that brought them up out of Egypt? The answer is simple really, so simple that it perhaps is easy to miss. It is because God demands glory. We are weak. We are pawns in a larger story. We deserve no glory, no recognition, no credit or merit. This is His story and He will be ultimately glorified. The moment that we think that any of our story is about us, we are sure to miss the object of our story: His glory.

So, what does this have to do with me? Well it seems obvious that we are apparently made to need purpose in life, among other things. We can endure incredible suffering if we understand that it is for a purpose. How many times, for example, do we hear someone, after enduring something unpleasant, console themselves with "Everything happens for a reason"? If I consider myself the center of that reason then I've missed it; but if that reason is His glory, then I've come to a better understanding of the reality within which I live out my story.