Why Was the Lord with Joseph?

My Come Follow Me studies took me to Genesis 37-41 in a lesson titled “The Lord Was With Joseph.” The lesson was introduced by the following information. 

We know that God blesses people who trust Him and keep His commandments. But sometimes it doesn’t seem that way. Sometimes the person who trusts God is abused and abandoned by family members. Sometimes the person who bravely refuses to violate the law of chastity gets falsely accused anyway. When things like that happen to us, we might be tempted to become angry with God. We might wonder, “What’s the point of trying to do the right thing if it only seems to make life harder?”

Joseph, the son of Jacob, could have wondered that. At times, this faithful man prospered; at other times, it seemed that the more faithful he was, the more hardship he faced. But Joseph never left the Lord, and the Lord never left Joseph. That doesn’t mean the Lord prevented bad things from happening to Joseph, but through it all, “the Lord was with him” (Genesis 39:3).

This block of scriptures contains numerous principles, including (1) The Lord will be with me in my adversity (Genesis 37:1-28; 39; 41:9-45); (2) If I am faithful, the Lord will guide and inspire me (Genesis 37:5-11; 40; 41:1-38); (3) With the Lord’s help, I can flee temptation (Genesis 39:1-20); (4)  The Lord will help me prepare for possible hardships (Genesis 41:15-57).

This essay will discuss principle #2 about being faithful and receiving guidance and inspiration from God. First, I will share part of the scripture block – Genesis 37:5-11.

5 ¶ And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren: and they hated him yet the more.

6 And he said unto them, Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed:

7 For, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves stood round about, and made obeisance to my sheaf.

8 And his brethren said to him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more for his dreams, and for his words.

9 ¶ And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me.

10 And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?

11 And his brethren envied him; but his father observed the saying.

The Lord spoke to Joseph through dreams, and Joseph had a gift for discerning the messages sent from the Lord. God speaks to other people through dreams. I know this is true because the Lord send important messages to me in dreams for numerous years. However, I did not always understand the message. For example, I received information about my son through dreams while he was serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

In one dream, I saw my son go flying through the air. I assumed that he had been hit by a car. When I received his weekly letter, I learned that he had indeed gone flying through the air. He and his companion were riding bikes, and he did not see a 2x4 board that was lying across the bike path. He hit it and went flying.

The dreams that I received during those two years were sent to me so that I could “see” my son while we were separated. I believe that they were blessings sent to me for being obedient about maintaining a positive attitude about physical separation from my son. I stopped having such dreams soon after my son returned from his mission.