Joseph aced so many tests of faith and endurance on his road to the fulfillment of the promise God had given him.  From disbelieving family members to being the lowest member of society, Joseph somehow held on to the promise of God and remained faithful through it all.

When Joseph was finally raised to the status of ruler, he received the promise of God: His brothers came and bowed down before him.  But in the fulfillment of the promise, He faced yet another test.  What would he do when everything was going well?

There are tests in our lives that are pretty obvious.  Cranky coworkers, frustrating situations, unfulfilled promises, mean people, and the consequences of Adam and Eve’s fall can be pretty trying at times.  Staying faithful to God and His word during those times and situations is sometimes a trying test of faith.

But there is another test that we face: The test of success.

Our actions and attitudes are seeds that are sown, and more times than not we reap the fruit of those seeds, be it good or bad.  When things are not going well, we tend to be a little more aware of how we are acting and thinking, knowing that we are tested.  But when things are going well for us, it’s easier to think that we’re doing fine whether we are or not – or to forget to be careful because we’re not being noticeably “tested”.

Did Joseph ace the test of success?  From reading the story in Genesis 41-48, I would say that Joseph only half aced this final test of the promise God had given him at the age of 17.  He aced the part of loving his bothers – he played games with them, but he brought them all down to Egypt and fed them through the famine.  That’s loyalty, and that is kindness to people who hated you so much that they sold you into slavery.  Joseph aced the test when it came to his brothers.

But when it came to ruling, I’m not as certain that Joseph aced the test.  As Joseph ruled the land, he had the people pay for food.  That makes sense enough.  When the food was gone, the people sold themselves into slavery to Pharaoh (Genesis 47:18-21).  In the day, that did make some sense.  People would sell themselves as slaves when they couldn’t pay their debts.

Effectively, Joseph went from slavery to ruler.  Then, as ruler, he reduced the entire population to slavery (Genesis 47:21).  It was within his power.  He had the authority to do so.  But was it God’s best plan for the entirety of a nation to be slaves?

I’ve watched a few people go through the road to fame.  From their experience (and a bit of my own), I’d say the most difficult tests don’t come when we are fighting for something.  It comes when everything looks good; when we are effectively “ruling”; when we have prestige and power.  Perhaps pride creeps in or we don’t see the negative results of our attitudes or actions because people are mitigating the immediate implications.  On top of that, if we’re in a place of power, we’re also in a place of prominence and any mistakes we make may be front-page news.

To put it in wilderness terms, what do we do when we finally reach the mountaintop? Do we look down our noses at the people who couldn’t make it so far? Are we consumed with how amazing we are that we could do this? Making it up the trail is only one part of the test. The rest is in what we do once we reach the mountaintop.

In the good times – remember that this, too, is a test.  When the promises are being fulfilled – remember that the testing of our faith is still very real.  Remember that you are not given favor to enslave others but rather to lift them up.