The Law of Variation

Is this blog about Darwin's book The Origin of Species? Nope. So if my title threw you, apologies. This blog is, yet again, about comparisons (through the lens of Joseph).

And it made me think of Facebook. Facebook is a place where all the people who in the past, were in the same place in life as you, are gathered and noted for their current variation. And in many cases, this variation makes you feel a certain way. And for the purpose of this blog, the law of variation is this: People who are doing better than me make me sad; while people who are doing worse than me make me grateful.

I'll be on Facebook, sometimes, using it alternately as reasons to beat myself up or as therapy. But is that okay? Scripture says that people who compare themselves to other people are "without understanding" (2 Corinthians 10:12). I'm often just like that. Totally without understanding, so I'm seeking to educate myself, via this blog.

We're at the point in the story where Joseph is in prison for attempted rape.

Pharaoh was furious with his two officials, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker. So he put them in confinement in the house of the captain of the bodyguard, in the jail, the same place where Joseph was imprisoned. The captain of the bodyguard put Joseph in charge of them, and he took care of them; and they were in confinement for some time. - Genesis 40:2-4

The cupbearer and the baker were in the "same place" in life as Joseph. And they were in there for a while, so they became friends. Joseph took care of them. 

One night these two guys have dreams. And they can't figure out what they mean; so they become super sad. Joseph says “Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell it to me, please.”

The dreams in themselves are interesting, but for the purpose of brevity Joseph interpreted the dreams to mean (1) that in 3 days the cupbearer would be released and restored to his position; (2)  that in 3 days the chief baker would be executed for his crime. 

And it happened just that way. But Joseph remained in prison. 

...you may be thinking: where are you going with this? 

I'm thinking: why am I nothing like Joseph? If Joseph had been like me...the law of variation would have come into play. I would've started thinking about what people "deserve." Joseph had spent considerable time with these two men; they'd been in the same place for a long time. But things were about to change...for everyone except Joseph. If I was Joseph, all I would be able to think about is how we were all in the same place, except they actually deserved to be there (as they actually offended Pharaoh), whereas I was innocent and "deserved" to be free. So, if I looked at the cupbearer, I'd be pissed. And if I looked at the chief baker I'd think: "well...I could be that guy". However, there is zero indication that Joseph thinks like me. None.

Darwin break: 

“When a variation is of the slightest use to a being, we cannot tell how much of it to attribute to the accumulative action of natural selection, and how much to the conditions of life.” And the poor match between environment and patterns of variation “incline[s] me to lay very little weight on the direct action of the conditions of life.” - Darwin, Origin of Species, Ch. 5

There was just a variation in their little trio. Three people who were in the same boat, are now in three totally different situations, through no action of their own. One is free. One is dead. And one remains imprisoned. If I go with Darwin...this makes sense. Per the above quote, very little weight falls on condition, and nearly all of it falls on natural selection. But in the mind of a Christian, that "natural selection" is the will, purpose, and the plan of God. 
  
This is a hard pill to swallow sometimes, because we think so highly of ourselves (even though we shouldn't; Romans 12:3) and by comparison so little of others (even though we shouldn't; Philippians 2:3). Thinking the way we do, we don't understand why we remain imprisoned (in whatever situation you happen to view as your "prison"). But, regardless of the changes happening in the lives of the people around us, we have to believe that God is with us even in the prison. 

And you can see that Joseph believed in this, from what he said before the change even took place:
“Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell it to me, please.”Joseph knows that God is with him and working through him despite of everything that his been through. 

Joseph didn't use comparisons to the cupbearer to fall into a depression, and then use a comparison to the chief baker to dig himself out of it. He kept his focus on God's work for him, and he only asked the cupbearer, "keep me in mind when it goes well with you, and please do me a kindness by mentioning me to Pharaoh and get me out of this house" (Genesis 40:14). 

But you know what? That guy totally forgot about him (Genesis 40:23). And I would think that's because Joseph can't catch a break...but it was because of the will, purpose, and plan of God. 



...to be continued.