Meant for good – Week 1

Joke:  George Bush was at a rally and swears he sees Moses in the crowd. . .and he doesn’t want to miss the opportunity to meet such a well-known biblical celebrity.

He yells over to him from the platform, “Sir, you look a lot like a man from the Old Testament.   Are you Moses?”   Looking around, the man slowly shakes his head side to side denying the assumption.  Bush is not convinced. . .one more time he asks, “Sir, I don’t see the need to lie to me; are you Moses?” Once again, a back and forth shaking of his head. Bush asks security to interrogate him.

The head security agent asks the man in complete confidence, “The beard, the cloak, the staff, everything about him. . .you do look like Moses.”  The man finally confessed and said, “Because I am.”

Confused, the security agent asks, “Why didn’t you just tell the former president that then? What harm could it have caused?” As a matter of factly, Moses replies, “The last time I talked to a Bush, I was stranded in a desert for 40 years.”

 —————————————————————————————

Promise and Process

Today we are going to kick off a series about the life of Joseph called, Meant for Good.   And what I’m hoping to do over the course of these messages is talk about the 7 P’s found in the life of Joseph.  The “Seven Ps” are — Promise, Process, Perfection, Procession, Penitence, Provision, and Peace

Let me begin with something that many in the Body of Christ think, and that is this:  God just wants us happy.  And the problem with that is that we can easily justify our wrong behavior because doing whatever we want makes us happy.

The truth is God wants you more than just happy.  He wants to give us an  abundant life.  Full of joy unspeakable.    But that doesn’t mean your life is going to problem free.   And the truth is we can have joy in the midst of a storm.

See, happiness is an emotion based on our circumstances.   If I have money in my bank account, the right car, a good job then I’m happy but if one if one of those is lost then my happiness is lost  as well.

There are others who think or feel that. . .

If God loves me, he will make my life relatively easy and comfortable.

Some think that God’s primary goal for me in my life is to make me feel good.

But the truth is God’s primary goal is to get you to come to Him, have a relationship with Him,  so that you can spend eternity with Him.

Still others think that If I’m suffering, it means God doesn’t love me.  And nothing is further from the truth.   God loves you and He is with you in the the midst of the suffering.

But our culture has exposed us to a worldview that things should go well for us. We are more addicted to convenience than any generation before us. If we are hungry, we head to drive-thru and within minutes have our food.  Most of the time (explain).  If we need or want something, just tap on our computer or smart phones and it arrives at our door, sometimes even the same day.  We have instant coffee, and with Google instant answers.

(Service announcement, not everything we see on the internet is true).

But being that convenient can give us the wrong narrative of God, because God is not always an instant God.  Sometimes there is waiting, and sometimes even trouble, or suffering in the process.

And the problem is so many of us want now and not later.  We want the testimony without a test.   Victory without a fight.  We want the ministry without the effort.

And Joseph as we will be looking in this study had to spend time in the pit until God lifted him to the palace.

And listen I know that’s not the best recruiting slogan.

But ultimately the truth is church, God is more concerned about growing our character than He is about keeping us comfortable.

As a matter of fact look what we are told in Romans 5. . .

Romans 5:3–4 (NIV): Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope.

Glory in our what?  Sufferings. ..

And then in the book of James we read

James 1:2–4 (NLT): Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. 3 For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. 4 So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.

And over the next few weeks as we look into Joseph’s life we are going to see how God, even with all that he had happen to him, God didn’t leave him, or forsake him, but God was with him doing something in him, so that he could do something through him and in the process working all things out for His own glory.

Today, we’ll be spending time in Genesis 37

Genesis 37:1–4 (NLT): So Jacob settled again in the land of Canaan, where his father had lived as a foreigner. 2 This is the account of Jacob and his family. When Joseph was seventeen years old, he often tended his father’s flocks. He worked for his half brothers, the sons of his father’s wives Bilhah and Zilpah. But Joseph reported to his father some of the bad things his brothers were doing. 3 Jacob loved Joseph more than any of his other children because Joseph had been born to him in his old age. So one day Jacob had a special gift made for Joseph—a beautiful robe. 4 But his brothers hated Joseph because their father loved him more than the rest of them. They couldn’t say a kind word to him.

Let me pause here and just point out a few obvious things we see in our story.   You can’t help to notice that Joseph has a troubled family dynamic.

I mean his father shows favoritism towards Joseph, which caused strife with his brothers. Then on top of that Joseph is tattling on them for some of the things they are doing,  scripture doesn’t tell us what that was, maybe they were throwing rocks at the neighbors camels, we don’t know for sure.   But whatever it was Joseph was saying to dad made them even more angry.

And then. . .

Genesis 37:5–8 (NLT): One night Joseph had a dream, and when he told his brothers about it, they hated him more than ever. 6 “Listen to this dream,” he said. 7 “We were out in the field, tying up bundles of grain. Suddenly my bundle stood up, and your bundles all gathered around and bowed low before mine!”  8 His brothers responded, “So you think you will be our king, do you? Do you actually think you will reign over us?” And they hated him all the more because of his dreams and the way he talked about them.

The poor can’t can’t catch a break,  He tells the dream and they get there idea of what it means and they hate him even more.

And here’s the thing, dreams are often prophetic. It was especially so during the time of Joseph.  From Abraham to Jacob, dreams were a way that God communicated with His people. So it’s not strange that Joseph’s father and brothers hear this dream from Joseph, and assume that he is indicating that this dream is a prophetic insight into a future reality.

And so, Joseph who knows he is favored above his brothers, and knows his brothers resent him for that.  Still decides to tell them, “Hey, one day, you’re all going to bow down before me.”

Almost like he was bragging, I mean what could go wrong? Right.

The fact is, this dream actually is, a promise from God.  Joseph is hearing from God through his dreams. The trouble is Joseph only seems to see the “coolness” of the promise, and has no idea what it is going to cost to bring the events of the promise to pass.

And I think it’s the same for many of us, we see or hear the promises of God for our lives, we get a prophetic word from someone and it’s like thank you Jesus.  But we don’t have a proper understanding that God’s process for bringing about these promises into reality sometimes involves waiting and sometimes suffering.

All too often we want the promise without the process. And if I’m being honest that sometimes can cause us to struggle with God, blame God, and for has even caused some to turn away from God.

Let’s continue with the story.

Genesis 37:12–16 (NLT): Soon after this, Joseph’s brothers went to pasture their father’s flocks at Shechem. 13 When they had been gone for some time, Jacob said to Joseph, “Your brothers are pasturing the sheep at Shechem. Get ready, and I will send you to them.” “I’m ready to go,” Joseph replied. 14 “Go and see how your brothers and the flocks are getting along,” Jacob said. “Then come back and bring me a report.” So Jacob sent him on his way, and Joseph traveled to Shechem from their home in the valley of Hebron. 15 When he arrived there, a man from the area noticed him wandering around the countryside. “What are you looking for?” he asked. 16 “I’m looking for my brothers,” Joseph replied. “Do you know where they are pasturing their sheep?”

Jacob basically sends Joseph on a 50 mile journey to spy on his brothers, who are out in the field.   50 miles that’s not just a lunch is ready time to come home call.

Think about that they already know he’s the one favored, and can’t find a kind word to say about him and now he’s out spying on them because they’ve been gone longer than usual.  And it’s not like Joseph has never ran to dad when his brothers did something they weren’t supposed to do.

Let’s pick up the story. . ,

Genesis 37:18–24 (NLT): When Joseph’s brothers saw him coming, they recognized him in the distance. As he approached, they made plans to kill him. 19 “Here comes the dreamer!” they said. 20 “Come on, let’s kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns. We can tell our father, ‘A wild animal has eaten him.’ Then we’ll see what becomes of his dreams!” 21 But when Reuben heard of their scheme, he came to Joseph’s rescue. “Let’s not kill him,” he said. 22 “Why should we shed any blood? Let’s just throw him into this empty cistern here in the wilderness. Then he’ll die without our laying a hand on him.” Reuben was secretly planning to rescue Joseph and return him to his father.23 So when Joseph arrived, his brothers ripped off the beautiful robe he was wearing. 24 Then they grabbed him and threw him into the cistern. Now the cistern was empty; there was no water in it.

I talked last week about Elijah and mentioned that one of the things he did to get him to where he was, was thinking on the negative.   And this is exactly what these brothers were doing.  They were so focused on their hatred and jealousy that eventually it turned into an action.

Church hear this, so often the battle is in the mind and the heart.

Joseph’s brothers have gossiped and focused so much on their hatred that it turned into a murder plot, and only by the grace of God through Reuben’s intervention does Joseph avoid being killed.

For all Joseph’s perceived faults,  I’m sure he just wanted to share his dream not even thinking about what the others might of thought of it.  He was just excited about it.  But he had done nothing to deserve the cruelty that is being displayed by his brothers.

But let me pause again to say this. . .Joseph here is a type of Christ.  Unjustly treated, will undergo a series of horrible things only to later as we will see in the coming weeks, save the very people who condemned and abused him.

In other words, his suffering will lead to the redemption of many.

Sound like anybody else in Scripture that you’ve heard about?

This is the beginning of a road of waiting, suffering and exile that will last somewhere between 13 and 20 years.

And hear this church I know the struggle to keep trusting God when it seems like the circumstances aren’t changing.  And it’s sometimes hard to believe what God has said when the situation says otherwise.

Joseph waited at least 13 years, Abraham waited 25 for the promise, David waited 15 until he became king.  And than there was Noah it was probably around 75 years waiting for rain when building an Ark.

And in the midst of it all God was using it allowing Joseph to go through the process so that ultimately he would be able to do what God had chosen him to do.

When I talk about God’s “process,” I am referring to the reality that we, like Joseph, Elijah, and so many others before us in Scripture had to go through in order to receive the inwrought character that makes us more and more able to authentically serve the people around us, and fulfill God’s calling on our lives.

Colossians 3:7–10 (NLT): You used to do these things when your life was still part of this world. 8 But now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language. 9 Don’t lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds. 10 Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him.

When we became Christians, we signed up to be “conformed to the image of His Son,” and that process of being conformed  sometimes includes suffering, it did for Joseph, it did for Jesus and many others of faith.

But here’s the good news you are a new creation with a new nature.

Let’s continue with our story. , ,

Genesis 37:25–28 (NLT): Then, just as they were sitting down to eat, they looked up and saw a caravan of camels in the distance coming toward them. It was a group of Ishmaelite traders taking a load of gum, balm, and aromatic resin from Gilead down to Egypt.

26 Judah said to his brothers, “What will we gain by killing our brother? We’d have to cover up the crime. 27 Instead of hurting him, let’s sell him to those Ishmaelite traders. After all, he is our brother—our own flesh and blood!” And his brothers agreed. 28 So when the Ishmaelites, who were Midianite traders, came by, Joseph’s brothers pulled him out of the cistern and sold him to them for twenty pieces of silver. And the traders took him to Egypt.

Picture the scene Joseph is crying out for his brothers not to go through with their plan, and instead of just leaving him there to die they and I’m sure against his will as well decide to sell him.

God gave Joseph a promise, God did, through a dream, of a glorious destiny, but look how it unfolds.   And think many of us would have thought wait what surely this can’t be what God had planned.   And at first glance it seems like he missed it.

And church I know all to well that sometimes the promises seem like they just may never come to fruit but I’m here to tell you that just because you don’t see it today doesn’t mean it’s not in process.

Job 42:2 (NLT): 2 “I know that you can do anything, and no one can stop you.

2 Corinthians 1:20 (NIV): For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.

And hear this church, just because it’s delayed doesn’t mean it’s denied.    Be patient in the process, trust the process, trust God more then the situation.

Philippians 1:6 (TPT): 6 I pray with great faith for you, because I’m fully convinced that the One who began this glorious work in you will faithfully continue the process of maturing you and will put his finishing touches to it until the unveiling of our Lord Jesus Christ!

We know Joseph will ultimately become second in command of Egypt — one of the most powerful men in the world — and his brothers and father will indeed bow to him.

But with such a promise, do you think Joseph ever could have imagined that this would be the road to getting there? Hated and nearly murdered by his brothers, thrown into a dark pit, and ultimately sold to strangers and taken away to a strange land?

Here’s the thing church, sometimes the distance and tension between God’s promise and His process can be incredibly jarring and difficult.

But we need to remember God’s ways are not our ways, and His plans are not our plans. But as Christians, we have precious promises, just like Joseph.

2 Peter 1:4 (NLT): And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.

Church, we are more than conquerors. All things will work together for our good. God will crush Satan under our feet.

Those are some of the precious promises

But you need to understand that God has a process. There will be times when the process is painful, and it may even be difficult to trust him in it.

Talk about lifting weights.  So often there’s growth in the struggle.

If we think we can have the promise without the process, we are mistaken.  God often times, I would even say most times has to do things in us before He can do things through us.

There is usually a test before a testimony.

Scripture tells us,

2 Peter 1:5–8 (NIV): For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

And the truth is church if we don’t understand that there is a process in between the promise we may feel disappointed or even angry with God, or worse yet think He doesn’t love us.

But hear this God is not cruel, and He loves us more than you can imagine.

And if you are in the process right now,  take heart know God is there working all things out for good.

Rest assure, God has a plan, just as he had a plan for Joseph.   Nothing in Joseph’s life caught God off guard.

In fact, in Joseph’s case, God had planned all this beforehand for the rescue and deliverance of Israel.

Psalm 105:16–19 (NLT): He called for a famine on the land of Canaan, cutting off its food supply. 17 Then he sent someone to Egypt ahead of them— Joseph, who was sold as a slave. 18 They bruised his feet with fetters and placed his neck in an iron collar.  19 Until the time came to fulfill his dreams, the Lord tested Joseph’s character.

Joseph’s story was about much more than just his own life. It was about the rescue of his entire family, and the preservation of an entire nation.

I love how it says, the Lord tested Joseph’s character.

What does it mean to be tested? It means to be refined, like metals that are smelted in a furnace.

The Lord tested Joseph. The promise of God tested him. It forged him into something new.

God is forging you right now, through all the suffering, into something precious and amazing that couldn’t be forged without great pressure and cost!

Do we understand what it means to be tested by a promise? It means we must live inside the tension between the promise and the process but with that we can be confident that. . .

Romans 8:28 (NLT): And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.

This is the story of the brother who became an outcast, and the outcast who became a slave, and the slave who became a convict, and the convict who became a ruler, and the ruler who became a savior of the very people who destroyed his life. This is the story of betrayal, forgiveness and redemption.

I know another story of betrayal, forgiveness and redemption. Someone else in Scripture rejected by His own, convicted of a crime he never did, nailed to a cross, died and became a Savior for the very people who destroyed His life.

As I try to wrap up today think of some promises.  There may be some promises that God has given you that you haven’t yet seen the fruit of.  I want to encourage you to hold fast, don’t lose hope.

But let me share a few promises that scripture gives us as a believer in Jesus.

God promises to:

Be with you

Forgive you

Deliver you

Love you

Protect you

Rescue you

Comfort you

That is a small list of some of the promises of God. There’s actually like 1,104 in the New Testament alone.   Over 8000 in the Scriptures.

Now let me close with this.  I want you to think about your life.  Chances are, the promises you’ve heard spoken over your life don’t always feel true for you. In fact, I’m willing to wager that sometimes those promises sound opposite to your experience.

And that is the tension between the Promise and the Process.

Listen to this promise from Christ in John 16:33:

John 16:33 (NIV): 33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

You can almost  feel the tension. . .

“You’re going to suffer, your going to have trouble.   But cheer up and have peace!  Why? Because I won the whole ballgame already — you just can’t see it yet!”

We are becoming a people, like Joseph, with the ability to be illuminated by a Promise, by the very words of God, in the midst of an utterly contradictory experience.

What refined Joseph during his suffering? It was the word of God. That’s all he had in the pit, that’s all he had in the slave line, and it’s all he had in the prison: The very word of God.

How do we endure the unendurable process? By holding fast to the Promise.   Holding fast to the very word of God.

And some of you will say, “That ship sailed a long time ago. I’ve lost hope.”

Do you think Joseph never lost hope? I think he did.

Truth is, sometimes I lose hope.

Just because you lost hope yesterday, doesn’t disqualify you from grabbing hope today. And just because you lose hope tomorrow, doesn’t disqualify you from gaining hope the next day.

That is the very essence of the process! You are being tested and refined by the word of God. You are holding Him, but the greater reality, the better news, is that He is holding you.

John 10:27–29 (TPT): My own sheep will hear my voice and I know each one, and they will follow me. 28 I give to them the gift of eternal life and they will never be lost and no one has the power to snatch them out of my hands. 29 My Father, who has given them to me as his gift, is the mightiest of all, and no one has the power to snatch them from my Father’s care.

God knows exactly what He’s doing with your life. He has a plan.

He will fulfill his promise and He will hold you through the process.   Just hold fast to Him in the midst of it.