Lessons From Joe Pt 2 Series

Lessons from Joe: Pt 2!

Opening video Illustration: Bluefishtv - Joseph - Tested

Thesis: Our man Joe even in the midst of being at his lowest point in life grows into the man God desires him to be. Joe grows through adversity into the man God desires him to be. Pride fades away, the spoiled brat syndrome disappears and Joe learns to persevere and stay rooted in God.

James 1:2-5: “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.”

Introduction: Joseph’s life can teach us a great deal on how to deal with adversity in our lives. Crowder notes this about life’s challenges:

It has been said that life has to be lived in forward motion but can only be understood by looking back. This demands that we trust in the loving purposes of a sovereign God. We must trust that He is in control-especially when life seems to be out of control. This is what Paul referred to as walking by faith II Cor. 5:7. It goes against every element of self-preservation that is ingrained in us. We want to take charge, manipulate, and control. But God wants us to trust in the love of a Father who makes us “more than conquerors through Him who loved us”(Romans 8:37). Such was the life of the Old Testament character Joseph. His life was filled with dark, difficult experiences-yet the final outcome was amazing! In fact, Joseph is able to teach us much about how to deal with the tangled threads of our own lives. He became a godly man in an ungodly culture-a true over comer-and his example can help prepare us as we face the issues of life (3).

Last week we left with Joe our hero being betrayed by his brothers. He was suffering from the disease of favoritism. He was threatened and thrown into a pit and then sold into slavery. So we now find that Joseph is on a 30 day journey thru the desert to a foreign country where he will be sold as a piece of merchandise.

Describe a scenario on slavery!

Slavery is a system of abuse - Stories from America’s early slavery movement are terrible: Slaves were beaten, raped, brutalized, starved, treated as dogs, children were sold from their mothers, listen to just a few:

• One man was whipped for being two minutes late because his church let out late.

• A slave mother’s doleful prayer.

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• One woman was whipped for making a minor mistake after church on Sunday and the one who whipped had delivered the sermon that day.

• A man was beaten to death because he was accused of stealing money he never stole. Later it was discovered that the master’s wife had it.

The key in any circumstance is to learn the lesson in it. To grow out of life’s ordeals requires us to be teachable through the whole ordeal.

On the old Happy Days television show – which I loved to watch, Richie Cunningham had just been “grounded for life” by his father, Howard, for misbehavior. As they talked about it, Howard asked his son, “Did you know that there is a lesson in this for you?” Richie’s response was priceless: “I figured anything with this much pain had to have a lesson in it somewhere.” That is real life! We do not learn character in times of ease and prosperity but in times of difficulty. The greatest lessons of life are often the product of our most serious heartaches - Crowder.

Texts: Genesis 39:1-23

1Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt. Potiphar, an Egyptian who was one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him there.

2The LORD was with Joseph and he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master. 3When his master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD gave him success in everything he did, 4Joseph found favor in his eyes and became his attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and he entrusted to his care everything he owned. 5From the time he put him in charge of his household and of all that he owned, the LORD blessed the household of the Egyptian because of Joseph. The blessing of the LORD was on everything Potiphar had, both in the house and in the field. 6So he left in Joseph’s care everything he had; with Joseph in charge, he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate.