Life Of Joseph; Purpose Series

Life of Joseph: Purpose

Genesis Chapter 41:39-57

Introduction-

We have been looking at the life of Joseph-

We saw that bad things happen to good people.

We saw that things don’t always turn out the way that we would like them too.

Just because we are living a life for God does not mean that on this side of heaven we will not have problems.

We saw last week that there was something different about Joseph, even his enemies noticed the difference.

That does not happen by chance. That is intentional, that is because God is working in and through his life.

If you believe life should be fair and thinking that other people will treat you that same way, you are going to live a disappointed life.

Life is not fair because most people do not play by the same rules as you. They do not live their life under the guidelines of God and God’s Word and some will sell you out for a handful of gold, a quick pleasure, lust or greed.

But the Lord says that he has not forgotten us and He sees what you and I are going through.

One day maybe not on this side of heaven, He will make things right.

It is not our job to justify or take revenge, it is our responsibility to be sanctified and living for God.

Joseph life was a mess! No fault of his own. He never seemed to get a break until God showed up and revealed his purpose.

Sarcastically called a dreamer

Ambushed and wrongly accused by Potiphar wife.

Sent to prison for something he did not do.

Joseph felt like he was forgotten and abandoned by God

17 years of wrong doing done to him before God’s purpose was revealed.

He is in prison for two years because of Potiphar wifes lies and while there Joseph allows God to use him for interpreting two dreams of fellow inmates. One dream the prisoner was restored by the king and one prisoner faced death by the king- the prisoner restored was to tell the king about Joseph and help to have him released. Joseph felt forgotten and it was years later the cup bearer of the king remembers the man who could interpret dreams for the king.

Why did God allow Joseph to go through so much trouble and pain?

Why didn’t he just remove him from all the suffering and difficulties of life?

Why does God allow us to go through pain and suffering?

The answer is the same. In our pain and suffering, we must… learn to depend on God. We must… learn to stay focused on God and not situations of life.

I know some of you have been waiting a long time for answers to some of your deepest questions for God-

I don’t know why some get answers quicker than others.

I know that God works in our lives for our good

He get no enjoyment in our suffering but delights when we fulfill our purpose.

He gets honor and glory when we learn from our trials and are able to move on and help someone else be victorious.

There are so many people that believe that if they only got a break, there life would change.

If only they had that family

If only they had more money

If only they had a better education.

People are always looking at other people with jealousy and with envy.

We do not know what happened to people to get them to where they are. They would be surprised at what story they could tell because we only see the end result.

Most want to take short cuts.

Most want what others have and don’t want to work for it.

Several years ago, they did a study called “Cradles of Eminence.”

They examined the backgrounds of 300 highly successful people.

They discovered that ¾ of them came from broken homes, raised by parents that at some point rejected them.

74 out of the 85 writers of fiction and drama and 16 of the 20 poets looked at experienced abusive drama and parents screaming at them abusively.

¼ of them had handicaps such as blindness, deafness, or dysfunctional limbs

A separate study showed parents of new born children trying to have their kids avoid contact with other people as to not get sick actually found that they were more likely to be sick later in life because their bodies never built up any immunity to common sickness.

They were suggesting that their experiences influenced the people that they became.

Adversity made them who they were and what they accomplished in life.

Yeah if you talk to Joseph during those hard times, he would tell you that he felt like God had abandoned him, and his faith was weak but he knew it was all he could hold unto in those rough and dark times.