Encountering God #16 – Faith Encounters
The following is a letter that was sent home by a daughter who was away at college:
Dear Mom and Dad: I’m sorry to be so long in writing again, but all my writing paper was lost the night the dormitory was burned down by demonstrators. I’m out of the hospital now, and the doctor says by eyesight should be back to normal sooner or later. The wonderful boy, Bill, who rescued me from the fire kindly offered to share his little apartment with me until the dorm is rebuilt. He comes from a good family, so you won’t be too surprised when I tell you we are going to get married. In fact, you always wanted a grandchild, so you will be glad to know that you will be grandparents next month.
Please disregard the above practice in English composition. There was no fire, I haven’t been in the hospital, I’m not blind. I’m not pregnant, and I don’t even have a boyfriend. But I did get a "D" in French and an "F" in chemistry, and I wanted to be sure you received this news in proper perspective. Love, Mary.
Proper perspective is a very important thing to have. Sometimes if we’re not careful we can lose focus of what’s truly important.
Today we are going to look at a person in the bible who is best known for his forgiving character in the middle of adversity and for keeping his perspective when things looked bad. I want us to look at this person because his life probably parallels our own better than any of the people who have encountered God so far in our study.
Genesis 37:2-11 Joseph, (son of Jacob) when seventeen years of age, was pasturing the flock with his brothers while he was still a youth, along with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives. And Joseph brought back a bad report about them to their father. 3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons, because he was the son of his old age; and he made him a varicolored tunic. 4 His brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers; and so they hated him and could not speak to him on friendly terms. 5 Then Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more. 6 He said to them, "Please listen to this dream which I have had; 7 for behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and lo, my sheaf rose up and also stood erect; and behold, your sheaves gathered around and bowed down to my sheaf." 8 Then his brothers said to him, "Are you actually going to reign over us? Or are you really going to rule over us?" So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words. 9 Now he had still another dream, and related it to his brothers, and said, "Lo, I have had still another dream; and behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me." 10 He related it to his father and to his brothers; and his father rebuked him and said to him, "What is this dream that you have had? Shall I and your mother and your brothers actually come to bow ourselves down before you to the ground?" 11 His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the saying in mind.
Joseph is called a dreamer by his brothers.
They despise him and his sense of favor with their father.
The story goes on where young Joseph’s brothers plot to kill him and they capture him. His brother Reuben intervenes and instead, they throw him in a well. When some Midianite traders come by, they sell him as a slave to them, who take him to Egypt to sell him there. The remaining brothers dip Joseph’s cloak in blood and concoct a story to tell their father that he is dead.
Joseph, however, ends up being sold to the captain of Pharoah’s bodyguard named Potiphar. Let us pick up the story of Joseph’s encounter with God from there:
Genesis 39:2-6 “The LORD was with Joseph, so he became a successful man. And he was in the house of his master, the Egyptian. 3 Now his master saw that the LORD was with him and how the LORD caused all that he did to prosper in his hand. 4 So Joseph found favor in his sight and became his personal servant; and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he owned he put in his charge. 5 It came about that from the time he made him overseer in his house and over all that he owned, the LORD blessed the Egyptian’s house on account of Joseph; thus the LORD’S blessing was upon all that he owned, in the house and in the field. 6 So he left everything he owned in Joseph’s charge; and with him there he did not concern himself with anything except the food which he ate.”
Have you noticed what is missing from these accounts I just read?
There is no mention of any supernatural encounter with God like his father or his great grandfather had. There has been no audible voice from heaven. There has been no angelic visitations. Yet, the passage says that “The Lord was with him.”
Joseph clearly knows God and what God expects of him, but has not had any powerful revelations or encounters with God.
How is that so? It appears from reading between the lines of the text, that Joseph paid attention when his father told the stories of his own encounters with God.
He paid attention sufficiently to place his faith and trust in the God of his father.
Joseph witnessed the power of God in his father’s life and he saw the Lord’s hand when they journeyed back to Bethel.
So when his own trials came, he trusted in the character of God that he had learned from his father.
He lived through the days of his father’s journey with God and very likely developed his own personal faith and trust in the Lord.
He was just like a kid who grew up in a Christian home. Yes, his faith had to become his own at some point in time.
We can’t fill in all the blanks, because we simply do not know the details. One thing is for certain. Joseph knew God despite the lack of ground shaking, sky opening encounters.
I believe that Joseph’s story is very much like your story and mine.
Few of us have had angelic visitations.
I don’t know very many of us who have heard audible voices from heaven.
Fewer yet of us have seen burning bushes.
Yet, most of the people in this room have encountered God in one way or another,.
In fact, most of us encounter God regularly in the daily struggles and victories of life, and in the mundane, unexciting events.
Joseph’s Faith Journey
Joseph went through some difficult circumstances.
He had dreams of greatness. Dreams that ended up shaping his life.
Yet those dreams had to seem distant when the trials came, trials like being left for dead in a well by 10 jealous brothers and then sold into slavery to some caravan going to Egypt.
He had to wonder where God was when he found himself 800 miles from home on an auction block being sold to the highest bidder.
His faith was certainly being tested by those times. Something tells me that Joseph never gave up hope and trust in God, even when it seemed hopeless.
No one was going to come to his rescue.
He was as good as an orphan, as bad as a slave without rights, a piece of property instead of a favored son.
But Joseph has one thing going for him. It is all he has. No one can take it away from him. It is his most valuable possession, and it grows more valuable and powerful with each passing day and each roller coaster circumstance.
Do you know what it is? Joseph’s most valuable possession is his faith in God.
I’d like you to imagine how Joseph is dealing with all of this?
He hasn’t heard any heavenly voices or had any angelic visions. He has had the sum total of 2 dreams that only served to get him in trouble. Yet our text says, “the Lord was with Joseph.”
The passage we read also says, “3 Now his master saw that the LORD was with him and how the LORD caused all that he did to prosper in his hand” which means it was evident that Joseph was serving God with his life and that God was blessing him as a result. Things got even better, because Potiphar then promoted Joseph to overseer of all he had and owned, and the Lord blessed all Potiphar owned as a result!
Now, if you were Joseph, you would be pretty pumped about God’s goodness, wouldn’t you?
Your testimony on Sunday morning would be loud and clear. God is good! You’d be singing His praises and talking about His love and power. You’d been leading the celebration service!
Poor Joseph had been dumped in a well, abandoned, hated by his brothers, believed to be dead, sold into slavery, and yet God has seen fit to bless him, promote him, and give him a position of great honor and privilege.
It would be about this time that if I were Joseph, I would be saying, “ahh, life is good!”
Wouldn’t you if you had your fortunes go from homeless slave to the Manager of a large company in a short period of time?
But for Joseph, the other shoe is about to drop. His faith is about to be tested.
Genesis 39:6-15, 19-20 Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance. 7 It came about after these events that his master’s wife looked with desire at Joseph, and she said, "Lie with me." 8 But he refused and said to his master’s wife, "Behold, with me here, my master does not concern himself with anything in the house, and he has put all that he owns in my charge. 9 "There is no one greater in this house than I, and he has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do this great evil and sin against God?" 10 As she spoke to Joseph day after day, he did not listen to her to lie beside her or be with her. 11 Now it happened one day that he went into the house to do his work, and none of the men of the household was there inside. 12 She caught him by his garment, saying, "Lie with me!" And he left his garment in her hand and fled, and went outside. 13 When she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled outside, 14 she called to the men of her household and said to them, "See, he has brought in a Hebrew to us to make sport of us; he came in to me to lie with me, and I screamed. 15 "When he heard that I raised my voice and screamed, he left his garment beside me and fled and went outside." 19 Now when his master heard the words of his wife, which she spoke to him, saying, "This is what your slave did to me," his anger burned. 20 So Joseph’s master took him and put him into the jail, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined; and he was there in the jail.”
Joseph survives his first setback in life as the life of a slave and God turns life around for him. But now, he suffers another setback. This time, for simply doing what was right.
Joseph showed both his faith and his character in his conduct and actions.
He saw the action that Potipher’s wife wanted was a sin against God.
It isn’t about what he can “get away with” but about what is right.
He knows God sees everything, even if Potiphar doesn’t.
He has Character – what you do when no one is looking.
Now, Joseph is facing the death penalty for attempted rape.
Fortunately, Potiphar, must know something about his wife, because though he could put him to death, he has him instead imprisoned in a cold, dark, stinky jail cell, most likely with other violent and common criminals.
It would be the worst place in the world to have to be, probably worse than the well and worse than being a slave. And now Joseph is stuck in an awful place.
The Dangers of Discouragement
If I were Joseph, I would now be struggling with discouragement.
Discouragement is the enemy of faith.
Discouragement is courage removed, it is cowardice in the face of trial.
Hebrew: To draw back, to let go, to sink, to abandon, to restrain, to break the heart out of, opposite of stouthearted,
To be discouraged is to turn back from your goal, to abandon your trust and faith, to give up and give out.
There is a legend that the devil was having a yard sale. Demons were buying articles such as lying, cheating. etc. An article was on the end of the table that had a sign not for sale. What is this item that is not for sale, the demons ask. The devil said I use this a lot of times and found it to be very effective. It is called discouragement. If I can get people discouraged, then I can do almost anything that I want with them.
Hebrews 10:36-39 “Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised. for in a very little while, He who is coming will come, and will not delay. But my righteous One shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him. But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul.
William Ward writes, “Discouragement is dissatisfaction with the past, distaste for the present, and distrust of the future. It is ingratitude for the blessings of yesterday, indifference to the opportunities of today, and insecurity regarding strength for tomorrow.” William Ward. Today in the Word, April, 1989, p. 18
How are you dealing with discouragement today. There are some here who have had a tough week, a tough month, or a tough life. You don’t see any light at the end of your tunnel. You don’t feel very enthusiastic about your future.
How did Joseph likely overcome his temptation to be discouraged?
I imagine that he thought about how God had provided a lamb for his grandfather when he was at his wits end offering his son.
Or how God had blessed his father under Laban’s harsh rule.
What is the antidote to your discouragement?
Get your eyes on the prize.
Get your attention off of your circumstances and focus your gaze on God.
Recall and remember what God has done before.
God comes to the Rescue!
Genesis 39:21-23 But the LORD was with Joseph and extended kindness to him, and gave him favor in the sight of the chief jailer. 22 The chief jailer committed to Joseph’s charge all the prisoners who were in the jail; so that whatever was done there, he was responsible for it. 23 The chief jailer did not supervise anything under Joseph’s charge because the LORD was with him; and whatever he did, the LORD made to prosper.”
Did you see it again? “The Lord was with Joseph…and gave him favor in the sight of the chief jailer.”
You can’t keep God’s man down.
If the Lord is with you, who can be against you?
Romans 8:31-If God is for us, who is against us?
Romans 8:37-39 But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
God is with Joseph. Joseph trusts God by faith and God works through and in Joseph. This is the power of faith.
While in jail, Joseph meets two cell mates who each have had dreams. He interprets their dreams and begs them to remember him when they get out of jail. The dreams come true for each of them, but when they get out of jail, they forget about Joseph. Poor Joseph, has to feel like his world is collapsing. His best hope for getting out of jail has failed. No one knows or cares that he is in jail.
But God is bigger than the memory of the one he interpreted the dream for. One day, Pharaoh has a disturbing dream and no-one can tell him what it means. Finally, the cupbearer, the one for whom Joseph had interpreted the dream for, remembers Joseph and tells Pharaoh. So Pharaoh calls for Joseph. Joseph interprets Pharaohs dream, he tells him the meaning of it (7 years of plenty, 7 years of famine) – and tells Pharaoh what he ought to do to prepare for it. Pharoah appoints Joseph as 2nd in charge of the land of Egypt to oversee the preparations for the upcoming famine.
Wow. Every time he falls, he bounces higher! Kind of like those superballs that they had when I was a kid. Folks, that is the character that is shaped by faith. God will make you of the stuff that doesn’t just bounce back, but bounces back better than before.
Meanwhile, back on the ranch.
Jacob and his family is feeling the effects of the world wide famine. So he sends his sons to go to Egypt to buy food, not knowing that Joseph was alive, much less, 2nd in command of Egypt.
There is coming a collision between worlds that seemed like they would never again meet.
Joseph, given up for dead by his father and brothers.
Joseph, 800 miles away from his family, never expecting to see his family again.
But God is in control. It is true. God is always in control. No matter what things look like, God is at work. It is simply a matter of perspective.
Like looking at a forest from within or above. When I get in my tree stand, I see so much better than on the ground. So it is when we look at things from God’s perspective.
Joseph isn’t recognized by his brothers and they end up bowing down before him (fulfilling the dream he had). Twice they visit for food over the next few years, and Joseph deals with them with a sense of irony. Read this account for yourself and you will be pleasantly surprised to discover what happens.
Ultimately, Joseph reveals himself to his brothers who become fearful for their lives, because their sin has found them out. But Joseph understands the significance of all of these events and all of his dreams.
He tells his brothers in Genesis 45:5 “But don’t be angry with yourselves that you did this to me, for God did it. He sent me here ahead of you to preserve your lives.”
God had a purpose for Joseph, and God’s purpose shaped his dream.
But the thing I love about Joseph is that even though his life has been turned completely upside down, his relationship with God stays the same! Four times, Genesis 39 tells us that "the Lord was with Joseph."
From the very beginning of the story right on through the end of Genesis, Joseph puts all of his trust and all of his faith in God. And that’s why in spite of his circumstances he is able to succeed at whatever he does in life!
I am sure that there were dark lonely hours as a slave on a caravan, in prison and alone in Pharoah’s court that he wondered about the future and the past. He probably wondered if God was there at all. If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, you learn to say, "I don’t why God allows bad things to happen. But I believe with all my heart that God is good. And I believe with all my heart that God has good reasons for why he does what he does. And why he allows what he allows. I may not find out what they are in this life. But no matter what, I will put all of my hope and all of my trust in the Lord."
Your disappointments do not have to lead to discouragement.
Faith is your friend, faith trusts that God is in control, God is big enough to turn a storm into sunshine, and God knows the end from the beginning.
If you are struggling with discouragement, I want to urge you to remember the dreams God has given you.
Remember that God is who He says He is. God is able to do what He says He will do. Won’t you open up your heart to Him and trust Him today?
