1. Working out for the good
Back in 1921, a missionary couple named David & Svea Flood went with their 2-year-old son from Sweden to the heart of Africa -- to what was then called the Belgian Congo. They met up with another Scandinavian couple, the Ericksons, & soon the 4 of them felt led by the Lord to move out of the central mission station & take the gospel to one of the more remote areas of the Congo.
At the village of N'dolera they were rebuffed by the chief, who would not let them enter his town for fear of alienating the local gods. So the two couples decided to go half a mile away & build their own huts.
They prayed for a spiritual breakthrough, but there was none. Their only contact with the villagers was a young boy, who was allowed to sell them chickens & eggs twice a week.
Svea Flood -- a tiny woman only 4 feet, 8 inches tall -- decided that if this boy was the only African she could talk to, she would try to lead him to Jesus. And in fact, over a period of time she succeeded.
But there were no other encouragements. Meanwhile, malaria struck one member of their little group after another. In time the Ericksons decided they had had enough suffering & left for the relative security of the central mission station.
Then, in the middle of this primitive wilderness, Svea found herself pregnant. When the time came for her to give birth, the village chief softened enough to allow a midwife to help her. A little girl was born, whom they named Aina.
The delivery, however, was difficult, & Svea was already weak from malaria. The birth process was a heavy blow to her stamina. She lasted only another 17 days.
Inside David Flood, something snapped. He dug a crude grave, buried his 27-year-old wife, & then took his children back to the central mission station.
Giving his newborn daughter to the Ericksons, he snarled, "I'm going back to Sweden. I've lost my wife, & I obviously can't take care of this baby. God has ruined my life." With that, he left, rejecting not only his calling, but God Himself.
It's true. Sometimes tragic things happen, even in the lives of those who seek to walk closest to Him. Bad things do happen to good people.
2. We have looked at creation -- Abraham -- Isaac -- Jacob -- the 12 Sons of Jacob
3. Today we look at the life of Joseph and how God used some unfortunate circumstances to preserve his people
I. Joseph Was Foolish (Genesis 37)
A. Arrogance in His Actions
1. Tattle Tale
2. Condescension of his dreams (37.5-11)
3. Youngest son of the favorite wife -- coat of many colors
[Our Guide in Israel told us of the main problem with Muslim polygamy -- jealousy of the siblings
B. Stirred with His Abilities
1. Gifted with insights of dreams and interpretations
2. One of many ways God has spoken -- Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. Hebrews 1.1-2
C. Enslaved to Aliens
1. Sold to Ishmaelite Traders then into slavery in Egypt
2. Deception of Jacob
II. Joseph Was Faithful (Genesis 38-41)
A. To God's Instructions
1. Taking the Easy Way Out is not always the right thing to do
2. "You can justify anything"
3. Benjamin Franklin said: "He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else"
4. Refused adultery with Potiphar's wife -- would expect commendation -- wound up in prison
5. A Higher calling than saving your own skin -- "You have heard, but I say " -- more than external truth -- underlying motives
B. To God's Gifting
1. Prominence in Prison -- favor with the jailer
2. Dreams of Butler (good) and Baker (bad)
3. "Lord was with Joseph" -- recurring theme of the story. (Romans 8.31)
III. Joseph Was Formidable (Genesis 41-50)
A. An Aid to Pharaoh (Genesis 41)
1. Some troubling dreams with no interpretations
2. Baker's assistance brought Joseph into the spotlight
a. 7 years of plenty
b. 7 years of famine
c. Rewarded as #2 in Egypt only Pharaoh was higher (41.37-46)
B. An Aid to Family (Genesis 42-50)
1. Brothers sent to Egypt because of the famine
2. Bow to him as in his dreams
3. Reveals himself and God's purpose to preserve the whole family in Egypt -- 45.3-11
C. An Aid to the Future (Romans 8.28)
1. Saves the new nation that God would build
2. Would become a nation of possibly 3 million in 430 years
3. Would bring the Messiah
Conclusion
Eight months later both of the Ericksons were stricken with an illness & died within days of each other. The baby was turned over to some American missionaries, who adjusted her Swedish name to "Aggie" & eventually took her with them back to America.
As a young woman, she attended a Christian College. There she met & married a young man named Dewey Hurst. Years passed. The Hursts enjoyed a fruitful ministry. In time her husband became president of a Christian college.
One day a Swedish religious magazine appeared in her mailbox. She had no idea who had sent it, & she couldn't read the words. But as she turned the pages, all of a sudden a photo stopped her cold. There, in a primitive setting was a grave with a white cross - & on the cross were the words "Svea Flood."
Aggie jumped in her car & went straight to a college faculty member who, she knew, could translate the article. "What does this say?" she asked.
The instructor summarized the story: It was about missionaries who had come to N'dolera long ago ... the birth of a white baby ... the death of the young mother ... the one little African boy who had been led to Christ ... & how, after the whites had all left, the boy had grown up & finally persuaded the chief to let him build a school in the village.
The article said that gradually he won all his students to Christ ... & the children led their parents to Christ ... even the chief had become a Christian. Today there were 600 believers in that one village alone ...
All because of the sacrifice of David & Svea Flood. Wow!
But that is not the end of the story.
For the Hurst's 25th wedding anniversary, the college presented them with the gift of a vacation to Sweden. There Aggie sought to find her real father. An old man now, David Flood had remarried, fathered 4 more children, & generally dissipated his life with alcohol. He had recently suffered a stroke. Still bitter, he had one rule in his family: "Never mention the name of God because God took everything from me."
After an emotional reunion with her half-brothers & half-sister, Aggie brought up the subject of seeing her father. The others hesitated. "You can talk to him," they replied, "even though he's very ill now. But you need to know that whenever he hears the name of God, he flies into a rage."
Aggie was not to be deterred. She walked into the squalid apartment, with liquor bottles everywhere, & approached the 73-year-old man lying in a rumpled bed.
"Papa?" she said tentatively. He turned toward her & began to cry. "Aina," he said. "I never meant to give you away." "It's all right, Papa," she replied, taking him gently in her arms. "God took care of me."
The man instantly stiffened. The tears stopped. "God forgot all of us. Our lives have been like this because of Him." He turned his face back to the wall.
Aggie stoked his face & then continued, undaunted. "Papa, I have a story to tell you, & it's a true one. You didn't go to Africa in vain. Mama didn't die in vain. The little boy you won to the Lord grew up to win that whole village to Jesus. The one seed you planted just kept growing & growing. Today there are 600 African people serving the Lord because you were faithful to the call of God in your life ...."
"Papa, Jesus loves you. He has never hated you." The old man turned back to look into his daughter's eyes. His body relaxed. He began to talk. And by the end of the afternoon, he had come back to the God he had resented for so many decades.
A few years later, the Hursts were attending an evangelism conference in London, England, when a report was given from the nation of Zaire (the former Belgian Congo).
The leader of the national church, representing over 110,000 baptized believers, spoke eloquently of the gospel's spread in his nation. Aggie could not help going to ask him afterward if he had ever heard of David & Svea Flood.
"Yes, madam," the man replied in French, his words then being translated into English. "It was Svea Flood who led me to Jesus. I was the boy who brought food to your parents before you were born. In fact, to this day your mother's grave & her memory are honored by all of us."
He embraced her in a long, sobbing hug. Then he continued, "You must come to Africa to see, because your mother is the most famous person in our history."
In time that is exactly what Aggie Hurst & her husband did. They were welcomed by cheering throngs of villagers. The most dramatic moment, of course, was when the minister escorted Aggie to see her mother's white cross for herself. She knelt in the soil to pray & give thanks.
Later that day, in the church, the preacher read from John 12:24, "I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground & dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds." He then followed with Psalm 126:5, "Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy."
(The story of Svea Flood was adapted from the book, "Fresh Power" by Jim Cymbala of the Brooklyn Tabernacle. Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, MI)
