“Getting Into Shape: When the Going Gets Tough”
Gen. 45:1-8 & 50:15-26
Oh my dear brothers. As much as I have trusted God throughout these years, I admit I never envisioned such a glorious reunion, let alone being together to bury our father. It’s been so long since we’ve been together and so much has happened. You’re absolutely right Levi. In some ways, it started with those dreams - you remember the dreams I had, don’t you? I’m so sorry for lording them over you. I did not intend for my dreams to become your nightmares. But I was so excited and convinced that I was destined to rule. It turns out I was right, but wasn’t anywhere near ready. God had to shape me. Now, looking back over these years I have another conviction: “It was not you who sent me here but God. You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.”
I’ve learned so much. I’ve learned that when our best laid plans don’t work out we must focus on the PURPOSE OF LIFE. The two dreams I had from God were significant. I knew God had a special plan for me – a plan in which I was going to be a great leader. In my young mind the dream marked me as God’s special person. It gave me A SENSE OF DIVINE DESTINY, the knowledge that I would be used of God. Very much like it was for our great-grandfather Abraham – a picture forms in the mind and a vision stirs soul. I didn’t know all the details, but I’ve learned that that’s okay. God acts in hidden and unforeseen ways. In fact, His purpose is mostly evident in retrospect. The life of faith mostly involves trust in the presence of God, when we can’t see God. This sense of divine destiny carried me through the pits and prisons of my life. It’s what sustained me in the hard, confusing, difficult times of life; it emboldened my character and gave me strength; it infused me with energy to stay the course rather than to quit. A sense of purpose gives us a way out of struggles - a pathway around limitations into the possibilities of God. We must relate everything to God’s overarching plan.
But I also learned that THERE IS A DIVINE PURPOSE FOR YOUR LIFE as well. God had a plan and purpose for you. You may not have known the particulars - that’s OK. God was shaping you so He can use you. That’s what gives purpose to life. The God who gives the dream also prepares the dreamer to realize the dream.(1) The God who gives the promise prepares us to receive the promise. (ii) God had to replace my arrogance with a more godly character, my self-assurance with dependence and trust in Him. After the transmission of the dream there needs to be transformation of the dreamer. (iii)
What’s that Simeon? You’re wanting to know how I wound up here, in power in the royal palace. Let me tell you – it’s quite a story. When plans don’t work out we should focus on the purpose of life but also on the PATH OF OBSTACLES. I dreamed some dreams but this is not a dream world. The REALITY IS THAT LIFE IS FILLED WITH OBSTACLES, HARD TIMES AND PITFALLS. They greet us the moment we leave our mother’s womb. Our decisions impact pursuit of our purpose. Actions and decisions of other people affect our pursuit of our purpose. So do accidents, tragedies, illnesses, and a host of other unplanned, unpredictable circumstances. I said goodbye to our father Jacob and left for a short journey to see you, my brothers; 22 years later you and he said “Hello” again.
Your treatment of me was only the first of many obstacles and trials. But imagine what it was like for me, just a 17 year old youth. Hitched to a camel, bound to a people I did not know, leaving behind my family and home, with no idea what the future held, wondering, “Where is God? What’s the future hold for me? What about my dream?” Imagine me, with such high expectations, becoming a slave -- taken where I did not want to go, with a people I did not want to be with, in a situation I did not create. I was truly hemmed in, chained, bound, trapped – a hostage! The going was tough!
In addition to being left in that pit and spending time in service as a slave, I experienced temptation from Potiphar’s wife and because I refused her advances was imprisoned for 2 years, and then ultimately was exposed to all the trappings of wealth and power. I faced obstacles that challenged my body, soul, mind, faith, and attitude. Whenever we pursue and try to live out God’s purpose the reality is that there will be obstacles.
Through all of this I discovered that when the going gets tough WE NEED RESOLVE. Resolve means we must be willing to see each obstacle as an opportunity to PERSEVERE. Live by our purpose and vision; let it drive us – no matter what. We must “Be led by dreams not pushed by problems.” Dreams are not fulfilled overnight; purposes are not fully realized quickly. So we try to turn our stumbling blocks into stepping stones. We seldom choose what happens to us but we can choose how we respond to what happens to us. So we ACCEPT OUR CURRENT SITUATION by doing the best we can within it – to do what is required and do it well. NO EXPERIENCE IS WASTED IF IT IS GIVEN TO GOD. Once we are in the cellar of affliction we should look for the wine of God’s purpose. (iv)
(Pause)…Good question Benjamin. How did/does God fit into all of this? I have come to focus on the PROVIDENCE OF GOD. God also has plans. He also makes choices which radically affect our plans and lives. GOD DOES NOT VIOLATE OUR FREEDOM BUT USES OUR CHOICES. Think about it – you sold me to the Midianites, who sold me in Egypt to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard. I went from the pit to the palace! Only God can do that! MY BROTHERS, RATHER THAN DEFEAT GOD’S PURPOSES YOU ACTUALLY ADVANCED THEM. I have become a valued leader who now has been able to save our family from famine. Yes, we make our own free choices in life; but then God makes His - and He will have his way! God’s thoughts are not our thoughts, neither are His ways our ways. In other words, the providence of God is real. He does work in and influence the course of our lives! Reuben and Judah, You made a choice to try to spare my life. Well, if I had not been sold into slavery I would not have come to the palace, I would not have been in position to help you. And think how God used Potiphar’s wife – if she had not tried to seduce me I would not have been thrown into prison; if I had not been placed in prison I would not have been there to interpret the dreams that led me to later interpret Pharaoh’s dreams, which led to my being given this position. Even Pharaoh knows that God is with me; that’s why he trusts me. Where God’s people are faithful, God will be known.
When the going gets tough remember: THINGS ARE NOT ALWAYS WHAT THEY SEEM; GOD WILL WORK THINGS OUT. The darkest moments of life are often short corridors leading to sunlit rooms where the light of God is clearly shining! The circumstances of our lives are pieces of the mosaic God is painting.
And when the going gets tough IF WE ARE FAITHFUL GOD WILL MAKE WHATEVER WE DO FOR HIM PROSPER. We give our best to God and God does the rest! Isn’t it wonderful? We work, we remain faithful, and God does the rest! We do not have to worry about the results! God has made us tough – we are God tough! If we are faithful where we are, God will bring the blessing! God shaped me in a pit and a prison so I could live in and influence a palace. Our FAITHFULNESS to God our daily lives should parallel God’s faithfulness to us. So WHEN YOU HAVE YOUR JOB TO DO, DO YOUR JOB. It was the only way I could survive. I was not just a son; I tried to be an obedient son. I was not just a slave; I tried to be a faithful slave. I was not just a prison keeper; I tried to be an honorable prison keeper. I was not just a household manager; I tried to be a trusted household manager. I am not just a ruler; I’ve tried to be an esteemed ruler. Whether in poverty or wealth, whether a servant or a ruler, being faithful allows us to be bound not by circumstances but by God.
And where we see rejection God sees progress! Where we see hurdles God sees a leap forward. Where we see stumbling blocks God sees stepping stones. His plan will not fail! God works all things together for His good plan!
No matter what the cost be faithful where God has placed you, to what God has asked you to do. It is God with whom we have to do. So BEING TOUGH IN TOUGH TIMES IS NOT SO MUCH A MATTER OF WHAT LIFE BRINGS TO US IN HER HANDS, BUT WHAT WE BRING TO LIFE IN OURS. As the chosen family and people of God let us bring our faith and trust in Him into all the circumstances of our lives. Let us be as faithful to God as God is faithful to us. And God will do amazing things!
My brothers, I have some duties I must attend to – but before I go, let’s pray to our God and Father.
(i) Lloyd John Ogilvie, Lord of the Impossible, Abingdon Press,© 1984 by Abingdon Press, p. 44
(ii) Don Anderson, Joseph: Fruitful in Affliction, Loizeaux Brothers, Neptune NJ, © 1988 by Don Anderson, p.49
(iii) Ibid, p. 46
(iv) Don Anderson, p. 48
