Today I want to talk about the injustices of life. Have you walked through a season when you couldn't seem to catch a break? Did you ever wonder if good days would ever return? Maybe you lost a job around the same time a loved one died. Or you were going through a painful divorce just as you also received troubling news from the doctor. Life can throw many hard things at us. We may even be tempted to let our hope in God fade. We want to scream, “Where is the justice?”
You may have seen the movies about Rocky Balboa. In the movie, Rocky said, “It ain't about how hard you hit. It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward; how much you can take and keep moving forward.”
For the past few weeks we have been looking at the life of Joseph in the Book of Genesis. While Joseph never had the chance to see a Rocky film, there's a good chance that he would have been able to relate with that line. Today I hope that we will see how Joseph chose to press on, even though the days of disappointment continued.
As we move along a little further in Joseph's life God would want us to be encouraged that he will always see his children through. Remember that Jesus said, “You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous ! I have conquered the world.” PRAYER
Last week we saw that Potiphar's wife tried to seduce Joseph and he broke free and ran away but left his cloak in her hands. She made up a lie about Joseph and so Joseph was thrown into prison. Joseph didn't deserve to be jailed. As a result of the false allegations given by Potiphar's wife, he was an innocent man now forced into confinement. He now had nothing but time on his hands.
We wouldn't be surprised if Joseph, in those circumstances, was constantly tempted to be bitter and angry toward God and others. Instead, Joseph appeared to be living by the same principle that guided the apostle Paul when he said in Philippians 4:11, “I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I find myself.” We all would do so much better if we would adopt that attitude. Whatever situation God puts us in, we learn to be content.
Genesis 39: 21-22 – “But the Lord was with Joseph and extended kindness to him. He granted him favor with the prison warden. 22 The warden put all the prisoners who were in the prison under Joseph’s authority, and he was responsible for everything that was done there.”
It's amazing how these verses are so similar to verses 3-6 that we read last week. That is when Potiphar had promoted Joseph. The phrasing is almost identical and describing the rise of Joseph's position in a foreign place. The biblical writer wanted us to make a critical connection that the secret to Joseph's success was The sovereign favor of God. The Lord chose to be with Joseph and to shower this faithful young man with kindness. It wasn't Joseph's good looks, his strategic maneuvering, or top-shelf leadership skills that pushed him to the head of the pack. It was God going before him and opening up the doors.
At this point in Joseph's life he had been through many trials. But when you think about it, trials teach us how to endure hardship. Suffering is unwelcome in anyone's life. No one looks forward to the days of suffering, but Scripture is full of verses that challenge us as children of God to remain true no matter what trials come our way. Now for a moment, think about Joseph's life, and yours as well, in light of the following passages and what God is trying to tell us through Scripture:
- Psalm 34:19 – “One who is righteous has many adversities,
but the Lord rescues him from them all.”
- Romans 5:3-5 – “And not only that, but we also boast in our afflictions, because we know that affliction produces endurance, 4 endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope.
5 This hope will not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
- James 1:2-4 – “Consider it a great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4 And let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.”
Though all of these great passages of Scripture were written long after Joseph was buried, his life truly modeled these words of faith. Joseph was put in charge of the entire prison, and he chose to “bloom where he was planted,” even if it wasn't in the garden of his choosing. So right now, I want you to think of a trial that you are currently facing. What is it that you are concerned about right now? Now, ask God to use that trial to help you grow in faith and endurance.
Genesis 39:23 – “The warden did not bother with anything under Joseph’s authority, because the Lord was with him, and the Lord made everything that he did successful.”
Here is our proof again that we don't go through trials alone. God is always with us just as He was with Joseph through all of this. We continue to see hints of Jesus's own life as we follow Joseph's life story. Isaiah 53:12 says, “the Messiah was counted among the rebels.” Just as Jesus was crucified along with prisoners, Joseph also suffered with the accused. In both Joseph’s and Jesus's journeys, God would provide the strength to help them endure under severe circumstances. This is true of all God's people who trust Him.
It would have been easy for Joseph to be discouraged and angry. He was in a prison after all. Still, we read that the Lord was with him. It's easy to let our circumstances get us down. We should be mindful that, just as the Lord was a warrior for Joseph, He fights for us as well. When we commit ourselves to trusting God through our trials of life, our faith and character grow. It will all be worth it in the long run.
Genesis 40:4-8 – “The captain of the guards assigned Joseph to them as their personal attendant, and they were in custody for some time. 5 The king of Egypt’s cupbearer and baker, who were confined in the prison, each had a dream. Both had a dream on the same night, and each dream had its own meaning.
6 When Joseph came to them in the morning, he saw that they looked distraught. 7 So he asked Pharaoh’s officers who were in custody with him in his master’s house, “Why do you look so sad today?”
8 “We had dreams,” they said to him, “but there is no one to interpret them.”
Then Joseph said to them, “Don’t interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams.”
We don't know exactly why these two men in Pharaoh's inner circle are in prison. We just know they had offended their master, the king of Egypt. Pharaoh was angry with his two officers. For all they knew, their days of influence were over, and they might remain in the dungeon for good. But then they had dreams.
Notice how dreams once again play an important role in Joseph's life. It was Joseph's dreams as a young man that caused his brothers’ blood to boil. In ancient times, dreams were a vehicle of divine revelations, and the Egyptians believed that a special tribe of magicians could provide the key to unlock their mysteries. Joseph stood against the culture when he suggested that interpretations belong to God. Joseph believed the Lord would grant him the insight to interpret them. We can see from Joseph's words that his walk with the Lord remained strong throughout his suffering.
God wants us to realize that the trials that we go through reveal where we place our focus. Let me explain. Remember the case of Abraham when he was called to sacrifice his only son Isaac? The pain was unbearable. Yet Abraham kept his faith and chose to believe that the Lord had a purpose beyond what he could see. When it was all over, Abraham was refined by the fire.
I mentioned A.W Tozer last week and his book The Pursuit of God. He wrote this about Abraham's trial. “God let the suffering old man go through with it up to the point where He knew there would be no retreat and then He stopped him from laying a hand on the boy. In effect, He says to Abraham, it's all right, Abraham. I never intended that you should actually slay the boy. I only wanted to remove him from the Temple of your heart that I might remain unchallenged there.”
I got to thinking about that and I came to believe that is why God allows us to go through our trials of life. God wants to work through the challenges and the difficulties that we face so that we will keep centered in Him. What we see in the life of Joseph should apply to us. Let's keep our eyes on Jesus, pointing others to the Lord. That's what life is ultimately about.
Genesis 40:20-23 – “On the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, he gave a feast for all his servants. He elevated the chief cupbearer and the chief baker among his servants.
21 Pharaoh restored the chief cupbearer to his position as cupbearer, and he placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand. 22 But Pharaoh hanged the chief baker, just as Joseph had explained to them. 23 Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph; he forgot him.”
So that you will understand what is going on here let me recap verses 9 - 19. Joseph heard the dreams of the chief cupbearer and the baker and he precisely interpreted the dreams. Joseph surely expected that he would soon be vindicated and his time in the dungeon was about to come to a close. Yet this was not the case.
Even though Joseph delivered on his promise to interpret the dreams, the chief cup bearer let him down. The baker was executed as Joseph predicted from the dream, but the cup bearer was restored to his role just as Joseph told him in his interpretation of his dream. The cup bearer worked in close proximity to Pharaoh and could have easily spoken up for Joseph, but he didn't. He simply forgot.
You know as we go through life, setbacks and delays happen. God wants us to look at these setbacks and delays as opportunities to wait on God to act. People often disappoint us. It hurts to be overlooked, dismissed, or outright forgotten by others. Joseph may have been forgotten by people including the cup bearer, but God never forgot him. Yet, two more years would pass before his season of suffering ended.
Can you imagine waiting anxiously and thinking something is about to happen and then having to wait 2 years to see anything happen? Delays like this could leave any of us discouraged. Joseph's extended stay in this prison was a major setback in his life, but he patiently waited and endured. We might think he didn't have a choice, but patience has to do with attitude. All we know of Joseph points to a character of calmly enduring and waiting on God to act.
We often say that patience is a virtue, even though we want what we want and we want it now. Praying for God to give us patience is a courageous prayer. For this to happen, the Lord would likely make us wait for something we want soon, and possibly for what would seem to be an unreasonable amount of time. In the process, we learn to walk through seasons of difficulties with a sense of calm that God is in control and will ultimately deliver. After all, isn’t that what patience is—waiting for something that we want now?
Deuteronomy 32:4 – “The Rock—his work is perfect; all his ways are just. A faithful God, without bias, he is righteous and true.”
This verse tells me that God's timing and God's plans are always perfect. Let me tell you about ngela.
Angela struggled with patience. Her husband had recently retired, and they had made plans to travel. All that changed when he fell from a ladder and shattered his hip. Even though doctors were encouraging about his eventual recovery, the next year would involve a lot of rehab and slow recovery. Angela was sad for her husband but angry with God. Yet, God used this in her life to grow her through patient endurance. It's a deflating experience when our plans are delayed, but the Lord's plans are always perfect and always on time.
Psalm 27:14 – “Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart be courageous.
Wait for the Lord.”
Isaiah 40:31 – “but those who trust in the Lord will renew their strength; they will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not become weary, they will walk and not faint.”
These verses of Scripture are our assurance that God's timing and God's plans are always perfect.
Joseph discovered overtime what Chuck Swindoll declared to be true in his poem entitled “Attitude”. And a lot of this revolves around our attitude. Chuck Swindoll wrote:
“The longer I live the more convinced I become that life is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we respond to it.” Attitude. Repeat.
Joseph had to continue being patient and long-suffering, and trust that God was with him. I hope that all of us learn the same lesson. So, let's keep our eyes looking up, even when life can bring us down.
Stay focused on Jesus and he will overcome any trials that you face.
Do you have Jesus in your life to turn to? If not, we give you that opportunity to accept Him as your very own Savior right now. Trust me. You won't regret it as you trust Jesus.
