"Survivor Gear For Aimless Days"
Genesis 45:3-8,15
There is a popular television show that has been dominating the ratings this past Fall & Winter, the show is called "Survivor". The show stars sixteen "ordinary" people who are stranded in a remote part of Australia. They are divided into two teams and pitted against one another in various challenges. Each week of the show, one of the teams has to vote someone off the team. And the last person to "survive" wins a million dollars.
It’s so much like our generation to create a televison show where we actually find it entertaining to observe the worst elements of our human nature: greed, deceit, unfaithfulness, gossip, suffering, mean-spiritedness and humiliation. It all kind of makes you long for some of the classic survival stories like Swiss Family Robinson where people actually help each other rise above their selfish needs as they band together to beat the odds.
But that’s not the case on "Survivor". The operating principle here is: Your friend is only your friend until he gets a better offer. The principle here is- - "I will use you as a part of my strategy to win." It’s survival of the fittest, or survival of the shrewdest. And they call this "Reality TV." It’s REALITY, the shameful reality of our culture.
Why is "Survivor" so successful? I think it is a picture of real life. It is a display of people struggling with each other in everyday society who are willing to destroy one another for advantage and money. It’s kind of like Gladiators in a Roman Colosseum - - and we like to watch.
Isn’t it interesting, that the whole drama centers around relationships. They get along, they form a friendship, an alliance. They don’t get along, they break a friendship, they break an alliance. They conspire, they gossip, they form false conclusions about one another, they fight, they shout, they pout. Sounds like a real family doesn’t it? Sounds like an office or a business where some people work. Sounds like sin to me.
There is something far more important than the ability to survive the Australian outback or the ability to win a million dollars. What is more important is the ability to be a spiritual survivor in this world. There are people in this room this morning who are struggling to be survivors of bad marriages, there are people trying to survive the death of a loved one, or trying to survive an illness that was never planned or deserved, but it just happened. There are parents here with teenagers who have broken their hearts, there are some here with sins, or weaknesses or addictions in their lives that are making them less than the man or woman God designed for them to be. And some of us here are just trying to make it through another week. Raising children, working a job, maybe finding out that the golden years of retirement aren’t so golden. Your tired, a little disenchanted about where life has taken you, maybe you are feeling a little confused, or maybe you are lonely, and you just haven’t experienced the joy and satisfaction which you thought you deserved at this point in life.
I am here to tell you {this morning} that God wants you to be a survivor, but more than a survivor, He wants you to be an over-comer, He wants you to be victorious and to thrive as a man or woman led by God. Now that does not mean that God is going to make everything perfect and easy in your life. But I believe what God is after is - - - that you submit your will to His will in your life, and that you trust Him.
The man Joseph, in the book of Genesis, knew what it felt like to face aimless, despairing days in his life. At age 17 Joseph was the second youngest in a family with twelve boys. Joseph had become his father Jacob’s favorite son, and his daddy lavished his favoritism on him in front of the other boys. There was probably a little swagger in Joseph’s step, a little sarcasm in his attitude toward his older brothers. He made himself quite an irritant to his brothers. In fact, daddy Jacob put Joseph into the position of a supervisor over his older brothers in several situations which enraged the older brothers. Finally, they had about all that they could take from Joseph, and the older brothers seized Joseph, and secretly sold him to a caravan of traders who were traveling toward Egypt. And they thought to themselves: "Good riddance to this trouble-making brat." They lied and told their father Jacob- - that Joseph was killed by a wild beast. This broke Jacob’s heart, but that didn’t matter to these brothers. Sin & hate had so gripped them- - that all they wanted to do was to be rid of this irritating brother Joseph.
Just like the "Survivor" television show, Joseph was voted out of the tribe. However, this wasn’t a game, 17 year old Joseph was hated and injured and kidnaped and separated from his father.
Joseph arrives in Egypt and is sold to a man named Potiphar, he was the man in charge of Pharaoh’s bodyguard. It turns out that everything that Joseph touched succeeded. Potiphar’s household prospered. Joseph was like that dream secretary or dream accountant who makes everything in life work better.
Not only was Joseph a gifted manager, but it says in the Bible that
". . .Joseph was handsome in form and appearance."(39:6) And Potiphar’s wife noticed Joseph- - and she desired him, making advances on him. Joseph remained pure and honorable, but this woman could not handle the rejection, so she lied to her husband and accused Joseph of indecency with her. So, it happened again, Joseph is voted out of the tribe and thrown into prison. It was unfair, it was unjust, but it happened to Joseph anyway.
In prison it happens again. Joseph gains the favor of the chief jailer. The chief jailer turns just about everything over to Joseph and Joseph makes everything in the prison work better. Then one day Joseph meets two men who were servants of Pharaoh who were thrown into prison. These two servants have dreams - - - and God gave Joseph the ability to interpret their dreams and Joseph’s predictions come true. And the only repayment Joseph asks of them is, (40:14) "when you get out of prison please mention me to Pharaoh and get me out of this prison." But it happens again, the one servant who makes it back into Pharaoh’s household forgets about Joseph- - - he forgets about him for two whole years. It wasn’t fair, it wasn’t just, but it happened to Joseph.
Finally, only when Pharaoh’s household needed something from Joseph do they remember Joseph in prison. Pharaoh had a dream which nobody could explain, the servant remembers this Hebrew boy in prison who could interpret dreams, so Pharaoh sends for Joseph, they clean him up, and bring him to Pharaoh. Joseph interprets Pharaoh’s dream, and the dream is this: that there would be Seven Years of record breaking crops followed by Seven Years of famine. Pharaoh believes him, gives Joseph more authority than anyone next to Pharaoh, so that Joseph can organize the storing of grain for the famine. Joseph’s prediction comes true, and Joseph saves everyone from starvation.
Talk about a roller coaster ride for Joseph. Talk about aimless days in his life. From his father’s favorite, to a slavet, to success, to prison, and then to the second most powerful man in Egypt. All only in thirteen years. And he was still separated from his father and younger brother who he loved. But this would soon change. Joseph’s brothers are sent to Egypt by his father Jacob to buy grain, because the famine also hit back home, Joseph reveals himself to his brothers and brings his entire family, including his father Jacob, to come live with him in safety in Egypt.
How does Joseph make it through the aimless days, the hatred that came his way, the lies that were told about him, the losses which he had to take in life, the hopelessness and depression which he had to manage? I’m sure he wanted to give up, I’m sure he looked up to God sometimes and asked Him, "What are you doing to me Lord?" How did Joseph manage to hold it together through all of the ups & downs? I think it has to do with what Joseph brought along with him when he went down into Egypt.
On the show "Survivor" each team member was allowed to bring one or two personal items along with them. I believe that Joseph brought along with him an understanding about the God who makes promises.
I. Your Personal Items: Take With You A Personal Understanding About The God Who Makes Promises
The Bible says that in the years even before Joseph’s birth, that Almighty God met with Joseph’s father Jacob. And God spoke these words to Jacob:
28:13-15 "I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie, I will give it to you and to your descendants. Your descendants will also be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and in you and in your descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed. Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you." And we know how Jacob encountered God and wrestled with Him, and that God spoke to Jacob giving him a name which means, 32:28 ". . .for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed." And God repeated his promises again to Jacob, 35:11b-12 saying : ". . .and kings shall come forth from you. The land which I gave to Abraham and Isaac, I will give it to you, And I will give that land to your descendants after you."
I believe that Jacob told his son Joseph about this God of promises, and I believe that an understanding about this God who makes promises- - sunk deep into Joseph’s heart and mind, and Joseph took this knowledge about a God who makes promises, - - -he took this along with him out into the survival games down in Egypt.
You and I need to take this God of promises with us, out into the survivor games. The trouble is, we often leave Him behind. We need to meet Him every day in His Word, we need other Christians to encourage us and to share with us, what great things God has said and done in their lives, to make our Christian life more than academic, but to make it living and real.
But knowledge about God is not very useful without commitment- - - so I think Joseph brought along another piece of Survivor gear, Joseph learned that he must- - -
II. Your Alliance: Form An Alliance With The God Who Makes Promises
When you talk about surviving, sometimes an important part of survival involves forming alliances. When our nation fights wars we look for allies, we form alliances to make us strong against our enemies. I believe that Joseph formed an alliance with Almighty God, - - -actually God forms the alliance with us. We do not seek & find God, He finds us.
In this relationship we have to realize that God’s #1 priority is not to give us strength to accomplish our will. God never promises us strength to accomplish our own plans. But here is what we must learn to do, we must learn to submit our will to His will. We must ,in a sense , become a child in our relationship to God. But we think we are big enough to run our own world, and we think we are wise enough to make our own decisions, but we are wrong.
Look at the example of Joseph.. When Potiphar’s wife made immoral advances on Joseph, look at what Joseph said in Gen. 39:9: "How could I do this great evil and sin against God?" There was a vertical dimension to Joseph’s life. This woman’s advances on Joseph was not simply a matter between Joseph and this woman or Joseph and her husband Potiphar, Joseph saw a triangle, with Almighty God at the top.
Joseph valued his relationship with God, and Joseph understood a word which so many people have forgotten, Joseph understood the meaning and value of OBEDIENCE, - - - submission to God’s will, even when obedience involved suffering.
Most everybody wants to believe that suffering is not God’s will for us. But I want to tell you, that there is something that suffering is good for: It shows us that something is wrong with this world. Suffering halts us, it makes us consider other values. It forces us to consider that we do not fit in to this world. Suffering can turn you away from God, or it can turn you toward Him. You can trust God, or you can blame Him. But you know what makes the difference? The difference is: What you bring along with you into suffering, what kind of a faith alliance you have with this God who makes promises.
But there was one final piece of survivor gear which Joseph used in his journey, and I think this was the most important of all the gear- - - Joseph had not only personal items he brought with him, he had not only a valuable alliance with God, but Joseph had A Strategy that led him all the way through the tough times. He pitched his tent on the high ground of understanding- - - understanding that God was intimately involved in his life.
III. Your Strategy: Pitch Your Tent High In The Understanding- -That God Is Involved In Your Life
Every wise camper knows that you must pitch your tent on the high ground. If you do not, you run the risk of being swept away by the run off from storms that might come by unexpectedly in the night.
In Genesis 45, Joseph comes face-to-face with his brothers. He reveals his identity to his brothers. The brothers are afraid. It’s kind of like you being the grade school bully, and years latter finding out that one of the kids you pushed around the most has now become your boss at work. Well, for these ten brothers it was ten times worse. They had Joseph kidnaped to Egypt. It was as though they tried to kill him. It cost Joseph 13 of the best years of his life. It cost Joseph pain and suffering. Joseph faces these brothers, and look at what he says to them: //READ V.5//
How could Joseph say this to them? Why didn’t Joseph even the score? Why- - - because Joseph had a higher understanding of God. God allowed Joseph to see the higher and greater purpose which He had for Joseph’s life.
//READ V.6-7// Joseph reveals the strategy that lead him through all of those years of trouble. He tells them: Stop seeing what you can see with your eyes, you need to get past yourself and your own limited resources and rise up to see your life and see your days from God’s point of view.
Joseph has no inflated opinion of himself, he has no payback agenda with his brothers. //READ V.8a// Joseph had learned through it all to become content- - - content, that God was directing the events of his life. "You brothers were evil in what you did to me, but God used the evil, God used it to accomplish good." So Joseph says, "All the trouble I experienced was worth it, because God has led me to see how He used me to accomplish His will, to accomplish His good." My friend, can you say that about the troubles, the losses, the disappointments in your life? You can not move forward, until you learn to see beyond your circumstances, and begin to trust God’s purposes for you. Hand them over to God, and Him to use them, - - - And get on with your life.
In the TV show "Survivor" there is an Immunity Idol which the teams compete for. If you win a relay or a contest you win the Immunity Idol and that protects your team from having to vote someone off of the team. The life of Joseph demonstrates, that in real life there are no immunity idols. Even for Christians we are not immune from sicknesses, or the death of a loved one, or losing money in a bad business deal. When Christians fall down on sharp rocks they do not somehow turn into foam rubber Hollywood props, we are cut, we bleed, we suffer and we hurt along with everybody else. But we have something so valuable and special- - - we know that behind the scenes, we have a loving/caring God who is directing our destiny, even through this sinful world, and He is directing our life, and if we let Him, He will bring you purpose, He will bring you significance and peace and order and confidence beyond anything you could ever imagine or create for yourself.
You and I can be survivors through aimless days, because we have a Savior who survived the cross. You and I can be survivors through aimless days, because we have a Savior who leads us through these aimless days of life. Trust Him and live. Amen.
