"GOD INTENDED IT FOR GOOD"
Genesis 50:15-21
"But Joseph said to them, don’t be afraid, Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended for good, to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives."
INTRODUCTION:
1. What is suffering? Suffering covers a broad spectrum of
experiences and has a multitude of faces.
- Definition: "Suffering is to endure loss, to feel pain
and distress, to sustain injury. It may involve physical,
emotional or spiritual distress. It is cyclical and all
encompassing."
2. What about the problem of personal suffering? Each of us has
to answer the question, "Why does God allow me to suffer?"
This question is one that I had to answer in a very gut-level
way. I hope the answer I found will help you.
3. This last Tuesday, America was stunned to wake up to our television and radio
stations telling us of the horrific news that two American airliners had crashed into
the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City. We watched with shock and horror as the television footage of the crashes was replayed over and over
again. Just when we thought that the worst was over, both buildings imploded and
crumbled to the ground. News commentators informed us that as many as 50,000
people may have been present in those buildings and that it is estimated that as
many as 30,000 people were killed in the blast.
4. Many of us have sat glued to our televisions sets staring in disbelief. We have felt
shocked, then numbed and finally angry and vindictive – demanding justice and
retaliation. This morning our nation cries out “To God, Why?” “Why have you
allowed this terrible tragedy to occur.”
PROPOSITION:
Christian, I do not pretend to understand why God has allowed us to experience
such a great and devastating loss, but I have learned this about suffering from the
life of Joseph: God intends it for good. Notice, I did not say that suffering is
good, or that God initiates suffering ( I suspect that evil people filled with hate are
behind much of our suffering), but I do believe that God redeems good out of the
suffering we experience.
INTERROGATIVE: How does God redeem good out of our suffering?
TRANSITION:
If we examine each aspect in the phrase Joseph used, "God
intended it for good", we will discover three ways God
redeemed value from Joseph’s suffering:
1) "GOD" -Suffering is Centered in God.
2) "INTENDED IT" - Suffering Has Purpose.
3) "FOR GOOD" -Suffering Results in Our Good.
I. "GOD" - SUFFERING IS CENTERED IN GOD
A. Where was God in Joseph’s Suffering.
1. We pick up Joseph’s story in Gen. 37.
Cannot help but immediately notice that God’s hand
is resting on Joseph’s life. He experienced two
dreams which God used to speak to him about the
future of his life although his family failed to
recognize it. His older brothers simply grew more
and more jealous of the dreamer and finally sold him
into slavery in Egypt.
a. Instead of experiencing the dream God had given
him, Joseph’s life suddenly became a nightmare.
b. Don’t you suppose that Joseph asked the same
question in his suffering that we ask God this morning, "Where is
God?" "Why has he allowed our country to suffer such a tragic
loss?"
2. The truth is that God was Present In Joseph’s Suffering
a. Irony plays an important part in the story of
Joseph. Just when it seems that his dreams have
been crushed, forgotten and alone, then we stumble upon
chapter 39. This chapter tells us seven times that "the Lord
was with Joseph".
b. We need to understand something about the story
of Joseph: God didn’t just show up at the end
of the story, He was there all the time.
c. – In chapter 37: 5-11 God was there in Joseph’s dreams,
- In chapter 37: 21 God was there when Joseph was in the pit
and Ruben saved his life.
- In chapter 37:27-36 God was there when he was sold into
Potiphar’s household.
- In chapter Gen 39:1-6
1 Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt. Potiphar, an Egyptian who was one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him there.
2 The LORD was with Joseph and he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master. 3 When his master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD gave him success in everything he did, 4 Joseph found favor in his eyes and became his attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and he entrusted to his care everything he owned. 5 From the time he put him in charge of his household and of all that he owned, the LORD blessed the household of the Egyptian because of Joseph. The blessing of the LORD was on everything Potiphar had, both in the house and in the field. 6 So he left in Joseph’s care everything he had; with Joseph in charge, he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate.
- God was there with Joseph even when he was thrown
in prison Gen 39:20-23
20 Joseph’s master took him and put him in prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined. But while Joseph
was there in the prison, 21 the LORD was with him; he
showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden. 22 So the warden put Joseph in charge of all those held in the prison, and he was made responsible for all that was done there. 23 The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph’s care, because the LORD was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did. NIV
- and when he got out. - Gen 41:39-40
9 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Since God has made all this known to you, there is no one so discerning and wise as you. 40 You shall be in charge of my palace, and all my people are to submit to your orders. Only with respect to the throne will I be greater than you." God was there all the time!
B. God is Present in Our Suffering
1. Joseph’s life illustrates the great truth that we
are never alone in our suffering. God is always
there. Our pain may blur our vision so that we
can’t always clearly see Him, but God never leaves
us alone.
2. Psalm 59:9-10 reads, "You O God, are my fortress, my
loving God who will go before me."
a. Leslie Wetherhead translates this verse, "My
God in His loving Kindness, shall meet me at
every corner."
b. Corners represent turning points, places of
uncertainty and change around which an unknown future awaits us. Joseph learned that God’s presence was always
just around the next corner and so may we.
3. “They tell us the 911 emergency system is the state of the art. All you
need do is dial those numbers, and you will almost instantly be
connected to a dispatcher. In front of the dispatcher will be a read-out
that lists your telephone number, your address and the name by
which that telephone number is listed at that address. Also listening
in are the police, the fire department and the paramedics.
“Someone might not be able to say what the problem is. Or perhaps a woman’s husband has just suffered a heart attack, and she is so out-of-control that all she can do is scream hysterically into the telephone. But the dispatcher doesn’t need her to say anything. He knows where the call is coming from. Help is already on the way.
“There come times in our lives when such as this past week, when in our desperation and pain, we have dialed 911 prayers. Sometimes we’re hysterical. Sometimes we didn’t know the words to speak. But God heard. He knows our name, and he knows our current events and circumstances. He doesn’t need for the television network to announce it before He is aware of it. His help is on the way; God has already begun to bring the remedy.”
TRANSITION: "GOD" -Joseph’s Suffering was centered and grounded in God’s presence and so is ours. If we look God is just around the next corner.
I. "GOD" -Suffering Had Purpose.
A. Joseph’s Suffering had Purpose.
1. I do not mean that it was God’s purpose for Joseph to suffer, (God is not a sadist), but I mean that God redeemed value and purpose
from the evil events that occurred in Joseph’s life."
2. The Hebrew idiom used in Gen 50:20 suggests this
very thing. "God intended it for good" means, "God
turned this evil around into good." God is not in
the business of creating evil, He is in the business
of turning evil circumstances around for our good.
3. It is not until the end of the story that Joseph’s
was finally able to see purpose and meaning in the
13 years he spent as a slave and prisoner in Egypt.
It is until chapter 50 verse 20 when we see Joseph as an old man that
the lights are turned on and he finally sees the purpose, "but God
intended it for good, to preserve alive a great nation."
4. Joseph’s suffering not only saved his family from famine, it not only
gave that family a place to grow into a great nation, but it reached down
through history and provided his people a homeland for Christ to be
born and in this way the purpose of Joseph’s suffering touches me and
you today!
B. Our Suffering Has Purpose.
1. God Does not Cause Our Suffering, but He is the
Redeemer of Our Suffering.
a. For the Christian, suffering is not a fatalistic happen-chance.
Christ brings meaning and purpose and healing out of life’s
difficulties.
b. Uncle Harold, died in motorcycle crash. Left
young wife and three small children. My aunt
could have been bitter at God. She may have
cynically asked, "Where is God in all of this?"
But she didn’t. She trusted God. One of the
purposes God was working became evident
quickly. 38 of my Uncle Harold’s co-workers
accepted Christ as Savior at his funeral. This
tremendous impact on the people he worked with
helped my aunt find meaning in his death. It
motivated her to have Philippians 1:21 engraved on his gave marker, "For to me to live is Christ, but to die is gain."
c. How will God use the events of this last week? I truly do not
know the full extent of what God can and will do. I do know that
God has turned our nation to prayer.
- President Bush has asked that all of us would pray for the victims and families of these horrible attacks.
- Churches are opening their doors for prayer.
- Blood banks have been flooded with donors doing their best to do their part to give to those in need the gift of life.
- Corporations are giving tens of millions of dollars to assist in the clean up process.
- Volunteers are lifting mortar and steel from the wrecked buildings and passing it bucket by bucket to dump trucks.
- Our Congress has instantly broken through years of gridlock pledging to work together to identify and neutralize our common enemy.
- People everywhere are joining in candlelight vigils quietly signing and showing their mutual support.
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2. How then should we respond to the suffering we experience? We must look for the purpose and meaning that God is redeeming from it.
a. We will discover that although God is not the
Author of everything that happens, he is Certainly the Master
of everything, and will use it to work out his purpose.
TRANSITION: "GOD INTENDED IT" - Our pain is not an accident, but God enriches our pain and suffering and assigns to it meaning that gives us the thing we need most: purpose in an otherwise senseless situation. Third...
III. "INTENDED IT FOR GOOD" - "OUR SUFFERING RESULTS IN OUR GOOD"
A. Joseph’s Suffering Resulted In His Good.
1. The Hebrew word for "good" in Gen. 50:20 is the word "to bless". The Bible does not teach us that suffering is good, but it does teach us that
God turns suffering around and takes what was the source of pain and
makes it the source of blessing in our lives.
2. We see the truth of this in Joseph’s life. In one
mighty sweep of God’s hand, Joseph, former captive,
slave and prisoner was made second in command of all
of Egypt. In one awesome act, God turned all the evil
around and made the land which had been the source of
his suffering to become the source of blessing.
B. God Turns the Suffering in Our Lives Around For Our Good.
1. Romans 8:28 states, "For all things work together
for good to those who love God and are called
according to His purpose."
a. What many Christians fail to recognize about
suffering, is that when God works "all things
together for our good", that this includes the
hard things as well as the good things. He
works EVERYTHING together for our good!
b. It’s easy to see how the good things work
together for good, but only God can take the
desert of suffering and anguish and turn it
into the fountain of blessing.
2. The only monument in the world built in the shape of
a bug, to honor a bug is located in Fort Rucker,
Alabama. In 1915 the Mexican boll weevil invaded
Southeast Alabama and destroyed 60% of the cotton crop. In
desperation, the farmers turned to planting
peanuts. By 1917 the peanut industry had become so
profitable that the county harvested more peanuts
than any other county in the nation. In gratitude,
the people of the town erected a statue and
inscribed these words,
"In profound appreciation of the boll weevil, and what it has done as the
herald of prosperity." The instrument of their suffering had become the
means of their blessing.
3. How then, does God’s redemption of evil circumstances enable us as believers to respond to the pain and suffering we have experienced this past week?
a. We understand that no suffering is beyond God’s ability to
redeem from it a source of blessing. This then gives us hope.
b. Hope makes it possible to look beyond suffering and even pain
and death to the time when God will turn our suffering into a
source of blessing in our lives.
CONCLUSION:
Folks, I do not pretend to know why evil men are allowed to do the evil deeds that they do and hurt and maim and kill tens of thousands of innocent people in one fatal swoop. but I do know this GOD INTENDS TO TURN THIS NIGHTMARE AROUND SO THAT WE MIGHT BE MADE STRONER, WISER, DEVELOP GREATER INTIMACY WITH HIMSELF, TRUST HIM MORE, GROW TOGETHER AS A COUNTRY, UNITE WITH BROTHERS AND SISTER IN CHRIST ACROSS THIS LAND, DRAW PEOPLE TO CHRIST JESUS AS THEIR LORD AND SAVIOR – THAT EVEN IN THE GREATEST TRAGEDY THAT AMERICA MAY HAVE EVER FACED - GOD INTENDS IT FOR GOOD!
-GOD IS PRESENT IN OUR SUFFERING.
-HE WILL HELP US FIND MEANING AND PURPOSE IN OUR PAIN.
-THOUGH WE MAY NOT SEE IT NOW, HE WILL TURN THE PLACE OF SUFFERING INTO THE PLACE OF BLESSING.
