November 7, 1999 Genesis 40
¡§Interpreting Life¡¨
Key verse: ¡§Do not interpretations belong to God?¡¨ Genesis 40:8
INTRODUCTION
Yesterday afternoon, our family went up to the mall for a little while, and I was very surprised to see that the Christmas decorations were already up. People were doing their Christmas shopping & Christmas sales have already started. If Tammy would let me get away with it, I think that I would buy boxes for our kids for Christmas. Every year, they pull the gifts out of the boxes, play with them for a few minutes and then play with the boxes for the rest of the day. Most of the time, no one remembers what they got for Christmas anyway. There are only two Christmas gifts that I remember from my early days. One year, my grandfather bought me a jar of pickles because he knew how much I loved them. And then, on my 16th birthday, my mom bought me this camera. It¡¦s broken now, but I used it for years and made record of some great memories with it. It was my window on the world. I saw everything in my world through this lens. I even bought these filters that changed the way that everything I saw through this camera looked. I had a filter that could make everything have a red tint to it. I had one that made any lights in the picture look like they were stars. You know how when you try to take pictures through a window, you get the glare of the window in the picture; well I had a filter that prevented that from happening. Those filters changed the way that I looked at my world around me.
Yesterday morning, I went to the funeral of Sharon and Dennis¡¦s dad, Charles Messenger. At that funeral, there was sorrow, but there was no weeping and wailing. The reason for that was because the people at that funeral looked at that situation through a filter. They knew that Mr. Messenger was no longer suffering, that he was with Jesus, and that they would see him again. That belief is the filter that allowed them to see the death of someone they loved in a different way than people without Jesus would have seen it. They could have hope and joy in the midst of a very sorrowful event.
Each of us have filters that we use to help us find meaning in the events that happen in our everyday life. They help us to interpret what happens in our world. An optimist and a pessimist interpret the exact same event in totally different ways because of the filters that they use. They see things from different perspectives. This past Sunday night, we talked about even what spiritual gift you have will cause you to look at the same situation as someone else but have a totally different reaction to it. The type of filters that you use will determine how you react to those situations that happen in your life that cause you to say ¡§Why God?¡¨ We all have those kinds of experiences. They are the ones that defy explanation. People often come to me with those questions that start out something like this: ¡§Why would God . . .¡¨ In answer to those kind of questions, I almost always start out by saying, ¡§I would never be so bold as to try to explain God¡¦s actions for Him . . .¡¨, and then I go on to give some different perspectives to look at the situation from.
Joseph was in one of those ¡§Why God¡¨ situations. After having grown up with 10 brothers that hated him, and being sold into slavery in a far away land, he was now in prison because he had been falsely accused of the attempted rape of the wife of an important official. Joseph could have easily given up, but Joseph looked at life through some filters that helped him to interpret his situation in such a way that he was able to keep from falling into despair.
1. Interpret life in light of the working/plan of God (vs. 1-4)
The captain of the guard (Potiphar) was the one who put the baker and the butler under Joseph¡¦s care. Either he recognized that the charges brought against Joseph were false, or because of his friendship/relation-ship with Joseph, he wanted to make things as pleasant as possible for him in an unpleasant situation. Joseph was unjustly treated, and apparently, those with the power to correct the situation knew he was unjustly treated but refused to do anything about it. How would that have made you feel?
God put everything together at the right time and the right place. Joseph, the interpreter of the dreams, was put in charge of the baker and the butler, the dreamers. With God, nothing happens by chance. He has a reason and a plan. What seems like a tragedy to us, God will use to accomplish His purposes if we walk in obedience. (Christian was shipwrecked and washed up on deserted island. Prayed for days for God to send a rescue team. No one came. Used driftwood to build a small shelter. One day, after foraging for food, he came back to his shelter to find that it was in flames. He prayed, ¡§Why God?¡¨, but God gave no answer. The next morning, he was awakened by a rescue party. When the man asked how that they knew he was there, they said, ¡§We saw your signal fire¡¨. God was working and God had a plan. The man didn¡¦t need to get mad at God.)
Joseph could have hope and peace because he knew God¡¦s plan for his life. When he was just a boy, God had revealed to him that his family would one day bow before him. If you are a Christian, you know God¡¦s plan for your life.
2. Interpret life in light of the needs of others (vs. 5-7)
What was so unusual about being sad when you were in a dungeon? Joseph had enough compassion in him that he was able to look beyond his own situation and reach out to someone else in need. He was able to look past his own tears and see the tears of others.
Tell story of Chinese pastor who refused to be set free from prison because he felt that his work in the prison was not finished yet.
3. Interpret life in light of the revelation of God (vs. 9-18)
People want to hear pleasing things from the Lord. They want to be comforted, understood, consoled and validated. Sometimes God¡¦s truth encourages, but sometimes God¡¦s truth judges and convicts and is not exactly pleasant. The baker had no opportunity to change what was destined for him. You do.
4. Interpret life in light of the timing of God (vs. 14-15, 23)
Was Joseph wrong in his attempt to secure release or at least a hearing for himself? Obviously, it was not a part of God¡¦s plan for him for now. It was a part of God¡¦s plan for him eventually. The timing was not right. Don¡¦t get ahead of God¡¦s timetable. Don¡¦t seek a release from your situation before God is finished doing what he¡¦s doing. Joseph was probably ready to interpret Pharaoh¡¦s dream, but he may not have been prepared yet to be the leader that he needed to be for Egypt.
5. Interpret life in light of the provision of God (vs. 8)
These men were sad because there was no one, they thought, to interpret their dreams. They were probably used to going to Pharaoh¡¦s soothsayers and magicians for their interpretations. They were used to turning to men for help and wisdom. Now they had no men for help; they didn¡¦t know what to do. Why is it that we almost always turn to God as a last resort?
Joseph brought words of hope in a place where hope was not in the vocabulary. The source of hope was God. God could make His presence known even in an awful place like this. Joseph pointed the men to God, and then he pointed them to himself (¡§tell me¡¨). Joseph knew that he was God¡¦s spokesman. The men could not go directly to God because they had no relationship with Him. They had to go through Joseph. You are God¡¦s spokesman! It took a lot of faith for Joseph to say ¡§tell me¡¨. The Bible does not record that Joseph had any previous experience at interpreting dreams. But he did have experience at obeying God. It was not Joseph¡¦s knowledge of dreams that helped him interpret their meaning. It was his knowledge of God.
Interpret life in the light of the . . .
„h Working/plan of God ¡V ¡§What is God preparing me for?¡¨
„h Needs of others ¡V ¡§Who will I be able to help because I have gone through this?¡¨
„h Revelation of God ¡V ¡§What has God already said about this?¡¨
„h Timing of God ¡V ¡§When is the right time for me to seek release from this situation? When will I be ready, and when will they be ready?¡¨
„h Provision of God ¡V ¡§What has God already given me to enable me to make it through?¡¨ (himself, hope, other people)
