OPEN: An elderly husband and wife noticed they were beginning to forget little things around the house. They were afraid that this could be dangerous so they decided to go see a doctor to get some help.
Their doctor told them that many people their age find it useful to write themselves little notes as reminders. This seemed like an excellent idea.
When they got home, the wife said, "Honey, will you please go to the kitchen and get me a dish of ice cream? Why don’t you write that down so you won’t forget?"
"Nonsense," said the husband, "I can remember a dish of ice cream!"
"I’d also like some strawberries on it. You better write that down, because I know you’ll forget."
"Don’t be silly," replied the husband. "A dish of ice cream and some strawberries. I can remember that!"
"OK, dear, but I’d like you to put some whipped cream on top. Now you’d really better write it down now. You’ll forget," said the wife.
"No problem, ice cream with strawberries and whipped cream."
With that, the husband shut the kitchen door behind him. The wife could hear him getting out pots and pans and making lots of noise. He emerged from the kitchen about 15 minutes later.
Walking over to his wife, he presented her with a plate of bacon and eggs. The wife took one look at the plate, glanced up at her husband with this look of disgust in her eyes and said, "Where’s the toast?"
APPLY: Yogi Bera, the famous catcher for the New York Yankees once said:
“If you don’t know where you’re going, you’re likely to end up someplace else.”
I. Joseph was a man who knew where he was going.
He may not have known HOW he would get there, but he knew WHERE he was headed. At the age of 17, God had given him a vision. A vision that he would be man of great importance. And even tho’ he had faced the rage & rejection of his brothers, the insult of slavery and the hardship of imprisonment (for over 13 years) - he kept his eyes on God and never gave up hope in dream God had placed in heart.
He knew where he was going and he had no intention of going anyplace else. How did Joseph know where he was going? God told him.
II. In the same way, you and I have a destination. You and I have a place to go.
Ephesians 2:10 tells us “we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
You have a destiny. You have a dream set before you. Like Joseph – you may not know EXACTLY what that destiny entails. I mean, Joseph didn’t realize he was to become the 2nd in Egypt, but he knew that God had SOMETHING planned. Like wise, you may not know the details, but you do know there is a destiny laid before you. And like Joseph there are certain things you can do to ensure that your destiny from God.
III. First, Joseph attained his destiny because he knew & understood the power of God
Notice the 1st thing he tells the cupbearer & the baker when they mention their dreams:
"Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams." Gen. 40:8
Later, when he stands before Pharaoh to interpret HIS dreams, Joseph says: "I cannot do it… but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires." Genesis 41:16
Did you catch that? The interpretations belonged to God (they did not Joseph). And when he stands before Pharaoh, Joseph says he can’t interpret Pharaoh’s dream, but he knew God would give him the answer
Joseph realized that whatever skills he had, whatever potential lay within him… his abilities and his skills and his potential were solely reliant upon the power of God.
ILLUS: As one person once put it: “I am a pencil in God’s hand. He does the writing. The pencil has nothing to do with it.”
God can make the best use of us when we are willing to get out of the way and let Him work through us.
IV. Secondly, Joseph realized that God could use him, no matter what his circumstances
Where is Joseph in this text we’re reading this morning? Joseph is in prison. He’s there because Potiphar (his master) had a wife that wanted him to go to bed – and he wasn’t going to do it. So, his master’s wife falsely accuses him of raping her, and now he’s in the King’s jail. And (if Potiphar has anything to do with it) he ain’t never getting out of there.
Joseph is in prison. It’s kind of hard to do much of any value while you’re setting in prison. Or at least that is what many people might say.
ILLUS: One of the great preachers of our brotherhood was man named Owen Crouch.
Like many preachers, he wasn’t paid a lot of money, and so when he was in his 60’s he was approached by a group of businessmen who were starting a company. And they said wanted a man of his integrity to handle the books. He took the job, kept the books, wrote the checks, signed the contracts… and when the company was hauled into court for fraud and shut down because of its illegal business practices, this preacher’s name was the only one on any of the paper work
He hadn’t realized the business was a sham. He hadn’t realized the businessmen he had worked beside were crooks. But - he went to prison all the same. Those business men even got lighter sentences than he did.
It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t right. And he was left holding the bag and setting in prison.
But Owen Crouch was a man who’d learned to lean on God. A man who realized that wherever he was, God could use him. So he began ministering to the other prisoners, leading them to Christ and discipling them to be strong Christians when they left those prison walls.
And when he left prison, he wrote a book about his experiences and ministered to even more people because of his faithfulness.
My point is this: God can use you no matter what your circumstances.
No matter how unfair life may seem to you
No matter how imprisoned you may feel in the life you lead
No matter how useless you might feel your efforts would be
…God CAN, and God WILL use you.
V. Third, Joseph reached his destiny because he made the most of every opportunity to serve God
This is a principle that is repeated throughout the New Testament:
Eph. 5:16 says we need to (make) the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.
Col. 4:5 Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity.
Galatians 6:10 “… as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.”
While Joseph was in prison, he made the most of every opportunity to serve God. Because he was God’s man, Joseph always found an opportunity to do good to those around him.
For Example: When Joseph was thrown into prison, we’re told
“the LORD was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden. 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. 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. (Genesis 39:21-23)
In other words, while in prison, Joseph served God by serving the prison Warden. And because he was willing to do this, the Warden entrusted him w/ everything in the prison. Joseph made the most of that opportunity to serve God by serving the warden.
Later, when the King’s cupbearer and baker were imprisoned, notice how Joseph dealt with them
“When Joseph came to them the next morning, he saw that they were dejected. So he asked Pharaoh’s officials who were in custody with him in his master’s house, ‘Why are your faces so sad today?’
‘We both had dreams,’ they answered, ‘but there is no one to interpret them.’ Then Joseph said to them, "Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams.’” (Genesis 40:6-8)
Did you notice, Joseph took a sincere interest in these two men. He wanted to know why they were sad. He wanted to listen to their stories. And when they had a need that he could help meet (the interpretation of their dreams) – he met it
There was no road sign saying “Hey, Joseph – these guys are your ticket out of here!”
No divine voice,
No angelic appearance to tell Joseph these men were important to his future
Joseph had NO IDEA what these men meant to his life.
All Joseph knew – these were men who had needs, and because Joseph was God’s man, he intended to make the most of this opportunity to “do good” for these men.
ILLUS: A couple of years ago I read of a scholarly study which investigated the lives of those during the reign of Nazi Germany who rescued people from the horrors of the death camps. They took those who were in danger of arrest and hid them in their homes, despite the danger of being found out and crushed beneath the heels of Hitler’s henchmen.
In the study, several of the surviving heroes and their friends and families were interviewed. They were looking for a common thread that characterized most if not all of these individuals. What they found was that these extra-ordinary heroes were NOT extra-ordinary people. They were very much like their neighbors in almost every way… except one. They were people who seemed to always be giving to others, helping people. If students needed books, they bought them. If someone was hungry, they fed them. If someone was homeless, they arranged to find them someplace to stay. They had been trained by their way of life to put others above themselves and changed the course of the lives of hundreds who otherwise would have faced certain torture and death.
God understands this, and so He stresses the importance of loving others. He stresses the value of feeding the poor, helping the needy, watching out of the widow and the orphan. Because it is this type of person that God can use: the person who makes the most of every opportunity to “do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.” (Gal. 6:10)
CLOSE: Doug Nichols, of Bothell, WA
While serving with Operation Mobilization in India in 1967, tuberculosis forced me into a sanitarium for several months. I did not yet speak the language, but I tried to give Christian literature written in their language to the patients, doctors, and nurses.
Everyone politely refused. I sensed many weren’t happy about a rich American (to them all Americans are rich) being in a free, government-run sanitarium. (They didn’t know I was just as broke as they were!)
The first few nights I woke around 2:00 A.M. coughing. One morning during my coughing spell, I noticed one of the older and sicker patients across the aisle trying to get out of bed. He would sit up on the edge of the bed and try to stand, but in weakness would fall back into bed. I didn’t understand what he was trying to do. He finally fell back into bed exhausted. I heard him crying softly.
The next morning I realized what the man had been trying to do. He had been trying to get up and walk to the bathroom! The stench in our ward was awful. Other patients yelled insults at the man. Angry nurses moved him roughly from side to side as they cleaned up the mess. One nurse even slapped him. The old man curled into a ball and wept. The next night I again woke up coughing. I noticed the man across the aisle sit up and again try to stand. Like the night before, he fell back whimpering.
I don’t like bad smells, and I didn’t want to become involved, but I got out of bed and went over to him. When I touched his shoulder, his eyes opened wide with fear. I smiled, put my arms under him, and picked him up. He was very light due to old age and advanced TB. I carried him to the washroom, which was just a filthy, small room with a hole in the floor. I stood behind him with my arms under his armpits as he took care of himself. After he finished, I picked him up, and carried him back to his bed. As I laid him down, he kissed me on the cheek, smiled, and said something I couldn’t understand.
The next morning another patient woke me and handed me a steaming cup of tea. He motioned with his hands that he wanted a tract. As the sun rose, other patients approached and indicated they also wanted the booklets I had tried to distribute before. Throughout the day nurses, interns, and doctors asked for literature.
Weeks later an evangelist who spoke the language visited me, and as he talked to others he discovered that several had put their trust in Christ as Savior as a result of reading the literature. What did it take to reach these people with the gospel? It wasn’t health, the ability to speak their language, or a persuasive talk. I simply took a trip to the bathroom.
SERMONS IN THE "TECHNICOLOR FAITH" SERIES
* Making The Most Of Every Opportunity
Genesis 40:1-41:14
* How to Succeed At Just About Anything
Genesis 39:1-39:23
* The Dreamer
Genesis 37:1-37:36
