INTRODUCTION
One of my biggest worries during my senior year of college was getting a job. It was now time for me to enter the “real-world.” Well actually, I wasn’t going to enter the “real-world.” I was going to Seminary. But nonetheless, I still needed a job to provide for myself and my soon-to-be wife. While looking online, I saw that the Bethel Seminary library was hiring, so I sent in my application. Some of you may be thinking, “David…A Librarian?” Hey, I had some experience working in a library in college, and I needed a job, OK? After a couple of phone interviews, I had made it to the final round of interviewing, and they asked me to come do a face-to-face interview. As the day for my interview neared, I began to worry more and more. My heart-beat was literally racing at all times, and I was barely sleeping at night. Eventually, I went down and did the interview. It went great, and I felt good about it. The interview was on a Friday, and they told me they would let me know by Monday. I turned over in my head a thousand times if that was a good thing or not. Well, Monday finally came, and no call. So did Tuesday, and still no call. Finally, on Wednesday, I got a phone call. “Hello, David. Hi. This is the Bethel Human Resources Department…I’m sorry to tell you…but the Bethel Seminary Library position has gone to another candidate. Thanks anyway.”
JOSEPH’S LIFE IS LIKE OUR JOURNEY
The passage we will be looking at today is from Genesis chapter 37:2-36. It is an introduction to the person of Joseph. Joseph is one of 12 of Jacob’s sons. He is currently 17 years old when we join him in this story, is the son of his father’s favorite wife Rachel, and is also Jacob’s favorite son. As the chapter begins, Joseph has two dreams. Let’s read together in Genesis chapter 37, verses 5-9:
5 Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more. 6 He said to them, "Listen to this dream I had: 7 We were binding sheaves of grain out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it."
8 His brothers said to him, "Do you intend to reign over us? Will you actually rule us?" And they hated him all the more because of his dream and what he had said.
9 Then he had another dream, and he told it to his brothers. "Listen," he said, "I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me."
Some of you may not remember becoming a Christian, but for those who became Christians later in life, you might remember what it was like. At first, there is that wonderful feeling of forgiveness, and the blessed joy of new life. No matter how we look at it, everything seems to be going better for us. We are on top of the world. Joseph’s first 17 years remind me of our first seasons with Christ. It seems that life couldn’t be better, things are working out, and we are our Father’s favorite.
However, in his blissful state, Joseph is often ignorant of the trials that soon lay ahead. This is proven by how Joseph tells his dreams to his brothers. He is quite confident that things will work out just perfectly for himself. One has to wonder if this guy even has any idea that his brothers hate him.
Things would soon change for Joseph. He was sent out by his Father to look for his other brothers. When they saw him a ways off, they decided that they would kill him. When Reuben objected, they settled on merely throwing him in an empty cistern. Eventually, Judah gets the idea that they should merely sell him to the passing Ishmaelites, and Joseph is brought to Egypt as a slave. This is not the day that Joseph had in mind for himself. Just when everything is going right and he feels on top of the world, everything begins to fall apart. Joseph probably had many grand ideas on how his dream would be fulfilled, but this most likely was not one of them.
Just like our journey with Christ, infatuation/a period of bliss doesn’t last forever. Life is a whole lot more like a rollercoaster than a flat plain. And like a rollercoaster, sometimes when you’re going up, you can’t see what’s next. Anyone ever been on the “Wild Thing Rollercoaster” at Valleyfair? Well, on the Wild Thing, there are many ups and downs and twists and turns. Towards the end, everything seems to settle down, and the ride slows down and coasts at an even level. At this point, it is easy to think to yourself, “Ah, finally things are safe again…” When suddenly the ride takes a sudden drop down and it appears that your life is going to end and your face smashed on the top of a tunnel, but thankfully, you make it in the tunnel without getting hurt. Life is a whole lot like that drop. Too often, we just expect things to go well. It’s the shock of them not that makes us scream. And too often, we are told they will go well. Many preachers love to deliver the news that with Jesus, things will turn around and peace and joy will always come our way. However, Jesus never said that. Here’s what Jesus said in Matthew 7, verses 24 through 27:
24 "Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash."
WE OFTEN STRUGGLE WITH TRIALS
Jesus never said the rain wouldn’t come. The only difference was how ready we would be for it. Many of us are unable to deal with the rain in our lives. We can’t handle it when our rollercoaster of life begins to fall. When tragedies enter our lives, when we don’t get the job we wanted, when a relative is sick, when we get in a severe car accident, we question God. We ask God, “Where are you?” So, many of us give up. We refuse to see the light at the end of the tunnel. We refuse to see that our rollercoaster eventually goes back up, and we press the eject button and we close the book. We give up. But wait! The story doesn’t end at chapter 37! Joseph doesn’t die in slavery! God has a plan.
TRIALS HAVE MANY PURPOSES
God not only has a plan, but within the “lows”/trials of the plan, we can find purpose in them. What fun would a rollercoaster that was always at the top be? Isn’t it safe to say that without the lows, we couldn’t even enjoy the highs? Funny, huh? The “lows”/trials in our lives can also prepare us to better travel through life. Imagine for a second leading a perfect life. No sin, no screw-ups, straight A’s, only happiness, nothing ever goes wrong. You are perfect. Then imagine that in one day, everything goes wrong. You are fired from work, your spouse leaves you, you total your car, and your house burns down. What will happen to you? You will break down! You will have no sort of framework for how to deal with the troubles of life! It sort of reminds me of American Idol. You ever watch the first episodes of that famous reality television singing contest where all the people who “think” they can sing but really can’t are on? Those people are often people who have never experienced critical words. They have been lied to their whole lives! “Oh, you’re a…wonderful singer!” When faced with the heart-breaking words of Simon Cowell on national television, many of them break down because they’ve never experienced such trials before. God often brings us through trials so that we would be more prepared for the bigger ones that will come later.
God didn’t plan for your life to be perfect. In fact, at times he planned for it to go really badly. This is how he often matures us. Romans 5:3-4 says:
Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4perseverance, character; and character, hope.
Trials or sufferings come for many different reasons. Sometimes it is to mature us. Other times He is disciplining us. As it was once said, “Pain is God’s megaphone.” Sometimes it is a result of our own stupidity and other times it is spiritual warfare. But in every trial, we must remember that God is in control and is teaching us something, so it would be best if we paid attention.
Not getting the job at the Seminary Library was a real eye-opener for me. It was blatantly obvious that I didn’t trust God’s plan. If I did, I wouldn’t have been a nervous wreck. Yet, in the end, He was faithful anyway. I’m now in a job that I absolutely love and wonderfully fits who I am made to be.
It reminds me of a story about a bear. There was once this bear that was playing in the woods. He was having a grand ole time until he got caught in a trap. He began to yell and scream. He yelled, “AGH! It hurts! I can’t bare the pain!” Suddenly, he saw a man off in the distance, and this man had a gun. He thought, “Could it get any worse, God?” As the man got closer, he shot the bear. The bear screamed, “Oh no! It’s gotten worse!” Little did the bear know that the man was only using a tranquilizer because he wanted to free the bear. When he reached the bear, the bear was barely conscious. In order to release the trap, the man had to first push the trap in further, and then release it. As he pushed it in, the bear thought, “God! You must hate me! What did I do?” The bear finally passed out. When he woke up, he was free.
Our lives are sometimes like that. We experience so much pain that we don’t understand. But as a bear cannot understand what a human is doing, neither can a human often understand what an infinitely intelligent God is doing.
Joseph probably didn’t understand it at first either. He was supposed to rule over his brothers, but yet God sold him into slavery! And if we had more time to cover it, we would see that just as he began to find favor in Potiphar’s household, he was falsely accused and thrown into jail. And just when he was about to get a break and be set free from jail, he was forgotten for another two years. Yet, if it were not for the trials that Joseph had to suffer, he would have never been able to save his family, nor half the Middle East for that matter. I love what Joseph says to his brothers in response to their fear in Genesis 50, verse 20:
You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.
God has a great plan!
If we planned our lives, I think we would plan for everything to go well. We wouldn’t pencil in a relative dying early or cancer for our spouse, but for some reason, God does. And I guess the question is this: Do you trust that God knows what He’s doing? Here’s what I want you to do: When things start to go wrong in your life, stop saying, “WHAT ARE YOU DOING GOD?” And start saying, “What are you doing here, God?” “What are you trying to teach me?” “How can I get closer to You in the midst of this storm?” Ask the right question! Don’t see God as being on the other team. See Him as your Lord…the one you can trust.
LIFE ISN’T ALWAYS A FAIRY TALE
Let me finish up in a way you might not be expecting. It’s far too easy to end a message like this with a fairy tale ending, and quite frankly, many do. We often hear things like: no matter what happens, in the end, it will work out, the sun will come out tomorrow, you will live happily ever after. But, what if life doesn’t get any better? What if the rollercoaster doesn’t go back up?
My question is this: Do you need it to? Do you need happiness…or do you need Jesus? As long as we have the love of Christ, we don’t need much more. The love of Christ provides a hope, a victory, that “happiness” (wordly happiness that is) cannot rival.
CONCLUSION
So, when life begins to fall apart unexpectedly, trust that God has a plan. And trust that in the difficult parts of that plan that he is growing you and grooming you for your divine destiny. But even in the worst-case of scenarios, remember that happiness is fleeting…but Jesus…is forever.
