This is the 3rd installment in the 4-part series on Second Chances. We’ve been looking at the times the Bible uses the phrase "a second time" and we’ve been learning more about how God gives each of us numerous opportunities to do His will and experience the joyful life He offers.
It is so good to be reminded that our past failures are not final and our pain need not be fatal. It’s good to know that our Creator is willing to work with us, to be patient and understanding with us, to give us many opportunities to learn and grow. He doesn’t cast us away when we fail. He doesn’t turn His back on us.
Our second chance account for today comes from the story of Joseph and his brothers.
Acts 7:13 (NLT) THE SECOND TIME they went, Joseph revealed his identity to his brothers, and they were introduced to Pharaoh.
Drought and famine lingered on and on, so Joseph’s brothers were forced to return to Egypt a second time. The first time they went to Egypt for food they didn’t recognize their brother Joseph whom they had sold as a slave years earlier. The providence of God had landed Joseph in the position of being in charge of the very supply distribution program that his brothers sought.
You shouldn’t be able to think of the story of Joseph without standing in awe of God’s ability to pre-arrange circumstances to accomplish His will and let us share in His joy!
There are two very big things you ought to think of every time you consider the story of Joseph and his brothers: 1) you are loved; and 2) there is hope!
God knows what you will need tomorrow and the day after that, next year and the year after that. And I’m talking about the needs you have that are non-material as well as material. He’s already made plans to see to it that all of your needs are met! Every problem, every adverse circumstance, He already has a plan for you to work it out. Why? Because of His great love for you!
Think about the biblical examples of how God’s providence ruled the day. Moses’ mamma didn’t put him in a basket in the bulrushes of the Nile River by accident. God knew that Pharaoh’s daughter would be coming along at just the right time! He didn’t ask Abraham to offer up Isaac without already having planned for a ram to be stuck in the bushes for the sacrifice. God instructed Noah to build an ark long before it ever rained so that he would have a ship in which to save his family. There are no surprises with God! He knows the pressures you’ll face long before you ever get there. And He also has the answers!
The story of Jacob’s boys that we consider today is also a story of God’s providence. And it is a story that teaches us HOW God is always working things out. The story of Joseph teaches us how God transforms pain by perseverance, how He transforms hurt into hope, and sorrow into success.
Today we want to learn about HOW God will make a way. When you face those seemingly unanswerable questions in life, when you come to those supposedly impassable roadblocks – here’s how you can overcome them!
How will God make a way in your life? Joseph’s life was a triumph and not a tragedy – because God made a way! And He will make a way for you utilizing the same principles.
1. God will make a way by offering the forgiveness you need.
Philip Yancey shared this in book, "Rumors of Another World."
"Living in Colorado, I climb mountains. Colorado has 54 mountains rising above 14,000 feet and every summer I climb some of them. On a summer weekend in the mountains, I see casual hikers who have no idea what they are doing. In sandals, shorts and t-shirts, carrying a single container of water, they start up a trail at mid-morning. They have no map, no compass, and no rain gear. They also have no apparent knowledge of the lightning storms that roll in many summer afternoons, making it imperative to summit before noon and head for the safety of the timberline (the elevation in a mountainous region above which trees do not grow).
"My neighbor," Yancey continues, "who volunteers for Alpine Rescue, has told me hair-raising stories of tourists who must be rescued from certain death after wandering off a trail, falling, or simply being exposed to a sudden hailstorm or 30-degree drop in temperature. Nevertheless, regardless of the circumstances, Alpine Rescue always responds to a call for help. Not once have they lectured a hapless tourist, ‘Well, since you obviously ignored the most basic rules of the wilderness, you’ll just have to sit here and bear the consequences. We won’t assist you.’
"Their mission is to rescue, and so they pursue every needy hiker in the wilderness, no matter how undeserving. A whistle, a cry, a flashing mirror, a bonfire, an SOS spelled out in pine branches, a message of distress from a cell phone – any of these will cause Alpine Rescue to mobilize teams of medically trained searchers."
Yancey continues, "I have come to see the central message of the Bible too, as one of rescue. In the book of Romans, Paul takes pains to point out that none of us deserve God’s mercy and none of us can save ourselves. Like a stranded hiker, all we can do is call for help."
That’s the first truth in the story of Joseph and his brothers. God will make a way for those who call for help! He offers His forgiveness to those who will ask!
At first you may not think this is where God will start making a way for you but it is. The very first priority for God making a way in your life is by making sure that your relationship with Him is where it needs to be. That means availing yourself of the opportunities that God gives for you for forgiveness.
Joseph’s brothers missed many opportunities for forgiveness – and passing up chances to renew your relationships with God and others is always a big mistake.
Even though Joseph’s brothers didn’t recognize him the first time they came into Egypt for food – he recognized them. He even tested them to see if they would own up to their past sins, which they didn’t. Even though they knew God was displeased with the way they treated their brother, they did not go back to their father Jacob and admit their wrongdoing. And so God made it possible for them to go into Egypt for a second time so that He could again offer them His forgiveness.
God didn’t send them back into Egypt a second time to further humiliate them. He didn’t send them there because He’s a mean boogey-man God. He sent them there a second time out of His great love for them. He could have let them perish in the drought and famine. He had every right to judge them for what they did to their brother Joseph. But God is a longsuffering, loving and merciful Heavenly Father.
None of us likes facing the consequences of our wrongdoing. We know that God has set in motion a natural law that sin has fallout. When we sin we set off a chain reaction that eventually leads to something unpleasant.
Galatians 6:7 (CEV) You cannot fool God, so don’t make a fool of yourself! You will harvest what you plant.
You know that if you plant envy and jealousy in your heart, you’re going to harvest strained relationships. You know that if you plant greed in your heart, you’re going to reap lying, cheating and stealing, etc. You know that sin has consequences. You know that all too well.
What you also need to know about God and something that should make it easier for us to seek forgiveness - is that God, and people who have His Spirit in them, are quick to forgive.
Psalm 86:5 (Amp) For You, O Lord, are good, and ready to forgive [our trespasses, sending them away, letting them go completely and forever]; and You are abundant in mercy and loving-kindness to all those who call upon You.
You need not go through the pain of fractured relationships with God and with others. Joseph’s brothers carried their guilt around for 22 years and it simply wasn’t necessary. God doesn’t want you to try and "manage" your sin. He wants you to seek His forgiveness.
God always wants to rescue you from the condemnation of sin so He consistently offers His forgiveness. He’s not being unkind when He wakes you up in the middle of night with thoughts about your life - He’s showing love to you because He wants you to seek forgiveness.
The second thing we can learn from this story about how God will make a way is this:
2. God will make a way by being with you.
Acts 7:9 (NLT) These sons of Jacob were very jealous of their brother Joseph, and they sold him to be a slave in Egypt. But God was with him.
"God was with him," that’s the key to Joseph’s endurance and resilience. Hard times come to all of our lives but to have God with you in the midst of those hard times makes all the difference in the world!
The presence of God is a tremendously powerful thing! It’s a wonderful thing!
A student named Steve Winger from Lubbock, Texas was taking a challenging class in Logic. The course and teacher were known for exacting and demanding exams. The final exam was looming, and the professor mercifully told the class that each student would be permitted to bring in a single 8.5 by 11 inch sheet with as much information as they could put on that one sheet for help during the test.
On exam day, each student came to class clutching their precious pieces of paper with as much information as possible. Some students had crammed lines and lines of font so tiny and so numerous onto that single sheet that you had to wonder how they could read it. But Steve walked in with a single blank sheet and a friend who was a senior student who had an "A" in Logic. Steve bent down and placed that single, blank sheet of paper on the floor next to his desk. His expert friend then stood on the paper.
The professor, of course, noticed the extra body in the room and asked what he was doing there. Steve piped up, "You said we could bring in whatever we could fit on a single piece of paper for help on the test. Well, this is my help and he can fit on the paper!" He had followed the instructions to the letter and was the only student in the class to score and "A" since he had his expert friend standing along side him.
That’s what God is for us in the tests of life! He is our friend who stands along side of us! He is always with us in every test! That’s how He makes a way for us!
Joseph went through some very difficult and trying tests. Not only did his own brothers turn their backs on him, he was also falsely accused by his master’s wife in Egypt and thrown in prison. But no matter how dark and difficult his path, Joseph wasn’t alone in his suffering. The Bible says, "God was with him!"
You need to practice thinking about the presence of God in your life. You need to remember that if you are His child there is never a time when He is not with you.
God loves you with a passion. He enjoys being with you just like you enjoy being with those you love. The big difference between God and others who love us is that they can’t possibly be with us all of the time. But since God is not limited in any way by space and time constraints, and since He is a Spirit, He can be with us everywhere all of the time and that’s exactly what the Bible teaches.
Hebrews 13:5b (NCV) God has said, "I will never leave you; I will never forget you."
The Amplified Bible also gives a great translation of this verse.
Hebrews 13:5b (Amp) [God] Himself has said, "I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you without support. [I will] not, [I will] not, [I will] not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor let [you] down (relax My hold on you)! [Assuredly not!]"
God is the "way maker" because He is there – right there with you – every step of the way! Nothing can keep Him from walking by your side.
And the third way this story illustrates how God makes a way is this.
3. God will make a way by giving you favor, wisdom, and opportunity.
The Bible not only says that "God was with Joseph" in Acts 7:9, it says this about Joseph in verse 10:
Acts 7:10 (NLT) God gave him favor before Pharaoh, king of Egypt. God also gave Joseph unusual wisdom, so that Pharaoh appointed him governor over all of Egypt and put him in charge of all the affairs of the palace.
"God gave him favor…" "God gave him unusual wisdom," and then the Pharaoh "appointed him governor over all of Egypt and put him in charge of all the affairs of the palace." That’s how God made a way for Joseph. He gave him favor, wisdom and opportunity.
And God is still doing this today for His people! God makes a way by giving these same things to you.
What are you going to need to do when you get in a tight spot like Joseph?
You’re going to need to avail yourself of His forgiveness if you need it.
You’re going to need to practice the presence of God.
And you’re going to need to stay close to God so he can give you his favor and wisdom and so He can open the doors of opportunity for you!
In fact God is going to give you an opportunity today - an opportunity to act on what you have heard from His Word.
Make a commitment before you leave worship today to ask God for forgiveness is that’s what you need.
Thank Him for His presence with you.
Determine to look for His opportunities.
