Excerpt from The Comeback, Louie Giglio
Synopsis: Genesis 37-50 tells the story of a teenager named Joseph who had a dream from God. Joseph was a direct descendant of Abrahm and Isaac. Joseph was the son of Jacob and was one of 12 sons. Joseph was favored by Jacob and resented by his brothers. After sharing a dream from God indicating that one day Joesphs brothers would all bow down to him. Given that he was the youngest of the brothers, this did not go over well. One day the brother's took advantage of an opportunity and sold Joseph into slavory and eventually was sold to Potiphar, captain of the guard in Egypt. Although Joseh was only 17 years old, he was trained in the ways of running Potiphars house. Scripture says, "The Lord was with Joseph...in the house of his Egyptian master" (Genesis 39:2).
And Joseph did well - even as a household slave. Joseph rose up through the ranks and was made head over domestic affairs and was given the run of the house. Even in slavery things seemed to be going as well as they could, under the circumstances....until Potiphar's wife decided to scheme to get her hands on young Joseph. When Joseph refused, she concocted a story that Joseph had tried to take advantage of her. Instead of executing Joseph, knowing that Joseph was not guilty, Potiphar threw him in prison.
Status check: dreamer...slave...prisoner.
Time passed and two men joined Joseph in prison: Pharaoh's former cupbearer and former baker. These two men had some dreams that troubled them. Jospeh was able to interpret these dreams and told the baker that he would not fair to well and that his head would be cut-off. But Joseph told the cupbearer that his dream would have a good ending. In time, the baker lossed his life and the cupbearer was restored to his position. The cupbearer was supposed to put in a good word for Joseph but forgot to do so (Gen 40:23). Eventually two-years went by....forgotten...until Pharaoah himself had a dream. No one was able to interpret it. So the cupbearer, finally remembering Joseph, told Pharaoh about Joseph's ability to interpret dreams. Joseph was summoned to hear Pharaoh's dream. Giving credit to God, Joseph told him the meaning: "Egypt will have seven amazing years of bumper crops and seven years of financial gain. But they will be followed by seven years of the worst famine ever seen. God gave teh dream to prepare you." Impressed with Joseph's wisdoom and discernment, put Joseph in charge of preparing for teh coming famine. On that day, Joseph went from prisoner to second-in-command of all of Egypt. Sure enough, the famine came adn affected not only Egypt but even Canaan where Joseph's family still tended sheep. Hearing that Egypt had food, Joseph's brothers traveled to Egypt to buy grain. It had been yaars since they had seen Joseph so they did not recognize him. But Joseph recognized them and he witnessed the plan of God unfolding in front of his eyes.
It's amazing that Joseph went though all this and yet had the perspective to understand that God was at work the whole time. Regardless of how many setbacks Joseph experienced, he never lost sight of God's work in his life.
How id Joseph manage to stay hopeful through it all?
I may not be running the exact race that I thought I would be running, but God still has a race for me. Believe that God will still use your life for the big dream, His glory, and the salvation of people.
Synopsis: Genesis 37-50 tells the story of a teenager named Joseph who had a dream from God. Joseph was a direct descendant of Abrahm and Isaac. Joseph was the son of Jacob and was one of 12 sons. Joseph was favored by Jacob and resented by his brothers. After sharing a dream from God indicating that one day Joesphs brothers would all bow down to him. Given that he was the youngest of the brothers, this did not go over well. One day the brother's took advantage of an opportunity and sold Joseph into slavory and eventually was sold to Potiphar, captain of the guard in Egypt. Although Joseh was only 17 years old, he was trained in the ways of running Potiphars house. Scripture says, "The Lord was with Joseph...in the house of his Egyptian master" (Genesis 39:2).
And Joseph did well - even as a household slave. Joseph rose up through the ranks and was made head over domestic affairs and was given the run of the house. Even in slavery things seemed to be going as well as they could, under the circumstances....until Potiphar's wife decided to scheme to get her hands on young Joseph. When Joseph refused, she concocted a story that Joseph had tried to take advantage of her. Instead of executing Joseph, knowing that Joseph was not guilty, Potiphar threw him in prison.
Status check: dreamer...slave...prisoner.
Time passed and two men joined Joseph in prison: Pharaoh's former cupbearer and former baker. These two men had some dreams that troubled them. Jospeh was able to interpret these dreams and told the baker that he would not fair to well and that his head would be cut-off. But Joseph told the cupbearer that his dream would have a good ending. In time, the baker lossed his life and the cupbearer was restored to his position. The cupbearer was supposed to put in a good word for Joseph but forgot to do so (Gen 40:23). Eventually two-years went by....forgotten...until Pharaoah himself had a dream. No one was able to interpret it. So the cupbearer, finally remembering Joseph, told Pharaoh about Joseph's ability to interpret dreams. Joseph was summoned to hear Pharaoh's dream. Giving credit to God, Joseph told him the meaning: "Egypt will have seven amazing years of bumper crops and seven years of financial gain. But they will be followed by seven years of the worst famine ever seen. God gave teh dream to prepare you." Impressed with Joseph's wisdoom and discernment, put Joseph in charge of preparing for teh coming famine. On that day, Joseph went from prisoner to second-in-command of all of Egypt. Sure enough, the famine came adn affected not only Egypt but even Canaan where Joseph's family still tended sheep. Hearing that Egypt had food, Joseph's brothers traveled to Egypt to buy grain. It had been yaars since they had seen Joseph so they did not recognize him. But Joseph recognized them and he witnessed the plan of God unfolding in front of his eyes.
It's amazing that Joseph went though all this and yet had the perspective to understand that God was at work the whole time. Regardless of how many setbacks Joseph experienced, he never lost sight of God's work in his life.
How id Joseph manage to stay hopeful through it all?
- Joseph knew that his story was part of God's story.
Joseph understood taht the overall purpose of his life was to fit into a small part of God's larger plan for the world. Joseph understood that his life's purpose was bigger than simply playing out his own dream, even a God-given dream. He knew he was on earth to be part of God's story. This was a game changer for Joseph and it can be a game changer for us too.
We may have a dream and planned accomplishments but there's a bigger dream that overrides everything else it's that your life counts for the glory of God. That's the overriding dream of God's heart. If we don't embrace that dream, then we are in trouble, because all our smaller dreams are subject to change. That overarching dream never needs to change, and Joseph understood taht.
Genesis 42-45, we see unfold that Joseph wanted his brothers to bring the whole family to Egypt, where they would be safe from the famine. He also wanted to see if their hearts had changed. Eventually Joseph revealed to them who he was and he was finally reunited with his dad. After Jacob died, the brother's "came and fell down before him and said, 'Behold, we are your servants'" (v 18). Joseph could have reminded them of his dream but Joseph didn't dwell on that. He focussed on a hgher story. He told them, "Do not fear" (v19). Joseph knew that God was behind all of this adn he told them they didn't need to fear his position or power because God had put him in this place. Joseph said to them, "You meant evil against me, but God meant if for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. So do not fear; I will provide for you and yoru little ones.' Thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to them" (vs 20-21).
Joseph was so in touch with God's sovereignty. How do you come to understand that what people intended for evil, God intended for good? Joseph never lost sight of God's love and purpose, and he knew God was using him to bring glory to himself and salvation for many people.
This mind-set doesn't preclude doing our best to right wrongs, seek justice, and find cures. But in the processs of taking action, we must understand that God is in charge. We need to fight a battle to see this truth. When bad things happen, teh Enemy comes through the door and tells us that God doesn't love us anymore and has no plan for us, and then we tend to bail out on God But Joseph tells us, "Don't abandon God, because even in the pit, God has a plan. Even when you feel abandoned, God i s still on the scene. Even when you can't see what God is doing, He's always doing something."
Through the lens of God's grace, we can look back on the thirteen lost years of Joseph's life and see that these were actually savign years, not only for Joseph, but for his enite family and many others. If we can grasp that one idea, it frees us from feeling we are in charge of any circumstances. We are released to trust our ives into the hands of a loving God.
Whatever circumstances we're in, they can't change the fact that, if we're willing, our lives are safely in God's hands. God takes responsibility to use us for His glory. We may get into places where w're convicned God can't use our circumstances, or we try to manipulate the situation or figure out how to change the dynamic, and all we can really do is put our lives in God's hands. And that is all He is asking us to do.
So the perspective we can adopt from Joseph is to see that our story is part of God's story.
- God Goes the Distance with You
God was with Joseph the whole way. Don't ever let the Enemy say that if God is really with you then your circumstances would be different. God always loves you...is always for you...always has a plan. God is with you in the pit. He is with you when you are sold to the traders. He is with you on the auction block. He is with you in Potiphar's house and while you are facing temptation. He's with you in jail. He's with you when the cupbearer forgets you, when you are back in Pharaoh's court, through years of plenty and years of lean and when brother's return. He's with you the whole time. It changes your outlook to know that almighty God is in every circumstance with you.
A disservice is done by any brand of Christianity that promises there's always going to be a better road ahead or insists taht your circumstances will change or claims everything is going to work out right and all your wildest dreams will come true every time. No, we live on a broken planet. We're in a fight for our lives in a dying world. And we follow a Savior who was crucified in the middle of it all.
Sometimes our circumstances don't add up to the dream we have envisioned, but that never means God isn't with us. Hebrews 13:5 is a reminder that God never leaves us nor forsakes us. - Our Best for the Master
We must offer God our best. Let's never adopt the attitude that say, "I was stabbed in the back and I'm stuck in this situation and should have had beter, so I'll just go through the motions." Joseph could have done everything half-hearted but he was trusting God!
God is with you even when you are overlooked or treated unfairly. So if He is with you, then you want to do your best. God is right beside you in the process, whatever you're going through. There is still a plan unfolding and somebody has their eyes on you to see how you'll respond to these circumstances. Actually, it's probably true that more people have eyes on you in the pit than were watching when you came down the road in a multicolored coat.
If you are in a crummy situation, do your best for the sake of God's glory! - Comeback isn't about Payback.
We are to be gracious when the tide turns, because we know we are in the plan of God and not the plan of men. Part of the appeal of Joseph's story is that we would like to be in a similar story where we would be in position to get back at the brothers and stick it to them. Rather than trying to "stick it to someone", it is a better idea to remember that God is in charge of your life and not the problem person...this will leave you free of animosity. All the consequences may not disappear but forgiving them is a reminder that you are in God's story.
When you get a comeback, its a powerful thing to extend grace rather than acting vengefully. - Know that your struggle is actually about somebody's salvation.
Genesis 45:4-5 4 Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come close to me.” When they had done so, he said, “I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! 5 And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you.
Our job everyday is to put our life in God's hands. God's job every day is to use our circumstances for His glory.
Joseph explained this perspective to his brothers: "For God sent me before you to preserve life. For the famine has been in the land these two years." (vs 5-6). The brothers didn't know how the future was going to go down, so Joseph told them: "And there are yet five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. And God sent me before you to preseve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors" (vs 6-7).
Jesus Himself was to be born from the lineage of these people, and if they died during a famine in Canaan, there would be no lineage to bring us a Savior. God was working a really big plan, and today we're part of that plan. We stand in God's grace today because of Jesus, and Jesus came through the line of Jacob's family.
It's not about me...it's about Jesus becoming known in this brokenn world. Just like Joseph, whatever our suffering, God is always positioning us for someone's salvation. Jesus took on the suffering of the world to bring salvation for many. God sent Him ahead of us so God could bring a great deliverance and a great salvation. Joseph teaches us that our struggle is always for someone's salvation. None of us run eagerly into that battle. But when the battle comes to us, we know God is working a great purpose.
I may not be running the exact race that I thought I would be running, but God still has a race for me. Believe that God will still use your life for the big dream, His glory, and the salvation of people.