02 - Joseph - Providence At Work Through The Pain Of Broken Dreams 2011 By Pastor Jeff Wickwire Notes

Providence is the belief that God has a plan for the world and for our lives and that He is working in the affairs of men every day -- fitting things together to accomplish His glorious purpose. Providence refers to God’s guidance, protection, control and preservation of our lives to bring His will to pass.

Last time we talked about Ruth and Naomi, and the Providence of God at work in the Valley of Failed Expectations.

And we pointed out some important facts about Providence:

FIRST, THE NEED FOR CAUTION...

Many Christians interpret things that happen as indications of God's judgment. If something bad happens, those who experience must be wicked.

If something good happens, those who experience must be righteous.

Yet the Bible reveals that there many exceptions. Bad things often happen to the righteous (Job, the early Christians).

And good things often happen to the wicked –David wrote in Ps 73:2-3:

“But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled; my steps had nearly slipped. For I was envious of the boastful, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.”

Providence does not promise bad things won’t happen to the righteous. It promises that God will work all things for our good, which we’re about to see.

Now, today we’re going to talk about Joseph, and the Providence of God Working Through the Pain of Broken Dreams.

Joseph was the favorite of his father's twelve sons. This is because, of Jacob’s two wives—Leah and Rachel—Joseph had loved Rachel most, and had produced two sons from his union with her—Joseph and Benjamin.

And Joseph was the also the son of his old age.

Unfortunately, Jacob did not hesitate to show his favoritism. He gave Joseph what scripture calls a coat of “many colors” and left the other boys to wear hand-me-downs.

And he always gave Joseph the easiest jobs around the house. Naturally, the other brothers grew resentful.

Scripture says, “But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peaceably to him.”—Gen. 37:4

On top of all that, Joseph was given to dreaming dreams where he saw himself ruling over his brothers, with his brothers literally bowing down before him.

In response, “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.”—Gen 37:8

So intense was their hatred of Joseph that one day, when they caught him far from home, they plotted to kill him.

“Now when they saw him afar off, even before he came near them, they conspired against him to kill him. Then they said to one another,

“Look, this dreamer is coming! Come therefore, let us now kill him and cast him into some pit; and we shall say, ‘Some wild beast has devoured him.’ We shall see what will become of his dreams!”—37: 18-20

FACT OF SPIRITUAL WARFARE: Satan will always try to destroy the dreams God gives you. What Joseph’s wicked brothers said about him echoes the voice of our enemy, the devil. “Look, here comes the dreamer. We shall see what will become of his dreams!”

They seized Joseph, tore off his coat of many colors, and threw him into a pit.

But before they could carry out their murderous scheme, they spotted a caravan headed for Egypt. So they decided to sell him to the caravan into a life of slavery.

And then, in one of the cruelest actions in scripture, these 11 brothers told their father, Jacob, that he had been devoured by wild animals.

31 So they took Joseph’s tunic, killed a goat, and dipped the tunic in the blood. 32 Then they…brought it to their father and said, “We have found this. Do you know whether it is your son’s tunic or not?”

33 And he recognized it and said, “It is my son’s tunic. A wild beast has devoured him. Without doubt Joseph is torn to pieces…and all his sons and all his daughters arose to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted, and he said, “For I shall go down into the grave to my son in mourning.” Thus his father wept for him.”

They allowed Jacob to suffer under this lie for 24 years.

Joseph’s timeline goes like this:

 He was 17 when he was sold into Egypt

 He was 30 when he was made overseer of Egypt

 He was 39 when his brothers first came to Egypt

 He was probably 41 or so when the brothers came a second time and Jacob came with them to Egypt.

 He was 110 when he died

Meanwhile, imagine the devastating blow this was to seventeen year old Joseph as slave traders carried him away in chains!

Far less than this has ruined other men. It could have broken his spirit and turned him into a bitter, angry young man.

But it didn’t! Why?

Because he held a very important key in his theological pocket. He believed in the providence of God!

Providence refers to God’s guidance, protection, control and preservation of our lives in order to bring his will to pass.

God had given him a dream and he clung to it like a Pit Bull to a steak bone.

Once in Egypt, Joseph was sold off the slave block to a man named Potiphar, the captain of Pharaoh's guard.

He decided to turn a lemon into lemonade. He worked hard in Potiphar’s house and the Lord prospered him.

The Bible records, “2 The LORD was with Joseph so that he prospered…Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and he entrusted to his care everything he owned.”

PRINCIPLE OF PROVIDENCE: The Lord will bless you in spite of what others have wrongly done to you.

Now another setback comes crashing in on him.

The Bible paints Joseph as young, handsome, intelligent ... and always around.

Which was more than could be said for Mr. Potiphar, who was always gone on government business.

While Mr. Potiphar took care of state affairs, Mrs. Potiphar began to fantasize about affairs of her own.

At least twice, Mrs. Potiphar made sexual advances toward Joseph. But he rejected her.

You know what they say about a woman spurned!

Angry and hurt, scripture says she called her household servants and accused him of trying to sleep with her.

“When he heard me scream for help,” claimed Mrs. Potiphar, “he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house.”

Mr. Potiphar believed her trumped-up charge and had Joseph thrown into prison.

Life has now handed Joseph a raw deal twice in a row.

His life at this point could be summed up in three words: rejected, suspected, and neglected.

He was rejected by his brothers, suspected by his employer and now seemingly neglected by God as he languished in prison.

Nobody would have faulted Joseph if he had soured on life and given up.

But once again, his CONFIDENCE IN PROVIDENCE anchored his soul.

After two more years in prison, things changed virtually overnight.

The Pharaoh had a dream that he couldn't understand.

He called on all the wise men of his kingdom to interpret it but no one could.

It was then that a former prisoner, Pharaoh’s chief butler, remembered that Joseph could interpret dreams.

He told Pharaoh, who quickly ordered Joseph’s release and Joseph was brought before him.

After hearing Pharaoh’s dream, Joseph gave the interpretation:

“There will be seven years of prosperity and plenty in Egypt, followed by seven years of famine.”

He then advised Pharaoh to save grain for seven years so that there would be enough to save the country during the famine.

The Pharaoh was overwhelmingly impressed, and put Joseph in charge of preparation for the famine to come, and made him second only to himself in the Egyptian government.

Now, at this point in the story the “chickens come home to roost.”

When the famine came, it affected not only Egypt, but also Canaan where Joseph’s father and 11 brothers lived.

When they heard there was food in Egypt, Jacob, Joseph’s father, sent some of his sons to buy some food.

When they appeared before Joseph, he recognized them, but they did not recognize him.

Finally, after testing them several times, Joseph decided to reveal himself to them.

After making everyone else leave the room, he wept uncontrollably. Then…

“Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still living?” But his brothers were not able to answer him, because they were terrified at his presence.”—Gen 45:1-3

NOW LISTEN CLOSELY: Joseph next reveals to his brothers what it was that had saved him from the bile of bitterness, the torture of life-long anger, the trap of self-pity, and the destruction of his belief in God:

“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!

“And now, don’t be distressed and don’t be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you.”

You SOLD me, but God SENT me.

Because of his understanding of PROVIDENCE he was able to say: “…it was not you who sent me here, but God…"

Joseph was not excusing their criminal actions. He admitted, “You sold me...”

He was not saying that what they did was okay.

But Joseph understood that the hand of Providence had overruled their evil actions.

He said to them again later: “…as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.”

Now, three quick things we learn about Providence from Joseph’s story:

God's Work is Imperceptible

The working of God in our lives is often imperceptible; that is, it is often obscure and difficult to see except in retrospect.

“Your way was in the sea, Your path in the great waters, and Your footsteps were not known.”—Ps.77:19

There must have been times when Joseph wondered, "Where is God in all of this?"

It would have been hard to see the hand of God working from the bottom of the deep pit his brothers threw him into…

…or to feel the presence of God in the desert heat as he walked in chains with the slave traders.

It must have been hard to believe God was with him when he stood falsely condemned before Potiphar and no one would testify for him.

And the silence of God must have been deafening as he sat for years in that Egyptian dungeon.

In that drawn out midnight of his soul, it was his faith in God's Providence that kept him alive.

Usually, it’s only as we look back that we are able to see the hand of God moving and working in our lives.

Someone found, scribbled on the wall of a basement in Germany at the close of World War II, these words:

I believe in the sun, even when it is not shining.

I believe in love, even when I cannot feel it.

I believe in God, even when He is silent

Second truth about Providence:

God is redemptive

God's working in our lives is redemptive; meaning, God is able to take even the wicked intentions and evil designs of men and turn them to His good purposes.

In fact, Joseph's life is a practical working out of Romans 8:28:

"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God; to them who are the called according to His purpose."

Now, let me tell you what that verse does and does not mean:

Romans 8:28 does not say God causes everything that happens. He doesn't.

We can’t take everything that happens in life and lay it in the lap of God. To do that is to take the evil that men commit and attribute it to God.

God is not responsible for murder, rape, child abuse or drug addiction. We can’t take what the law labels a crime and call it "the will of God."

Nor does the verse say that everything that happens is good. It isn't. There is much evil in the world today.

And the verse does not say that everything is going to work out for good for all people. It won't.

You don't have to look far to find people for whom all things are not working out for good!

What the verse does say is that all things work together for good "to them that love God."

God can do many things for the person who is walking with Him that he can't do for the one who is running from Him.

And finally, the verse does not say that all things are working together for good as we define good. They won't.

We tend to define good in terms of health, wealth, and success.

But the good promised in verse 28 is explained in verse 29. These two verses ought always to be read together.

“For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.”—8:29

The good promised in verse 28 is defined in verse 29 as our being shaped and molded to Christ-likeness. Jesus is the flawless pattern, and God makes us like Him.

The will of God for all of us is the same: a maximum family resemblance to Jesus Christ.

To accomplish this end, God can use all things -- the good as well as the bad.

He can take the joys of today and tears of tomorrow, the defeats of one day and the victories of another, the failures, the successes, the accidents, and the tragedies of life and transform them into that which works for our good!

And he will do that as long as we stay in his will and keep following Him.

Finally,

God’s working is progressive

The providence of God is progressive; it cannot be fully understood until God is through with it.

One commentator wrote, “We are like a little boy watching a circus parade through a knot hole in the fence. Up ahead there is a band that is playing beautiful music. Back down the line there are clowns and dancing bears and wild animals. But the only part of the parade we can see is that part directly in front of us.

If we could find another vantage point, if we could see from atop a tall building, if we could see the parade in its completeness from beginning to end, it would look very different.

Our vision is limited. Paul admitted we see through a glass darkly.

For that reason we ought not to say of any experience, it is good or bad until God finishes with it.

If Joseph had evaluated the events of his life while he was in the pit he would probably have said, "I see no ray of hope."

If he had rendered a verdict on life while he was being accused by Potiphar, he would probably have concluded, "There is no justice in life."

If he had assessed his life while he waited years in prison he would probably have said, "No one can be trusted."

It was only after God was through, as he looked back upon God's finished work that he could say, "God meant it for good."

We can evaluate an experience too soon. Waiting time is never wasted time.

Are you like Joseph today? Have you been rejected? Suspected? Neglected?

Are you in the midnight hour of an experience with hope fading?

If you are God’s child through Christ and are seeking and obeying Him, turn it all over into the hands of God’s mighty Providence!

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