God Works for Good

Romans 8:28 NASB95

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

Do you guys like the snow?

I love snow. I grew up in St. Louis, Missouri and in STL we get a little bit more snow than Clovis, New Mexico. Every year when it’d snow my brother and I would watch it fall through our living room window and we’d be glued to the tv to see if our school would be on the list of cancelations that they ran on the bottom of the screen. Some of my favorite memories are of seeing the name of my school on the screen and knowing that the next day I would get to go sledding. Now in Clovis snow days are still fun but there aren’t many hills to sled down. In Missouri all we had were hills. There were a couple spots that my dad usually took us to on snow days. One was the old art hill in front of the STL art museam, he’s take us behind Fox High School, but my favorite one was the world’s fair pavilion in Forrest Park. That hill was crazy steep and about every thirty feet it would level off and be like a little ramp to get you into the air. Well because it was so steep it was really hard to walk up, but what my dad would do is he would have us follow him up the hill. With each footstep he made we would try to put our feet in his footstep. The packed snow would make it easier for us to get up the hill. So we would just follow him up the hill being careful not to step off of the path he had made.

I’ve been trying to read through the Bible in a year and these last couple of nights I have been reading stories about the Patriarchs. Do you guys know who the Patriarchs are?

Abraham, Isaac, Jacob

These three men were very important in Israel’s history. Abraham recieved a promise from God that He would make Abraham’s descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as numerous as the sand on the seashore. Even though he was old God promised to give Abraham a son and through his line God would bless all nations through a descendant of Abraham. Abraham and Sarah were flawed people but despite their flaws God used them for His kingdom and gave them their son Isaac. One day God told Abraham to sacrifice Isaac and although Abraham had struggled in the past to trust God and be obedient to God’s instructions Abraham responded in faith. He took Isaac to the top of Mt. Moriah and just before He killed Isaac the Lord stopped Him and provided a ram for the sacrifice. In this Abraham came to know the Lord as Jehovah Jireh or the Lord is a provider.

Isaac had two sons, Esau and Jacob. Esau was Isaac’s favorite son but Jacob was a deceiver and tricked his brother into giving away his birthright and tricked his blind father into giving him Esau’s blessing by dressing up as Esau.

In an act of self preservation Jacob goes away to his mother’s homeland where he meets his wife Rachael and his other wife Leah. And between his two wives and two of their servants Jacob has twelve sons who would become the twelve tribes of Judah. With each generation of Patriarchs the relationship they had with God became more and more strained. God called Abraham a friend of God but with Jacob when he met God he wrestled with Him until God blessed Him. God literally changed his name from Jacob to Israel which means strives with God.

And so the story I want us to focus on today is the story of one of Israel’s sons as we remember the story of my dad and the snow.

When the footprints laid before us don’t lead to righteousness will we have the courage to continue in the right direction?

Genesis 37:1–11 ESV

Jacob lived in the land of his father’s sojournings, in the land of Canaan. These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was pasturing the flock with his brothers. He was a boy with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives. And Joseph brought a bad report of them to their father. Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his sons, because he was the son of his old age. And he made him a robe of many colors. But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peacefully to him. Now Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers they hated him even more. He said to them, “Hear this dream that I have dreamed: Behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and stood upright. And behold, your sheaves gathered around it and bowed down to my sheaf.” His brothers said to him, “Are you indeed to reign over us? Or are you indeed to rule over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words. Then he dreamed another dream and told it to his brothers and said, “Behold, I have dreamed another dream. Behold, the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” But when he told it to his father and to his brothers, his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves to the ground before you?” And his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the saying in mind.

Jacob’s sons were a ragtag group of guys. They were at times aggressive and violent, at times neglected their responsibilities, and at other times just straight up icky. Here Joseph who at this time was the youngest of all his brothers came to them and told them about his dreams. His brothers didn’t like this. It says that before Joseph ever shared a dream with his family his brothers hated him and couldn’t bring themselves to speak peacefully to him. They were fed up of their father’s favoritism and of Joseph’s attitude. When the time came and when they had Joseph alone they threw him in a pit and plotted as to what kind of harm they should do to their brother. Rather than murder Joseph, the brothers decided to sell Joseph into slavery and pretend he had died with their father.

Imagine you’re Joseph. That would have been an extremely difficult situation. You’re taken from your family by your own brothers and forced to live in a land where you don’t speak the language and live as a slave. But God did not abandon Joseph in Egypt and He does not abandon us either.

Genesis 39:1–6 ESV

Now Joseph had been brought down to Egypt, and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, had bought him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him down there. The Lord was with Joseph, and he became a successful man, and he was in the house of his Egyptian master. His master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord caused all that he did to succeed in his hands. So Joseph found favor in his sight and attended him, and he made him overseer of his house and put him in charge of all that he had. From the time that he made him overseer in his house and over all that he had, the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; the blessing of the Lord was on all that he had, in house and field. So he left all that he had in Joseph’s charge, and because of him he had no concern about anything but the food he ate. Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance.

God was with Joseph and caused all that he did to prosper.

Things get worse for Joseph. While he was alone in the palace his masters wife tried to sleep with him and when he said no she grabbed him by his garment and he ran away. Where you might think this act of loyalty and integrity might earn you a reward Joseph found himself in prison, guilty of the false accusations made by his master’s wife. Yet God did not abandon him.

Genesis 39:19–23 ESV

As soon as his master heard the words that his wife spoke to him, “This is the way your servant treated me,” his anger was kindled. And Joseph’s master took him and put him into the prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined, and he was there in prison. But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. And the keeper of the prison put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners who were in the prison. Whatever was done there, he was the one who did it. The keeper of the prison paid no attention to anything that was in Joseph’s charge, because the Lord was with him. And whatever he did, the Lord made it succeed.

It would be very difficult to respond like Joseph if we were put in these same situations. Betrayed by your own family. A slave. A prisoner. I imagine the only thing that kept Joseph going was knowing that God had not abandoned him. I’m sure it felt like He had at times, just like when we go through difficult seasons it is hard for us to trust God in what He is doing. I’m sure that you guys understand what I’m talking about. In the last couple years I have had friends get divorced, I’ve had family and friends pass away, I’ve felt angry, exhausted, frustrated, heartbroken. And its easy to look at all those things and say, “God what are you doing? How could you let all this happen?”

Romans 8:28 NASB95

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

How is that possible? It is possible because God is faithful and will never abandon us in our pain. He may not change our situation but we can be confident knowing we are not alone. It is important for us to define what the word good means. Does good mean my comfort? Does good mean my safety? Or could it be that my good is God’s glory. And whether this life of following Jesus takes me to slavery or a prison cell when God is glorified in my life than I’m good. The New Testament authors understood that as long as God was glorified they didn’t care what happened to them. They were willing to be flogged, beaten, crucified, burned at the stake, boiled alive, and beheaded. My good is God’s glory. That is all that matters. As Joseph is put in these situations he chooses God’s glory. As a slave he was committed to serving God and honoring Him in all he did. In refusing his master’s wife Joseph shows integrity and honors God in what he does even though it costs him. In prison we see Joseph continue to honor God in all he does. Let’s see how Joseph’s story ends.

While in prison Joseph interprets some of his fellow inmates’ dreams. One dream predicted the Cup bearer's return to Pharaoh’s court while the Bakers dream predicted his death. When the time came for the cupbearer to remember Joseph and plead his case with Pharaoh he forgot. After two full years Pharaoh has a dream and the cupbearer is reminded of what Joseph had done. So Pharaoh brings Joseph to him to interpret his dream. The Lord uses Joseph to warn Pharaoh about a seven year famine that was to come after seven years of plentiful harvest. In response Pharaoh takes Joseph and makes him second in command over all of Egypt. As second in command Joseph sets Egypt up for major success during those years of famine. So much so that people come from all over to get assistance from Egypt. Every step of the way through Joseph’s story God continues to be with him.

Eventually the famine forced Israel’s sons to travel to Egypt looking for assistance. Joseph was confronted with a choice. Should he deal vengefully with the brothers that had caused him so much pain and anguish or should he show grace and be reconciled to his brothers. I imagine he struggled with this decision. There is a little bit of back and forth where Joseph sends his brothers back to their father to get his younger brother, he confuses them by putting money in their packs, he keeps one of his brothers in jail for a while, he even frames his younger brother of stealing from him. Eventually Joseph chose God’s glory over what might have made him feel really good. He chose to forgive his brothers and put his family back together again.

Genesis 45:1–10 ESV

Then Joseph could not control himself before all those who stood by him. He cried, “Make everyone go out from me.” So no one stayed with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers. And he wept aloud, so that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard it. And Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?” But his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed at his presence. So Joseph said to his brothers, “Come near to me, please.” And they came near. And he said, “I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are yet five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. So it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt. Hurry and go up to my father and say to him, ‘Thus says your son Joseph, God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me; do not tarry. You shall dwell in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your children’s children, and your flocks, your herds, and all that you have.

Look at Joseph’s perspective. It wasn’t his brothers who sent him to Egypt but God who brought him there to protect his family and save people from starvation. When we trust God through difficult circumstances, although its hard to see in the moment, when we come through on the other side we can see all that God has been doing in our lives.

Charles Spurgeon once said, “When you cannot trace God’s hand you can always trust His heart” We may not see all that God is doing but we can trust that He is good and that He is working all our circumstances for our good and His glory.

When we look at the Biblical narrative its easy to forget where God is going with all these stories. We celebrate the redemption of Joseph and his family at the end of Genesis only to find the whole nation of Israel in slavery in chapter one of Exodus. We see them delivered in Exodus only to see them wandering in the wilderness a few chapters later. They cross the Jordan river and conquer their enemies only to do what is right in their own eyes and crumble under the poor leadership of the judges. These patterns continue throughout the Old Testament and they raise the question, what is the ultimate good that God is working towards? Is there a purpose in all this pain? Is there a solution to all hurt that mankind causes? All of these stories lead to Jesus. Where Joseph was reconciled with his brothers for a moment Jesus seeks to make reconciliation with us for all time. Christ has gone before us and taken upon Himself the wrath of God so that we can come to Him and be forgiven, set free from our slavery to sin, and be made new. That is the greatest good anyone could ever offer us. Jesus the king of heaven became a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief, and He bore the iniquity of us all. On top of all that He offers us this gift freely by faith. It isn’t something to be earned. We don’t achieve salvation by sheer effort and grit. It’s already been accomplished for us. As we read these stories and as we navigate the struggles of our lives we can hold onto what Christ has done. I may suffer in this life but any suffering I go through is one shared with Christ. And even if my entire life is one marked with sorrow I can hold onto hope that I will spend eternity with God in joy.