Memories

What we hold on to… matters.

This study is going to be a bit different tonight… perhaps a bit more challenging than most. We are going to talk about memories… an how they can impact our present and future.

Joseph is now governing Egypt. The only thing he does not have power over is the throne. God has used his incredibly difficult journey to promote him to this position for such a time as this.

Throughout all of this time, despite his unfavorable circumstances, the Bible made clear that God’s favor was on Joseph.

The blessings of God were observable in his life. Potiphar, the jailer, the cupbearer (and even the baker) and Pharoah all observed God’s blessing upon Joseph.

This causes me to, once again, emphasize that we can walk in the blessings of God even when life doesn’t seem to be going our way. So long as we remain in the blessings of the Lord, we will be okay.

The key is faithfulness. The key is not allowing our emotions, our desires to get in the way of our worship and pursuit of the Lord.

Joseph never dreamed he would be a slave, he never dreamed he would be a prisoner, and he never dreamed he would be governor of Egypt. BUT… God had given Joseph two dreams… and God was not about to go back on what had been promised.

Returning to our story in Genesis 42, the severe famine that Pharoah had dreamed of… had arrived. BUT… Joseph had helped Egypt to store up provisions in the seven years leading up to the famine.

Remember my thoughts from two weeks ago:

Pharoah dreamed of seven years of good days, and seven years of famine. I made the suggestion that the seven years of good days… were really the days in the valley.

The people had to work hard, they had to steward over the harvest, they had to plan, they did not squander. They had to place their faith in the dream. It would be hard to imagine that seven years of famine were coming when things were going so good!

BUT… seasons change. The famine hits… and because of their stewardship, they do not find themselves in the valley, but on the mountain as their needs are now provided for.

Do we know that God is always working? Do we know that God knows what He is doing?

We may not know why God leads us through certain seasons but this much is certain: God uses our circumstances of today… to prepare us for what is to come tomorrow. So it is essential that we not look backwards… but instead we look forward to what God has in store.

Joseph… Held on to the Dream… and Focused on the Future.

Consider Joseph for a moment. God had given him two dreams regarding his future. Yes, those dreams happened in the past… but Joseph continued to look forward as those dreams had not yet been answered.

Joseph didn’t grumble about what he went through… he simply looked forward by faith. And we see no mention of the dreams throughout this story… until Genesis 42.

Joseph’s family was feeling the full weight of the famine. Jacob was looking for relief when he said in Genesis 42:2

Genesis 42:2 NIV

2 He continued, “I have heard that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy some for us, so that we may live and not die.”

These guys are looking to survive. This was a very hard time. So ten of Joseph’s brothers go to Egypt and something interesting takes place.

Genesis 42:6 NIV

6 Now Joseph was the governor of the land, the person who sold grain to all its people. So when Joseph’s brothers arrived, they bowed down to him with their faces to the ground.

Scripture tells us that Joseph recognizes these guys but he doesn’t reveal his identity to them. So the brothers are oblivious to the fact that they are bowing to… their brother.

AND… it is also in this moment that… Scripture mentions the dream!

Genesis 42:9 NIV

9 Then he remembered his dreams about them and said to them, “You are spies! You have come to see where our land is unprotected.”

Everything Joseph does from this point on is in response to this memory. How can I be sure of this? Because one brother is missing… Benjamin is not among the others. So Joseph begins to play the situation a bit as he continues to look forward.

Now… consider this… If you had the kind of power Joseph had and the people who were “responsible” for the hardship you went through show up at your doorstep, what kind of response might you have?

Well, that might all depend if you are looking backward… of forward. Joseph could have ended these guys at the click of his fingers! But instead, he DID NOT hold a grudge and he held on to the dream!

Joseph remained in the favor of God. He did NOT allow for an emotional response based off his memories to distract him from the dream God had given him.

Can memories become a distraction? ABSOLUTELY! In fact, we are going to look at two examples of how our memories can work against us if we are not careful.

Memories that Become Barriers.

First, we look at the story of Jacob. Jacob sends his sons to Egypt to buy food… but he doesn’t send all of them.

Genesis 42:3–4 NIV

3 Then ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt. 4 But Jacob did not send Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, with the others, because he was afraid that harm might come to him.

So… Jacob kept Benjamin back for fear of harm but he sent the others. Did he simply not care about the others like he did Benjamin? What is going on here?

Benjamin was one of Rachel’s two sons. Joseph was the other. They were true brothers.

Jacob had already “lost” Joseph… he was not going to lose Benjamin as well. He FEARED losing another.

This fear was rooted in the memory of his loss.

Loss is a difficult feeling to overcome. In fact, I don’t know if we really ever overcome the feeling, but we cannot allow the feeling to overcome us.

Grief is a powerful thing. Especially the grief of losing a close loved one. But what happens when that grief begins to impact our daily decisions? The memory of loss can cause us to fear what may come.

I want to be extra careful as we approach this topic. Grief… is real. And its a good thing. Grief speaks of how much we love and value the people we have lost.

But grief can turn bad. Grief can create more loss in our lives if we are not careful.

Jacob remembers what it felt like to lose Joseph… so he was willing to try everything in his power to not lose another child. Therefore, he kept Benjamin from traveling with his brothers.

Later in the chapter, we see just how badly Jacob continued to grieve the loss of Joseph.

Genesis 42:38 NIV

38 But Jacob said, “My son will not go down there with you; his brother is dead and he is the only one left. If harm comes to him on the journey you are taking, you will bring my gray head down to the grave in sorrow.”

In no way shape or form am I suggesting that we forget those we have lost… I’m not suggesting that grief is a bad thing. BUT… it can become a bad thing if it controls us.

God knows how to comfort hurting hearts. God knows how to lift us up when we are down. He knows how to keep us going… not in a disrespectful manner toward those we grieve, but in a way that keeps their memory alive as we continue to live.

Grief can certainly be something that holds us in the past instead of reaching for what God has ahead. And we will talk about how to overcome this in just a moment… but there is another example I want us to see in our chapter of a memory that becomes a barrier.

Example two: All the brothers.

As the brothers were in Egypt, we see a conversation take place between them that reveals a memory they had been holding on to. This memory was not rooted in grief… it was rooted in something else.

Genesis 42:21–22 NIV

21 They said to one another, “Surely we are being punished because of our brother. We saw how distressed he was when he pleaded with us for his life, but we would not listen; that’s why this distress has come on us.” 22 Reuben replied, “Didn’t I tell you not to sin against the boy? But you wouldn’t listen! Now we must give an accounting for his blood.”

These guys aren’t struggling with grief… they are struggling with GUILT! The sin they committed against Joseph had been hanging over their heads. It was as if they had been waiting for their imminent punishment! And now they thought it had come. Guilt had been holding them back.

Later in the chapter, this feeling causes them to go so far as to blame God for their situation.

Genesis 42:28 NIV

28 “My silver has been returned,” he said to his brothers. “Here it is in my sack.” Their hearts sank and they turned to each other trembling and said, “What is this that God has done to us?”

These guys knew what they had done was wrong.

Not only did they feel like they were being punished by the governor of Egypt, but they also felt like they were being punished by God.

They felt like - THEIR SIN HAD CAUGHT UP TO THEM. Their guilt was overbearing.

Guilt is a pesky emotion we all know too well. It is something the enemy has held over our heads since the first sin was committed.

Satan lured Adam and Eve into sinning and once the sin was committed, they were overcome with SHAME. Funny how the enemy didn’t tell them shame would come with the sin!

Now… we need to be careful not to mix up guilt… with conviction

God uses conviction to help us turn away from sin. Conviction is given with the way to make things right.

Guilt beats you down. Guilt attacks. Guilt is not interested in restoring or resolving, it is only interested in tearing you down.

The brothers were feeling the weight of this memory. They had obviously struggled to move beyond the day they betrayed Joseph.

How to Overcome

So we see two memories that had become road blocks in the lives of this family.

Both memories came from the same event. And both memories were holding this family back.

The father feared losing another son… so he became overprotective.

The brothers feared judgement of their sin… so they were always looking over their shoulders.

Both memories kept these guys in the past… instead of moving forward. They key to not getting stuck in the past… is found in Jesus.

Regarding our grief:

Jesus has the power and the desire to comfort those who mourn. He knows what is’s like to lose someone we love.

When Lazarus died, Scripture says that Jesus wept. It may be the shortest verse in all the Bible, but it is one of the most revealing. Jesus knows what grief is. He has walked down that path before.

Not only was He weeping for the loss of a friend, He wept for those who had lost a brother.

But even in the moment of death… Jesus offers the hope of new life.

Our hope is not found in this world or in the life. Our hope is found in the One that is not of this world.

Our grief is comforted by our Savior who cares for our needs, who sees our hurting hearts and send His Spirit to intervene. Find hope and comfort in Jesus.

And, find hope and comfort in His church. Make connections. Don’t hide what you are feeling, but lean on those around you to help you in the difficult times. God WILL help you overcome your grief.

Regarding our guilt:

Going back to the garden, how did we see the shame dealt with in Adam and Eve’s life?

God provided from them a new covering. He did for them what they could not do on their own. They still lived in a world with sin… but God relieved the guilt… through grace.

He did not have to help them, as He does not have to help us. But he does through Jesus.

Jesus is how we break through sin. His blood becomes our new covering. No matter what sin we may have committed, His blood is enough to cover that sin.

God doesn’t want you living in guilt! He instead offers grace!

God’s grace is GOOD! And it has the power to break through any sin or offense you have committed.

Today is a day of repentance and redemption. Jesus did not come to condemn, but to save.

He doesn’t want you living in the guilt of yesterday… He wants you living in His grace today, tomorrow, and into eternity!

It’s Time to Break Free

It is important that we remember and cherish the loved ones we’ve lost. It is important to learn from our mistakes. But God’s plan for you is bigger than overwhelming grief or guilt.

These two memories held back Joseph’s family for years. Joseph held on to what was to come instead of what had already happened.

Don’t miss what God has for you out of fear, grief, shame, or guilt. God wants to set you free. Will you allow Him to break the chains? Let’s pray.