God is With Me

NOTE:

This is a manuscript, and not a transcript of this message. The actual presentation of the message differed from the manuscript through the leading of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, it is possible, and even likely that there is material in this manuscript that was not included in the live presentation and that there was additional material in the live presentation that is not included in this manuscript.

Engagement

When we go through difficulties in life, it is easy to ask “Where is God?” When a loved one dies or we get a diagnosis of terminal cancer, or we watch our children turn away from their faith, or we can’t make ends meet financially, it is easy to blame God, or to at least question why He is allowing those things to happen. I know that I’ve certainly done that before. And my guess is that you have done that too on occasion.

Tension

You know what? God actually doesn’t mind you asking those questions. How do I know that? Because we find people like David, who the Bible describes as a man after God’s own heart, doing that and even recording their words in the Bible. The Psalms contain a number of what are known as “lament Psalms” that express those kinds of feelings. Let me share with you just part of one of them:

Psalm 13:1–2 ESV

1 How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? 2 How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?

David’s enemies are gaining victory over him and he feels like God must have forgotten him and hidden His face from him for that to happen. The good news is that by the end of the Psalm David turns back to God and realizes that God is indeed with him in spite of what it looks like.

Today we’re going to look at the account of another biblical figure who also experiences great heartache, but who discovers that God is with him even in the midst of his troubles. My prayer is that this will be an encouraging message for all of us, but especially for any of you who might be going through some difficulties or trials in your life right now.

Truth

This morning we’re going to continue our current sermon series - Grace in the Old Testament - by looking at one event in the life of Joseph. It’s found in Genesis chapter 39. Many of you are probably familiar with the account of his encounter with Mrs. Potiphar, the wife of the Pharaoh’s captain of the guard. And my guess is that if you’ve ever heard a sermon or any teaching on this passage, it has focused on Joseph and how he resisted temptation. And that is certainly a valid application of that passage. But I’m not sure that the passage doesn’t tell us even more about God’s grace than it does about Joseph’s integrity.

In order to demonstrate that I’m going to approach this chapter in a little different way that I usually do. Rather than read the entire passage all the way through, I’m going to start with the beginning and ending of the chapter, and then once we’ve pulled out the important principle we’ll develop this morning, we’ll take a look at the rest of the chapter between those two bookends. We’ll begin with the opening 3 verses:

Genesis 39:1–3 ESV

1 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. 2 The Lord was with Joseph, and he became a successful man, and he was in the house of his Egyptian master. 3 His master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord caused all that he did to succeed in his hands.

Now let’s skip ahead to the end of the chapter, beginning in verse 21:

Genesis 39:21–23 ESV

21 But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. 22 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. 23 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.

Can you tell me the common theme that we find at the beginning and end of the chapter? That’s right. Four times we see that “the Lord was with Joseph”. No doubt that is the manifestation of God’s grace in his life. So I think we can confidently conclude that...

God’s grace means He is with me

That’s the first part of today’s main idea. We’ll get to the second part in just a moment.

Now based on those bookends at the beginning and end of this chapter, I think we can safely assume that in between those bookends, Joseph is going to be blessed and his life is going to be filled with abundance. Right?

Not exactly. Many of you are familiar with the account, but let me summarize it for you.

This account actually sounds more like a current day soap opera or movie that a story from the Bible. If you think about it, the characters are pretty much the stock characters from today’s popular entertainment - the innocent good-looking young man who catches the eye of the bored housewife. She turns temptress and makes every effort to corrupt him and then blame him for the whole thing. And then there is the clueless husband who never suspects what his wife is up to. But when he finds out, he responds with predictable, jealous rage. The only thing different here in Genesis is that the young man doesn’t give in to the bored housewife’s advances.

Joseph is now a strapping, handsome young man - probably around 28 years old. Mrs. Potiphar takes notice of Joseph and flirts with him and makes advances toward him. This goes on continually, day after day. Then one day when all the rest of the men are out of the house, Mrs. Potiphar grabs Joseph’s garment and asks him to lie with her. Joseph flees immediately, leaving his garment behind.

We’ve already seen that God was with Joseph at both the beginning and end of this account, so surely that means that he will be vindicated and Mrs’ Potiphar will be exposed as a liar. Well, not exactly. Instead. Potiphar believes his wife’s lies and gets angry and throws Joseph in prison.

From an outside perspective, and probably even from Joseph’s perspective at the time, that doesn’t seem a lot like God’s grace. Even though Joseph has acted honorably, he is slandered and ends up in jail for a crime he didn’t commit. But even though it sure doesn’t look like it, God is indeed extending his grace to Joseph. With that idea in mind, we are now ready to complete the main idea we’re going to develop today:

God’s grace means He is with me, even when it doesn’t look like it

Let’s go back and look at verse 21 one more time:

Genesis 39:21 ESV

21 But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison.

Remember this verse comes after Joseph is wrongfully accused and imprisoned. Even though it might not look like it, God is still with Joseph. Not only that, notice that God shows Joseph his “steadfast love”. Hopefully you’ll remember from last week that that phrase translates the Hebrew word hesed, which describes God intervening in the lives of those who need Him and taking action to forgo the judgment we deserve. Make no mistake, even though Joseph acted with integrity in this instance, he was far from perfect and was still deserving of God’s judgment.

We also see here that God gave Joseph “favor”. The underlying Hebrew word is the one that is most commonly translated “grace” in the Old Testament. It is important to note that God gave favor to Joseph. It wasn’t something that Joseph had earned or deserved based on his conduct, as righteous as that was in this case. It’s also important to note that God’s grace didn’t change Joseph’s circumstances at all - at least not in the short run. But God was with Joseph through this entire time.

No matter what you’re going through in your life, even if it doesn’t look like it, if you’re a disciple of Jesus, God is with you. One of my favorite passages that confirms that truth is found in Isaiah 43.

Isaiah 43:1–5 ESV

1 But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. 2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. 3 For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in exchange for you. 4 Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you, I give men in return for you, peoples in exchange for your life. 5 Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the west I will gather you.

Right now some of you feel like you are underwater, but God promises you won’t drown. Some of you feel like you’re going through the fire, but God promises you won’t be consumed. Why? That question is answered in verse 5: God is with you!

Application

So what are the implications of that kind of grace. How are we to respond given that God is with us?

HOW TO RESPOND TO GOD’S PRESENCE

Serve God wherever He plants me

Have you ever said something like this: I will serve God when...

I graduate from school

I get a better job

My 401(k) accumulates enough for me to retire

My kids grow up and leave home

If we’re honest I think all of us have thought or said something like that at some point in our lives. We promise that when circumstances get better, then we’ll go ahead and serve God.

Fortunately, Joseph never seemed to have that mindset.

He gets sold to the Ishmaelites and taken to Egypt and he says, “I’ll serve God right where I am even thought the circumstances aren’t ideal”.

I the account we read today, Mrs. Potiphar accuses him of rape and he unjustly gets thrown in jail and he says, “I can serve God right here in this jail cell”.

Later on he interprets the chief cupbearer and the baker and asks the cupbearer to remember him when he is restored to his position. But when the cupbearer forgets Joseph, at least for a while, Joseph says, “I’ll keep serving God in this prison anyway”.

When he interprets Pharaoh’s dream and is promoted to second in command in the entire country, he doesn’t let that go to his head. He just keeps serving God right where he is.

He just keeps serving God, wherever God plants him, regardless of whether that is difficult or easy. He doesn’t ever say to God, “God get me out of this situation and then I’ll serve you”.

Is there something that God is calling you to do right now and you’ve resisted because the circumstances just aren’t ideal? If so, please take note of this verse from the book of Ecclesiastes:

Ecclesiastes 11:4 ESV

4 He who observes the wind will not sow, and he who regards the clouds will not reap.

The Living Bible paraphrase of that verse really captures the idea here:

If you wait for perfect conditions, you will never get anything done.

If you’re waiting for the perfect conditions, they will likely never come. So just go ahead and do what God is calling you to do wherever He has planted you right now and trust that God has promised to be with you and He will equip you for that task.

Obey God regardless of the consequences

I know that most of you here have gone through something similar to what Joseph experienced at some point in your life. Maybe you didn’t end up in jail, but you were treated unjustly even when you obeyed God and operated with integrity.

Maybe you didn’t join in when your friends at school were using foul language or telling dirty jokes or bullying another student and it cost you a friend.

Maybe you refused to cut corners in your job and it cost you a raise or a promotion.

Maybe you refused to cheat on your taxes and so you paid a lot more taxes than your co-workers who did cheat on their taxes.

Maybe you chose not to file bankruptcy and so you’ve had to live paycheck to paycheck for many years so that you could pay back whatever you owed.

Maybe you eat healthy and exercise regularly and you still get terminal cancer.

Many of you probably have your own stories you could share. The fact is that obeying God is no guarantee that life will be easy or that we won’t face really difficult circumstances. But like we see withJoseph, it is still worth obeying God anyway.

If you doubt that, all you have to do is to look to the example of Jesus. He obeyed the will of His Father perfectly and yet he still encountered opposition and rejection and ended up dying on the cross even though He had done absolutely nothing to deserve that.

Be content

I suppose this principle is somewhat similar to the idea of serving God wherever He plants you. But it goes even beyond that. It means that I’m perfectly content to remain wherever God has caused me to be until He decides He wants me somewhere else.

There are obviously some situations and circumstances where we need to do like Joseph and flee in order to not give into temptation. If you’re working in a bar and realize you’re an alcoholic, you probably need to find another job. And there are certainly other times in our lives when it would be appropriate to remove ourselves from bad situations when possible. I think an abusive relationship would fit into that category.

However, with those limited exceptions, we need to follow Joseph’s example and just be content with where God has placed us - even if that’s a jail cell. The one thing that really impresses me about Joseph’s life is that he trusted God so much that he never tried to manipulate anyone or anything to try and change his circumstances. Not when his brothers sold him into slavery, not when he was unjustly thrown into prison and not when he was promoted to second in command in Egypt.

The apostle Paul confirms this principle frequently in the New Testament. Here are just a couple examples:

2 Corinthians 12:9–10 ESV

9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Paul was content to suffer for the sake of the kingdom of God because He knew that God was with him and that the power of Christ rested upon him.

Philippians 4:11–12 ESV

11 Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. 12 I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.

Paul likely wrote this letter near the end of his Roman imprisonment. That was not the first time that, just like Joseph, he had been wrongly imprisoned even though he was faithfully serving God. But Paul had learned to be content even in prison, and even when he didn’t have basic necessities like food.

We live in a world where everyone seems to be seeking the latest and greatest, and at times even the church has fallen into that trap. But the fact that God is with me means that I can be content right where I am.

Action

We’ve seen this morning that...

God’s grace means He is with me, even when it doesn’t look like it

But as I pointed out last week, that grace is a gift, one that is received by putting our faith in Jesus Christ alone. That means that God doesn’t promise His presence to everyone. That is a promise reserved for those who are willing to humble themselves before God and make Jesus their Lord and Savior. And my prayer is that everyone joining us today will have the blessing of God’s presence in their lives. So if you’ve never made the decision to put your faith in Jesus, will you do that today?

For the rest of us who have already made that decision, I want to ask you to spend some time in prayer this week, asking God if there is some way He wants you to serve Him right now - not when your circumstances change. That could certainly take on many different forms, but here are a few options for you to consider.

For some, that might be finding a place of service right here at TFC. We need nursery workers, teachers, and greeters. And if God isn’t calling you to any of those places, let us know and we’ll do our best to find a place of service for you. But there are a lot of ways that you can serve God outside of this body, too.

For some, that might be making a commitment to give back to God cheerfully and generously even though you’re in a tough financial situation right now.

For some, that might be cutting something out of your busy schedule so that you have time to invest in the lives of others, perhaps to help them grow in their relationship with Jesus or even to put their faith in Him for the first time.

Whatever God puts on your heart, let us know. It would be our great privilege to walk alongside you and help you in any way we can.

Inspiration

I mentioned this earlier, but the best example of the right way to respond to God’s grace and His presence is Jesus. God was with Him every moment of His life here on earth. And yet, even though He obeyed His Father’s will perfectly, He was despised, rejected, opposed and ultimately gave His life on the cross, not because He deserved it, but because He was willing to suffer on our behalf.

The grace of God that sustained Him is the very same grace that is available to every single one of us, even when it doesn’t look like it. That presence is adequate to carry us through whatever life on this earth might throw up against us. So let’s pray and thank God for that grace.