God is Sovereign
Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 10 viewsNotes
Transcript
Genesis 50: 15 – 21
Genesis 50: 15 – 21
Introduction: While you’re finding your place
In Genesis 50)
Allow me if you would
To read a poem
That God led me to this morning
It says
He sat by the fire of seven-fold heat,
As He watched by the precious ore.
And closer He bent with a searching gaze
As He heated it more and more.
He knew He had ore that could stand the test
And He wanted the finest gold,
To mold as a crown for the King to wear,
Set with gems of price untold.
So He laid our gold in the burning fire,
Though we fain would have said Him, "Nay."
And He watched the dross that we had not seen,
As it melted and passed away.
And the gold grew brighter, and yet more bright
And our eyes were so dim with tears,
As we saw the fire, not the Master's hand,
And questioned with anxious fear.
Yet our gold shone out with a richer glow,
As it mirrored a Form above
That bent o'er the fire, though unseen by us
With a look of infinite love.
Can we think that it pleases His loving heart
To cause a moment of pain?
Ah, no, but He saw through the present cross
The bliss of eternal gain.
So He waited there with a watchful eye,
With a love that is strong and sure,
And His gold did not suffer a bit more heat
Than was needed to make it pure!
And with that Poem in mind
Let’s read our text, For this evening
The Bible says
In Genesis 50:15 – 21
And when Joseph’s brethren saw that their father was dead, they said, Joseph will peradventure hate us, and will certainly requite us all the evil which we did unto him. And they sent a messenger unto Joseph, saying, Thy father did command before he died, saying, So shall ye say unto Joseph, Forgive, I pray thee now, the trespass of thy brethren, and their sin; for they did unto thee evil: and now, we pray thee, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of thy father. And Joseph wept when they spake unto him. And his brethren also went and fell down before his face; and they said, Behold, we be thy servants. And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: for am I in the place of God? But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive. Now therefore fear ye not: I will nourish you, and your little ones. And he comforted them, and spake kindly unto them.
Let’s pray together
And ask the Lord, to Speak to our hearts
(Pray)
I. The background
Declaration
Now then
Notice our text if you would
Once again
And particularly
Verse number 20
The
Bible says
Here in verse 20 (Genesis 50:20
But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.
Now
As I read that verse
And think about all
That transpired
Prior to chapter 50
I am
reminded
That our God is sovereign
And by the way
In the Bible,
God's sovereignty
is the authority and power
He has
to rule over His creation.
It's also known
as God's Lordship
But
Not only does that verse
Remind me of God’s Sovereignty
But it also reminds me
Of God’s great Providence
And there again
in the Bible,
providence is the idea
that God is in control of the world
and cares for people.
We sometimes call it
Divine providence.
But
What a great thought that is
That God is in control of the world
And all that happens
And
That even when bad things happen
God is in control
And He can take those bad things
And turn them into a blessing
And
This evening
I want to begin a brand-new series
Of sermons
Entitled
Important statements
From the books of the Bible
This
Bible that we love and read
Contains many
Very important statements
Statements which contain truth
For us to be able to live by
And
The first statement
That I want us to study
Is from the book of Genesis 50)
And in verse 20
Again the Bible says
In fact
Joseph
The 11th son of Jacob said
To his 10 older brothers
(Genesis 50:20
But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.
Discussion
Now then
Let’s talk about the background
Of this statement
And it begins for us
Way back in Chapter 30
Turn there
If you would please
For just a bit
And read with me
Versus 22 – 24
The
Bible says
In Genesis 30:22 – 24
And God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her, and opened her womb. And she conceived, and bare a son; and said, God hath taken away my reproach: And she called his name Joseph; and said, The Lord shall add to me another son.
Now then
You will recall
That years prior to this
Jacob had gone
To his uncle Laban’s house
And
When he got there
He saw Laban’s youngest daughter
a girl name Rachel
And to him
She was beautiful
so
She took him
To meet her dad
And again,
Laban
was Jacob’s uncle
And
In process of time
Jacob sought her hand in marriage
so Laban told him
That
If you work for me
tending my sheep
For seven years
You can marry my daughter Rachel
So
The seven years went by
and the night of the wedding
Came round
But
Laban pulled a fast one
And Jacob wound up
Marrying Leah
So
Laban told Jacob
If you serve me for another seven years
You can finally have Rachel’s hand
in marriage
And
To make a long story short
Jacob wound up
With two wives
Both Rachel and Leah
But
God opened Leah’s womb
And gave her children
But Rachel
was barren
So
She ended up giving Jacob
Her handmade
So that she Could have children
By her
And
When it was all said and done
Jacob Wound up
With four wives
What a mess
And
Between Rachel
and her handmade
Leah
and her handmade
Jacob wound up
With 10 sons
But then finally
(Genesis 30:22 – 24
And God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her, and opened her womb. And she conceived, and bare a son; and said, God hath taken away my reproach: And she called his name Joseph; and said, The Lord shall add to me another son.
And in time
Rachel likewise had a son
Named Benjamin
But
Eventually
Joseph's brothers
Began to despise him
In fact
Turn to chapter 37
Here in the book of Genesis
And read with me
Versus 1 – 5
The
Bible says
In Genesis 37:1-5
And Jacob dwelt in the land wherein his father was a stranger, in the land of Canaan. These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren; and the lad was with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives: and Joseph brought unto his father their evil report. Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colours. And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him. And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren: and they hated him yet the more.
That word
Hate by the way
Means to consider
One is an enemy
Joseph’s
Own flesh and blood
Thought of him
As their enemy
Because
Jacob showed favoritism
To his son Joseph
And by the way
As we have seen before
Favoritism is foolish
For a parent
It can cause problems
In a home
But Jacob did
He showed favoritism
to Joseph
Causing those brothers
To hate him
Making it so
They couldn’t speak peaceably
To him
They were always quarreling with him
They said unkind things to him
They talked as though
He were their enemy
And
Later on
Here in this chapter
The Bible says that
(Genesis 37:12 – 14
And his brethren went to feed their father’s flock in Shechem. And Israel said unto Joseph, Do not thy brethren feed the flock in Shechem? come, and I will send thee unto them. And he said to him, Here am I. And he said to him, Go, I pray thee, see whether it be well with thy brethren, and well with the flocks; and bring me word again. So he sent him out of the vale of Hebron, and he came to Shechem.
Then
The Bible goes on
To say in verse 18
(Genesis 37:18
And when they saw him afar off, even before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him.
Now
Can you imagine that
Joseph’s own brothers
Conspired against him
They talked of slaying him
Which means to kill him
That
Is a terrible thing
For brothers to do
One’s own flesh and blood
But they did
And then
They formalized their plan
In fact it says
In verses 19 – 20 (Genesis 37:19 – 20
And they said one to another, Behold, this dreamer cometh. Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will say, Some evil beast hath devoured him: and we shall see what will become of his dreams.
So
They went from talking about it
To making a formal plan
To kill him
But then
When
(Genesis 37:21 – 22
And Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands; and said, Let us not kill him. And Reuben said unto them, Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit that is in the wilderness, and lay no hand upon him; that he might rid him out of their hands, to deliver him to his father again.
But
Unfortunately
(Genesis 37:23 -25
And it came to pass, when Joseph was come unto his brethren, that they stript Joseph out of his coat, his coat of many colours that was on him; And they took him, and cast him into a pit: and the pit was empty, there was no water in it. And they sat down to eat bread: and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and, behold, a company of Ishmeelites came from Gilead with their camels bearing spicery and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt.
And
In verses 26 – 27
We are told
(Genesis 37:26 – 27
And Judah said unto his brethren, What profit is it if we slay our brother, and conceal his blood? Come, and let us sell him to the Ishmeelites, and let not our hand be upon him; for he is our brother and our flesh. And his brethren were content.
Now
I want to you try to understand
What was happening here
These brothers of his
Hated him
They conspired to kill him
But instead
They decided
To sell him off
To Ishmaelites
They thought to themselves
We may as well make
A little bit
of spending money
From this wretched brother of ours
but
Can you imagine being Joseph
And being down in that pit
Why
You would feel betrayed
You would feel
Discouraged
And disillusioned
And by the way
According to chapter 42:21
As Joseph was down in that pit
He was in anguish
His heart was torn up
Over this betrayal
And I’m sure
He begged them
Not to do this
He pleaded with them
But all to no avail
What a terrible thing
I can’t imagine
Any worse thing happening
To a young man
That is
to be sold off
Into slavery
By your own brothers
. How terrible
now
Put yourself in his shoes
How would you feel
Had this happened to you
Not good
To say the least
But don’t miss verse 28
It says
(Genesis 37:28
Then there passed by Midianites merchantmen; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmeelites for twenty pieces of silver: and they brought Joseph into Egypt.
What
An awful, awful thing that is
And was for Joseph
And eventually
Joseph arrived in Egypt
In fact
The Bible says
In Genesis 39:1
And Joseph was brought down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him of the hands of the Ishmeelites, which had brought him down thither.
So
Officially
Joseph became a slave
Now
What do you suppose
Joseph
As a teenager
Was thinking about those things
he
Was probably experiencing Anger
Betrayal
Discouragement
Depression
dismay
But then
Things went from bad
To worse
Because see
Eventually
Because God’s hand was on Joseph
In fact
The Bible says
In Genesis 39:2 – 4
And the Lord was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. And his master saw that the Lord was with him, and that the Lord made all that he did to prosper in his hand. And Joseph found grace in his sight, and he served him: and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put into his hand.
So
Joseph eventually became
The steward
of Potiphars house
And
Just when he thought
Things Would turn around
for him
The devil
Sent him more discouragement
And by the way
That’s the way the devil works
Isn’t it?
He
wants to discourage us
Devastate us
Demoralize us
So that he can derail us
From the purposes of God
But
Notice verses 7 – 9
When things just started going well
We read
And it came to pass after these things, that his master’s wife cast her eyes upon Joseph; and she said, Lie with me. But he refused, and said unto his master’s wife, Behold, my master wotteth not what is with me in the house, and he hath committed all that he hath to my hand; There is none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee, because thou art his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?
Now
What’s happening?
well
Joseph is being tempted
To do the wrong thing
But he remained faithful
Faithful to God
And faithful to his master
And by the way
What example he is
To all of us
To remain faithful to God
Even under the most difficult
of circumstances
But
The Bible goes on to say
In verse 10 (Genesis 39:10
And it came to pass, as she spake to Joseph day by day, that he hearkened not unto her, to lie by her, or to be with her.
And
If you know your Bible
Then you remember
That eventually
Things went from bad to worse
(Genesis 39:11 – 14
And it came to pass about this time, that Joseph went into the house to do his business; and there was none of the men of the house there within. And she caught him by his garment, saying, Lie with me: and he left his garment in her hand, and fled, and got him out. And it came to pass, when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand, and was fled forth, That she called unto the men of her house, and spake unto them, saying, See, he hath brought in an Hebrew unto us to mock us; he came in unto me to lie with me, and I cried with a loud voice:
Now
Imagine if you would
How Joseph must’ve felt
He’s been trying to do right
All along
He
Endeavored to be a good son
And a good brother
He was then sold into slavery
So
He tried to make the best of things
And work his heart out
And when he was promoted
Once again
he was betrayed
It was like
He was taking one step forward
And two steps back
At every move
Because
When his master Potiphar
Received the report
From his wife
The Bible says in verse 20
(Genesis 39:20
And Joseph’s master took him, and put him into the prison, a place where the king’s prisoners were bound: and he was there in the prison.
My
How terrible things were
For this young man
All he had done
Was try to do right
Yet, at every turn
He is kicked in the teeth
He
Was hated by his brothers
Sold into slavery
Lied about by his master’s wife
And then was put in prison
It just seemed
That nothing went right
For this young man
And
We know the rest
Of the story
Joseph spent years in prison
For a crime
he had not committed
He
Spent years
As a slave
After being betrayed by his own flesh and blood
And in time
He was forgotten about
see
Pharaoh’s butler
Who had also been in prison
Yet
After getting out
He failed to remember Joseph
Which left Joseph
languishing again
For two years more
in the prison
And again
Try to put yourself
In Josephs Place
You’ve
Been hated by your own family
Sold as a slave
lied about
Falsely imprisoned
And forgotten about
So
Under those circumstances
The average believer
Would be so disillusioned
that
They might start questioning God
And although
We don’t know the thoughts
He had in his mind
During all of this
Because they aren’t recorded
Yet
There might be some of us
Who would’ve began to question everything
In our entire life
But eventually
The butler remembered
The plight of Joseph
And even that talent of Joseph
The talent of interpreting dreams
And he told Pharaoh
About Joseph’s gift
And
When God gave the Pharaoh
a dream
Joseph was brought out of the prison
Where he interpreted the dream
That Pharaoh had
A dream that
There will be seven years of plenty
In all the land of Egypt
And then
seven years of terrible famine
Joseph then
Gave Pharaoh some advice
During the seven years of plenty
Joseph said
Save every penny you can
Save all the grain
you can
So that
During the seven years of famine
You can survive
Pharaoh then
Exalted Joseph
And promoted him highly
To being the second in command
Of the entire nation
So
Joseph literally
When from rags to riches
He went
From slavery and Imprisonment
To seniority
And empowerment
And eventually
The seven years of famine
came around
And all of the land
Felt the pinch of the famine
Even those folks living in Canaan
Where
Joseph’s brothers lived
With their father Jacob
So Jacob sent them
Down into Egypt
To buy grain
And
We know the rest of the story
When Joseph knew that his brothers
Were in need of grain
He ended up
Bringing the entire family
Into Egypt
Where he could nourish them
In fact
Look in chapter 45
Here in the book of Genesis
And notice verse 11
The
Bible says
That Joseph said to his family
In Genesis 45:11
He said come to Egypt
and
“there will I nourish thee; for yet there are five years of famine; lest thou, and thy household, and all that thou hast, come to poverty.”
Now
You think about that
After all his brothers put him through
He wanted to be a blessing
to them
He
Wasn’t holding a grudge
He just wanted
To help his family
He
Did and plot revenge
He didn’t give them the cold shoulder
He just wanted to help them
And he did
He gave them
The very best of the land of Egypt
After having brought them there
And he did nourish his family
That
Even though they had hated him
Sold him into slavery
After talking
of killing him
They then
set in motion
All the terrible things that happened
. In Egypt,
to Joseph
Yet
He talked of Nourishing them
And he in fact
did Nourish them
But eventually
After some time in Egypt
Joseph’s father Jacob died
And when he did
Those older brothers Thought
Joseph will get revenge on us
There
Will be a reprisal
And because he is so powerful
He will either imprison us
Or worse
He might kill us
In fact
Turn to chapter 50
If you would please
And read with me
Verses 15 – 17
The Bible says (Genesis 50: 15 – 17
And when Joseph’s brethren saw that their father was dead, they said, Joseph will peradventure hate us, and will certainly requite us all the evil which we did unto him. And they sent a messenger unto Joseph, saying, Thy father did command before he died, saying, So shall ye say unto Joseph, Forgive, I pray thee now, the trespass of thy brethren, and their sin; for they did unto thee evil: and now, we pray thee, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of thy father. And Joseph wept when they spake unto him.
But then
Don’t miss
Versus 18 – 21
These verses are so very important
The Bible says (Genesis 50:18 -21
And his brethren also went and fell down before his face; and they said, Behold, we be thy servants. And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: for am I in the place of God? But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive. Now therefore fear ye not: I will nourish you, and your little ones. And he comforted them, and spake kindly unto them.
Now
Think about that
These brothers had hated him
Plotted to kill him
But instead, sold him into slavery
And
While in slavery
He was lied about
Falsely imprisoned
And forgotten about
And
The average person
Might’ve been bitter
About all these things
They might have considered
Taking revenge
But yet
Joseph understood
That the God of heaven
Is a God of Providence
Again
Listen to him
In verse 20
(Genesis50:20
But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.
Now
Do you know what he was saying?
he was saying
The same thing the apostle Paul said
In Romans 8)
and verse 28 (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.
II. The burden
Declaration
But then
There is us as believers
Living today
And
There isn’t one of us
Who hasn’t experienced
Tragedy and trial
In our life
There
Isn’t one of us
Who Hasn’t gone through
Deep disappointment
In our life
Some
Form of devastation
Not of our own making
And those things
Have so discouraged us
That has happened to me!
In fact
A number of years ago
I went through such a time
And because
Of how painful it was
I’m not going to Give you the details
But
I went through a time
Of devastation and discouragement
Not of my own making
And
Let me tell you
It was bad
And I remember during that time
All
I wanted to do
Was to run away
To just extricate myself totally
From what had happened
I
Sort of felt like Joseph
In a prison
Of someone elses making
What
A tough time it was
It was a time of bewilderment
I even felt like
I had been betrayed
I didn’t know
Who I could trust
And
I often wondered
If the sky
would ever be blue again
Discussion
And maybe you too
Have felt the same thing
In your life
That
Because something happened to you
Or something happened to your loved one
And
You felt betrayal
You were discouraged
You were dismayed
And
You might’ve even experienced
A period of depression
Because of all those things
Well
let me tell you
I can relate
So
Let’s talk about these burdens
When we going through trials like this
Maybe something similar to Joseph
What
do those kinds of trials
Provoke in us?
Well
They can provoke discouragement
A loss of confidence
Or enthusiasm
Has that happened to you?
As a result of some trial?
That you didn’t create?
Has
Some trial like that
Ever caused you to be discouraged
It sure has happened to me
But
Not only do these
Joseph trials
Create discouragement in our hearts
But
They can also create
Dismay
Which has been defined as
consternation and distress,
typically
that is caused by something unexpected
And again
That has certainly happened
In my heart and life
Determination
But then
Not only do Joseph trials
Create discouragement in us
And even sometimes dismay
But
If we are not careful
They tend to create
Disillusionment
Which is
a feeling of disappointment
resulting from the discovery
that something is not as good
as one believed it to be.
And disillusionment
Can create distrust
In our hearts and lives
Distrust of people
What a troublesome thing
Joseph trials can be
In our life
And ultimately
Not only can Joseph trials
Create discouragement in us
And dismay
And disillusionment
But
Those Joseph trials
Can eventually lead
To derailment
And by that
I mean simply
Quitting
Quitting
On life
Quitting on relationships
Quitting on our walk with God
And
Let me say that
That is exactly
What Satan wants
he
wants us to be discouraged
And Let me say that
The devil
wants us to become disillusioned
And ultimately
To be derailed
From
God’s great purpose
In,
and for our life
And
That purpose is
For us to be good citizens of this world
And good citizens
Of the kingdom of God
But
I wonder
How many of us
Had we been in Joseph shoes
Would have
Looked
At what he was going through
And would’ve had a pity party
And
Would have become depressed
Discouraged
Dismayed
Disillusioned
Devastated
And derailed
Well sadly
Those things happen
To a great many Christians
Many is the believer
Who because of Joseph trials
Have gotten off track
Have
Not been able to see
Either the sovereignty
Or providence of God
In a situation
Many
Is the believer
Who has
in the face
Of Joseph trials
Just
Given in
And given up
But
What would’ve happened
Had Joseph
Wallowed in self-pity
In the face of his trials
And you’ll notice
I didn’t say trial
I said trials
What would’ve happened
Had Joseph just given in
And given up
Well
His own family
Would have starved
to death
And that family
Would not have been there
To usher in the Messiah
The Redeemer of the world
See
God had a lofty plan
For that family
And my dear friend
God has a lofty plan
For you and me
A plan that He wants us
To fulfill
But
If were not careful
We can allow our burden
our Joseph like burden
To
Discourage us
Depress us
dismay Us
Disillusion us
And derail us
III. The Bible
But
Now that we’ve looked
At the background
Of Joseph’s life
And saw the immense trials
That he went through
Where
He was hated
By his own flesh and blood
Sold into slavery
lied About
By his master’s wife
Put in prison
For a crime he had not committed
. And then forgot about
But
Now that we’ve gotten some background
About Joseph’s trial
His immense burden
Let’s
Listen to what he said
In our text again
in Genesis 50:20
But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.
Now
Do you know he was saying
He was telling his brothers
Yes
You had evil intentions
Against me
You wanted to hurt me
And yes
As a result of all that
I know I spent time as a slave
that I spent time in prison
And was forgotten about
But
God allowed those problems
In my life
He didn’t create them
But He allowed those problems
In my life
So that
He Could use them
To ultimately bring about good
God
Gave me a terrible burden
Or
He allowed me to have it
So that I could end up being
A great blessing to someone
And
Have you ever looked at your trial
Like that?
That
Maybe God let you experience
Some terrible tragedy
So that you could eventually
Help someone else
Who is going through the same thing
That you
have already experienced
See
Nobody can help another person
Like someone
Who has already
been through it
For example
No one can help a person
Who has Experienced great loss
Like someone who has likewise
Experienced great loss
And
No one can help a person
Who has been betrayed
Like someone else
Who has been betrayed
And yet
By the grace of God
Has stayed faithful
Through their burdensome trial
Discussion
See
God allows Burdens in our life
For a reason
Now
At the time
It’s difficult to see the reason
Because
In the fog of war
It’s hard to see anything
But what is right
in front of you
But
We need to remember
that although it is difficult to see
God
has a purpose
for a trial
We
As Bible believers
Can know that
God always has a purpose
When
Someone dies
God has a purpose
When
Someone has been betrayed
God can use that betrayal
With a purpose in mind
When
Someone has been mistreated
By another person
God can use that Mistreatment
With a purpose in mind
See
(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
Did you notice that
He said all things
Not most
But all things work together for good
To them
That love God
Because see
God is a God of Providence
And a God of purpose
And
God can take your great trial
And turn it
into a triumph
God
Can take your great burden
And turn it
Into a grand blessing
The Lord
Because He is in control
Of everything
Can
cause betrayal
To become trust
see
Is just like the apostle Paul said
in 2 Corinthians 9:8
And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:
Now
You might not see it
Today
You might not be able to perceive it
Tomorrow
Or
Next week
And maybe not even next month
But
know this
God is sovereign
God is providential
But
Ultimately
God is your Father
And
He wants
What is best for you
His
Plan for you
It is always good
And despite what you’re going through
Regardless
Of what you’ve been through
Oh what you’re about
To go through
Listen please
You can know
That all things work together for good
To them who love God
And
All you need to do
Is to simply trust the Lord
In your circumstances
And
There was Joseph
As a slave
After having been betrayed by his brothers
He was a slave
Yet
The Bible says
in Genesis 39:2
And the Lord was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian.
now...did
You see that
God was with Joseph
IN That slavery
Which tells me
Joseph
Was with God
He was trusting the Lord
In an impossible situation
Then
The Bible goes on to say
In verses 20 – 21
(Genesis 39:20 – 21
And Joseph’s master took him, and put him into the prison, a place where the king’s prisoners were bound: and he was there in the prison. But the Lord was with Joseph, and shewed him mercy, and gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison.
So
There again
God was with Joseph
While in prison
Because Joseph
Was with God
He
It seems
was trusting God
In his impossible situation
And
For all of us today
Who have had to endure Joseph trials
And
When there’s nothing we can do
Then
All we need to do
Is trust the Lord
And if we will
He will surely bring us out
Which
Reminds me of a song
That we sing sometimes
Let me read you the words
It says
If the world from you withholds
of its silver and its gold
And
you have to get along with meager fare
Just remember, in his word,
how He feeds the little bird
Take
your burden to the Lord,
leave it there
Leave it there,
leave it there
take your burden to the Lord
and leave it there
If
you trust And never doubt
He will surely bring you out
Take your burden to the Lord,
And leave it there
So
Let me ask you
Do you have any burdens
Any Joseph trials
Trials
That have left you discouraged
Left you dismayed
Disillusioned
And perhaps
Even derailed
Well
In a moment
When the invitation begins
I’m going to give you the opportunity
To
Bring your burdens to the Lord
Who again
Has allowed your burden
For good
Joseph
Said
to his brothers
(Genesis 50:20
But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.
So
Would you bring your Burdens to God
And ask Him
To help you trust Him
Through them
Conclusion: Let’s close in prayer
