When Life Goes Terribly Wrong (2)

What was your life suppose to look like? What plans did you make for your future? I remember a project in high school where I had to write out all the details of where I’d be in my 30’s: house, job, kids, pets, vacations, boat, and a healthy retirement account?

Boy was I wrong. I didn’t get any of it right. Even more recently, the detours have continued to come and things are not as I thought they would be. It’s not a bad thing, it’s just different. There’s been times it felt bad in the moment but mostly because I wasn’t getting what I thought I wanted or what I thought was best.

Most of us can relate to having made plans or goals that fall apart right in front of our eyes and the feelings of disappointment, discouragement, fear, and sadness that threaten to overtake us.

This is where our faith is lived out. It’s easy to say we have faith in God and that we trust in his promises when everything is going well. It’s another thing to trust in God when things are terribly different than we imagined or hoped and we can’t understand what God is doing and how this is supposed to be for our good and His glory. It’s in these times that what you truly believe about God will determine how you respond.

Today’s bible passage takes us to Genesis ch 39 where Joseph is in the middle of what most would say was the hardest season of his life.

He’d been betrayed by his brothers, sold into slavery, falsely accused of inappropriate contact with Potiphar’s wife and thrown into prison. It seemed as though every time things started looking up for Joseph, something else would happen to knock him back down.

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 39

21 But the LORD was with Joseph and extended kindness to him. He granted him favor with the prison warden. 22 The warden put all the prisoners who were in the prison under Joseph’s authority, and he was responsible for everything that was done there. 23 The warden did not bother with anything under Joseph’s authority, because the LORD was with him, and the LORD made everything that he did successful.

Vs 21 says “The Lord was with Joseph.”

God was with Joseph, and soon Joseph’s kindness, gentleness, integrity, and truthfulness had won over the keeper of the prison so that Joseph rose again to the top and was the overseer of the prison. In the little kingdom of the prison, Joseph reigned, for God was with him.

Nevertheless, the Lord’s presence did not shield Joseph from hatred or temptation or slander or pain or disappointment. The Lord does not promise us that we will have what looks like prosperity, but we will have what is real prosperity in the best sense.

Joseph remained faithful to God in his suffering. He was obedient and did not succumb to temptation yet he was accused of something he didn’t do and punished. Still, Joseph remained obedient.

What would you think if that happened to you? It might seem unfair. That you’re being wrongly punished and where’s God. Has he forgotten you. Does he even notice what happening?

What lies might we ben tempted to believe about God or our situation?

I being punished for something I did in my past.

This situation is too big for God. God can’t help me.

God must not care about me.

God can’t love me if he’s allowing this to happen to me.

This can’t be part of God’s plan.

How can we practically respond in faith when our plans don’t turn out as expected?

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 40

5 The king of Egypt’s cupbearer and baker, who were confined in the prison, each had a dream. Both had a dream on the same night, and each dream had its own meaning. 6 When Joseph came to them in the morning, he saw that they looked distraught. 7 So he asked Pharaoh’s officers who were in custody with him in his master’s house, “Why do you look so sad today?”

8 “We had dreams,” they said to him, “but there is no one to interpret them.”

Then Joseph said to them, “Don’t interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams.”

The dreams were unusual and seemed to have a mysterious symbolic significance, with both men believing they had received a message from the gods. It’s possible that God orchestrated these dreams to provide Joseph an opportunity to come to Pharaoh’s attention, demonstrating His providential plan.

Dreams were considered an important avenue of communication between God and humans, with God potentially revealing messages through symbols that require interpretation.

Even though Joseph couldn’t see it, God was at work. He was putting things in motion as one event led to another.

Sometimes we just can’t see what in world God is up to. But, we don’t have to. We don’t need to and he doesn’t owe us an explanation. He is God. He answers to no one. We have to let go of our pride and need to control the situation and trust him. The sooner we surrender and come to the knowledge that his plan is great than mine. He doesn’t need my help. I need to be content and thankful with what I have and trust him with my life. The sooner we will have peace and joy that floods our soul. It’s like we are playing tug 0 war with God. We surrender our life to him and then when things aren’t going like we think they should, we pull the rope back so we can take over.

God’s writing our story but we keep snatching the pen back. What lie are we believing that causes us to doubt his sovereignty, providence and love for us?

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 41

10 Pharaoh was angry with his servants, and he put me and the chief baker in the custody of the captain of the guards. 11 He and I had dreams on the same night; each dream had its own meaning. 12 Now a young Hebrew, a slave of the captain of the guards, was with us there. We told him our dreams, he interpreted our dreams for us, and each had its own interpretation. 13 It turned out just the way he interpreted them to us: I was restored to my position, and the other man was hanged.”

14 Then Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and they quickly brought him from the dungeon., He shaved, changed his clothes, and went to Pharaoh.

Joseph experiences a remarkable transformation from prisoner to powerful Egyptian official. Pharaoh has two unusual dreams that his magicians cannot interpret. Joseph explains that the dreams reveal seven years of abundance will be followed by seven years of severe famine1. Impressed by Joseph’s wisdom, Pharaoh not only adopts his suggestion to store grain during the abundant years but also invests Joseph with authority over all of Egypt. As part of his elevation, Joseph is given an Egyptian name and married to Asenath, a daughter of a prominent priest2.

At thirty years old, after thirteen years of suffering in slavery and prison, Joseph is brought to a place of abundance. During the years of plenty, he fathers two children, Manasseh and Ephraim, whose names reflect his gratitude1. When the famine becomes severe, extending to all the earth, Jacob sends his sons to Egypt to buy grain, keeping only Benjamin at home. When the brothers arrive, they unknowingly bow before Joseph, who does not reveal his identity. Instead, he speaks roughly to them, accusing them of being spies, and ultimately keeps Simeon as a hostage while sending the others back to retrieve Benjamin2.

Joseph’s story powerfully illustrates that suffering is not ultimate—God is. What seemed like a series of misfortunes were actually steps in God’s plan, with prison being a necessary part of Joseph’s journey to becoming second-in-command of Egypt.

How can we align our expectations with God's plans in our lives?

How can maintaining a journal of God's faithfulness help us during tough times?