When Devastation Hits

Last week we talked about what happens when God gives you a dream. God gave Joseph two very vivid dreams depicting him as one of authority with his family bowing to him. God was showing Joseph what would be his future. His family wasn’t so receptive. I told you last week that when God gives you a dream you should expect opposition, be faithful to the assignment, and believe in the dream. If it is God’s dream, it will come to fruition.

The second part of Genesis 37 is a story of betrayal and devastation. The chapter flows from optimism to tragedy. Joseph’s world was flipped upside down. Let’s read it together.

Genesis 37:12–36 NASB95

Then his brothers went to pasture their father’s flock in Shechem. Israel said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers pasturing the flock in Shechem? Come, and I will send you to them.” And he said to him, “I will go.” Then he said to him, “Go now and see about the welfare of your brothers and the welfare of the flock, and bring word back to me.” So he sent him from the valley of Hebron, and he came to Shechem. A man found him, and behold, he was wandering in the field; and the man asked him, “What are you looking for?” He said, “I am looking for my brothers; please tell me where they are pasturing the flock.” Then the man said, “They have moved from here; for I heard them say, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’ ” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan. When they saw him from a distance and before he came close to them, they plotted against him to put him to death. They said to one another, “Here comes this dreamer! “Now then, come and let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits; and we will say, ‘A wild beast devoured him.’ Then let us see what will become of his dreams!” But Reuben heard this and rescued him out of their hands and said, “Let us not take his life.” Reuben further said to them, “Shed no blood. Throw him into this pit that is in the wilderness, but do not lay hands on him”—that he might rescue him out of their hands, to restore him to his father. So it came about, when Joseph reached his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the varicolored tunic that was on him; and they took him and threw him into the pit. Now the pit was empty, without any water in it. Then they sat down to eat a meal. And as they raised their eyes and looked, behold, a caravan of Ishmaelites was coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing aromatic gum and balm and myrrh, on their way to bring them down to Egypt. Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it for us to kill our brother and cover up his blood? “Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.” And his brothers listened to him. Then some Midianite traders passed by, so they pulled him up and lifted Joseph out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. Thus they brought Joseph into Egypt. Now Reuben returned to the pit, and behold, Joseph was not in the pit; so he tore his garments. He returned to his brothers and said, “The boy is not there; as for me, where am I to go?” So they took Joseph’s tunic, and slaughtered a male goat and dipped the tunic in the blood; and they sent the varicolored tunic and brought it to their father and said, “We found this; please examine it to see whether it is your son’s tunic or not.” Then he examined it and said, “It is my son’s tunic. A wild beast has devoured him; Joseph has surely been torn to pieces!” So Jacob tore his clothes, and put sackcloth on his loins and mourned for his son many days. Then all his sons and all his daughters arose to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. And he said, “Surely I will go down to Sheol in mourning for my son.” So his father wept for him. Meanwhile, the Midianites sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, Pharaoh’s officer, the captain of the bodyguard.

What do you do when life hits you with the unexpected? This isn’t just an inconvenience. It is a life altering event. Joseph just became a slave. He was just stripped of everything-his multi-colored coat, his freedom, his home. Everything he knew about his life was gone in an instant. What made it worse is that this all happened at the hands of his own brothers. It is a deep betrayal.

This story reminds us that this world is deeply marred by sin. Sin is not only the actions we take that are contrary to God’s design. It is a sickness that infects everything on the earth. Nothing is operating as it should. Everything has been impacted by sin. The world is broken and it is filled with broken people who are capable of despicable things. Joseph didn’t do anything wrong in this story. He didn’t deserve the treatment he received from his brothers.

But we have the gift of knowing the whole story. The action his brothers took to stop the dreams from coming true was the catalyst that put everything into motion leading to the fulfillment of the dream. God’s plans cannot be thwarted. But we often face extreme hardship on the way to becoming who God wants us to be.

I’ll be honest with you. I looked for principles for helping you navigate hat happens when everything around you is collapsing, but the text offers none. Joseph didn’t do anything in response to what was happening to him. He didn’t open up the playbook that made everything alright. We know God redeems the story, but it does not happen for thirteen years. We know how his story ends. Joseph doesn’t. He has to live it. It is easy for us who do not live something to not feel the weight of the experience itself.

So I had an idea. What if I don’t give you a three point sermon on dealing with devastation? What if the point of today is learning to sit in it and feel the weight of devastation while simultaneously holding on to the hope of the gospel of Jesus Christ? This week I reached out to my brother to ask him if he would be willing to sit down interview style and share his experience over the last couple of months as he received devastating, life altering news. He agreed, and what follows is that interview.

[Play Video]

This was a fun and challenging conversation. It is not fair that anyone has to go through this. Yet, we live in a broken world and tragic things happen to good people.

We spend much of our lives avoiding tragedies. Much good has come from this. We have cured diseases. We have prolonged life. We have made life more comfortable. We get to enjoy technologies we have developed. We spend a lot of time trying to avoid pain, yet pain still finds us. When it does, we do everything we can to stop it. But there are times when life is uncontrollable. Joseph can’t stop what is happening to him. Jared can’t stop what is happening to him. This is the new normal.

We can face our pain because the hope of the gospel sustains us.

Joseph didn’t abandon the dream. He just didn’t see the path to get there. The dream for us is the gospel, that our sin has separated us from God, resulting in death. But God loved us so much that he sent Jesus to live a life according to his design. He offered his life as a sacrifice for us. He paid the penalty of our sin on our behalf by dying on a cross. He was buried in a tomb, and three days later God raised him from the dead, conquering sin and death.

Everyone who trusts in Jesus as Lord and Savior is promised eternal life, but that’s not all. We are promised that one day the devastation of a corrupted world will one day end, replaced with a redeemed and reformed world where the same Christ who was crucified on a cross will reign over all creation and re-establish God’s design for all things on the earth. The Bible tells us that our bodies will become glorified, that is, incorruptible. No more diseases. No more pain. No more brokenness. You will be transformed. The hope of the gospel is that Jesus will make all things new, and they will be as he is, perfect in every way.

In the interview, I referenced Romans 8:28. I want us to go there and read it in its greater context. We are going to start in verse 18.

Romans 8:18–30 NASB95

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it. In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. 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. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.

The future of every follower of Jesus is ultimate deliverance from the corruption of this world, redemption, a place in Christ’s kingdom, and an eternal place in a world that operates by God’s perfect design. We know that all things work together for good, because we know that even as we sit in the devastation of sin and death, the hope that awaits us is the defeat and eradication of sin and death.

We can face our pain because the hope of the gospel sustains us.