God in the Far Land

Introduction

It's summertime, and the little league baseball teams are starting to practice. “Daddy, can I play baseball this year?" You get a new glove. Dad pitches with you in the back yard. You practice with the team for two weeks. But there are too many players, and some have to be cut. The roster is read by the coach one afternoon and you're not on it. The coach says they will plan to have two teams next year. And you cry all the way home. Closed.

Maybe you’ve dreamt from the time you are 13 about the one you will marry, about the thrill of falling in love, the beauty of the wedding day, the utter release and peace of being held by someone who loves you above all others, but the door closes again and again.

Or perhaps you come to your mid-forties and step back and take stock of your life and what you hope to accomplish. You decide to stay with the firm and give it your best shot. And in five years, after hundreds of late nights and long weekends and working vacations, you're passed over for the promotion and the door closes on the dream-job of your career.

Or maybe all your career doors are open, and all the doors of your relationships are open, and you have made every team you ever tried out for, but now the doctor says you have cancer. And all the doors start to close. It is a heart-breaking, disappointing word, closed.

For us, It means we have been locked out, excluded, unwelcomed, opportunity disallowed, our dreams left in ashes. A closed door can feel so permanent, so conclusive, so final.

Back in 1976, Jerry Garcia sang a song which captures the feelings of the closed door and the end of a dream: “I was in the right place, but it must have been the wrong time/ I was sayin’ the right things, but I must have used the wrong line/ I was on the right trip, but I must have used the wrong car/ My head is in the right place, but I’m wondering what it’s good for.”

When all of the doors are closed, it can feel like we are in strange territory—a foreign land. Indeed, we are.

What should we desire from God while we are in this world—the Far Land?

When we speak of “providence,” we are not talking about “fate.” Fate says that there are impersonal forces at work that are inescapable. Providence is not impersonal. It is deeply personal.

Providence shows that God a -HimSELF - is at work to accomplish His will. He does so as a person. Indeed, as a Father.

Genesis 39:1–6 NASB95

Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an Egyptian officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the bodyguard, bought him from the Ishmaelites, who had taken him down there. The Lord was with Joseph, so he became a successful man. And he was in the house of his master, the Egyptian. Now his master saw that the Lord was with him and how the Lord caused all that he did to prosper in his hand. So Joseph found favor in his sight and became his personal servant; and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he owned he put in his charge. It came about that from the time he made him overseer in his house and over all that he owned, the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house on account of Joseph; thus the Lord’s blessing was upon all that he owned, in the house and in the field. So he left everything he owned in Joseph’s charge; and with him there he did not concern himself with anything except the food which he ate. Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance.

Genesis 3:1-6

Presence: God is With Us (2-3a)

Genesis 39:2

Genesis 39:2–3 NASB95

The Lord was with Joseph, so he became a successful man. And he was in the house of his master, the Egyptian. Now his master saw that the Lord was with him and how the Lord caused all that he did to prosper in his hand.

“The good news is not that Joseph prospers because the Lord is with him, but that the Lord is with Joseph. God is present in blessings and through hardships, in feast and in famine. Whether one is sitting on a throne or hanging from a cross, one is never alone. Blessings are not health and wealth; blessings are the presence of the Divine in the everyday.”

Prosperity: God is For Us (3b)

Genesis

Genesis 39:3 NASB95

Now his master saw that the Lord was with him and how the Lord caused all that he did to prosper in his hand.

Two errors often seen in Christianity today. 1) God exists to bless you. 2) God exists to curse you. But the Bible teaches that our faithfulness to God brings God’s blessing to us.

Joseph wanted to see the dream of the sheaves and the stars fulfilled. If he was going to receive what God had in store for him, he could not sin against God.

Favor: The Lord Uses Us (4)

Genesis 39:4 NASB95

So Joseph found favor in his sight and became his personal servant; and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he owned he put in his charge.

It is a mercy that our lives are not for us to plan, but that our Father chooses for us; else we might sometimes turn away from our best blessings and put from us the choicest and loveliest gifts of His providence.--Susannah Spurgeon

Ministers: The Lord Works Through Us (5)

Genesis 39:5 NASB95

It came about that from the time he made him overseer in his house and over all that he owned, the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house on account of Joseph; thus the Lord’s blessing was upon all that he owned, in the house and in the field.

Matthew 5:13–16 NASB95

“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men. “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

Genesis

Blessed: The Lord Is Good To Us (6)

Genesis 39:6 NASB95

So he left everything he owned in Joseph’s charge; and with him there he did not concern himself with anything except the food which he ate. Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance.

Genesis

Everything we have received has come from God.

James 1:17 NASB95

Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.

1 Corinthians 4:7 NASB95

For who regards you as superior? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?

1 Corinthi

Conclusion

Conclusion: What do we learn from Joseph?

Conclusion: What do we learn from Joseph?

It should be remembered that God’s presence does not prevent Joseph from going to prison—as we shall see later on.

God’s presence does not keep us from trouble. God’s presence keeps us when we are in trouble.

We can know that—when we feel like very door has been closed—when we are in a distant land—God is with us.

Invitation: How did this event of Joseph prefigure Jesus Christ?

The presence of God among us is made known in Jesus Christ. Jesus is introduced to us as “Immanuel,” which means “God with us.” His final words to us in the book of Matthew are that, as we make disciples, He will be “with us until the end of the world.”

My question for you today is simple: Do you know the presence of God in your life?