God’s Divine Purpose

God’s Divine Purpose

Text: Gen. 45:15- 28

· The story of Joseph is one that we all have heard and read. It’s one that most preachers just talk about the first part of his life. I was studying the text in a Faith Life Study Bible; I looked at it differently.

· We all know how his father loved him more than his brothers because he was the son of his old age. He loved him so much that he had given him a coat of many colors; we would say it was a designer coat today.

· When his brothers saw the coat, they hated him and could not speak to him peaceably, and when he told them of his dream, they hated him more. Of how his sheaf arose and stood upright, and their sheaves bowed down to his, and they hated him more.

· His father sends him out to look for his brothers as they were feeding the flock in Shechem; they see him from afar off and began to conspire against him.

Main point vs15 - Joseph shreds tears in the presence of his brothers and kisses them

· They were so full of dislike for him that they put him in a pit, came up with a scheme to tell their father that a wild animal had killed him.

· They were so full of hatred that they threw him in a pit then sold him to a band of Midianites

· They were a dysfunctional family

What do you do when those who you love turns on you!

· What do you do when people hate you so bad that they’ll do anything to get rid of you!

· What do you do when your world has been turned upside down?

· He went from the pit… to being sold as a slave… to Potiphar’s house… to prison… forgot about for two years… ended up in Egypt in Pharaoh's house… a stranger in a foreign land.

And yet he cries on his brother’s shoulders…

· They were there because of a famine

· Joseph was there because of what the enemy meant for evil; God meant it for good.

· Can you still have a love for them

· After they plotted against you

· Talked about you

· Left you for dead

· You thought everything was going good

· You thought they loved you as much as you loved them

How can you still have a love for your family when they hate every breath you breathe?

· And yet Joseph cries for them -- God’s divine plan is being played out

· Can you still have a love for ministry when the people have turned their back on you

· Can you still have passion for people when they plotted against you, talked about you

· Can you still stand week after week, although you’ve suffered trauma?

They long for food—He longs for the love of his family

· Joseph long to be with his family again, and I can relate because when my daughter n granddaughter came up last week, even though I worked, I long to see them, and when they left, it was like a void again

· But he tells them don’t be upset about what they did because all of it was a part of God’s divine plan

It wasn’t the (what) that bothered me, but why would a loving God put him through all this pain, all this trauma

· How can you have the best of time on one hand and the worst on another

· Everything is good on one end, but there’s a struggle in another area.

· How could the plan of God being played out when you love someone, and they hate the ground you walk on.

Have you ever been mad at yourself for putting up with some mess, and each time you say

· here I go again

· I’m just stupid letting them use me and only call when they need me

I sometimes struggle with why God still has me at NB…. Because you all come but others I only hear from them when they want something.

· God knew I would still preach His word even though they talk about me

· He knew I would still have compassion for His people

Yet Joseph cried now he sees the Vision that God had revealed had come to pass Hab. 2:3

For the vision is yet for an appointed time.

But in the end, it will speak, and it will not lie.

Though it tarries, wait for it.

Because it will surely come,

It will not tarry.[1]

· Joseph could have gone for revenge, but he chooses to love.

· God needed someone who would choose to love, not to revenge. God can never use you if you are filled with revenge and anger.

· Joseph spent years going down a spiral fall, yet he still loved his father and brothers. He’s an example of love never fails.

But really, what got me was he recognized them, but they didn’t remember him; years had passed, but he held them close in his heart.

· He didn’t hold a grudge, and now he’s a blessing to them that cursed him.

· Paul, who wrote most of the New Testament, says in Rom 7:15: For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. [2]

I am not sure if I could not hold a grudge or say something to them – That’s the human side of us.

Joseph came into the fulfillment of what God had spoken to him in his dreams had come to past

· You may have to go through a season where it doesn’t look like things will work out

· You may feel like you are about to lose your mind

· Joseph tears were tears of joy because the text says he cried and kissed them

· All that you are going through and have been through is part of God’s plan and purpose

· Pharaoh sent them out with more than they had

· All of this was part of the building of the Nation of Israel

[1] The New King James Version. (1982). (Hab 2:3). Nashville: Thomas Nelson. [2] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Ro 7:15). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.