The past few weeks the pastors at our church have been preaching on the life of Joseph starting in Genesis 37 and teaching on a chapter a week. It has been a series I am thoroughly enjoying. The underlying theme has been staying faithful to the Lord in the midst of uncertain circumstances. Joseph sure is an excellent example of that. He began as one of the youngest of 12 brothers and his father's favorite. His brothers despised him and plotted to kill him, but instead sold him to slave traders who took him to Egypt at a young age, about the age of one of my sons, which makes this story all the more real. Joseph went from living a grand life with good standing in his father's house, to a mere slave. Talk about culture shock.
While in Egypt he is sold to a man in Pharoh's royal court, a man of great standing. Joseph proved himself to be faithful to the Lord, and to his earthly master; because of that he was given the highest honor in the house and all Potiphar had to worry about was what he wanted to eat. Joseph soon lost that position as he was accused by Potiphar's wife of attempted assault when Joseph would not give in to her advances. She spun a whale of a tale that landed Joseph in prison. Which is worse, a slave or prison? Probably prison. What had this young man done to be delt this hand in life? Nothing.
One thing I have been known to say often is that the only thing we are guaranteed in life, is death. Was what happened to Joseph fair? No, but what is fair? Life isn't. Yet we serve a mighty, mighty God who can take a mess and turn it into a message; turn a test in to a testament, a trial into a triumph, and a victim into a victor. We have a choice. We can hold onto our mess, whine through our test, let our trials defeat us, and continually play the victim. That is not what God wants for us. We cannot do it without Him, but He won't work without us either.
As a horse trainer my job is to prepare a horse for life with man. That means I put pressure on that horse and teach them how to respond to it. As they begin to understand a little pressure I begin applying more. Not stronger pressure, but more pressure. I begin "throwing" things at them that is going to shake their confidence, that is going to make them have to think about how to respond. I have always said my job is to push them to the edge, take them just a bit further, and then help them come back. I don't do this to torture them, but to make them better.
God does the same with us. He begins small, but He does not have small plans for us. Just as the horse has no idea what we have in store for them, we don't know with the Lord either. One thing we can know for certain is that we can trust Him. Joseph's story doesn't end in prison. He was stuck there for several years, he probably thought he had been forgotten by God, and by man. Nothing could have been further from the truth. Because the Lord was still with Joseph he was put in charge of the prison, again given a high rank where he had been placed.
After some time, Pharoh got upset with a couple of his servants and threw them into prison with Joseph. One day those servants were very upset, when Joseph showed concern for them, they shared their troubles. They had both had very vivid and strange dreams. They told Joseph their dreams and with the Lord's help he was able to interpret the dreams. One of the servants soon returned to Pharoh's service and Joseph asked that he tell Pharoh his situation. Well, the servant forgot about Joseph, until one day Pharoh had a dream.
Pharoh was very troubled by two dreams he had and no one could help him with them. Suddenly the servant remembered Joseph, told Pharoh about him, and Pharoh called Joseph into his court to help him. With the Lord's hand firmly on Joseph, he interpreted Pharoh's dreams, and told Pharoh what needed to be done in response to those dreams. In response to that Pharoh placed Joseph as second in command in all of Egypt to do what he suggested Pharoh do in regards to the dreams. Talk about rags to riches! Joseph went from being a prisoner to being the second most powerful man on the earth.
How does this happen? Two reasons, one the Lord had a plan from the beginning; and two, Joesph remained faithful to the Lord in every situation he found himself. He was being tested to be proved worthy. He was being prepared for a bigger responsibility than he could have ever imagined. I am quite certain Joseph never once dreamed of being in a place of power, but that was where the Lord wanted him. With that, Joseph was responsible for essentially saving the world from a famine, that is what the Pharoh's dreams were about, the Lord warning him of what was to come.
If you are experiencing a trial in your life that seems overwhelming hand it over to the Lord and be faithful to His gentle instruction. God puts us right where He wants us and wants us to work right where we are at (1 Corinthians 7:20). Sure, we have free will to make our own choices, but at the same time God is omnipotent and won't ever let us end up somewhere where He can't use us. Never use the excuse, "if I can just get out of here, I can serve God." That is a lie from the enemy. Serve Him faithfully in any and every circumstance.
Allow yourself to be like the horse in training. Accepting each and every trial given to you, knowing that the Lord is using them to perfect you (James 1:2-4, Romans 5:3-5). Be faithful to the Lord. Respond to His call and guidance. The trail may be rough, but He has gone before you, He is behind you, and He surrounds you at all times. He will never leave you nor forsake you, ever (Deuteronomy 31:6).
To watch or listen to the sermons from our church click on this link: https://youtube.com/c/NewLondonChristianChurch
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