When Things Go Awry // Don't Miss God's Opportunities, Part 2

The official statistics tell us that there are around 20 million slaves in the world today. Unofficially, the experts tell us it’s closer to 100 million. Staggering. But forget the statistics. Let’s just bring it down to one. Could you imagine, being sold into slavery? Can you imagine what that would be like?

Sold Into Slavery

Last week on the program we spent a bit of time travelling along the road with young Joseph, son of Jacob (or Israel as God called Him) way back in the book of Genesis in the Old Testament. And it’s been an exciting journey of a young man who had big dreams for his life. Huge dreams – not born of himself, but given to Him, apparently by God.

Have another listen, as he tells his father and brothers about the amazing dream God’s given him:

Once Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more. He said to them, “Listen to this dream that I dreamed. There we were, binding sheaves in the field. Suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright; then your sheaves gathered around it, and bowed down to my sheaf.” His brothers said to him, “Are you indeed to reign over us? Are you indeed to have dominion over us?” So they hated him even more because of his dreams and his words.

He had another dream, and told it to his brothers, saying, “Look, I have had another dream: the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” But when he told it to his father and to his brothers, his father rebuked him, and said to him, “What kind of dream is this that you have had? Shall we indeed come, I and your mother and your brothers, and bow to the ground before you?” So his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind. (Genesis 27:1–11)

When we give our lives to Jesus – and even sometimes before we do that – God puts dreams in our hearts, dreams that almost always seem to be crazy and impossible – that’s the point, right? If they were sane and possible, we wouldn’t need God to make them happen.

But whenever we have a powerful dream like that, something that some people refer to as their calling in life, adversity is always going to plunder that dream. It happened to Joseph that way, it’s happened to me that way and no doubt, it’s happened to you that way too. And when that dream is plundered by adversity, a bunch of people pull over by the side of the road and give up. A whole bunch of people who are passionate about Jesus, who love Him with all their heart even, have given up on their dreams, their calling, because the reality of adversity has screamed in their face, “Ya see, you were crazy! What were you thinking? Who do you think you are?” Am I right?

Well, we’ve seen so far in Joseph’s story, if you’ve been able to join me, that his brothers hated him so much, they conspired to kill him. They beat him up and threw him in a pit – that’s where young Joseph was when we left him last time. So let’s pick up on that story, because things go from bad to worse for this young dreamer.

So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, the long robe with sleeves that he wore; and they took him and threw him into a pit. The pit was empty; there was no water in it.

Then they sat down to eat; and looking up they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, with their camels carrying gum, balm, and resin, on their way to carry it down to Egypt. Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? Come, 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 agreed. When some Midianite traders passed by, they drew Joseph up, lifting him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt.

When Reuben returned to the pit and saw that Joseph was not in the pit, he tore his clothes. He returned to his brothers, and said, “The boy is gone; and I, where can I turn?” Then they took Joseph’s robe, slaughtered a goat, and dipped the robe in the blood. They had the long robe with sleeves taken to their father, and they said, “This we have found; see now whether it is your son’s robe or not.” He recognized it, and said, “It is my son’s robe! A wild animal has devoured him; Joseph is without doubt torn to pieces.” Then Jacob tore his garments, and put sackcloth on his loins, and mourned for his son many days. All his sons and all his daughters sought to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted, and said, “No, I shall go down to Sheol to my son, mourning.” Thus his father bewailed him. Meanwhile the Midianites had sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard. (Genesis 27:23–36)

I want you for a moment to put yourself in Joseph’s shoes. The story here is told much more from the perspective of his brothers and his father, but get into Joseph’s sandals for a minute and ask yourself, how does he feel in the pit? How does he feel when he’s hauled out, probably with his hands tied and sold BY HIS BROTHERS, by his own flesh and blood to a slave trader? How does he feel on the journey down to Egypt, walking chained to other slaves? How does he feel when he’s stood up in the marketplace, sold to an Egyptian official, this young Israelite, this young man who was his father’s favourite, this young man who’d lived in freedom and had had those dreams of greatness?

It’s difficult to imagine, isn’t it, that things could get any lower for young Joseph. Robbed of his freedom; robbed of his life; robbed of his future; robbed of his dreams. Have you ever been there? I have, and it’s a place I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. We’re not told what was going through his mind, but we can certainly imagine.

My point in sharing this story with you is this: none of what we’ve read about the devastating events in Joseph’s life, took God’s eyes off His goal; none of what’s happened to this point – terrible as it will have seemed to Joseph – has robbed him of his God–given dream. To the contrary, all these things – as we’re going to see soon – were necessary to make the dream happen. For without them, Joseph wouldn’t have ended up in Egypt, which is where all that had been in Joseph’s dreams would come to pass.

The opportunities that God hands us to live out the dreams that He places on our hearts, so often come disguised as adversity and tragedy. That’s what this story is telling me – this story is not just about Joseph, but about how God brings His plans and purposes for Joseph’s life to come to pass.

Now it’s easy for you and me to sit here and say, sure, that’s fine for Joseph. But that’s not how it’s going to happen in my life, because me, I’ve got a plan for my life and guess what? I’m going to make it happen differently. I’m not going to travel through that sort of devastation. I’m going to go from dream to fulfilment in a few weeks, on easy street without any pain or diversions. I’m going to ….

Oh, really. Let me say it again. It’s as true for you and me as it was for Joseph. The opportunities that God hands us to live out the dreams that He places on our hearts, so often come disguised as adversity and tragedy. Do you get it? Are you listening to God’s Word for you today? Are you letting it sink into your heart? Hmm?

I know that this is a bitter pill to swallow but just think about the powerful encouragement in this truth. Of the millions of people listening to this program around the world today, a bundle of you are travelling through adversity right now. Perhaps you’re travelling through adversity right now, and the dreams that you had in your heart, the things that you thought God was calling you to – seem over, dead and buried.

But I have good news for you today. God hasn’t given up on you. His dreams for you are alive and well. He’s taking you on a journey you may not have chosen for yourself, but his plans for your life will not – WILL NOT – be defeated. Your King reigns and nothing in this universe will stop Him from finishing what He started. Nothing! That’s good news, don’t you think?!

Punished for Doing the Right Thing

Well, yesterday on the program/before the break we saw that young Joseph, son of Jacob back in the book of Genesis way back there in the Old Testament, this young man with great dreams had been sold into slavery.

Dreams shattered, freedom gone, family done, in a foreign land, gone from being his father’s favourite to a common slave, owned by another man, that’s where Joseph was.

Now for most of us that would be enough to makes us give up. But Joseph … Joseph knew something intuitively, something that had, I don’t know, been put inside him by God – something that kept him going. And it’s that something, that you and I are going to discover for ourselves from God’s Word today.

Because we all have dreams that are shattered; we all have times in our lives when we need that special something from God, to keep us going; to help us nurture our dreams through the dark days. So are you ready to discover that special something? Let’s dive into God’s Word – it comes to us in two parts today. First part:

Now Joseph was taken down to Egypt, and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him down there. The Lord was with Joseph, and he became a successful man; he was in the house of his Egyptian master. His master saw that the Lord was with him, and that the Lord caused all that he did to prosper in his hands. So Joseph found favor in his sight and attended him; he made him overseer of his house and put him in charge of all that he had. From the time that he made him overseer in his house and over all that he had, the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; the blessing of the Lord was on all that he had, in house and field. So he left all that he had in Joseph’s charge; and, with him there, he had no concern for anything but the food that he ate. (Genesis 39:1–6)

So what do you get out of that? Here’s what I learn. Joseph continues to honour God, Joseph continues to do what’s right, Joseph continues to use his natural giftings to the full, even though his circumstances have taken a terrible turn for the worse; even though he’d much rather be at home with his father and mother.

And as a result – God was with Him, even this heathen Egyptian Potiphar could see that. Turns out the young Joseph was a pretty capable administrator – so, what happened as a result of Joseph doing what’s right, and using his gifts, despite what was happening to him? Joseph found favour in Potiphar’s site and Potiphar put him in charge of all that he had. He became the overseer of Potiphar’s house. That’s not bad. That’s pretty good. But just as he was getting to the top of the roller coaster ride, you guessed it, there was a rapid downhill run? Let’s listen to the second part of what happened to Joseph here in Potiphar’s house:

Now Joseph was handsome and good-looking. And after a time his master’s wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, “Lie with me.” But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Look, with me here, my master has no concern about anything in the house, and he has put everything that he has in my hand. He is not greater in this house than I am, nor has he kept back anything from me except yourself, because you are his wife. How then could I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” And although she spoke to Joseph day after day, he would not consent to lie beside her or to be with her. One day, however, when he went into the house to do his work, and while no one else was in the house, she caught hold of his garment, saying, “Lie with me!” But he left his garment in her hand, and fled and ran outside. When she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled outside, she called out to the members of her household and said to them, “See, my husband has brought among us a Hebrew to insult us! He came in to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice; and when he heard me raise my voice and cry out, he left his garment beside me, and fled outside.” Then she kept his garment by her until his master came home, and she told him the same story, saying, “The Hebrew servant, whom you have brought among us, came in to me to insult me; but as soon as I raised my voice and cried out, he left his garment beside me, and fled outside.”

When his master heard the words that his wife spoke to him, saying, “This is the way your servant treated me,” he became enraged. And Joseph’s master took him and put him into the prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined; he remained there in prison. But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love; he gave him favor in the sight of the chief jailer. The chief jailer committed to Joseph’s care all the prisoners who were in the prison, and whatever was done there, he was the one who did it. The chief jailer paid no heed to anything that was in Joseph’s care, because the Lord was with him; and whatever he did, the Lord made it prosper.

When Potiphar’s wife accused Joseph of doing the wrong thing, when all along, all he’d done was the right thing, man I have to tell you, that would be enough to have just about any of us throwing up our hands, looking God in the eye and saying to Him, “You have to be kidding right God? Are you just out to get me here? Do you really love me? What the blazes are you doing?

And yet again, a second time – just in case you or I missed it, just in case you or I think, Great for you Joseph, but when bad things happen to me, I’m just going to react badly, just in case we’re thinking this message isn’t for us, Joseph does it again.

Things go from bad to worse, what happens to him simply isn’t fair – and even though this trip to prison was absolutely a necessary step to his dream being fulfilled, he had no way of knowing that, did he? All he saw was the injustice and the pain, thrown into prison. But young Joseph does the same thing again. He honours God. He gets on and makes the best of his terrible lot and so the Lord honours that, the Lord is with Joseph. The jailer puts him in charge and even here in this prison, where he could have been rotting in self pity where told: because the Lord was with him, in whatever he did, the Lord made it prosper. Are you getting this?

We can be pretty dense about this you and I. Bad things happen to us. Unfair things happen to us. And our natural reaction is either to come out punching and destroy the people who did this to us, or to withdraw into our shell, and become all bitter and twisted about what’s going on. Am I right? Oh and just to put the icing on the cake, we blame God, and we conveniently choose to forget that He loves us so much that He sent His one and only Son to die for us so that we could be forgiven and have eternal life.

When bad things happen to us, we want to respond by doing bad things. But look at what happened to Joseph – twice in one Chapter God puts it there, first in Potiphar’s house, second in the Kings prison – just because God knows how hard it is to get through to us on this.

Joseph honours God, he behaves well, and instead of using adversity as an excuse – wait for this, because this is the crux, this is the punch line, this is the bit that God really wants us to get today – Joseph uses his natural gifts and in doing so discovers God–prepared, God–given opportunities right there in the adversity.

That’s the power of what God’s saying to you and me today through his Word. God’s opportunities abound just as much in adversity as they do in the good times. Even if the whole world seems to be against us God is for us. That’s why the Apostle Paul a few thousand years later, wrote if God is for us, who can be against us?

My friend, if you have a God–given dream in your life, you can be certain that adversity will come against you. Absolutely certain. That place of adversity is your opportunity to honour God. In fact the very best time to honour God, is when no one else is. That’s what Jesus did. That’s what got Him crucified. Opportunities abound, no matter how dark the day may seem.

God’s Amazing Stepping Stones

When we, like young Joseph here, are travelling through difficult times, one of the things that we do – we all do this – is we lose sight of the big picture.

You and I can read through the whole of Joseph’s story – the book of Genesis Chapters 37 to 46 in about half an hour. So we read the story, we say, fine – I get that and we move on.

But that story unfolded in Joseph’s life over many years. He spent two years in prison. HE spent a good many years toiling away serving Pharaoh before the happy ending of being reunited with his father and brothers.

Years of things happening to him that weren’t fair. Years where what God was up to, not being obvious to him. Could he ever imagined that he would become the ruler of Egypt, second only to Pharaoh himself, when he was in the pit that his brothers threw him into, or on his way to Egypt as part of a slave train, or when he was being sold to Potiphar, or when we was rotting in the King’s prison for at least two years?

He had no idea did he? Not a clue what God was up to. Not a clue that God was still making his dream happen? And if God was still on the case (that must have seemed pretty doubtful there on at least a hundred thousand occasions) how God could possibly make it all happen and bring it all to fruition.

But when you stand back, as we can, and see the big picture, the whole picture – a picture that only God could see, a picture that at the time simply wasn’t available to Joseph, stuck as he was down in the weeds – we can see not only that God did make it possible. But that each step along the way, the brother’s reaction, the becoming a slave thing, working in Potiphar’s house, going to jail after being falsely accused, rotting there, and all the other stuff – each part of that story was a necessary stepping stone to get Joseph to where God wanted him to be – the ruler of Egypt.

Miss out on any of those steps, and Joseph would never have made it to the end and God’s plan and Joseph’s dream would never have been realised. Right?

That’s obvious. That’s easy to see when you can see the big picture. But we like Joseph, most of the time, can’t see the big picture. All we can see are the walls of the pit, the betrayal, the pain along the way, in injustice of being unfairly treated. And if we focus on those, we’re bound to get lost along the way.

If all we do is focus on the bad bits, we miss the opportunities that God is handing us along the way. That’s what made Joseph different and that’s the thing that we learn from this story.

Firstly, that those bad bits were in fact God’s amazing stepping stones to get Joseph from where he was, to where God wanted him to be – physically, emotionally and spiritually. And secondly, that at each of those stepping stones, we can look for, find and lay hold of God–given opportunities despite the mess that things are in, simply by honouring God and exercising our natural gifts and abilities.

That’s a huge lesson. That’s a lesson that you and I will be learning for the rest of our lives, if we’ll let God teach us. But grumbling, complaining, giving up along the way is not how we’re going to learn the lessons. Grumbling, complaining and giving up closes our hearts and when our hearts are closed, they’re unteachable.

That’s how we miss God’s opportunities. That’s how we miss out on God’s plan for our lives, one opportunity at a time. And that my friend is a huge tragedy that is playing itself out in the lives of many a Christ–follower. It’s a tragedy of massive global proportions. And it’s a tragedy, I pray, that will not play itself out in your life.

That’s why we’re opening God’s Word. To discover that his opportunities abound all day, every day. All we have to do is open our eyes to them, and accept them just as they are.