Plans and Prophecies

Text focus: Genesis 39:19-23 & 40:2-8

For the last several weeks we've been walking alongside some wonderfully messy people.

We met Abraham and Sarah who taught us that God's promises come even when they seem impossible.

We sat with Isaac as his plans collapsed and he discovered that God's promises are not dependent upon perfect people.

We followed Jacob into the wilderness where God pursued him before Jacob ever thought to seek God and then joined him again as he wrestled with God, which changed him both physically and spiritually, leaving him with a limp, a new name, and a blessing.

Then last week we met Joseph, a young dreamer whose honesty, uniqueness, father’s favoritism, and God-given dreams made him the target of his brothers' jealousy.

We left Joseph last week in one of the darkest moments in Genesis.

Joseph was stripped of his robe.

Thrown into a pit.

Sold into slavery and taken far from his home.

And his father had been convinced he was dead.

If we stopped reading there, it would appear the dream had died, but today we discover something beautiful.

God had not forgotten Joseph; instead, the Lord was with Joseph through each of his struggles and trials, and brought about good.

Have you ever noticed how quickly we celebrate the end of someone's story?

We admire the graduate without seeing the late nights of studying.

We celebrate the ribbons and belt buckles without looking at the hours of work and attention.

We cheer the championship without remembering the years of practice.

We applaud the successful business without knowing how many failures came first.

We are a culture that loves the overnight success stories.

But very few lives actually work that way.

For most of our lives, we are somewhere in the middle between the dream and its realization.

We spend so much of our lives in the years no one applauds.

Those ordinary days.

The waiting.

The wondering.

The seasons where we quietly ask, "God, are you still here?"

Joseph lived in that middle for years; it was over 20 years from the day that his brothers threw him in the pit to the day that they arrive to see him in Egypt. If you join us next week, we will talk about that meeting, but today, we are going to spend time in that middle space, the space between the pit and the palace.

Genesis tells us something that I hope you’re starting to see as a pattern in our stories, not just once, but twice. We are told, "The LORD was with Joseph” in the hard times.

This first happens in Genesis 39:2. Joseph is a slave,

someone not considered successful by worldly standards.

Definitely not living the dream where people are bowing down to him.

He's someone else's property.

Yet Scripture tells us, "The LORD was with Joseph."

And that as a result of God being with Joseph, good things came from this hard time.

Then Joseph refuses Potiphar's wife.

He chooses integrity over convenience.

And what happens?

He is falsely accused and thrown into prison.

Again in Genesis 39:21 Scripture repeats, "the LORD was with Joseph."

Notice what Scripture does not say. It does not say, "The Lord prevented Joseph from experiencing hardship, injustice, or suffering."

Notice the scripture does not excuse the injustice and suffering that Joseph experienced at the hands of others.

Scripture says, The Lord was with him.

That changes the perspective, we learn that as the Lord was with Joseph he found success, but that does not mean that he did not suffer. It does not mean that he was not still a slave and later a prisoner.

Sometimes we measure God's presence by our circumstances.

We think that if life is going well, God must be blessing me.

And if life is difficult, we start to wonder if God has left me.

Joseph, and his story in this scripture reminds us otherwise.

God's presence is not determined by our circumstances.

God is present in the palace AND in the prison.

God is present in the success AND in the suffering.

And that realization gives us so much hope.

I had such a wonderful time at the fair this week. Not only in seeing our kids' success, but one of my favorite parts was reading the “what I learned” parts on the exhibits in the exhibit hall. Nearly always it was because something did not initially go as planned. Those little lines on the exhibit cards, give you a peek into the way that those quiet unseen times, not the ribbon, helped the exhibitor to grow.

One of the beautiful changes in Joseph's story is how much Joseph himself has changed. Remember seventeen-year-old Joseph from last week?

He tells everyone about his dreams.

The focus is naturally on himself.

When we meet him years later, after he has been a slave and a prisoner, Joseph has changed.

Joseph meets two prisoners: the cupbearer and the baker.

They are troubled because they have been having these dreams they do not understand.

Joseph could have said, “I can interpret those dreams; I've become quite good at this."

But instead, hear what he says in Genesis 40:8

They said to him, “We have had dreams, and there is no one to interpret them. ”And Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Please tell them to me.”

Did you hear the difference?

Joseph has learned something: the gift was never his.

It always belonged to God.

We see that this humility has really become part of him, in Genesis 41:

Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream, and no one can interpret it. But I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.” “I cannot do it,” Joseph replied to Pharaoh, “but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires.”

Notice that Joseph still had a choice.

He could have become bitter after years of injustice and struggle.

He could have taken credit for his gift.

He could have decided that integrity was no longer worth the cost.

Instead, again and again, Joseph chose faithfulness.

God's grace was shaping him,

AND Joseph was learning to respond to that grace one faithful decision at a time.

The greatest miracle isn't that Joseph interprets dreams.

The greatest miracle is that Joseph no longer needs the credit.

Humility has grown where pride once lived.

Faith has deepened where youthful arrogance once stood.

From the pit, to slavery, from prison to the palace.

And in all the waiting that happened in between

God was with Joseph,

The hidden years were not wasted.

God was working through those experiences to shape Joseph's heart, building Joseph’s character and preparing him for leadership.

The same is true for the church.

Sometimes God prepares congregations the same way God prepares people.

There are seasons that feel quiet,

ordinary,

or even discouraging,

but God is still at work.

Just because a church is in a season of waiting does not mean God has stopped working.

Imagine Joseph sitting in prison.

Day after day.

Year after year.

And after interpreting the cupbearer's dream he asks one simple favor. "Remember me."

The cupbearer forgets.

Two more years pass.

Two long and lonely years of sitting in prison.

Can you imagine?

Joseph probably wondered if anyone even remembered his name.

Genesis tells us the Lord was with Joseph,

but notice Joseph did not have his ending yet.

He did not know how the story would unfold.

He had to trust God’s presence before he could see God’s purpose.

It was in that trusting, and in that waiting that one night after Pharaoh has a dream.

The cupbearer suddenly remembered Joseph.

Joseph is called to the palace and everything changes.

From prison...to the palace.

So often when we read the story as children it seems like Joseph became second in command overnight.

But it wasn't overnight.

It took thirteen years.

Thirteen years of slavery and imprisonment,

Thirteen years of waiting, and being quietly prepared.

Thirteen years of God working on him every single day.

How often do we pray, "God, hurry."

While God is praying, "Child, I'm preparing you."

Sometimes what feels like God's delays, are actually God preparing us.

Sometimes what feels like God’s absence, is actually where God is most present.

Joseph’s story has a beautiful lesson for us today.

If you're walking through a difficult season, remember this phrase.

The Lord was with Joseph.

Now make it personal

The Lord is with me.

Let’s say that one more time together

The Lord is with me.

Not because life is easy.

Not because everything is going according to my plan.

But because God has promised never to leave us.

Now ask yourself, "What is God growing in me right now?"

Maybe this season isn't only about changing your circumstances.

Maybe it's about changing your heart.

Maybe God is not just working on getting you out of the pit,

Maybe God is growing patience.

Compassion.

Humility.

Perseverance.

Faith.

We must push back against culture’s call to measure our faithfulness by the concept of visible successes, fortune, and fame.

God is not a slot machine that if you put enough faith into you will hit the jackpot on.

If we measure God’s faithfulness only by visible success, we ourselves are not faithful.

Faithfulness is about trusting God even when we can’t see it.

Some of God's greatest work happens underground.

Roots grow before fruit appears.

Character grows before influence.

Faith grows before fulfillment.

This week I want to invite you to practice a spiritual discipline.

If this is something you are not used to doing it may seem difficult at first, but it becomes easier as you practice it.

At the end of each day, ask yourself one question, "Where was God with me today?"

The idea is not to name where everything went well,

or if you accomplished your goals for the day.

Instead, the goal is to notice God’s presence in your life.

Maybe it was in a friend's encouragement.

A quiet prayer.

An unexpected strength.

A beautiful sunset.

An unexpected interruption.

A difficult conversation you somehow made it through.

And sometimes the answer may simply be, ‘I don’t know yet.’

Faith does not always mean seeing clearly;

sometimes it means trusting that God is present even when we cannot recognize it.

But don’t stop looking.

Begin to seek out God's presence instead of only looking for God's answers.

Because often, God's presence, the is the answer.

And then take it one step farther,

share what you have discovered.

Maybe over coffee with a friend.

Maybe on a phone call with a family member.

Maybe at the gym, or pickleball, or golfing.

Sharing with others how God is showing up in your life,

can be the encouragement or reminder they need to start looking for God too!

Joseph entered Egypt in chains, and at the end of his story, he will leave Pharaoh's palace wearing fine linen. But those weren't the most important moments in his life.

The most important moments were the moments of transformation.

The young man who once centered the conversation on his own dreams had become a man who consistently pointed people toward God.

The prisoner had become a leader.

The dreamer had become a faithful witness.

And through every chapter of the story,

Whether in Potiphar's house, in prison or standing before Pharaoh...

One truth never changed. The Lord was with Joseph.

And the same is true for us.

Whether we are celebrating or grieving...

Waiting or working...

Confident or uncertain...

God has not abandoned us.

God is with us.

That is our hope and the good news we are called as Christians to share with the world.

Thanks be to God. Amen.