We can find favor of God even when we've been forsaken.
Joseph's father, Jacob, had 12 sons from 4 women, but Joseph was his favorite son. Jacob gave Joseph a special coat of many colors. And Joseph’s brothers begin to hate him.
Joseph has two crazy dreams. Basically, he dreams that his whole family will bow down to him and that he will be elevated above them all. It's the kind of thing you probably should keep to yourself. But he tells everybody. Now, his brothers are really ticked at him.
Jacob sends the brothers out to handle the family business - to take care of their flocks. And then he sends Joseph to take food to them. He’s about 17 at the time. And as he approaches, they thought, “This is our chance to get rid of that dreamer.” They scheme to kill him. But one brother says, "Don't kill him." The others decide to sell him for a few dollars as a slave to some traders who are traveling to Egypt. They tell Jacob, their daddy, that Joseph was killed by wild animals.
So, Joseph is sold by his brothers to be a slave in Egypt. And what are we going to see? Anger? Bitterness? Resentment? A ticked-off teenager?
Genesis 39
1 Now Joseph had been brought down to Egypt, and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, had bought him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him down there. [And now you can see that the favor of God was on Joseph’s life.]
2 The LORD was with Joseph, and he became a successful man, and he was in the house of his Egyptian master.
3 His master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD caused all that he did to succeed in his hands.
4 So Joseph found favor in his sight and attended him, and he made him overseer of his house and put him in charge of all that he had.
5 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.
6 So he left all that he had in Joseph's charge, and because of him he had no concern about anything but the food he ate.
Genesis 39:1-6a (ESV)
You might want to circle the word "favor" in verse 4. In the Hebrew, it's "chen." It means “acceptance” or “good-will.” Joseph had the favor, the acceptance, the good-will of his boss.
Why did that happen? How did that happen?
Think with me: If you were in charge, would you promote the victim – a bitter, vindictive, angry, revenge-filled, always-talking-about-how-he'd-been-hurt guy? No.
So, there must have been something attractive, something winsome, something special about Joseph. Potiphar saw it. In spite of being forsaken by his brothers and sold by them as a slave, Joseph had a positive impact on the people around him. He wasn't bitter. He rose above it. And Potiphar promoted Joseph.
We don’t see any evidence of a root of bitterness taking hold. As the story unfolds, we see a consistent trust in God and a perseverance to be a man of integrity and endurance despite difficult circumstances.
How about you? How do you react when you've been forsaken?
Maybe this past Mother’s Day was hard for you. Maybe your birth mother gave you up. Maybe your spouse walked out on you and Mother’s Day has always been hard ever since. Maybe your mom hasn’t forsaken you physically, but she has emotionally. Or maybe you feel like your kids have forsaken you, even turned on you. Maybe you’re nursing a hurt that happened long ago. And because of that you’re bitter and resentful. And you have forfeited the favor of God on your life.
What if you would forgive? Could you regain the favor of God? God is placing His finger on that hurt and saying you need to let it go and give it to Me.
Joseph's father, Jacob, had 12 sons from 4 women, but Joseph was his favorite son. Jacob gave Joseph a special coat of many colors. And Joseph’s brothers begin to hate him.
Joseph has two crazy dreams. Basically, he dreams that his whole family will bow down to him and that he will be elevated above them all. It's the kind of thing you probably should keep to yourself. But he tells everybody. Now, his brothers are really ticked at him.
Jacob sends the brothers out to handle the family business - to take care of their flocks. And then he sends Joseph to take food to them. He’s about 17 at the time. And as he approaches, they thought, “This is our chance to get rid of that dreamer.” They scheme to kill him. But one brother says, "Don't kill him." The others decide to sell him for a few dollars as a slave to some traders who are traveling to Egypt. They tell Jacob, their daddy, that Joseph was killed by wild animals.
So, Joseph is sold by his brothers to be a slave in Egypt. And what are we going to see? Anger? Bitterness? Resentment? A ticked-off teenager?
Genesis 39
1 Now Joseph had been brought down to Egypt, and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, had bought him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him down there. [And now you can see that the favor of God was on Joseph’s life.]
2 The LORD was with Joseph, and he became a successful man, and he was in the house of his Egyptian master.
3 His master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD caused all that he did to succeed in his hands.
4 So Joseph found favor in his sight and attended him, and he made him overseer of his house and put him in charge of all that he had.
5 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.
6 So he left all that he had in Joseph's charge, and because of him he had no concern about anything but the food he ate.
Genesis 39:1-6a (ESV)
You might want to circle the word "favor" in verse 4. In the Hebrew, it's "chen." It means “acceptance” or “good-will.” Joseph had the favor, the acceptance, the good-will of his boss.
Why did that happen? How did that happen?
Think with me: If you were in charge, would you promote the victim – a bitter, vindictive, angry, revenge-filled, always-talking-about-how-he'd-been-hurt guy? No.
So, there must have been something attractive, something winsome, something special about Joseph. Potiphar saw it. In spite of being forsaken by his brothers and sold by them as a slave, Joseph had a positive impact on the people around him. He wasn't bitter. He rose above it. And Potiphar promoted Joseph.
We don’t see any evidence of a root of bitterness taking hold. As the story unfolds, we see a consistent trust in God and a perseverance to be a man of integrity and endurance despite difficult circumstances.
How about you? How do you react when you've been forsaken?
Maybe this past Mother’s Day was hard for you. Maybe your birth mother gave you up. Maybe your spouse walked out on you and Mother’s Day has always been hard ever since. Maybe your mom hasn’t forsaken you physically, but she has emotionally. Or maybe you feel like your kids have forsaken you, even turned on you. Maybe you’re nursing a hurt that happened long ago. And because of that you’re bitter and resentful. And you have forfeited the favor of God on your life.
What if you would forgive? Could you regain the favor of God? God is placing His finger on that hurt and saying you need to let it go and give it to Me.
No comments:
Post a Comment