When Your Family is Suffering | Genesis 37-50

Have you ever wondered how the struggles you face might serve a grander purpose? Our journey through Genesis concludes with an intimate look at Joseph's life, revealing that the trials we weather can carve paths to unforeseen blessings. As I reflect on the grueling days of football camp and how those challenges mirrored the trials of Joseph, we together uncover the profound impact of enduring hardships. This episode promises to arm you with four essential truths that will bolster your spirit and perspective when life's storms rage.

Joseph's narrative teaches us that suffering is not merely an inconvenient detour but a road meticulously planned by a sovereign God. Through his story of betrayal and ascent to power, we uncover the constant love God holds for His children, unaffected by our actions. The chapter on God's purpose in our suffering is a heartfelt reminder that His presence is most potent when we feel broken, shaping our struggles into success. As we navigate the complexities of our own trials, the episode serves as a reminder that they might just be the very platform God uses to work most profoundly in and through us.

Drawing this series to a close, we reflect on the transformative power of suffering. Joseph's rise from the depths of despair not only ensured the survival of his family but also preserved a lineage that would eventually lead to Jesus. As Genesis 50:20 crystallizes the remarkable way God can turn harm into good, you're invited to consider how your own tribulations could enrich not just your life but those around you. This conversation is more than an exploration; it's an invitation to trust in the victory that faith in Jesus offers, affirming the hope and strength found in surrendering to God's greater plan.

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Open up your Bibles to Genesis, chapter 37. Genesis, chapter 37. Can you believe? This is our last message in the book of Genesis. This is our last message in our Family Matters series, as we've been going through the book of Genesis for the last three months and we'll be looking at this morning the life of Joseph. Everyone say Joseph, the life of Joseph. If there was one word to sum up the life of Joseph, it would be this word suffering, suffering. We see from the life of Joseph. We see a life of suffering. Have you ever had to go through a season of suffering to get to a season of blessing? You ever had to go through something that was really hard to get to something that was really good.

Speaker 1: 0:46

For me, one of those things was just playing high school football. High school football I actually didn't play a lot of high school football. I played in eighth grade. I saw my friend right in front of me break his arm in half and I said I quit, that's it for me. And then I had some friends of mine who convinced me, along with the coaches. They're like hey, chip you. Friends of mine who convinced me, along with the coaches. They're like hey, chip you. You know, you've grown up, you've gotten bigger, you've gotten taller, it's your senior year. Maybe you should come out and play football for us this year. And they said you're going to be the perfect tight end. They said could you imagine, as our tight end, how many passes that you're going to catch for a touchdown? Could you imagine? And back then at our school, we played both ways, both sides of the ball, and so could you imagine defensive end how many times, chip, that you could sack the quarterback? And so I took him up on him. All right, let's go, because I typically just play basketball and baseball, let's go. Let's play football this year.

Speaker 1: 1:34

And I remember thinking about all the glory right that high school football would bring, and I did not account for all the suffering that football camp would be, did not account for all the suffering that football camp would be, and the hot July days, 100 degree temperatures or 100% humidity in the state of Alabama, and the crazy coaches would practice us twice a day. What is wrong with them? We'd have two-a-day practices, we'd do these football camps, we would go and we would just hit each other for hours. What are we doing here? Run all these sprints, run all these plays. Man, I've never thrown up so much in my life, right, and it was so hard, it was ridiculous I almost quit until that first Friday night football game. And that first Friday night football game, when we put on those pads and we put on that uniform, that clean uniform, and we ran out of the locker room and the stands were packed and everybody was cheering and everybody was applauding and the Friday night lights were shining down and the bands were playing and you get to go out and you just get to hit the silly out of somebody. I mean it was just awesome, man, we just loved it, right.

Speaker 1: 2:41

And I can remember that season just thinking, oh man, all that football camp, all that summer practice, this is worth it. And I didn't even get to catch a touchdown pass all season. They lied to me. They lied to me I was their tight end, but they used me as a blocking tight end and I was no edge rusher. I was slow, right, but I still played defensive end, and so I didn't have a great football career by any means. I thought I was going to be the Brock Bowers, the next one, but I don't think he was born yet.

Speaker 1: 3:09

But it was just such a great time, and I remember how important it was to go through the suffering in order to get to the blessing, to go through the suffering in order to get to the blessing, and that's exactly what we see from Joseph's life. Now think about this. You go through seasons of suffering, some people more than others. Seasons of suffering can be very difficult seasons in life. Seasons of suffering can leave us with major life questions to God. God, why am I going through this? God? Where is my blessing? God, why does it look like that? Other people's lives are easier than my life? God, what have I done to bring on this suffering into my life?

Speaker 1: 3:52

Some of you may be going through some difficult suffering in your life. Maybe it is physical suffering, with sickness or diagnosis. Maybe it's relational suffering, with division or divorce or a death in your family. Maybe it's financial suffering, with maybe a job loss or you have incurred a great amount of debt. Maybe it's emotional suffering, with depression or a struggle with anxiety. In all of this can affect us spiritually, with doubt, in a faith struggle.

Speaker 1: 4:24

But here's what I want you to know this morning I didn't come here to depress you. I came here to encourage you and I came here to help you to see from God's word that God has a purpose in your suffering. God has a purpose in all of suffering. In fact, when we look in God's Word as we're going through seasons and suffering, that God loves to give you truth, he loves to give you hope, he loves to give you answers. In fact, you may have heard me say it before, but the more you go through suffering in your life, though, actually the more that you connect with God's word, because God's word is filled with people who are going through very difficult times of suffering that God sees them through. In fact, I think one of the greatest lives of suffering in all of the Bible is the life of Joseph. I think that Joseph's life probably most closely parallels the life of Jesus than any other life in all of the Bible.

Speaker 1: 5:34

So I want you to see this morning four truths that you must believe when your family is suffering, four truths that you must believe when your family is suffering. Four truths that you must believe when your family is suffering. Number one God is sovereign in your suffering. Everyone say sovereign. Everyone say sovereign. God is sovereign in your suffering. Do you know what that means? That means that God is in control. That means that God is always a purposeful God. That means that God has a reason, that God is taking you through a season of suffering for a very specific purpose, because there's something that he wants to work out in your life, in the lives of others, according to his will and for his glory.

Speaker 1: 6:19

Let's look at Genesis, chapter 37, verse 2, which starts out just simply saying this that these are the generations of Jacob. Now we got to take a time out right there. These are the generations of Jacob, because we've got to remember where we've been through, where we've come from in the book of Genesis. In the book of Genesis, chapter 1, we know that God made everything out of nothing. God made the entire world. There's nothing that exists that was not made by the very voice of God and let there be. And we know that God created all humanity in his image, male and female, as mirrors, so that we would reflect him in our humanity. That God made us to be like him.

Speaker 1: 7:00

Chapter 1, verse 28,. This is a prayer that I've been praying for you, for your family, for our church family, for these past three months that God would bless us, that God would make us fruitful, that God would multiply us so that we may fill the earth and live on mission for him. We know that God blessed all of humanity, but we know that humanity fell into sin in the garden with the temptation of the serpent. We know that we fell into the darkness of sin. We fell into the temptation, the deception of sin. We know that humanity went through the flood, the judgment of God. Humanity went through the Tower of Babel, where they gathered together rather than scattering.

Speaker 1: 7:42

We know that nobody was living for God, so much so that he had to call one man out of an area called Mesopotamia, which was the Ur of the Chaldeans, which was known for idol worship and godless living. And God called one man, abraham, and he said Abraham, I want you to follow me, abraham, I want you to go where I tell you to go, I want you to do what I tell you to do and I want you to trust me and Abraham, I'm going to make you into a father of a multitude of nations. I'm going to make you into a father of a great nation. There was only one problem Abraham and his wife were well past childbearing years, but God said I'm going to do a miracle. God told him at the age of 90 that you're going to have a son, and Abraham and Sarah are wondering how is God going to do this? And they did not have a son until Abraham was 100 and she was 90. And then we know, we know that son Isaac had two more children and he had two sons with his wife, jacob and Esau.

Speaker 1: 8:46

And in this passage we see now that God has miraculously kept his promises. And that's so important that you read God's word every day so that you know the promises of God. And here's why that's so important, because when you know the promises of God, then you know that God keeps his promises. Then you know that, no matter what you're going through, no matter how dark it looks, that God is working all things out in your life for your good and for his glory. Can I get an amen? He is sovereign over your suffering.

Speaker 1: 9:25

It says next the next statement, joseph being 17 years old, which means that Joseph's life of suffering happened at least at 17, and probably even much younger than that from what it looks like, which means often in our life, our suffering begins in our childhood. What did you go through in your childhood? What type of suffering did you experience? Did you experience trauma. You know, I would encourage you. If you had a very difficult childhood where you experienced suffering and trauma, I would encourage you to take that to prayer as much as you can and you ask God to just pour his grace and pour his love and pour his power over it so that it does not hold you back in your adulthood, because often unchecked trauma in our childhood greatly affects our adulthood. If need be as you're giving it to God if you need to go and see a biblical Christian counselor, we can help you out with that. Why? Because we want you to experience a breakthrough in your life. We want you to experience spiritual health in your life.

Speaker 1: 10:39

It is not uncommon that children, that teenagers, go through suffering, and we know this happened to Joseph, at least at 17 and even younger. It says that he was pastoring the flock with his brothers and he was a boy with the sons of Bila and Zilpah, his father's wives, and Joseph brought a bad report of them to their father. So Joseph's about to go through some suffering, but to be honest, it's not spiritual suffering, it's personal suffering because he brought it on himself. Why? Because Joseph is a tattletale and nobody likes a tattletale and he went and told his daddy on all of his brothers, on all of his siblings.

Speaker 1: 11:18

You know, there's suffering that we go through that we just do it to ourselves. Y'all we do it to ourselves. There's physical suffering that we go through that we just do it to ourselves. Y'all we do it to ourselves. There's physical suffering that we go through because we don't take care of our bodies. There's financial suffering that we go through because of our spending habits. There's spiritual suffering that we go through because we don't live our life for God. There's some suffering that we go through that it's our fault, but that's not the suffering I want to talk about this morning. I want to talk about the suffering that you go through, that you did not deserve, that you did not bring on yourself. 1 Peter 2.20 says for what credit is it, when you sin and you get beaten for it or you get persecuted for it, that you endure? What big deal is that you did it to yourself, that you endure? What big deal is that you did it to yourself? But if, when you do good and you suffer for doing good, then you endure your suffering, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. That's the kind of suffering I want to talk about when you are faithful to God and you still go through suffering.

Speaker 1: 12:22

Verse 3, now Israel loved Joseph. That's Jacob loved Joseph more than any other of his sons. I would not recommend that in parenting Don't pick a favorite kid. Don't favor one kid over the other, as God favors all of his children, all of us. We're all his favorites. Tell each and every one of your kids you're all my favorite. Treat them all the same, out of love and grace. Your love should never be earned. Your love should always be unconditional, like God's love for you. You should always extend great grace towards them, as God does for all of us. But yet Jacob was a sinner and he loved Joseph more than his other sons because he was the son of his old age and he made Joseph a robe of many colors. But when his brothers saw that their father loved Joseph more than all of his brothers, they hated Joseph and could not even speak peacefully to him. We see that Jacob loved Joseph deeply.

Speaker 1: 13:24

Let me just stop and remind you how much God loves you and sometimes, when you are going through suffering, satan will start to tempt you and deceive you and cause doubt in your mind. God, are you even there, god? Are you with me? God? Do you love me? God? Did I upset you, you, god? Did I do something so, so horribly wrong that, god, I am going through this suffering?

Speaker 1: 13:50

And when we read stories like this, we are reminded of the supreme, unconditional love of God for his children, that, because he is God, he could not possibly love you any more than he already does and he would never love you any less. That his love for you is not earned by your behavior or by your obedience. His love for you is just because you're his child and just because he just loves you, man, he just loves you. And in the same way, we know that God, the Father, supremely loved his son Jesus. And yet we know that Jesus lived a life of suffering and he died a death of suffering. In fact, jesus told us in Matthew 10, 22,. He said you will be hated by all for my name's sake, but the one who endures to the end will be saved. In other words, if you love God and Satan hates God, then Satan's going to hate you. It's not personal, it's not personal to you, he just hates God. And because he hates God, then he's going to hate you because of your love for God. Jesus warned us of that. In fact, I've heard it said before if you don't go through suffering, you might want to check your salvation, because here's the deal. I've heard another preacher say it if you don't run into the devil, it may be because you're running the same direction as he is. See, the devil loves to bring suffering in our life, like the life of Job, in order to take our eyes off of Jesus.

Speaker 1: 15:24

We know that Joseph's brothers did some crazy things to him. We know that they took him. They kidnapped their own brother. They took him out in the wilderness. They dug a pit, they threw him in. They left him to die. They changed their minds.

Speaker 1: 15:43

The Ishmaelites come walking by a caravan. They said let's sell them to the Ishmaelites. Who are the Ishmaelites? Remember? Ishmael was the son of Hagar who slept with Abraham when Sarah wasn't having any children. It was all Sarah's doings, which means the Ishmaelites. Here comes their family members. They're all one big family. It's like the South back then. We're all related in some way. Family matters Can I get an amen? And so here come the Israelites. They sell him, their own brothers. They hate him, they kidnap him, they throw him in a pit, they leave him to die, they sell him off.

Speaker 1: 16:14

You think your childhood was bad? My goodness, the way that they mistreated him. But here's what we see that God was orchestrating every single point in the life of Joseph so that God could work out his will. In other words, hear me say this and you can write this down God is too perfect not to have a purpose. I don't know what you're going through, but I want to encourage you. Nobody else really even knows what you're going through either. They don't know how bad it hurts. They don't know your struggle deep down. They could never understand the pain. They could never understand the exhaustion. They could never understand the doubt that is happening in your life. But the Bible says that Jesus is a high priest who sympathizes with our weaknesses. Can I get an amen? God is too perfect to not have a purpose, even in your suffering. So, number one God is sovereign in your suffering. Number two God is blessing in your suffering. Everybody say blessing. Everybody say blessing. God is blessing. Good job back there. God is blessing in your suffering. Kids, you're invited every Sunday. Here we go. God is blessing in your suffering. You may be asking the question God, why am I suffering? Where is my blessing? Look at chapter 39, verse 1. So they sell him.

Speaker 1: 17:46

It says now Joseph had been brought down to Egypt and Potiphar, who was Potiphar? He was an officer of the Pharaoh. The Pharaoh was over all of Egypt. Potiphar was the captain of the Pharaoh's guard. He was an Egyptian. And they had Joseph brought down from the Ishmaelites. Who brought him down from there. In other words, potiphar bought Joseph.

Speaker 1: 18:08

Joseph is a slave. He is in the slave trade. It just so happens. In other words, it just so happens that Joseph was bought by the Ishmaelites who would be traveling through Egypt and Egypt who, potiphar, was looking for a slave to come and to be over his house, and it just so happens that Joseph was that slave. In other words, do you realize that there is no coincidence in the kingdom of God that even in our suffering, god is orchestrating every single point of our life and God has a blessing in store for our suffering?

Speaker 1: 18:44

In verse 2, it says the Lord was with Joseph. I would encourage you that if you're going through suffering, don't let the devil deceive you. If you're going through suffering, suffering is not the absence of God, it's actually the presence of God. Suffering, suffering is not the absence of God, it's actually the presence of God. The Lord was with Joseph and he became a successful man, even as a slave. 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 succeed in his hands. So Joseph found favor in the sight and attended him and he made him overseer of his In other words, joseph. I love this about Joseph.

Speaker 1: 19:28

Joseph never took his eyes off of the will of God. You know, joseph could have been so downcast, so depressed man. I'm separated from my dad. My own family hates me. My brother sold me into slavery. Here I am in Egypt and he just can't accept anything good that God wants to do in his life and for God to do through his life.

Speaker 1: 19:51

But Joseph gets to see the blessing of God in suffering. Here's what we see. God can do more in your suffering than he can in your comfort. God can use you in your suffering more than he can in your comfort. One of the worst places to be in life is to be comfortable. Can I get an amen? We don't need to be comfortable in the kingdom of God. We need to make sure that we are always striving in the way that we are living for Jesus and notice how God is making him successful. Not successful in the world's eyes, not successful in the American dream, but a greater success, a better success, the success in the very will of God who's orchestrating all things for his glory and the coming of his kingdom.

Speaker 1: 20:49

Joshua 1, 7, and 8,. Here's what Joshua 1, 7, and 8 says about success. It says that you need to be strong in your suffering, you need to be courageous, you need to be careful to do according to all the law or all the Bible that Moses, my servant, has commanded. You Do not turn from the word of God to the right or to the left. Why? So that you may have good success wherever you go. Wherever Joseph went, he had good success. Why? Because he was faithful to the will of God, even in his suffering.

Speaker 1: 21:19

Verse 8. The book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate. So it says. We need to have the word of God on our mouth. We need to be speaking the word of God. The word of God needs to be on our minds. We need to be meditating the word of God day and night, so that you may be careful to do the word of God. So the word of God is in our actions, in our living, to all that is written in it, for then you will make your way prosperous and you will have a good success.

Speaker 1: 21:51

In other words, joseph's suffering didn't make him bitter, it made him better. Joseph's suffering wasn't designed by God to make him bitter. Joseph's suffering, designed by the devil, was to make him bitter. But Joseph's suffering, designed by God, was to make him better. We know that Satan couldn't get to him. He was faithfully obedient to God, and so Satan had to turn up the heat. What did he do? Satan tempted Potiphar's wife to be attracted to him so that she would seduce him, so that she would try to lure him into being with her. You know, if Satan can't get you in your suffering, then he'll try to get you in your sin.

Speaker 1: 22:46

I love how Paul told Timothy. Paul said. He said I need you to flee all youthful lust. Men, I want to encourage you to flee youthful lust. You think she's hot. So is hell, ladies. Is he flirting with you? You're probably not the only one. Proverbs 6.32 says the one who commits adultery lacks sense. Joseph fled from the situation and she blames it on Joseph because she couldn't have him. She wants him thrown into prison. So we know that she goes to her husband, potiphar, and she says he tried to sleep with me. You need to throw him in prison. And so Potiphar throws him in prison.

Speaker 1: 23:35

I remember one night reading that story to Brooklyn in her children's Bible. First of all, what is that story doing in a children's Bible, my goodness? Second of all, she said dad, but she lied about Joseph. I said that's right, baby. She said well, maybe she should get thrown into prison. I said maybe you're right. Maybe you're right.

Speaker 1: 23:53

See, sometimes, hear me, when you faithfully obey God in your suffering and even in your temptation, you think things will automatically get better because of your obedience. But sometimes they get worse. Sometimes, even in our obedience, in our faithfulness, they get worse. Joseph now not only is he divided from his dad, not only is he sold into slavery by his brothers, not only is he a slave that is up for auction, but now he is falsely accused and he is thrown into prison. And I love that verse in Romans 8.31,. If God be for us, who can be against us? I just want to remind you this morning that suffering often comes before blessing.

Speaker 1: 24:39

Suffering is often a setup for blessing. Are you going through suffering? God often takes the Christian through suffering in order to bring them to blessing. It's a gospel pattern. Jesus suffered on the cross so that he could be blessed in resurrection. We suffer in life so that we can be blessed by God. It's happened to Michelle and I. Just a few things that I've actually kept track of throughout our marriage, of ways that we've suffered and God has brought us to blessing. I remember that I did not marry her till I was 36 years old. I was single till I was 36. Suffering, married her until I was 36 years old. I was single until I was 36. Suffering, but I married Michelle Marie Dean, blessing.

Speaker 1: 25:24

My parents' house burned down several years ago for a total loss, suffering, but God allowed them to build an even better house, blessing Michelle and mine's. Our first home that we ever bought had extensive water damage in it the first month that we lived in it, suffering, but we got brand new floors and painting throughout a dream for honeymooners, blessing. God called us to virginia when housing prices there are as they are, outrageous. Suffering, but god blessed us with the perfect rental home at just the right price point blessing. We then got kicked out of that house after renting it for one year because the owner wanted to sell it. Suffering, but God then blessed us with the perfect house to buy in the area. Blessing.

Speaker 1: 26:12

We waited two years to adopt suffering. It was a roller coaster, but we got to adopt Brooklyn, rose Dean. Blessing. We had went through four failed fertility attempts. Suffering. It was a roller coaster, but we got to adopt Brooklyn, rose Dean. Blessing. We had went through four failed fertility attempts suffering, but God gave us Cruz, richard Dean in our fifth and final attempt. Blessing. God called us to Georgia in this housing shortage crisis. Suffering. We needed a ranch for Brooklyn's physical needs and God provided the perfect house for our family out of nowhere. Blessing. We went through infertility for nine years suffering, but now God has given us Eliana Joy, who will be born this May, lord willing. Blessing.

Speaker 1: 26:55

God loves to take you through suffering in order to bring you to blessing number three God is present in your suffering. Not only is he sovereign, not only is he blessing you in your suffering, but also he's present in your suffering. Let's be honest it feels like that God is absent in our suffering. As I told you, when you go through a season of suffering, it is actually not God's absence in your life, it's his presence in your life. This is the part of Joseph's life that we see. He's at his darkest, he's at his lowest, he's at his hardest. He is deep in an Egyptian prison confinement.

Speaker 1: 27:42

The Bible says for obeying God, for being faithful, the questions he must have to God. But verse 21 of chapter 39 says but the Lord is with Joseph and God showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. And the keeper of the prison put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners who were in the prison. Whatever was done there, he was the one who did it. The keeper of the prison paid no attention to anything that was in Joseph's charge, but the Lord was with Joseph. And whatever Joseph did, the Lord made it succeed.

Speaker 1: 28:27

Why the presence of God in your suffering? If you're not careful, the way our sin conditions our minds is that we're blinded to the blessings of God in the midst of our suffering and we get. The woe is me's rather than the great. Are you God? And like Joseph, we never need to take our eyes off of him, even in the midst of our darkest, deepest, most depressing, most difficult trial.

Speaker 1: 29:02

We read stories like this in the Bible like it's no big deal. We read about a guy who was kidnapped by his brothers and left for dead and sold into slavery and goes to Egypt and he's falsely accused and he's deep in prison. We're not even breaking a sweat as we're reading our Bible. Our heart's not even racing. We don't even feel bad for the guy. Why? Because we know what's going to happen in the end. But yet when we're going through a hard time in our life, man, we're freaking out. It feels like the God is gone. It feels like that he's left us. It feels like that he doesn't love us.

Speaker 1: 29:42

Hear me, I want to encourage you. I want you to live your life like you know the last chapter. I want you to live your life like you know the last chapter, like you know that God's going to work it all out. And, by the way, the last chapter of your life is not your 60s, your 70s, your 80s, your 90s. The last chapter of your life is not your 60s, your 70s, your 80s, your 90s. The last chapter of your life is the unending chapter. It's the chapter of eternity. Can I get an amen? God did not always promise us blessing in this life through our suffering, but he has guaranteed us blessing in eternal life from all of our suffering on this life.

Speaker 1: 30:15

You need to live your life like. You know the last chapter. You need to live your life the same way you watch a hallmark movie. You know what's going to happen in the first five minutes. The first five minutes she's dating that dude in the city and he don't really love her and it's really more like a business relationship, if you will. And he's not all about her. Why? Because she's a country girl. That's why. And she goes back and has to go back home for some reason to see some family member and there she sees her old flame again, all in the first five minutes. And you say I know she's gonna marry him. And you still watch the movie. What's wrong with you? And you still watch it. You've seen it seven times. She's married seven different men this week and you still watch the movie. And that's the way we need to live our life. God, I'm going through the suffering, but you're too perfect not to have a purpose. God, you're gonna bless me in my suffering. God, you are bringing me to blessing because of my suffering. I need to live my life like. I know the last chapter and number four, my favorite one God is victorious through your suffering. Here's what we know.

Speaker 1: 31:26

What happened Joseph in prison, in confinement? We know the Bible says that there were two dreams that happened with two different men, a baker and a cupbearer. Joseph interprets the baker's dream Sorry, bro, you're going to die. Joseph interprets the cupbearer's dream hey man, things are going to go well for you. You're going to get out of here. Don't forget me. Don't forget me. Cupbearer gets out, forgets him. Joseph's there for another two years. Finally, pharaoh has a dream Nobody can interpret it, and the cupbearer remembers, by the grace and the mercy of God. Remembers Joseph in prison, who's able to interpret dreams. Tells the Pharaoh you go and get him.

Speaker 1: 32:10

Verse 37, we see here that Joseph interprets the dream correctly and it pleases Pharaoh. Verse 37 says this this proposal pleased Pharaoh and all of his servants. And Pharaoh said to his servants can we find a man like this? In whom is the spirit of God? Do you know how you make it? Through your suffering? By the power of the spirit of God in you. It is not by your personal strength, it's by the spirit of God within you. Then Pharaoh said to Joseph since God has shown you all this about my dream, there is none so discerning and wise as you are. You shall be over all my house. All my people shall order themselves as you command. Only as regards to the throne that I will be greater than you.

Speaker 1: 33:02

And we know the rest of the story. We know that God orchestrated Joseph's suffering to be sold by his brothers to the Ishmaelites. Who just so happened to be passing through Egypt? Who just so happened to get into Potiphar's house? Who just so happened to throw him in prison? Who just so happened to be there when Pharaoh had the dreams? Who just so happened to have a cupbearer right beside him to interpret those dreams? Who just so happened that the cupbearer tells about Joseph to interpret the dreams that Joseph gets out and Pharaoh loves him so much that now Joseph is the second most powerful in all the land.

Speaker 1: 33:43

For what purpose that Joseph is in power? No, it's not about him, because God's people are back in Canaan going through the same famine, and they come to Egypt and little did they know, they did not recognize him, that, the person that the brothers would stand in front of is Joseph himself. And if it was me and if it was you, we'd look at our brothers and we'd say you left me for dead. You could starve, but Joseph was filled with the Spirit of God. His suffering did not make him bitter. His suffering made him better. His suffering did not make him bitter, his suffering made him better. And Joseph looked at them. And Joseph summarized the last 13 years of his suffering In Genesis 45, verse 7, you'll see it on the screen and listen to how Joseph, in one sentence, summarizes the last 13 years of all of his suffering Because of his brothers.

Speaker 1: 34:46

He said this God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, to keep alive for you many survivors. In other words, had Joseph not been in that prison and that famine would have come, the people of God, the family of Abraham, would have died out and they were the ones to bring about Jesus, the Son. There would be no Jesus and we would all be going to hell. But God had a greater plan for his suffering, which is why one of my favorite verses in all of Genesis, chapter 50, verse 20 as for you, joseph said you, you meant evil against me. You beat me, you mistreated me, you left me for dead, you kidnapped me, you sold me. You meant evil against me, but God. But God meant it for good.

Speaker 1: 35:48

Whatever this life does to you, whatever other people do to you, whatever suffering that you go through, that you don't deserve the spiritual suffering that is an attack of the evil, one that there could be a million things meant for evil against you, but God means them. God will use them for good, but God meant it for good. Listen, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive as they are today. In other words, god wants to use your suffering for someone else's salvation. God wants to use your suffering for someone else's salvation. In other words, your suffering amplifies your story, your suffering amplifies your story, your testimony, your witness, because when you're able to tell God, my life is not always easy, my life is not always blessing, my life is often suffering, but God loves me and God is working all things out for his glory in my life and I pray that he would do the same in your life.

Speaker 1: 36:58

Second, corinthians, 1, 3, and I'm done says this Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and he's the God of all comfort. He comforts us in all of our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For we share abundantly in Christ's suffering, so, through Christ, we also share abundantly in comfort too. In other words, when you go through your suffering and God comforts you and God comforts you. The purpose is that when other people go through their suffering, you get to comfort them in God. You get to tell them God is sovereign in your suffering. God is blessing you in your suffering. God is present in your suffering. God is victorious in your suffering. God has a purpose for your suffering. He's going to bring you to blessing. The point of your suffering is the salvation of others. What are you going through and how can God use it in your life and in the lives of others?

Speaker 1: 38:16

I'm going to ask you to bow your heads and close your eyes right now. With every head bowed and every eye closed, I just want to encourage you here in this moment, to just identify your greatest suffering in life. Identify your greatest suffering in life, the hardest part of your life right now. The hardest three sufferings the hardest, five sufferings, the hardest, ten sufferings. It's often sufferings, the hardest, ten sufferings. It's often so much more, often more than one. And I want to encourage you.

Speaker 1: 38:50

In a very honest moment with God, you can say God, everything that the enemy means for evil, God, you mean for good. This suffering is so difficult but, god, I believe that you are bringing about blessing. God, you have a purpose. I pray that you would use my suffering, that I wouldn't become bitter, I'd become better, you'd use it for the salvation of others. But, god, ultimately, even in all of my suffering, god, that you would bring about your glory. Ask God to use it for his glory.

Speaker 1: 39:43

You may be here this morning and you need to give your life over to Jesus. Maybe you had no idea how much that Jesus loved you, or all the suffering that he went through on your behalf, for your sin, for your salvation, in all the ways that he wants to even use the suffering in your life. That's a relationship with God. Maybe you need to give your life to Jesus this morning. I can't pray this prayer for you and I can't save you this morning, but here's what I can do is I can lead you through this prayer so you can finally fully, for real, give your life to Jesus, where you're a child of God, you're a follower of Jesus Christ and your life is used for him.

Speaker 1: 40:27

You can pray this right now, from your own heart and your own words. You can say God, I believe in you, god, I need you, god, I love you and I want you. And I believe that Jesus suffered on the way to the cross. He suffered on the cross for my sin, the suffering that I deserved, and I believe that Jesus died for my sin, for all the sin I've ever committed, all the sin I ever will commit. And, god, I ask you to forgive me of all my sin. I want to turn from my sin, living from my sin, and I want to live for him. I want to live for your son, jesus. You can tell God in your own words God, I believe that Jesus rose from the dead, he's alive and he's real, and I want a real relationship with him. I want to really be saved by him.

Speaker 1: 41:18

The Bible says that if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe with your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. So you can tell him right now, jesus, be my Lord, be my master, be my God, be my Savior. And the Bible says you will be saved. And God, we believe that in Jesus' name and all God's people said, can we put our hands together for anybody that gave their life to Jesus? This morning, we're so thankful for all that God is doing.

Speaker 1: 41:49

I want to just remind you about those next step cards. Anything that God is doing in your life, you can indicate that on the card. Let's stand together, let's worship him right now. If you need to come forward at all, if you need to pray along this altar, along this stage, if you just need to kneel before the Lord and just give him your suffering, I encourage you to do that. Let's sing to him, the one who loves to bless us, the one who's victorious in our suffering, working it all out for our good and for his glory. Let's sing.