River Church NOLA
Wed October 1 Wednesday
  • My Jesus
  • Who You Say I Am
  • Here As In Heaven
  • Way Maker
  • Much of Joseph’s life included a series of painful setbacks from his dream to do great things with his life. But God used them to position Joseph for a spectacular comeback that saved 2 nations: Israel and Egypt.
    Intro
    Today we're going to look at the life of one of the most important characters in the Bible. His name is Joseph and I'm not talking about the husband of Mary in the New Testament, but the son of Jacob in the book of Genesis. Joseph is so important that he gets 14 chapters of the Bible written about his life. It's in Genesis 37 to chapter 50. Now, we can't cover all of his life obviously, but we are going to look at how he handled the many setbacks in his life and I believe it's going to encourage you and give you hope to face this next week.
    The story of Joseph and how God took him from being a prisoner in a pit to being a prince in a palace and becoming the second most powerful man in the world in that day is one of the great comeback stories of history. Now, he started off as a scared little kid and then he has a series of seven major setbacks. But God uses all of these setbacks to orchestrate a spectacular comeback where Joseph ends up saving two entire nations, Israel and Egypt from famine and starvation. Without this guy Joseph, there would be no nation of Israel and no Jews today. So he's a pretty important person.
    Tonight, we're going look today at when other people keep causing you to have setbacks, keep setting you back. We all love comeback stories because they inspire us when we encoutner setbacks.
    We have health setbacks, financial setbacks, relational setbacks, career setbacks, emotional setbacks, many, many other kinds of setbacks. Now, one of the things that makes setbacks so difficult to handle is because we can't see what God sees. You see, God can see the whole picture. He can see the end of the story. He knows how it's all going to work out so he's not worried, but we worry because we don't know how it's going to end up. We don't see the pieces of the puzzle, how they all fit together. I can't see the way that setbacks in my life are actually stepping stones to getting me to where God wants me to be.
    Setbacks are the stepping stones to our goal. If we trust God, setbacks are stepping stones to where God wants to take you. God will use both open doors and closed doors to guide us. So don’t look at setbacks like god working against you… he is actually working to get you where he wants you to go… which is always good.
    God promised a man named Abraham that he was going to build a great nation through his family. Abraham had a son named Isaac, and Isaac had a son named Jacob and God later changed Jacob's name to Israel. That's where we get the nation of Israel and all the Israelites.
    Now, Jacob had 12 sons. He had 12 sons from four different women. So this family, a little mixed up, has a lot of complicated relationships that you would expect to find in a blended family with four moms. Only this family is super blended, so you've got 12 half-brothers, and at least one sister whose name was Dinah from four different moms.
    Now that's a recipe for confusion and it's a recipe for competition. The second of the youngest of those 12 brothers was named Joseph. And he's smart. He's good looking, he's talented, he's a dreamer. He's favored by his parents, even pampered by his parents, and he's hated by his siblings.
    Now this brings us to the very first of seven major setbacks in Joseph's life that were actually stepping stones that God used to get him to another country, Egypt, and put him in a position that would eventually save his own family and two entire nations as well.
    Now, as we go through this list together of seven setbacks in Joseph's life, I want you to see how many of these you identify with and maybe realize that God has wanted to use these setbacks in your life as stepping stones. That what you have thought was actually bad, that God wants to use for good in your life. So let's go through these together

    1st Setback: Growing up in a home where is was ignored and mistreated by his siblings.

    Genesis 37:3–5 NLT
    3 Jacob loved Joseph more than any of his other children because Joseph had been born to him in his old age. So one day Jacob had a special gift made for Joseph—a beautiful robe. 4 But his brothers hated Joseph because their father loved him more than the rest of them. They couldn’t say a kind word to him. 5 One night Joseph had a dream, and when he told his brothers about it, they hated him more than ever.
    Joseph was also born to is favorite wife.
    Maybe you grew up in a home like this. You were pushed around… put down… ignored… teased and maybe even disliked or even hated. Maybe you had a tough time growing up and your childhood wasn’t happy. Maybe one parent liked you but the other one not so much. Maybe one parent was absent… or an alcoholic. Maybe you had brothers or sisters who took advantage of you all the time. Maybe your home life was not a good one growing up. Maybe you always felt inferior to everyone else. Maybe you were the youngest and everyone else picked on you. Whatever the reason, maybe your home life wasn’t a happy one.
    Have you ever thought about the fact that maybe God wants to use all of that in your life in ways that you have never thought of. Have you ever considered that maybe God wants to use your pain from growing up to shape you in a good way? Maybe to be sensitive to people going through what you went through. God doesn’t waste a hurt.
    So the first setback was growing up in a family where nobody liked him except his dad.

    2nd Setback: Being tossed into the Pit of Rejection.

    Genesis 37:18–20 NLT
    18 When Joseph’s brothers saw him coming, they recognized him in the distance. As he approached, they made plans to kill him. 19 “Here comes the dreamer!” they said. 20 “Come on, let’s kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns. We can tell our father, ‘A wild animal has eaten him.’ Then we’ll see what becomes of his dreams!”
    That’s pretty brutal. Most of you don’t have siblings quite that bad. Most don’t have brothers that want to kill you.
    Genesis 37:21–24 NLT
    21 But when Reuben heard of their scheme, he came to Joseph’s rescue. “Let’s not kill him,” he said. 22 “Why should we shed any blood? Let’s just throw him into this empty cistern here in the wilderness. Then he’ll die without our laying a hand on him.” Reuben was secretly planning to rescue Joseph and return him to his father. 23 So when Joseph arrived, his brothers ripped off the beautiful robe he was wearing. 24 Then they grabbed him and threw him into the cistern. Now the cistern was empty; there was no water in it.
    Thats a setback… agree? All of your brothers have turned against you to the point that they are attempting to kill you. They tossed him into the pit of rejection. But the truth is we have all faced rejection in our lives.
    These brothers didn’t want to kill him… just leave him and let an animal kill him.
    I doubt any of us have been thrown in that bad of a pit. Maybe your friends rejected you? a spouse or ex-spouse, a job… Those are setbacks and they hurt. Remember, Jospeh was only maybe 17 at the time.

    3rd Setback: Being sold out for money.

    Maybe you have had this happen at work.
    Genesis 37:26–28 NLT
    26 Judah said to his brothers, “What will we gain by killing our brother? We’d have to cover up the crime. 27 Instead of hurting him, let’s sell him to those Ishmaelite traders. After all, he is our brother—our own flesh and blood!” And his brothers agreed. 28 So when the Ishmaelites, who were Midianite traders, came by, Joseph’s brothers pulled him out of the cistern and sold him to them for twenty pieces of silver. And the traders took him to Egypt.
    They decided to make some money off of him and tell the dad he died. They all agreed. Listen. Just because the majority says something doesn’t make it right… and just because almost nobody thinks it’s the right thing to do doesn’t mean that it isn’t.
    The sold Joseph for 20 pieces of silver… the going rate for a slave was 30. So they got Joseph for a bargain.
    In the world of business, people get sold out for money all the time. Partners sell out partners. Bosses sell out their workers. Relationships are tossed to make a buck. When was the las time your company changed your healthcare plan for the better?
    These guys decide to make some money off of Joseph and to altar his life forever. Now despite their bad intentions, God used it for good. Joseph’s setbacks were actually stepping stones to where God wanted him to be. God took all of that junk and fit it into His plan.

    4th Setback: Losing His identity.

    Being secretly sld into a fireign country would erase Joseph’s identity. Back home, everyone will think that he is dead. They will morn him and move on. Look what happens here.
    Genesis 37:31–35 NLT
    31 Then the brothers killed a young goat and dipped Joseph’s robe in its blood. 32 They sent the beautiful robe to their father with this message: “Look at what we found. Doesn’t this robe belong to your son?” 33 Their father recognized it immediately. “Yes,” he said, “it is my son’s robe. A wild animal must have eaten him. Joseph has clearly been torn to pieces!” 34 Then Jacob tore his clothes and dressed himself in burlap. He mourned deeply for his son for a long time. 35 His family all tried to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. “I will go to my grave mourning for my son,” he would say, and then he would weep.
    Maybe you lost your identity in a divorce… or a death. You used to be a husband or a wife… now … Maybe you lost your identity when you lost your job… These are big setback and I am sorry you rare going through them. But thats not the end of the story.
    Joseph gets a new identity and so will you. Here’s the good part… it was a better identity for Joseph and it will be for you too.

    5th Setback: Forced to take a job he didn’t want.

    Many of us know that one well. Maybe you couldn’t find the job you wanted even though you looked and looked.
    Genesis 37:36 NLT
    36 Meanwhile, the Midianite traders arrived in Egypt, where they sold Joseph to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. Potiphar was captain of the palace guard.
    In a matter of days, Joseph went from being the pampered son in his father’s home to being a slave in someone else’s home. He’s now doing work he never thought he would be doing. He is now spending his days in a foreign country as a slave to Potiphor.
    Maybe you are in a job right now that you don’t like… one you don’t want to do and you wish you were somewhere else doing something else. You are going, I didn’t sign up for this.
    But whatever Joseph did and wherever he went, he did the best job he could do trying to honor god with his good work and character. He even takes work to a new level. He didn’t look at his masters as his boss. He looked to God as his boss. So he took every task with the attitude that he was doing it for God. He did every job with excellence.
    But his bosses wife had other plans and tried to seduce him and then falsely accused him of trying to rape her.

    6th Setback: Being punished for doing the right thing.

    You may have had this happen to you. Sometimes we get into trouble because we did something wrong or made a bad decision, but other times we get into trouble for doing the right things.
    He is falsely accused of rape. He was a good looking young man and Potiphar’s wife took notice and tried to seduce him. When he refused, she falsely accused him. read the story
    Genesis 39:6–19 NLT
    6 So Potiphar gave Joseph complete administrative responsibility over everything he owned. With Joseph there, he didn’t worry about a thing—except what kind of food to eat! Joseph was a very handsome and well-built young man, 7 and Potiphar’s wife soon began to look at him lustfully. “Come and sleep with me,” she demanded. 8 But Joseph refused. “Look,” he told her, “my master trusts me with everything in his entire household. 9 No one here has more authority than I do. He has held back nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How could I do such a wicked thing? It would be a great sin against God.” 10 She kept putting pressure on Joseph day after day, but he refused to sleep with her, and he kept out of her way as much as possible. 11 One day, however, no one else was around when he went in to do his work. 12 She came and grabbed him by his cloak, demanding, “Come on, sleep with me!” Joseph tore himself away, but he left his cloak in her hand as he ran from the house. 13 When she saw that she was holding his cloak and he had fled, 14 she called out to her servants. Soon all the men came running. “Look!” she said. “My husband has brought this Hebrew slave here to make fools of us! He came into my room to rape me, but I screamed. 15 When he heard me scream, he ran outside and got away, but he left his cloak behind with me.” 16 She kept the cloak with her until her husband came home. 17 Then she told him her story. “That Hebrew slave you’ve brought into our house tried to come in and fool around with me,” she said. 18 “But when I screamed, he ran outside, leaving his cloak with me!” 19 Potiphar was furious when he heard his wife’s story about how Joseph had treated her.
    Joseph has done nothing wrong, but his owner throws him in prison. Gor 13 years he served Potiphar and now he has a major setback… prison.
    None of these setbacks are his fault. What do you do when the setbacks in your life are not your fault?

    7th Setback: Being forgotten by people he helped.

    Story of Pharaoh’s Wine Steward & Baker; Gen 40:1-23
    Tell the story… Joseph stays faithful to God and does everything with excellence so God continues to bless him. When he interpreted the dreams of the Baker and the Sine Steward, he said…
    Genesis 40:14–15 NLT
    14 And please remember me and do me a favor when things go well for you. Mention me to Pharaoh, so he might let me out of this place. 15 For I was kidnapped from my homeland, the land of the Hebrews, and now I’m here in prison, but I did nothing to deserve it.”
    Look what happened…
    Genesis 40:23 NLT
    23 Pharaoh’s chief cup-bearer, however, forgot all about Joseph, never giving him another thought.
    This guy just forgot all about Joseph who helped him. Has that ever happened to you? You helped someone and they forgot it?

    What made Joseph so Resilient?

    Joseph did three things. Write these down.

    1. He depended on God’s presence no matter where he was.

    There is a phrase in Joseph’s story that we need to take note of. The Lord was with Joseph That phrase repeats istself several times.

    In the Pit

    god was with him in that pit and when they sold him into slavery…
    Acts 7:9–10 GNB
    9 “Jacob’s sons became jealous of their brother Joseph and sold him to be a slave in Egypt. But God was with him 10 and brought him safely through all his troubles. When Joseph appeared before the king of Egypt, God gave him a pleasing manner and wisdom, and the king made Joseph governor over the country and the royal household.
    This translation is better here. God brought him through his troubles… not out of them but through them. God doesn’t spare us from troubles but he will bring us through them.
    Whatever you are going through right now, God will bring you through. He could have taken you around it, but he chose to bring you through it. How will you get though? God is with you in the midst of it.
    Genesis 39:1–2 NLT
    1 When Joseph was taken to Egypt by the Ishmaelite traders, he was purchased by Potiphar, an Egyptian officer. Potiphar was captain of the guard for Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. 2 The Lord was with Joseph, so he succeeded in everything he did as he served in the home of his Egyptian master.

    At Potiphar’s

    Notice that the Lord was with Joseph at Potiphar’s. And because the Lord was with Joseph, he became very successful. So now he is a successful slave… probably had some perks. Why? Because the Lord was with him. Notice this…
    Genesis 39:3–5 NLT
    3 Potiphar noticed this and realized that the Lord was with Joseph, giving him success in everything he did. 4 This pleased Potiphar, so he soon made Joseph his personal attendant. He put him in charge of his entire household and everything he owned. 5 From the day Joseph was put in charge of his master’s household and property, the Lord began to bless Potiphar’s household for Joseph’s sake. All his household affairs ran smoothly, and his crops and livestock flourished.
    God was with him in the pit, then with Potiphar and now when is is falsely accused and thrown in prison.

    In Prison

    Genesis 39:20–22 NLT
    20 So he took Joseph and threw him into the prison where the king’s prisoners were held, and there he remained. 21 But the Lord was with Joseph in the prison and showed him his faithful love. And the Lord made Joseph a favorite with the prison warden. 22 Before long, the warden put Joseph in charge of all the other prisoners and over everything that happened in the prison.
    Jospeh was thrown in jail fro a crime he did not commit. We will experience tribulation in life. But even in prison, The Lord was with Joseph. He became successful and the warden put him in charge of everything.
    Genesis 39:23 NLT
    23 The warden had no more worries, because Joseph took care of everything. The Lord was with him and caused everything he did to succeed.
    So Joseph is in charge of the prison. His character is good and his reputation is good.
    Here is the point. Joseph was successful everywhere he went because the Lord was with him… in good times ad bad times. We often think that God is not with us in the setbacks but only in the comebacks… God is with us all the time.
    Not only did he depend on God’s presence, but

    2. He depended on God’s plan & promise no matter how long it took.

    God had given Joseph a dream as a kid of what he was going to do with his life and he never lost that dream.
    At the climax of the story, Joseph is placed as 2nd in command of the most powerful nation in that day… right under the Paraoh. He saves the country from famine, and eventually his brothers and dad are out of food and they come to buy food from the Egyptians. Joseph gets to confron his brothers when they come to purchase grain. He doesn’t get revenge, but look what he does…
    Genesis 50:19–20 NLT
    19 But Joseph replied, “Don’t be afraid of me. Am I God, that I can punish you? 20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people.
    What they intended for bad, God used for Joseph’s good, their good and the good of two nations.
    Think about some of your setbacks… rejection… pain… problems… sorrow… grief… Joseph depended on God’s presence and God’s promise and plan to get him through it all.
    Joseph also…

    3. He depended on God’s Help in every challenge.

    Again and again Joseph depended on God. In each one of these setbacks, he faced something beyond his control or ability to handle, but he trusted God to give him the help that he needed. At one point Pharaoh was having dreams and they brought Joseph out of prison to interpret the dreams for him.
    Genesis 41:15–16 NLT
    15 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream last night, and no one here can tell me what it means. But I have heard that when you hear about a dream you can interpret it.” 16 “It is beyond my power to do this,” Joseph replied. “But God can tell you what it means and set you at ease.”
    And he explained it to Pharaoh. And he experiences the greatest comeback of all time… As they discussed who should manage what Joseph lined out for Pharaoh, Pharaoh decided it should be Joseph. What a comeback… from the pit to the palace.
    Genesis 41:39–44 NLT
    39 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has revealed the meaning of the dreams to you, clearly no one else is as intelligent or wise as you are. 40 You will be in charge of my court, and all my people will take orders from you. Only I, sitting on my throne, will have a rank higher than yours.” 41 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I hereby put you in charge of the entire land of Egypt.” 42 Then Pharaoh removed his signet ring from his hand and placed it on Joseph’s finger. He dressed him in fine linen clothing and hung a gold chain around his neck. 43 Then he had Joseph ride in the chariot reserved for his second-in-command. And wherever Joseph went, the command was shouted, “Kneel down!” So Pharaoh put Joseph in charge of all Egypt. 44 And Pharaoh said to him, “I am Pharaoh, but no one will lift a hand or foot in the entire land of Egypt without your approval.”
    Whatever setbacks you are going through, ask these three questions.
    Will you depend on God’s presence?
    Will you depend on god’s plan and promise for your life?
    Will you depend on God’s help in ever challenge?
    Prayer
    Help us see setbacks as stepping stones… that you will take the panful things we go through and use them for good in our lives.
    Salvation prayer

      • Genesis 37:3–5NIV2011

      • Genesis 37:18–20NIV2011

      • Genesis 37:21–24NIV2011

      • Genesis 37:26–28NIV2011

      • Genesis 37:31–35NIV2011

      • Genesis 37:36NIV2011

      • Genesis 39:6–19NIV2011

      • Genesis 40:14–15NIV2011

      • Genesis 40:23NIV2011

      • Acts 7:9–10NIV2011

      • Genesis 39:1–2NIV2011

      • Genesis 39:3–5NIV2011

      • Genesis 39:20–22NIV2011

      • Genesis 39:23NIV2011

      • Genesis 50:19–20NIV2011

      • Genesis 41:15–16NIV2011

      • Genesis 41:39–44NIV2011

River Church NOLA
robert@riverchurchnola.com
504-578-8317
https://riverchurchnola.com
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