Trials and Triumphs

[0:00] So, last week, we were introduced to Joseph. So, just to give you just a quick recap, God's chosen Abraham and set him aside as special.

[0:15] He's promised him that there will be many nations that will come through him, and the whole earth, until the end of the earth is known, will be blessed through him. And so, we have Abraham, and then from Abraham, we have Isaac, and from Isaac, we have Jacob.

[0:30] Jacob has 12 sons. The 11th is Joseph. And Joseph is actually the first one born from Rachel, which if you remember from a couple weeks ago, Rachel is Jacob's favorite wife.

[0:43] So, what that means is Joseph is his favorite son, and that's not a secret. We learned that last week. So, he's his favorite. Joseph's not very humble in the beginning about some dreams to his brothers.

[0:57] Add to that, his father gives him a special coat. And so, put all those together, and his brothers pretty much hate him. And they want to kill him, and last minute, they decide to throw him into a pit, and then they pull him out, and they sell him to the Ishmaelites.

[1:14] And that brings us up to our passage today. Before we jump in, though, what I'd like to do is just point out something real quickly about Genesis, because that's the book that we're studying and going through.

[1:27] There's 50 chapters in Genesis, and 38 of those are given to about 2,000 years of history. So, a pretty large chunk. But the last 12 chapters are given towards Joseph and his life.

[1:42] So, to me, there's something special there. There's something that God wants to point out about Joseph's life, and some of the decisions he made, and things that took place. It kind of gets us to want to dig in on it a little bit, and see what exactly God has for us.

[1:57] What's so special about Joseph? What does God say about Joseph's life that pertained to me? Those are the kind of questions that I'd like us to answer today and over the next couple weeks as we finish out Genesis.

[2:10] And as we go through these three chapters that we read this morning, what we'll be looking at are the trials and the triumphs that Joseph has faced. How God protected him, how he blessed him, and how he walked him through those and blessed him in the end, because those are some of the same trials that we're going to face.

[2:30] Not with all the exact same details, but we're going to face trials, and we're also going to face triumphs. And it's how we respond to those, it's how we grow through those that are going to make us a better Christian and affect those people around us.

[2:44] So, verse 29 starts out with Joseph being sold to the Ishmaelites, and then to Potiphar, who's the captain of the guard of Pharaoh. Pharaoh being the king of Egypt, and Egypt being the most powerful nation in the world at this time.

[3:01] So, Joseph, although a slave, is pretty close to the top, not far down from the top that you can go in Egypt. So, it puts him in a pretty interesting position.

[3:12] But let's look at the first trial that he's now facing. He's been pulled away from his family, his homeland, everything that he knows, placed into a godless nation, owned like a piece of property.

[3:23] He's receiving no pay for the work that he does, and there's no signs of release, and nothing ever changing for the rest of his life. Not getting married, no future, he get the idea. He's not really in a good spot.

[3:38] That's the trial that Joseph is faced with. But we quickly see that Joseph doesn't get down and out about this, but he faces his trial. Verse 2 to 4 says that the Lord was with Joseph, and he became a successful man.

[3:53] 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 his sight and attended him, and he made him overseer of his house and put him in charge of all that he had.

[4:08] So, he has a trial, and we see that he eventually triumphed that trial. I say eventually because there was work involved. Verse 2 says that he became a successful man.

[4:22] It's something he became, and it wasn't just laid upon him. It was something he had to work at, right? So, he was a good worker, a hard worker, and because of that, God blessed him, and he became successful, even as a slave.

[4:34] And in that, over the next few verses, we see that Joseph is promoted several times. I mean, even in the beginning, he's a slave, but he's not sent out to the fields to work, but rather to work inside.

[4:47] And as he works, as he does his job well, his master puts him in charge of more and more stuff. Until at the end, in verse 6, he's put him in charge of all that he had, in house and field, so that he left all that he had in Joseph's charge, and because of him, he had no concern about anything but the food that he ate.

[5:08] It's kind of ironic that he wants to hold on to his food, but I think for us guys, we can probably relate to that, right? Because unless our wife or our girlfriend is making this dinner, we kind of want to control what we eat.

[5:19] So, he says, Joseph, you got everything except I'll handle my food. Don't worry about that. So, that makes sense. Joseph worked hard. He didn't complain.

[5:30] He was trustworthy. He was honest. And he also cared about others, which we'll look at in a little bit more detail in a minute. And God was pleased with this and blessed this. We also see that Joseph didn't boast in himself.

[5:44] I mean, he was a slave, but he didn't boast as he moved up in his responsibilities and things he was given to do. His master saw that the Lord was with him in verse 3 and that the Lord caused all that he did to succeed in his hands.

[6:01] Now, how is Potiphar going to know that the Lord was with him except that Joseph pointed out, pointed that fact out? So, we see here that Joseph obviously is a testimony towards God.

[6:13] See, Egypt is a very spiritual nation, but not in regards to God. Their pharaohs at that time were like intermediary, like a channel between the common people and the spiritual godly world.

[6:31] So, Egypt was a spiritual nation, but definitely not in respect to God. So, for Potiphar to say that God had blessed him, he has to be told that by Joseph.

[6:41] So, Joseph is talking to him. You know, I'm being blessed. This stuff is given to me by God. I trust God. He's given me this. So, the triumph here, after the slavery that he's put into, is to be blessed by God and to be promoted for his hard work.

[6:57] That's what we see taking place here. So, if we jump to verse 6, we suddenly see Joseph's next trial. And that's Potiphar's wife.

[7:09] An interesting trial to be thrown in front of you. Nonetheless, it's sin and it's difficult. At the end of verse 6, it says, Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance, and after a time, his master's wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, Lie with me.

[7:24] So, this is not a good thing, obviously, for Joseph, because we find here that apparently him and Brad Pitt are like brothers. It says that he was handsome in form and appearance.

[7:37] And what's interesting is earlier in Genesis, it says that Rachel, which was Joseph's mom, was lovely in figure and beautiful face. Those are the only two in the Old Testament who are described with those two adjectives.

[7:51] So, you've got to be pretty good looking and have a pretty good body in the Old Testament to be given that to you. So, those are pretty good qualities, but when you're a slave and you have nowhere to go and there's no future wife prospects, it's probably not what you want to be blessed with.

[8:11] But, in any event, Potiphar's wife sets her sights on Joseph, and she wants him to have an affair with her and to sleep with her, but he refuses.

[8:23] Verse 8 says, He refuses and says to his master's wife, Behold, because of me, my master has no concern about anything in the house, and he has put everything that he has in my charge.

[8:36] He is no greater in this house than I am, nor has he kept back anything from me except you because you are his wife. How, then, can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?

[8:48] So, Joseph says that my master trusts me with all that he has. He trusts me to leave you alone because you're his wife. He trusts me because God has blessed me and put me here.

[9:01] So, how can I destroy all of that and sin against God? Well, it's a pretty good answer, only, as many of you know, how often does Satan take your one rebuttal and leave you alone with sin?

[9:16] Often, it's continual, continuing back and forth, and this is what happens with Joseph. It's day after day. Look at verse 10, And as she spoke to Joseph day after day, he would not listen to her to lie beside her or to be with her.

[9:30] She wouldn't get him up. She continued to tempt and seduce him daily. Now, normally, in this case, I would say probably the best advice would be to leave. Get a new job.

[9:43] Move away. Do something, but don't stay there. Only here, we know that Joseph is still a slave, and he has nowhere to go. He has to serve in the same house where his wife is.

[9:55] Then one day, she literally grabs him by the clothes, and Joseph does the only thing that he can do, and that's run. Of course, leaving behind some of his clothes.

[10:08] And just as a word of note there, if you ever find yourself in a situation where sin is grabbing at you, maybe not grabbing your clothes, but you know what I mean, then you need to run.

[10:21] Don't try to tiptoe around the fire of sin because you'll get burned, right? You just need to leave. I think of King David and how he didn't leave when he was faced with Bathsheba and that temptation.

[10:35] He would have saved a lot of heartache and lives if he ran. So, you know, in regards to sexual sin and pornography, guard yourself, ladies and guys.

[10:51] It's out there. You know it. Joseph's temptation was blatant and in his face. It was more obvious, but a lot of times it's secret for us, right?

[11:02] It's slow. It's subtle. It's not so obvious. In relationships, I'm thinking of work or with friends, relationships are slow. You know, you develop friendships with people and you know when those relationships have gone too far, right?

[11:17] So don't put yourself in a dangerous position when you want to guard yourself. And when temptation comes up, you want to be ready for what you're going to do.

[11:29] So don't let it catch you off guard. Know in your heart right away that when you're faced with this temptation, how are you going to respond to that? Because Satan will test you.

[11:39] If not already, he's done it in the past. So fight. And like Joseph, keep fighting if you're faced with it day by day and decide to honor God as you do that and walk away.

[11:52] We know he made the right decision, but we also know he wasn't rewarded for it, right? So Joseph faces another trial. His wife, Potiphar's wife, makes up a story that Joseph tried to rape her and she has clothes in her hand to prove it.

[12:08] And the next thing you know, Potiphar comes home. She tells him, and what does he do? Probably the only thing he can do besides kill him is throw him in prison. One thing to point out, though, is Potiphar would have been justified in killing him because he was a slave and he acted so horrible to his owner.

[12:32] Potiphar could have done that, but he doesn't do that. And, you know, just a couple thoughts there on why he didn't kill him instead of putting him in jail. It could be because he really trusted Joseph and he really liked him.

[12:44] You know, his wife was older. Joseph is a hot stud. He's about 18, maybe 25 years old. So why is he so attracted to his wife that he's going to destroy his reputation?

[12:57] It leaves you doubting. But in any event, the reason ultimately was it wasn't God's plan to kill Joseph. It was to put him in prison, and that's where he ends up.

[13:07] So his next trial is in an ill prison. It's kind of similar to his slave gig in that he's stuck. He doesn't have anywhere to go.

[13:18] There's no pay. He's not moving up anywhere. House probably isn't as nice as what he came from. Yet it's not long before we see him, with God's help, turning that trial into another triumph.

[13:32] He doesn't understand why he's there, but he does trust God, and he just keeps going. In verse 21, and then to the end of the chapter, it says, But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison.

[13:49] 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 because the Lord was with him, and whatever he did, the Lord made it succeed.

[14:08] You know, you're doing something right if you're in jail and you're the one running it, right? He's kind of elevated to this status. It's pretty wild to be in prison and have pretty much free reign.

[14:22] You know, you kind of see the keeper of the prison tossing him the keys. Here, stud boy, lock yourself up before you go to bed tonight. I mean, it's pretty wild, but that's where God puts him.

[14:34] But seriously, though, it says something awesome about how God has blessed Joseph and how Joseph is as a person. He's dependable. He's honest. He's hardworking.

[14:45] And as we'll see in a minute, he does care about those who are around him. As we move to chapter 40, we see that the king's cupbearer and the baker are thrown into this same prison where Joseph is.

[14:59] And he is assigned to take care of him. He's doing time. He's a supervisor. And yet he's still concerned with other people's welfare.

[15:15] And then one night, both the cupbearer and the baker have dreams. Look at verse 6. And he went to check on them in the morning, which is another pretty wild thing.

[15:25] He's in prison. And he's so diligent to his job that he's not sleeping in. He's going to check on the new people to see how they're doing. Right? So he goes and checks on them. And he says, why are your faces downcast?

[15:39] And they said, we've had dreams, but no one can interpret them. So notice Joseph's response at the end of verse 8. Joseph says, do not interpretations belong to God. Please tell them, meaning the dreams, to me.

[15:54] Now it's interesting because Joseph here isn't saying that he's God. But rather, we get an indication that Joseph's relationship with God wasn't secret but public knowledge.

[16:06] Joseph doesn't have the answer to their dreams, but God does. So Joseph says, interpretations belong to God and you don't know God. I know God.

[16:16] So why don't you tell me your dreams and I'll ask it for you. That sounds pretty good. So they tell him. It's easy to pick up from these passages that Joseph was a strong witness for God.

[16:32] He wasn't just there doing a good job, but he was doing it for the sake of the glory of God. So he listens to the first dream from the cupbearer and then gives the interpretation, verse 13.

[16:43] In three days, Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your office and you shall place Pharaoh's cup in his hand as formerly when you were his cupbearer. That was pretty positive news for the cupbearer.

[16:56] So we see Joseph taking an opportunity to put in a good word for himself. He is in prison and nobody else is helping him out. So he says in verse 14, only remember me that it went well with you when it goes well with you.

[17:10] Please do me the kindness to mention me to Pharaoh and get me out of this house. For I was indeed stolen out of the land of the Hebrews and here also I have done nothing that they should put me in the pit.

[17:21] So he's hoping that the cupbearer remembers him when he goes before Pharaoh. Next comes the baker and he tells his dream to Joseph and Joseph tells him what it means in verse 18.

[17:35] He says the three baskets are three days and three days Pharaoh will lift up your head from you. Interesting, the exclamation point. Like he literally means he's lifting up his head and hanging him on a tree and the birds will eat the flesh from you.

[17:50] And that's all. So enjoy the rest of your stay here in prison for the next three days. That's awkward to have to tell somebody that. I mean that's a tough interpretation, right, to give somebody.

[18:02] The Lord gives you an interpretation that is that heavy on someone else. But Joseph gives him the truth and tells it to him nonetheless. We don't know what the cupbearer and the baker did, whether or not they deserve to be restored or if they deserve to be killed.

[18:23] But really that's not the point here. The point was to show that God knows and controls all things, right, even before they happen. God's using Joseph to make that known.

[18:35] So Joseph's triumph here is God's triumph. God gets glory as it's displayed and shown through Joseph. And we do see that Joseph's interpretations were true.

[18:48] On the third day, this is in verse 20, the third day when it was Pharaoh's birthday, he made a feast for all his servants, lifted up the head of the cupbearer and the head of the baker, he restores the cupbearer, and he hangs the chief baker, just as Joseph had said.

[19:07] And then the beginning of the next trial for Joseph is verse 23. The cupbearer did not remember him and forgot about him. So Joseph continues in jail, doing his job, not getting paid, but patiently trusting that God knows what he's doing.

[19:25] And as we look at chapter 41, we see that he's there for two years before Pharaoh has a dream.

[19:36] So he's really forgotten. I mean, two years is a long time to go. Two years with no sign of being called into action. Joseph's in his 20s, the prime of his life.

[19:53] And I am not. So I can imagine that he was a little frustrated. I would imagine that he was a little discouraged and asking, why am I here?

[20:06] I'm 27 years old. I have way more potential than being stuck in prison, doing absolutely nothing but taking care of a bunch of other guys that probably should be here and I shouldn't. Because Joseph was human just like us, and that's something that we would struggle with as well.

[20:24] You might be in a certain phase or situation in your life that you don't understand. And like Joseph, it seems like it's going on forever. Maybe it's two years, maybe it's less, maybe it's more.

[20:35] But there's a purpose in it. So I would say take encouragement from our story from Joseph that God hasn't forgot about you, and God has you right where you are if you're trusting him to use you for a purpose.

[20:51] So just rest in that and take comfort in knowing that. I was thinking about this week as I was watching Juliet.

[21:01] That she's going through this learning to crawl stage. And she's doing really good with it. But she started out like a couple weeks ago just learning how to crawl.

[21:13] She didn't know what it was. She just knew it was something she should do next. And we would help her. We would, you know, show her how to move a little bit. We'd put things in front of her to encourage her to move.

[21:24] And, you know, at times it didn't feel good. She would make a step forward and do a face plant into the carpet. But she would get back up and she would keep going, even though she didn't understand what we were doing.

[21:38] And we were with her the whole time. We're protecting her. You know, we didn't put her out on the sidewalk to learn to crawl, where she would really hurt herself. And slowly, day by day, she got better.

[21:51] And now she's almost mastered it. Now she's just going to get quicker. And she's going to move on to walking. She doesn't even know what walking is at this point. But we teach her anyway.

[22:03] Right? And that's kind of like our relationship to Christ, to God, is we do the crawling, right? And God guides us and gives us the strength to do it.

[22:15] He protects us. And there's times where we're going through those painful spots where we make head first into the carpet. And it may hurt and we don't understand why. But it's part of the process of God teaching us to walk the Christian life.

[22:30] And if you have kids, you know, the kids are like the best example of our relationship to God and how he teaches and trains us, even when we don't understand or want to go through what we're going through.

[22:45] Or even times of punishment and correction. You know, as a father to a child, we know they need it. But the kid hates it. And the same happens with God.

[22:56] He knows that we need to be corrected. And so he applies that when it needs to be done. But it's for our good. Amen. So let's be like Joseph, right?

[23:09] And let's trust God. He knows where we are and how to step forward. So two years after the baker gets whacked for making a bad birthday cake, Pharaoh himself has two very troubling dreams.

[23:24] He dreams that he's standing on the Nile. Now, for Egypt, the Nile is a representation of their power and wealth. Where Egypt is, the Nile comes down and basically feeds all of the land.

[23:36] So in the rainy season, when there's flooding, that just starts the whole process of everything growing. And they live off that. Their cattle lives off that. They have grain from that. And so this becomes their source of life.

[23:52] So he sees seven healthy cows appear out of the Nile, followed by seven thin cows. Cows also, like grain that we'll see in a minute, are a typical farm animal in Egypt.

[24:05] Grain and cows are just two staples for what they are as a nation and how they live, how they survive. It's interesting that the second group of ugly cows, Pharaoh really puts an emphasis on how thin and ugly, almost evil looking in appearance.

[24:24] And then all of a sudden, those evil, ugly cows eat the big, plump, nice looking cows. It's a weird way to describe a cow. But the thin ones eat the large ones.

[24:35] And this is part of the troubling that stirs up Pharaoh's heart while he's dreaming. And it wakes him up. He goes back to sleep and he has another similar dream with grain and large, plump grain being eaten by thin and just lethargic grain that's dying.

[24:51] So he's just troubled. He's king of Egypt. And the two things that, like, staple in Egypt as having power, life, and money, he has these troubling dreams about them being eaten up and taken away.

[25:05] And we know that these dreams are not ordinary dreams, but that they're given by God, right? We know this because they're memorable.

[25:16] You guys have all dreams, but you guys have all dreamed. But how many times do you remember your dream very far into that day? A lot of times they're forgotten. So they're memorable. They're very troubling, which we have nightmares.

[25:28] But, again, oftentimes you forget what your nightmare was about as the day goes on because it was just your brain working throughout the night and not put there specifically by God.

[25:40] So they were memorable. They're troubling. And they're also very specific. God is the one that's put it there. God is the one that knows the meaning of it. And that's what we see taking place. So Pharaoh has this dream.

[25:53] He's disturbed by it. And Joseph's good old forgetful friend, the cupbearer, finally steps up to Pharaoh and says, Hey, I know this guy, Joseph. He told me about my dream, about the baker's dream, and it came true.

[26:05] I got restored. He got whacked. And Joseph's in prison if you want to go talk to him. So, of course, Pharaoh sends for Joseph. They get Joseph out.

[26:16] They clean him up. They bring him to Pharaoh. In verse 15, it says that Pharaoh said to Joseph, I have had a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it. I have heard it said of you that you hear a dream, you can interpret it.

[26:29] Joseph answered Pharaoh, it is not in me. God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer. So Joseph goes on to tell Pharaoh what his dream means.

[26:41] Egypt will experience seven years of plenty. They will have plenty of food, and everything will be great. And following that, there is going to be seven years of famine, which will be very severe. That is the meaning of his dream.

[26:53] But Joseph does not stop there. God also gives him a solution. In the interpretation, he adds to that a solution to the problem.

[27:03] So, look at verse 34. It says, Now, therefore, let Pharaoh select a discerning and wise man, and set him over the land of Egypt. Let Pharaoh proceed to appoint overseers over the land, and take one-fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt during the seven plentiful years.

[27:23] Let them gather all the food of these good years of their coming, and store up grain under the authority of Pharaoh for food in the cities, and let them keep it. That food shall be a reserve for the land against the seven years of famine that are to occur in the land of Egypt, so that the land may not perish through the famine.

[27:42] After this, Pharaoh asks, Well, where can we find a man that can do this? A man to whom the Spirit of God is?

[27:53] And he asks that specifically. And in asking this question, Pharaoh suddenly gets the answer. Well, it's the person who just gave me that wisdom. And it says that in verse 39, that Pharaoh said to Joseph, So, since God has shown you all this, there is none so discerning and wise as you.

[28:11] You shall be over my house, and all my people shall order themselves as you command. And only as regards to the throne will I be greater than you. So, Pharaoh quickly realizes that the best person for the job is the very one that God gave this wisdom to.

[28:27] It's a pretty smart decision, and because of it, Joseph gets the promotion of out of prison and second in command of all of Egypt. So, he's been a slave in prison for 12 years, and now he's 30 years old, and he's moved into this position of second in command of the Pharaoh.

[28:46] But at this point, Joseph's work isn't done, right? He's free, which is pretty awesome, especially after how long he's been in there. But the job he has in front of him is pretty enormous.

[28:57] He's responsible to store up all the food for all of Egypt over seven years, and then be able to supply food for all of Egypt for seven years after that. And we also see later that it also is enough to provide for nations outside of Egypt as they look for food and come into Egypt as well.

[29:16] So, it's really an extra blessing that God has given Joseph to be able to plan and prepare to do that as well. But we see how Joseph triumphs over this is the same way he triumphs over his previous trials, and that's basically that he trusted God.

[29:35] We see that God gave Joseph the plan and the wisdom. The Pharaoh gives him the power, the earthly power, to make it happen. And Joseph puts those together and does his job, right?

[29:46] He's diligent, he's honest, he's hardworking, he goes to work at it, he assigns the people what needs to be assigned, and he starts storing up food. And he does it so that, or in such a fashion that he does it well, and God blesses that as well.

[30:01] Because they start out, they're counting, they're inventorying all the grain. They get to a point where they have so much, they just stop counting it. They keep counting, they keep inventorying. We have so much, it doesn't matter, let's just keep doing what we're doing.

[30:14] So, during this time as well, Pharaoh gives Joseph a wife, which is pretty cool, not just because he gets a wife, but by marrying into top Egyptian family, it kind of secures his new promotion.

[30:30] It isn't like he got promoted and maybe next year Pharaoh won't like him and he'll demote him and put him back in prison. But he gives him a wife from the royal family and it kind of establishes his presence there, which will remain until the end of Joseph's life.

[30:48] He's also blessed with two kids, which Joseph proclaims, gives glory back to God, even through the naming of his children. In verse 51, he says, Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh, for he said, God has made me forget all my hardship and all my father's house.

[31:07] The name of the second he called Ephraim, for God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction. So, we see even here, even in the giving of names to his children, that Joseph is proclaiming that God was with him and has blessed him through all of this.

[31:26] So, what is the point of Joseph's life? We learned a lot of cool things up until this point. And we'll be talking about Joseph's life further in the next few weeks.

[31:40] But what's the point of his life and why is a chunk of Genesis devoted to showing us his life? Because through it, we see our life.

[31:51] Maybe not in the exact detail of Joseph with being put in prison and women grabbing at you, but we see struggles of life, right? We see being stuck in jobs or positions or being held responsible for doing things that we didn't ask for, we didn't deserve.

[32:09] We see injustice, we see pain, we see suffering, we see evil. But over all that and through all that we walk through, we see the hand of God. We see God taking care of his own and wanting to use us for his glory and for our good.

[32:28] It's for our good because like little Juliet, he's teaching us and correcting us. He's making us stronger and getting us ready for the next task.

[32:38] Whether it's the next trial or the next triumph, the next blessing that he's going to give us. And he has a plan for us.

[32:49] It just requires that we stop trying to be God's ourselves and we leave that to him. We leave God's job to God and not to us. You might say, well, I don't believe in God.

[33:01] And I would say that if that's where you are today, if you don't believe in God or don't think there's a God, then I would invite you to keep pushing in on the question of, is God real?

[33:13] And not to settle for unbelief. Find out for yourself. Investigate from the Bible. Keep coming out. Keep hearing the messages. And like Pharaoh, listen to what God has to say and then you decide.

[33:24] Ask God, the one who formed you and created this world. Ask him to show himself to you. He will because the Bible says that he delights in those who seek him.

[33:37] He has a plan. He has a purpose. And so if you ask him to show himself to you in your unbelief, then your creator will show you himself. That's what kind of God we have.

[33:50] Because he sent his son, Jesus Christ, onto the earth to die. And he did it not for popularity, but he did it for each one of our sins.

[34:01] He did it because we couldn't do it ourselves. He did it so we could know and have a relationship with God. That's the only way that was possible. Maybe this morning you do believe in God and you just say, well, I want to do it my way.

[34:13] I think a lot of us have gone through that at some stage in our life. If I can make a better decision because, well, I know me best. God doesn't. The problem is God is a very jealous God.

[34:28] And there's no God of Matt. There's no God of Sean. There's no God of put your name in there. There's only one true and living God. And he doesn't share that with anybody.

[34:38] Not because he doesn't want to share. Because if he is actually the only true, almighty, all-powerful, all-knowing God, he can't share that with anybody. Because that would make him a liar to share it with somebody that's less than that.

[34:52] So when we want to take that ourselves and say we know it better, then we're telling God he doesn't know best and we're smarter than him. And that puts us in a bad place.

[35:03] So I would say if that's where you are, that you want to do it yourself, I would encourage you to think deeper about that decision before you continue down your life making decisions all on your own without seeking your creator God first to find out what plan he has for you.

[35:19] See, we try to make decisions based on our limited knowledge and our kind of impatient, short-sightedness instead of trusting an all-knowing God who has a plan for all of the world.

[35:38] And you're a part of that. So when you try to pull yourself off and not follow that plan, it's going to throw things out of whack. He's building his church, a people who will look to him through trials and have faith that he will provide what they need to triumph over this life.

[35:59] So to sum all that up, I would say that through trials and through triumphs, as Joseph trusted and stayed faithful to God, God used him to play a part of blessing the nations.

[36:13] We see how he blessed the nations in keeping them alive through famine and other nations coming and damage them through that. God wants to do the same with you. He wants you to be part of being a blessing to the nations.

[36:27] And that happens by following our God and our Savior. Let's pray as we pray. Lord, we thank you for this story about Joseph, for all that you put him through for his good but also our good as we get to see his life and we get to learn and hopefully avoid mistakes before they happen.

[36:54] Lord, we ask that you would help us to put you in your place as God over our life. That we would follow you and trust you in good and bad so that you get the glory and you get the praise.

[37:08] And we ask these things in your name. Amen. Amen.