Welcome to the Joseph’s Good Life post. This message was given by Alyssa Morauske at Cedar Creek Seventh-day Adventist Christian Church on Sabbath, 8 August 2020. Alyssa said the main point is that times of crisis will happen in this life that we cannot control. We can only control our response to the crisis. You can listen to Alyssa’s message on my Sound Cloud channel.
Sermon By Alyssa Morauske
Joseph’s Good Life
Joseph’s father Jacob had 12 sons. Jacob’s favorite son was Joseph. Joseph got special privileges, attention and gifts. Joseph was blessed by God. Joseph’s Good Life was all about to change. Joseph experienced five different crisis in his life.
Five Crisis In Joseph’s Good Life
Identity Crisis
Genesis 37:18-20
Now when they saw him afar off, even before he came near them, they conspired against him to kill him. 19 Then they said to one another, “Look, this dreamer is coming! 20 Come therefore, let us now kill him and cast him into some pit; and we shall say, ‘Some wild beast has devoured him.’ We shall see what will become of his dreams!
Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers. The betrayal made Joseph question if he even has a family. The persons who would care believe that Joseph is dead.
Genesis 37:23-36
So it came to pass, when Joseph had come to his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the tunic of many colors that was on him. 24 Then they took him and cast him into a pit. And the pit was empty; there was no water in it.
25 And they sat down to eat a meal. Then they lifted their eyes and looked, and there was a company of Ishmaelites, coming from Gilead with their camels, bearing spices, balm, and myrrh, on their way to carry them down to Egypt. 26 So Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is there if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? 27 Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother and our flesh.” And his brothers listened. 28 Then Midianite traders passed by; so the brothers pulled Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt.
29 Then Reuben returned to the pit, and indeed Joseph was not in the pit; and he tore his clothes. 30 And he returned to his brothers and said, “The lad is no more; and I, where shall I go?”
31 So they took Joseph’s tunic, killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the tunic in the blood. 32 Then they sent the tunic of many colors, and they brought it to their father and said, “We have found this. Do you know whether it is your son’s tunic or not?”
33 And he recognized it and said, “It is my son’s tunic. A wild beast has devoured him. Without doubt Joseph is torn to pieces.” 34 Then Jacob tore his clothes, put sackcloth on his waist, and mourned for his son many days. 35 And all his sons and all his daughters arose to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted, and he said, “For I shall go down into the grave to my son in mourning.” Thus his father wept for him.
36 Now the Midianites had sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and captain of the guard.
Joseph’s response to being sold into slavery is he surrendered to God. He asked God to be his God. Alyssa shared about a beautiful woman named Stephanie Nielson. Stephanie was burned over 80 percent of her body in a 2008 plane crash. Her burns were so bad that she was placed in a coma.
Stephanie’s physical beauty was restored to her over time by plastic surgeons. Her inner beauty arose during her crisis time in her life.
Moral Crisis
Genesis 39:1
Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt. And Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him down there.
In verse 5, Joseph has transitioned into a position of responsibility. God blessed him there. Now Joseph’s Moral Crisis is when he is caught up in a scandal with Potiphar’s Lying Wife.
Genesis 39:7-10
And it came to pass after these things that his master’s wife cast longing eyes on Joseph, and she said, “Lie with me.”
8 But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Look, my master does not know what is with me in the house, and he has committed all that he has to my hand. 9 There is no one greater in this house than I, nor has he kept back anything from me but you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?”
10 So it was, as she spoke to Joseph day by day, that he did not heed her, to lie with her or to be with her.
Potiphar must have believed Joseph because Joseph is kept alive and sent to the King’s Prison. Joseph once again was surrendered to God’s Will.
Abandonment Crisis
Genesis 39:21
But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him mercy, and He gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison.
God once again blesses Joseph as he is put in charge of the prison. The King’s butler and baker are sent to prison. Joseph interprets dreams and asks the butler to remember him.
Genesis 40:14
But remember me when it is well with you, and please show kindness to me; make mention of me to Pharaoh, and get me out of this house.
Genesis 41:1
Then it came to pass, at the end of two full years, that Pharaoh had a dream; and behold, he stood by the river.
Let us review the Five Stages of Grief.
- Shock: “What Happened?” Not sure what to feel
- Bargaining: “What Could I Have Done?” Blames self
- Depression: “What Happened?” Tired of feeling
- Anger: “Why Did This Happen?” Blames others
- Acceptance: “This Happened” Balance of feelings and thoughts
Natural Disaster Crisis
Genesis 41:16
So Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, “It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh an answer of peace.”
Seven years of famine are predicted. Joseph is again given a position of authority and God blesses him again.
Genesis 41:39-41
Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Inasmuch as God has shown you all this, there is no one as discerning and wise as you. 40 You shall be over my house, and all my people shall be ruled according to your word; only in regard to the throne will I be greater than you.” 41 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.”
Family Crisis
Genesis 42:3
So Joseph’s ten brothers went down to buy grain in Egypt.
Genesis 42:7
Joseph saw his brothers and recognized them, but he acted as a stranger to them and spoke roughly to them. Then he said to them, “Where do you come from?”
And they said, “From the land of Canaan to buy food.”
Joseph’s brothers are now standing before him. His brothers started a domino effect of crisis in his life. Look at Joseph’s response:
Genesis 45:5
But now, do not therefore be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life.
Joseph comforts his brothers. He tells them to move past the grief and points them to a bigger picture.
Genesis 45:7
And God sent me before you to preserve a posterity for you in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.
Joseph’s response to the crisis revealed his understanding of God.
One of the most powerful verses in the Holy Bible is Romans 8:28:
And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
Joseph’s Good Life involved Five Crisis.
Samuel Brengle was a worker with the Salvation Army in Boston. As he passed by a saloon, a man threw a brick at his head. The man’s aim was good as Brengle nearly died. As it was, he spent eighteen months in recovery. During that time, he wrote a little book entitled Helps to Holiness. Thousands of copies were published.
After Brengle was able to begin preaching again, people would often thank him for the book. He would respond by saying: “If there had been no little brick, there would be no little book.”
Brengle’s wife saved the brick and had Genesis 50:20 engraved on it:
But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.
The good life is not good because of us, but because of God. Sin always brings crisis. What makes our life good is our response and acceptance of a Good God. It is an attitude that says this does not feel good, but you are good, and I know you can bring good out of this.
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