WHEN PEOPLE WRONG YOU 2 Tim 4:14 16 INTRO We left Joseph in prison he hoped for a timely release only to be disappointed o Joseph asked the Butler ~ that after his released ~ to help get him out of prison and be restored to his former position BUT ~ Scripture says the Butler didn t remember Joseph Joseph could have been discouraged perhaps he even felt betrayed by the Butler o Joseph had done all he could to be help the Butler but how quickly he forgot Joseph at this point in his life has suffered more than his share of wrongs Had been wronged by his brothers Potiphar s wife now the Butler o I think Joseph felt like Apostle Paul in Scripture Reading Like Joseph and Paul many Christians have been wronged by others sometimes by other so-called Christians o When we re wronged ~ Joseph shows us how to respond w/ fruit ~ not thorns First ~ let s notice that Joseph considers God s involvement THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD As you recall the Bible doesn t tell us how long Joseph was in prison all together o But we do know [@ Gen 41:1] how long we was held after the Butler was freed For two long ~ painstaking years Joseph waited on the Lord o WHY does a loving God have us wait? 1 Pet 1:6/7 God knows best The natural (human) thing to do when we re hurt by others is to become bitter o Perhaps we start thinking that trying to live the Christian life just doesn t pay we might even think honesty and integrity aren t always the best policy o That wasn t Joseph s reaction ~ He knew somehow God was still in control 1
Joseph had been a slave in Potiphar s house and a prisoner in his dungeon for some 13 yrs and all that time ~ he faithfully waited for God s timing o Then in just 1 day God would put him into a prominent place in Pharaoh s Palace God could do that because HE rules the Rulers Proverbs 21:1 After Joseph waited 2 yrs for the Butler to act o God gave Pharaoh a dream followed by another dream: Gen 41:1 7 o Seems that God had both the heart and mind of Pharaoh in His hands God ensured the 2 dreams greatly troubled him ~ God s setting the stage o Pharaoh called all his wise men and asked for their help ~ they could offer none When the Pharaoh couldn t find anyone capable of interpreting his dreams the Butler remembered Joseph o The Butler told the Pharaoh about Joseph interpreting his dream back in prison Gen 41:9 ~ 13 a Now we know why God caused a pair of Pharaoh s servants to have those dreams in prison o God was going to use their experience to bring Joseph to the attention of the Pharaoh THE PERSPECTIVE OF JOSEPH The Pharaoh acted Vs 14/15 ( Dreams are important in Egyptian culture ) o Wonder what we would have done if we d been in Joseph s place Joseph was sent to prison because of the lies of Potiphar s wife He spent two additional long years in prison because the Butler after getting his freedom ~ forgot about him o Not sure but seems like it would have been very tempting to say something like: 2
o Mr. Pharaoh ~ I ll tell you the meaning of these dreams BUT FIRST need to work out a little deal. We need to come to an understanding FIRST there is the matter of what that lady Potiphar calls his wife SECOND we need to address that jerk you call the Butler we Nothing like that comes from Joseph s mouth ~ he has a better perspective on life o Despite what has happened Joseph knows God was (and is) in control Therefore, Joseph allows no hate or bitterness to enter his heart There s nothing as devastating to our spiritual life as an unforgiving heart o A key component of the Model Prayer that Jesus taught His Disciples (Lord s Prayer) had to do with forgiveness ~~ Matt 6:12 14/15 The one who s unwilling to forgive others doesn t deserve to be forgiven So believers who won t forgive others who wrong them better pray they never sin! o Forgiving others is a prerequisite for receiving forgiveness from God When we forgive others it must be more than just words o In Matthew Chapter 18 ~ Jesus tells the parable of a servant who was forgiven a debt equaling millions of dollars then refuses to forgive an insignificant debt of only a few hundred dollars SO the servant s master punished him until he repaid what he owed o Jesus provides the meaning of the story in: Matt 18:35 The words of forgiveness ~ important though they may be ~ are not of primary importance in the sight of God He is looking at the attitude of the heart God blessed Joseph because he truly forgive others from his heart o And before explaining the meaning of the two dreams to the Pharaoh ~ Joseph shares an important truth with him: Gen 41:16 3
So the Pharaoh recounts the dreams to Joseph who explains what they mean o There would be 7 yrs of abundant harvest followed by 7 yrs of famine Joseph counsels Pharaoh Vs 34 36 A PROMOTION FROM PHARAOH Pharaoh was so impressed that he promotes Joseph from slave to Prime Minister o He s just 30 yrs old and in the 13 yrs since his brothers sold him into slavery: God had used his unpleasant experiences to accelerate his maturity and enhance his impeccable character Rom 8:28 ~~ God can use bad things to advance His cause o God can use adversity to accelerate our Spiritual Growth if we let Him Joseph s problems weren t a chain of events which resulted from Bad Luck The pit Potiphar s wife the prison and the Butler were all used by a loving God Let s notice what Jesus says in Luke 16:10 o Joseph was faithful in adversity ~ God knew he d be faithful in prosperity Therefore, God elevates Joseph to Prime Minister of powerful Egypt The next seven yrs produce much abundance Gen 41:49 o These years of plenty are reflected in Joseph s personal life too He marries the daughter of an influential official ~~ and they have two sons NAMES in the Biblical times meant much more than they do today o Back then ~ names were chosen because of what they meant Vs 51/52 o Please note that Joseph names the boys himself Again we see that it s impossible to enjoy our blessings ~~ if we re not willing to forgive those who ve wronged us One of the greatest joys of the Christian life is being able to forgive 4
Somehow forgiving others brings a little bit of Heaven into our lives here o On the other hand ~ to refuse to forgive is to live in a hell on earth Oxford scholar C.S. Lewis (The Great Divorce) describes hell as a place where nobody ever forgets anything ~ instead they remember every hurt ~ every cruel word ~ every harmful act... and no one forgives If you want a little heaven on earth ~ obey the command in Col 3:13 The standard of how to forgive is God s dealing with our sins Manasseh means to forget o Joseph forgives those who wronged him because he choose to forget He forgot about his brothers He forgot about Potiphar s wife He forgot about being in prison o He forgot about the Butler s memory problem o Joseph forgot the false accusation ~ the suffering ~ the humiliation ~ the loneliness: He choose to forget all the BAD he chose to to ignore the pain associate with those things Instead of allowing those experiences to spoil his present and future blessings from God o Joseph decided to put his past hurts aside o He knew that what had happened in the past is over ~ he couldn t change history And he knew that to be a man of God he couldn t avenge it So he forgot the hurt and forgave those who had wrong him The Apostle Paul ~ who d often been wronged by others ~ explains the ability to live life to the fullest: Phil 3:13 o Paul doesn t think he is perfect he chooses to leave the past ~~ in the past He focuses his life s energy in striving for Christian perfection in Jesus 5
It s also significant that Joseph named his second son ~ Ephraim doubly fruitful o Just maybe Joseph knew that no one can be fruitful until they willingly forgive If we live in the present with the pain of past hurts ~ how will we ever feel blessed in the present If I continually think (fume) about the General s failure be select me for SPTG/CD then I will never be happy w/ my present blessing o Unless we forget the pain of the past and forgive those who may be responsible we ll never enjoy the present In Joseph s story o When the 7 yrs of abundant harvests end the 7 bad yrs come: Gen 41:56/7 Famine extends beyond Egypt ~~ to countries which hadn t prepared Joseph shared Egypt s abundance and God set the stage for the next scene in Joseph s exemplary life (we ll look at next week) o Up to this point ~~ Joseph had lived out the counsel shared in Psm 1:1-3 CLOSURE Joseph was only able to enjoy his blessings because he was willing to forget and forgive o In GSC always worked as Food Store manager during 9-day camp meeting the Conference ABC Mgr worked the Book Side of our make-shift complex o After working a full day I was ready to go back to my room and get some rest However the ABC manager wanted to clear the Food Store cash register He d check the funds received carefully against the cash register tape And they had to balance to the penny o One day when I especially frustrated I lost my composure and told him what I thought of this nightly ritual he simply shared: Let s begin tomorrow afresh unhampered by what s happened before (me or $$) 6