Lessons from the life of Joseph

My pastor preached a good message yesterday morning and drew lessons from the life of Joseph. Joseph’s story is quite amazing and was particularly encouraging to me. Joseph came from a very obscure family. Joseph was sold into slavery by his jealous brothers and was then falsely accused of rape and thrown into prison. Joseph helped people in prison and he was forgotten by all of them when they were released. So now, here is a man who has been forgotten by the whole world. He is rotting in a prison cell. He is forsaken by his brothers and those who he had helped. And through all of this, he had been smeared with an accusation of rape. But above all of this, Joseph rose to become the Prime Minister of Egypt. Looking at it from a human point of view, Joseph was doomed. He had no hope and no chance. How was he able to get to the position that he did? Here are some lessons for all of us:

1. Bloom where you are planted (Be the best that you are wherever you are!).
• What God defines as success and what we define as success are two very different things. We define success as happiness and financial prosperity. But here is Joseph, a slave with no resources, in our eyes Joseph was not successful. But the bible says that as a slave, Joseph was successful at everything that he put his hands to because the Lord was with him (Genesis 39:1-4). As a result he found great favour in the eyes of his master Potiphar and was put in charge of Potiphar’s household and was entrusted with everything that he owned.
• The lesson – If the Lord is with us, we are already a success.
• Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will serve before kings; he will not serve before obscure men. (Proverbs 22:29)
2. Don’t become bitter. Become better!
• By all human standards, Joseph had reason to be bitter. After interpreting Pharaohs butlers dream, he asked that he would remember him when he was released. The butler forgot all about him. 2 full years had passed with not so much as even a mention of gratitude from the butler who had been released. Then when Pharaoh had a problem, the butler was reminded of the young Hebrew man in the dungeon (Joseph) who had successfully interpreted his dream. Pharaoh then sent for Joseph.
• Joseph could have come out of prison with this mindset “Oh, now they need me. Well I will let them know just how I feel about being kept in prison.” Joseph however refused to become negative or become a cynic. The bible says that Joseph shaved and changed his clothes (Genesis 41:14) and came before Pharaoh.
• Joseph chose to leave the jail completely behind. Although he was in jail and people had let him down, He did not allow his circumstances to affect who he was.
• We have all met people like this and have often behaved like this ourselves, we want everyone to know what a crappy time we have had. We carry around the stench of our circumstances and affect the mood of every one around us.
• Here is the lesson – Don’t let the smell of prison follow you throughout life.
3. Make friends with your destiny.
• Matthew 5:9
• Destiny is not a solo journey. Were ever you go or end up in life, there will undoubtedly be people. We were created to live in community and peace with others.
• Note: Making peace is not the same as finding peace. Forgiveness takes one person. Conflict resolution takes two. If you have unforgiveness in your heart, the most affected person is yourself.
• The early church had to make peace with the apostle Paul. Before he had his encounter with Christ, Paul (formerly named Saul) killed Christians. Because the early church made peace with Paul, he was able to go on and become perhaps the greatest apostle to ever live.
• Lesson – Be a peacemaker!
4. Be ready
• It’s too late to prepare when opportunity comes.
• You will always be better off serving even if you don’t think it is where you should be serving. It is easier to steer a moving car in the direction it should go, rather than if the car was not moving.
• Joseph was not necessarily gifted as an administrator. This was a skill that he learnt in prison. If Joseph just sat back and did felt sorry for himself and did not work, he would have totally missed the opportunity that came to him.
5. God is bigger than any circumstance
• You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. (Genesis 5:20).
• Look to God at all times. Nothing is too hard for God. Nothing can separate us from Gods love. As believers we are successful through our God, regardless of the circumstances around us.
• Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6).

That is a summary of the message based on the notes that I took. I hope that you find some help and encouragement from it. You can read Josephs full story from about Genesis 30:24 to Genesis 50:27. I encourage you to read it. So many lessons from life can come out of it. Our God is faithful. We are much loved. God bless you.