Welcome to the InTouch podcast with Charles Stanley for Friday, May 22nd. How do you keep going when your world seems to be caving in? Today, Dr. Stanley's message explains how to stay in step with God through times of trial. The genuineness of our faith and our devotion, our love, I'll walk for God.
really isn't revealed in times when you're not having everything going our way with ease, comfort, and pleasure. They're revealed When we're going through difficult times, trying times, when sometimes maybe our faith may almost be a little bit shaken. Those are the times that reveal the genuineness of who we are and what we are. It's much easier. To declare our faith and devotion than it is to demonstrate it.
We've been talking about walking with God. And what's involved in that? We've been talking about What are the requirements of that? What can we expect? And today I want to take a biblical character.
and illustrate. One of the most awesome truths when it comes to walking with God. And as I think back over the years and think about things that God has taught me. One of the most precious lessons I've learned I learned as a result of simply reading the biblical characters, how they live their lives, their failures, and all the rest. And some of those are like Joseph, and David, Daniel, and a few others.
But I found something in the life of Joseph that absolutely strengthened me and has been a part of that strength all these years. And what I want to do in this passage of Scripture today, which is really Genesis from 37 primarily, all the way to 50, it doesn't mean that we'll take all of that. But it's the truth in those chapters. It's something that happened in his life. And when I think about the trials of Joseph's life, and recognized how God used him ultimately and so mightily.
God is still willing and ready to use people today who will practice this one simple truth that I want us to look at.
So I want you to turn, if you will, to Genesis, beginning in chapter 37. I just want to read a few verses to get us started, and then I want to give you a little background. And the scripture says in verse 1, Now Jacob lived in the land where his father had sojourned, in the land of Canaan. These are the records of the generations of Jacob. Joseph When 17 years of age, he was pasturing the flock with his brothers while he was still a youth, along with the sons of Bilhar and the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives, and Joseph brought back a bad report about them to their father.
Now, I want to give you a little bit of background about Joseph because everything else hinges on this, and what I want you to listen to is this. There is one truth that goes all the way through his life. Remember that he's 17 years of age. He's a teenager when this starts. He dies at 110.
But from seventeen to thirty, is a time of nothing but trials, heartache, burdens, misfortune, and pain. And oftentimes we come through those times and think, well, God, why do you let these things happen?
So, what I want to do is, I want to take you through the trials that he faced during this time. And I want you to keep hearing one thing. Because that one thing personally has helped me. If I could think of Some of the things that God has taught me, but in one phrase. One idea.
One principle that has sustained me through the most difficult, trying times of my life: this is that phrase.
So let's look at Joseph for a moment. Joseph grew up in a family. where his father, Had had dreams. God had spoken to him, didn't have the word of God. God oftentimes spoke in dreams in those days because there was no written word, and anything writing was very, very unusual.
And so he grows up in this family, and the scripture says that Jacob, Joseph's father, loved him above all the rest of them, he favored him. And you recall the scripture says that his father gave him a coat of many colors.
Well, as a result of that, this is the beginning of his trials because the Bible says. This was the way his brothers thought about him. And the scripture says that Verse 3 of the 37th chapter, and Ezra loved Joseph more than all the sons because he was the son of his old age, and he made him a very colored tunic. His brothers saw that their father loved him more than all the other brothers, and so they hated him and could not speak to him on friendly terms. I mean, I just once in a while, but this means, you know, they just didn't like him.
They wish he wasn't there. And so Then he had this dream. He had this dream about These sheaves are out in the field, and his bundle stood up, and all their sheaves bowed down.
Well that didn't make him very popular either. Then he had another dream, made everything worse. He dreamed that the sun and the moon and the stars all bowed down before him.
Well, by this time, listen to what the scripture says.
So they hated him even more.
So he tells them the other dream. The Bible says that they were very jealous of him. Yeah. What happens here in his family, nothing's going good for him. He grows up in a family where his father and mother love him dearly, but his brother hates him and they're jealous of him.
And so the first trial of his life. Is living in a household where he's not wanted, he's hated, they despise him.
Now, listen, this isn't just a little bit of anger, this is pure hatred. And you'll see that the next trial he goes through is proof of that. But remember this. He had a dream. He had a promise in that dream.
That one day God would so use him that his family. His brothers and even his mother and dead would one day bow down before him. Etched in his mind and in his heart these dreams. And in spite of all that, his brothers just hate him and despise him. But here's what he did.
He kept his focus on God. He did not allow his brother's attitude to make him angry, bitter, resentful, and hostile.
So he comes to the next big trial in his life.
So his father said, Your brothers are out in shekel with the flocks, and so I want you to go and find out how everything is going along. The scripture says they saw him coming and they said, Here comes the dreamer.
Now they didn't just dislike him, they hated him.
So they decided, let's just kill him. and get rid of him. And uh we'll just take his garments and kill a goat and and dip it in blood and tell his father that uh he got killed by some kind of beast. And so the oldest one of the brothers, Ruben, said, no, no, no, no, throw him in the pit. Throw him in a pit that had no water, which they would have said, well, then he'll just die of thirst because he couldn't get out by himself.
And so Reuben did that with in mind, though, that he would come back somehow and rescue him.
Well, so Reuben's off the scene for a little while for some reason, and here he is.
Now his brothers not only hated him, but they're trying to kill him. And What's in his mind? He had a dream. He had a promise from God.
So what sustained him is Through their hatred and bitterness, and we don't have any idea how they treated him when he showed up on the scene because of their hatred. You don't think they said to him, Now, Joseph, take off your coat. Take off your coat and stand over here, and we're going to push you into this pit. No. You can imagine, full of hatred and bitterness and jealousy, what they did, what they said to him.
So here he is lying at the bottom of this pit. And no doubt crying out, you know, why have you done this? What have I done to you? Whatever it might be. And so.
Leaving him there, his focus was upon God, not his circumstance, because there's nothing he could do about his circumstance. Then, of course, the third trial he goes through is here he is in the pit. And so Judah Remember how important he is? The line of the tribe of Judah. This is the son of Jacob's family through whom the Messiah came.
And so Judas says, here's what we should do. Don't kill him. Let's just sell him off to this caravan of Midianites. and so they sold him for twenty shekels.
Well, think about this. Here he is now, his brother's hatred and animosity toward him. Not only is that bad enough, he thought he was going to die. But In spite of all that, Something inside of him would not let that be a reality. They pick him up.
sold him off to these Midianites.
Now where's he goin'? He's getting further and further away from home and his family.
Well, when he arrived in um In Egypt? And the capital, probably. Um He was sold.
sold to a man by the name of Potiphar, who was head of the bodyguard Of Pharaoh.
So a little time went by.
Now remember, he's a teenager when this begins to happen. A little time goes by. And uh Potiphar begins to observe. this Hebrew slave.
Now, they, of course, would never dare eat with each other because they despised the Hebrews because they were shepherds. That's what they didn't like. and these their class was so much higher than that. But he kept observing this young man until finally he probably gave him a little task here and a little task there. And he noticed that whatever he did Uh he did it very well.
After a while, he added some of his responsibilities and. The scripture says that um He did so well. that the Lord was with him And now his master saw that the LORD was with him, and how the LORD caused all that he did to prosper in his hand, that Joseph found favor in his sight and became his personal servant. He made him overseer over his house. All that he owned, he put in Joseph's charge.
It came about that from the time he made him overseer in his house and over all that he owned, the Lord blessed the Egyptians' house on account of Joseph. Thus the Lord's blessing was upon all that he owned in the house and in the field.
So he left everything he owned in Joseph's charge, and with him that he did not concern himself with anything except the food which he ate.
Now, why would he do that? Think about this. More than likely, at some point, Potiphar said, you know, tell me about your background. I know you're a Hebrew, but What what's going on? I'm sure he must have told him about his father.
And about his brothers, and how they dumped him in the pit to die, and how he got to Egypt. And I'm sure Potiphar wanted to know that. How did you get here the first place? and he realized that he'd been sold off by his brothers. And Potiphar was certainly a smart man.
He would not have been the bodyguard of Pharaoh himself. And so he had to recognize this: here's a young man. who does an excellent job at what he does. and he doesn't seem to have any anger in him. He's not bitter.
He's not hostile. He's not defending himself. He's not on the defense. Uh he is a Hebrew, but He's not objecting here and he's not criticizing Egyptians. He's learned the language.
Whatever I give him to do, he does very well.
So, over a period of time, as God demonstrated, listen, His favor. In the heart of Joseph. God began to do an awesome work in his life. What I want you to see is this: His focus was upon God, not upon his circumstances. And as a result of his response to his trials and heartache and the way people had treated him.
In spite of all of that, What happened? God kept him. With the right spirit and And I believe a sense of gentleness about him. Very organized, very orderly. Good leadership because he turned everything.
That means he turned all of his finances, everything he had, which would be totally unlike an Egyptian. He turned it over to a Hebrew slave. And then Everything was going along rather well. And the Bible says, if you'll notice here, in this uh thirty-ninth chapter in the seventh verse.
Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance. And Potiphar had a wife. And part of his wife, no doubt, The whole idea of having a Hebrew slave in the household was a very negative thing, the way she responded later. And uh but she looked at Joseph and uh noticed he was good looking. and probably very strong.
And uh but most of all, it was his spirit. He had a gentle spirit. very organized, very orderly, probably very a quiet spirit. And the more she noticed him, Um The less Her husband looked. Because he's a young man.
And so the more she looked at him, the more she lusted after him. The more she lusted after him, the more she plotted. and planned that somehow she'd be able to go to bed with this Hebrew slave. And they hated Hebrews. But to show you how the devil works, She kept looking and she kept watching and she kept planning and one day, While everybody else was out of the household, she tried to get him to go to bed with her.
And he would not do it. And I want you to notice what he said, because what he said is so very significant in this 39th chapter. Verse 7. It came about in those events that the master's wife looked with desired Joseph, and she said, Lie with me. But he refused, and said to his master's wife, Behold with me here.
My master does not concern himself with anything in this house. And he's put all that he owns in my charge. There is no one greater. With, listen, there is no one greater in this house than I. It does not mean a prideful thing.
What he's saying is, I'm the most responsible one, and I'm in charge. And he has withheld nothing from me except you. Because you're his wife, How then could I do this great evil and sin against God? His focus was always on God. If his focus had slipped from God to this awesome opportunity to lie with Potiphar's wife, he would have been in serious trouble.
No matter what she might have promised and what she might have guaranteed, what she might have said, that wasn't what got a hold of him. His focus was always on God. His focus was on God when he was with his family. When they tried to throw him into the pit and kill him, when he was on that trip to Egypt with the Midianites, always his focus was on God, because God had given him a dream. And he had the promise of God.
He didn't have the word of God as you and I have. You and I, the reason God doesn't put a lot of dreams in people's eyes and minds today is because we don't need dreams. We have something far more certain and specific and promising and encouraging and believable than dreams because most dreams don't make any sense anyway. And so here he is. And now he is being threatened by this woman.
No doubt what she may have said, and so all the servants are gone.
So when they happened to be together, uh and he refused her He left his coat and left. And so she took it. And as a result, here's what she said. She called the other folks in and she said, The Hebrew slave whom you brought to us came into me to make sport of me. And I raised my voice and screamed.
He left his garment beside me and fled aside.
Now, when his master heard the words of his wife, which he spoke to him, saying, This is what, listen, this is what your slave. did to me. Then, of course, Potiphar was upset, and the scripture says his anger burned.
So Joseph's master took him and put him into the jail, the place where the king's prisoners were confined, and he was there in jail. No matter what he did, it was just getting worse. Remember, he started at the age of 17 as somebody that says, well, What do you think Potiphar really thought? Here's what I think he thought. I don't really believe this.
But I'm going to have to put him in jail. For the simple reason, if my fellow Egyptians heard that my wife said a Hebrew slave. tried to go to bed with her. And I believed the Hebrew slave rather than my wife. that would have been extremely, extremely disgraceful.
So he threw him in jail.
Now, why do I believe that? Because if he really had believed That Joseph tried to go to bed with his wife, he'd have had him killed. People were killed for almost nothing. People being killed, almost nothing. And here his wife has accused Joseph.
of trying to go to bed with it.
So he threw him in jail.
So Started out at 17.
Now he's probably 20-some by this point. And if you ask him, do you believe in the one true God? Yes. Or what's your evidence? Your brothers hated you.
They threw you in the pit to die. You got sold in the caravan. You did your best in part of his household, and now you're in jail. On what basis do you believe this God? Because he kept his focus upon God, not upon his circumstances.
Mm. Thank you for listening to today's podcast titled Through Times of Trial. For more inspirational messages like this one, visit our online 24-7 station. And if you'd like to know more about Charles Stanley or InTouch Ministries, stop by intouch.org. This podcast is a presentation of In Touch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia.
