Summary of Relying on God when the good times come
Preamble
Brent introduced himself and leads the group in prayer. After the prayer Brent talks about his family rule that the Chapman’s don’t decorate the Christmas tree until after his own birthday (Nov 24). He talks about how it is easy to be in a “waiting period” when we know it will end on a specific date. Brent points out millions of people are counting down to see Star Wars: the force unleashed.
Joseph was in a waiting period with no known end date
Brent summarises Joseph’s story up to the point of Genesis 41. Joseph is in prison waiting for God’s.
Genesis 41
Together we read the entire 57 chapters. Pharaoh has a prophetic dream and Joseph is asked to explain the meaning. Joseph says he cannot do it, but God can. Joseph is given the meaning from God. Pharaoh is so impressed that he makes Joseph second in command over all of Egypt. Joseph was 30 years old when this happened. By his age of 37 he had stored up so much grain that they stopped counted it. Famin came but Egypt was ready.
God gives us all our blessings.
Joseph goes from prisoner to second in command in a very short amount of time. This wasn’t an accident of fate. It wasn’t random. God had been in control of Joseph’s life the entire time. God chose to bless Joseph with status and wealth at this time. God chooses how much to give us and when to give it to us. Our wealth and status is never an accident. It is always organized by God.
Be good stewards of money
Brent reminds us that we must be good steward with the money God has given us. Just like how Joseph increased the wealth of his masters because he knew how to handle the wealth so should we bless others with our wealth. All of Joseph’s bosses — from Potiphar to the prison guards to the Pharaoh — Joseph was a blessing to this bosses.
Have confidence
We must remember that no matter how confident we are there is always a feeling of risk when God asks us to obey him. Joseph was confident in his administrative skills and he followed God’s plan and told Pharaoh how to run the country. That is risky for that time period! You don’t just tell the leader of the Egyptian nation how to do things. But Joseph obeyed God and told Pharaoh what God laid on his heart.
Only God brings peace of mind
Pharaoh’s mind was troubled when he had these dreams. Joseph explained to Pharaoh that only God could bring him peace. And this is true for us today. We often get caught up thinking that true peace can be brought through our own hardware work, or our wealth, or the family we have around us. But only true peace is brought on from God.
About this Message Series
This is a message in a series called Joseph: Living with integrity when life turns upside down. The goal of this series is to discuss the bible character Joseph. The series touches on various moments in his life, specifically focusing on his integrity. This series was started in November 2015.
About the Speaker
Brent is the lead pastor here at SouthRidge. He and his wife Pam were part of the original church plant.