Genesis 39.19-23; Acts 16. 25-28
We welcome you the beloved of God in our today's services. We believe that our loving God will visit each of us in a very special way as He bless us, uplift us and help us to deal with each and every of our every concerns and struggles in our individual lives. Our today's topic is hope in the midst of storms, a case study of Joseph.
As we have already defined, Christian hope is a trustful expectation particularly with reference to the fulfilment of God's promises. Keeping hope alive in all circumstances is very important. The great writer, John Marxwell asserts that we can recover from all other losses but we can't recover if we lose hope. This is why we learn from Biblical hero's and heroine on how they kept hope alive in the midst of storms. Today we learn from Joseph story.
The life of Joseph is written in Genesis 37-50. From his youth, Joseph became an object of hatred from his brothers for sharing his dreams and visions with them. They hated him because he was their fathers favourite son and because he looked like he was going to outshine them.
Among the storms he experienced in his life is betrayal from his brothers who sold him to the Ishmaelites to be a slave. But even after he was sold as a slave, he did not land to work for any ordinary person. In Genesis 39.2, we read that after being sold as a slave, God was with him and he lived in the house of Potiphar, a senior Egyptian official. Because of God's favor, Joseph found favor with Potiphar who put him in charge of his household and trusted him with all his heart.
Joseph was prospering and doing well in Potiphar’s household until Potiphar’s wife entertained the thought of having carnal knowledge with him. When she seduced him, he refused and explained to her that he cannot sin against God and wrong her husband. This brought another storm in Joseph's life when Potiphar's wife accused him of attempted rape. I'm sure Joseph tried to give his side of the story but no one listened to him especially because he was a mere slave.
Its important for us to know that he was not put in any prison but in the prison where pharaoh and his senior officials servants were locked when they did something wrong. In prison, God made the prison wardens to like Joseph and he was made in charge of other prisoners. It is in this position that he was able to meet with the king chief Baker and chief cup bearer who were disturbed because of the dreams they had and he interpreted them correctly.
Later on, the chief cup bearer told pharaoh about Joseph skill to interpret dreams and we know he interpreted the two dreams rightly and he was made the second in command and later helped many people including his own family not to starve to death.
From Joseph story, we learn that storms are bound to come. However, just like God walked with Joseph and helped him out in the storms, God walks with us right in the middle of the storms and help us to overcome every negative situation we find ourselves in. As we learn from Joseph, some storms happens to us in full knowledge of God for greater good in future. When Joseph's brothers were depressed thinking that Joseph might punish them for what they did to him, Joseph assured them that all what happened to him was orchestrated by God so as to save many people from starvation.
Joseph became a very senior government official despite having gone through many tribulations. Our present storms will not prevent us from becoming the great people that God intends us to become.
So let us keep hope alive knowing that just as God helped Joseph to overcome many storms and become a great person, so will God help us to overcome all the storms and come out successfully because the God of Joseph is still our God