We've all been hurt. We all carry scars. We can all overcome these things and be
healed through a relationship with Jesus Christ. Let's build that relationship
together right here. Welcome to Healing Scars with Pastor Burton. Hey everybody
welcome back to the sanctuary. So good to have you here with us as always and to
those of you who are new, welcome. Thank you for joining us. So you know sometimes
it is tough. It is just really tough to remember that there's still hope out
there for all of us. Times get tough. Life gets tough and we focus on all those
things that are happening around us or to us or to those that we know and we
love. We've all been guilty of this. It happens. You know it's not like our
favorite stories out there where the heroes going up against all the odds and
in the end we know they're going to succeed. You know exactly what I'm
talking about. You know TV, movies, if you listen to old-time radio programs, yes
you can still find them. You know thank the internet for that. You know
even books. You know one of my favorite book series is from the science fiction
genre. You know it revolves around a character who prefers hot cocoa over
coffee. You know they've been up and down and around military rank structure
forced into politics that they never wanted and you know unlike various
characters and heroes and media and you know the most popular of you know the
genres, you know this character is really easy to relate to because of their
various frustrations, the various obstacles that they have to overcome
just in their life, the various injuries that they sustain, you know things that
from minor to downright life-altering and I truly mean that you know and
something you know that's that's something that many of us who have served
in the military and as first responders you know can relate to. However in the
end we know that these made-up characters are going to win and of
course you know by default are doing their job and you know part of the
entertainment value is masses are going to be saved because of it. You know
however our own lives, well let's face it, it's a bit harder to see when it comes
to our own lives. You know God is there and the hope that we have because
of it is still there and we see this throughout the Bible. Now you know if you
go back to our Reluctant Leader series you know I talked about a lot of these
things and it's from one end all the way to the next you know that's one of
them big focuses of the Bible is you know that hope that we have you know in
Jesus. However for today we're going to focus on Joseph. This is someone that we
know a lot about and of course for today I'm going to take a little different
route you know usually we go through what it's verse by verse. I'm going to
use a different style of preaching at you today all right a little
different for some of you you might like this some of you well you might not but
that's okay because we have a lot to go through real quick and you're gonna
understand why I do this very soon all right so we're actually gonna go all the
way back to the beginning of our books and we're going to crack open Genesis
and we're going to start in Genesis 37 all right and we're gonna go through a
few chapters here. So in Genesis 37 we see Joseph's beginning and verses 1
through 4 we learned that he was a Canaanite he was about 17 years old and
even though he was the youngest child he was still his father's favorite son. His
father even went so far as to have a special robe made for him. Now back in
these days robes were very common and they served a multitude of purposes very
similar to you know kilts those of you who you know follow Celtic trends and
fashions I think we're all familiar with the
kilts especially the great kilts even today we have certain garments are made
to multitask right but robes back then you know they're everything from very
bland to very elaborate depending on a person's position and wealth and all
that they were short-sleeved typically you know and they served a lot of
purposes from cradling to carrying to protecting the wearer all sorts of stuff
you know and because Joseph was his father's favorite his brothers were
extremely jealous to the point that they were hateful of him. Now this is
something that we can all relate to isn't it? Not necessarily with our
siblings but with co-workers and acquaintances you know depending on your
age where you're at in life maybe other students you know none of us are ever
going to be able to please everyone it just will not happen as much as we we
want to as much as we might try we won't befriend everybody popularity you know
this is one of those things it may come easy for some but for the vast majority
of us for many of us it's going to be very elusive you know the term people
like to use these days is haters gonna hate you know just a way to kind of
boost themselves up you know like okay yeah you know haters just gonna hate you
know I'm all that bag of chips whatever you know other times you know our
hardships they come in the form of other difficulties in life you know like that
that car that breaks down that's something I'm dealing with personally
myself right now you know or that leaky roof that the landlord just can't seem
to get fixed regardless of how many different people how many different
companies they call and have come out and they're like oh yeah it's good and
it just keeps on leaking you know or various other things in life you know we
we we have them you know what I'm talking about all right to make matters
worse verses 5 through 11 here Joseph in his own immaturity you know and this is
something that comes with age it happens he shared a dream that he had and this
was a dream that spoke of a future to come where he'd be in a great position
of leadership now this was the tipping point for his brothers they mocked him
they plotted against him at this point you know whatever you know it's just a
bad situation he had a very hostile home life now maybe he only meant to share
this vision he had or maybe he was bragging you know either way it doesn't
matter because the way his brothers looked at it was that he's being
boastful and let me remind you nobody likes a braggart nobody likes a braggart
even his father told him dude you need to keep this stuff to yourself you know
the hard lesson was coming because of this so life was already hard for him
and he's already kind of struggling you know he's he kept getting pushed down to
the bottom of the barrel so to speak you know he was facing these challenges very
early on as we all do and like many of us at that age he didn't really seem to
have a filter either did he you know if something was on his mind like this
dream he shared it it came out sometimes we're made aware of things you know it's
just that the things that come you know whether it's experience life experience
and you know from the things that we do and the things that we've seen you know
or God talking to us and you know and sometimes you know as much as we want to
say something sometimes it's just better that we don't you know just bite that
tongue some things are meant to be strictly between God and us individually
you see even at this early stage we're also seeing something that we can all
relate to you know life seems to be one struggle after another one challenge
after another there are times when these troubles come at us rapid-fire and we
feel like we're drowning like dude what's going on holy cow you know and you
know really the reality of it though is even though we feel like we're drowning
that's never the case and as we're going to see here these are the building
blocks upon which God uses to build us up and to empower us to do great things
in his kingdom so Joseph's brothers they were angry selfish hurtful boys you know
and I will say boys because we all know people like this you know they're
supposed to be grown men or women they're supposed to be adults and they
act like children regularly you know they tend to forget you know when I
became an adult I put away childish things you know that that whole bit
right there and we see it more and more so today you know so these these boys
you know as brothers they came up with a plan to get rid of this hassle
that they saw in their younger brother and or so they thought they thought they
had this planet that okay we got this is gonna take care of the problem so going
into Genesis 37 verses 12 through 17 we see baby brother Joseph he's been sent
to help his brother basically their debt there did you know their dad said hey go
help your brothers tend to the flocks and so he is obedient he listened to his
dad he goes and when he gets there he finds the flock is scattered his
brothers are nowhere to be found so you know that this flock itself it's it's
being neglected so they're just wandering off doing whatever but even
though he's doing what he's told here's another challenge already presenting
itself say oh man it's like really it's like one thing after another at this
point he's probably thinking man we're gonna get in trouble again because these
lazy bums that's putting it nicely right typically especially those of you who
have siblings you know or the you know that that group that you have to work
with at work even you had those those knuckleheads that are just always making
things harder than they need to be because they're just like whatever
they're very selfish and just go about doing what they want you're like how
does this guy even have a job right so going into verses 18 through 20 we see
that the fact of the matter is that it's actually much worse than this see he's
just like okay my brothers are out doing whatever and he's going to try to find
them however the reality is his brothers are actually talking about killing him
how to stage it set it up it is straight-up premeditated now can you
imagine hating someone so much that you want them dead I mean sometimes you know
we say it but I mean to actually mean it seems a bit extreme doesn't it however
when we look at the news it's really not that extreme and just turn albuquerque
in the past you know a few years how many road rage incidents have we had how
many shootings how many murders have we seen too many and that's just here in
one small city let alone the nation or the world you know let alone the
murders and the assaults and everything else that have come about from other
things and other incidents you know his brothers had so much sin in their lives
so much pride and jealousy that they allowed it to harden them to the point
that they were willing to take out their brother it's gonna be swimming with the
fishes right you know jealousy is vicious it is vicious it's a sin that we
need to deal with within ourselves as soon as we start to recognize it when we
become angry because you know someone scores a point in a game that we're
watching or you know even if maybe if you're playing it even you know some of
us do go to the gym and that sort of thing and play with others or you know
the different the various yards and parks and stuff you know when you become
angry because others are rewarded for their efforts yet yours seem to go
unrecognized or maybe they're recognized for doing something that was actually
your idea which you know of course you know we're gonna get angry but you know
when the other person gets promoted when everybody agrees is really a poor choice
you know and so on and so forth it consumes us like a fire matter of fact
it's even the term that we use is like you know seeing fire you know hot right
and that fire is where we're gonna find ourselves if we don't get this thing
under control and get it in check after all we are called to love our neighbor
we're called to love one another that's pretty hard to do when you're filled
with anger and hate so much you know that these these sins that come with
jealousy you can't hate someone and love them you can be frustrated with them
sure but you can't hate someone and love them at the same time and we are called
to love now moving along here into verses 21 through 36 things are picking
up speed and they're going quick I mean we're talking breakneck speed what check
this out so you know all this talk is going on at least one other brother
Reuben you know he realized you know what killing him it's probably not the
best option right so let's talk about this so instead of killing him they took
Joseph and they threw him in a cistern now a cistern as we see here basically
it's a pit that was used for water collection we still have type cisterns
today but they're more of actual you know containers and all that are used
for this type of thing now the brothers you know they left him here they
basically he's trapped he's jailed it's like he's been locked in a closet right
now in fact we I you know even recently I heard some heard them talking about
this girl that was locked in a closet that you know had been found and
everything you know this is a horrible thing you know they're imprisoned by the
ones that you love and they leave him there and they start having a meal and
talking about how to best get rid of him you know they're sitting there they're
eating and you know what hey you know I don't really want to have to deal with
the guilt of killing him let alone you know have have the the blood of his
death on my hands there's got to be another option here so there were some
merchants that were coming through and after Ruben had left before he
returned the rest of the brothers have said you know what let's just sell him
to these merchants let's just sell him we'll sell him and that'll be done it'll
be done so Joseph here he's been bullied by his own family he's been tortured by
his own family and then he's been imprisoned in a pit you know the things
that are going on in his mind at this point I think about it these are the
things of sheer terror absolute whore only it was his actual life he was
living this hell you know and in life you go through challenges you go through
ups you go through downs and sometimes I feel like they just go on forever don't
they or you just you don't see how you're gonna get through it but then
eventually you get through it and you get a you get a reprieve for a moment
and then you end up going into the next challenge the next hardship other times
you're forced into a fight that you yourself feel like you you're not
prepared for you haven't been prepared for you know you didn't even know it was
coming and you're just taking hit after hit after hit just bam bam bam right you
know when it rains it pours you know and poor Joseph this dude he's getting
rocked I just absolutely rocked you know a left to right a hook a jab
uppercut they're just common and he's just taking them all you know but just
like Joseph even when it happens in our own lives God is taking something
horrible that's happening in our lives and he's using it as a tool he's using
it for good you see God was allowing this to happen because he was already in
the process of working to start to try building him up and to start molding him
into the person he would become we're gonna see that more that here in just a
moment okay now at this point Joseph he's just property plain and simple he's
been property and to make it worse he's been sold to a group of merchants who
then turned around and sold him again to the captain of Pharaoh's Guard in Egypt
all right now we're gonna skip over Genesis 38 because we're focused on
Joseph so join me now you know in Genesis 39 now so in Genesis chapter 39
verses 1 through 6 at this point now Joseph is now the servant of Potiphar
Potiphar is a wealthy officer you know being the captain of the guard he he's
he's he was the modern-day equivalent of a general basically he was a general you
know he was high up there he's way up the ladder he had the riches you know and
you know the account all the things that accompany that kind of position in life
you know that the creature comforts the whole bit now Potiphar having earned his
position he had a keen eye you know this guy he wasn't a dummy you know
especially being in Egypt you know this is a guy that we know he's educated
he's been around he's worked and he's moved himself up he wasn't just
handed this position all right and he noticed something he noticed that
everything that Joseph did was absolutely awesome you know Joseph he
was blessed by God absolutely blessed so even though he you know Joseph had to
endure all these tragic events that you know that forced him into slavery God's
hand was on him he was still guiding him and so he began you know this is what we
call being prosperous you know he built up he was respected he was successful
and Potiphar recognized Joseph's worth and eventually elevated him from just
being a servant to being in charge of the household and then being in charge
of his entire estate inside and out in the house in the fields the whole bit
verse 6 goes so far as to tell us this this is what the Bible says so Potiphar
left everything he had in Joseph's care with Joseph in charge he did not concern
himself with anything except the food he ate it's safe to say that the struggles
Joseph had faced had finally simmered down he'd actually been elevated at this
point and had a pretty pretty good life going at the you know at that moment
things were good you know even as a slave he had a good life God had been
working on him and in his life molding him guiding him protecting him and he
was in a good place in verses 7 through 23 the fight was about to take a turn
though the fight was changing again the game was changing he's about to get hit
hard we're talking one of those hard hits where he like he's down and he's
struggling to make that 10 count all right the Bible tells us Joseph was a
good-looking guy you know and that was just on top or on top of being held in
such high regard so he's successful he's respected and he's a good-looking dude
you know this was more than enough to spark the interest of Potiphar's wife and
Potiphar's wife tried to seduce him like she did she straight up went in and
Joseph he said no he did the right thing he said nope he stood up for his master
he stood up for Potiphar it's like that no that's not right you know you know we
don't know where Potiphar what he was somewhere else at a time he was gone and
on top of that not only did he stand up for Potiphar he stood up for God he said
no not only can I not do this not only can I not do this for you know to
Potiphar but I can't sin against God in such a heinous way I can you know he
took a stand for God now this this did not deter her she was determined like
she saw what she wanted and she was gonna get it that's what she was
going on in her mind so she tried again at a later time and when he said no just
happened you know that she had grabbed his robe and he just kept going so she
set him up she just straight up set him up and and you know tried to turn those
tables and you know claiming that Joseph was actually the one trying to seduce
her not the other way around you know she she she made herself the victim
right she told everybody in the household she told her husband as well
which like most of us you know someone messes with your wife you're gonna start
seeing that fire again right you're gonna get enraged you know downright
ticked off so Joseph because of this and because of Potiphar's anger well he's
back in a pit now not literally this time because he's sent to jail he was
locked up you know he's he's knocked down pretty good so he went from being at an
elevated status to being right knocked right back down you know two steps forward
one big step back you know it's really easy to get caught up in it real easy
you know when you're down it's so much so that we had this victim mentality
that's just absolutely permeating our society these days the whole woe is me
thing you know we all know this on nobody knows the trouble I've seen yeah
you know it's right there the whole pity party the Wambulans you know we let we
let these things define our lives you know oh you know this this happened to
me it sucks you know it shouldn't have happened you know but we shouldn't see
what we should do is be like Joseph in chapter 40 here so chapter 40 here he is
he's in prison however again God is still with him God is still guiding him
and he's being prosperous again he's been entrusted to take care of things
he's working in the jail and you know we see in here he actually acknowledges the
fact you know he's innocent and he shouldn't be there however he does not
let that define him instead he focuses on the work that God's placed before him
he's taken a well to say it you know downright horrible situation it's
absolute garbage but he's moving through it for good he's working it for good so
in the work that in part of the work that he's put a place before him he has
two jailed officials they're locked up in there and these guys you know they're
having dreams they don't know what to make out of it though so he talks to
them it's like what's going on what's troubling you and they tell him his
dreams because God gifted him and you know God gifted him with the
interpretation of these dreams so he tells one on one of these these guys one
of these officials you know what hey sorry you're about to die a horrible
death and an example is going to be made of your remains however the other
official Joseph tells him hey don't worry just a few days you're gonna be
restored to your position you're gonna be okay and then he simply asks him hey
when you get restored to your position please please don't forget about me and
tell the Pharaoh about me sure enough that official is restored and then
promptly forgets for a while see the key the key here though the takeaway is we
need to work diligently we need to stay focused on what God's placed in front of
us and not get caught up in the bad things that are happening to us and
around us we got to keep our eye on God we'd keep our eye on Jesus now I'm not
saying it's easy man fact is far from it the Bible doesn't tell us we're going to
have an easy life in fact it tells us the opposite that things are going to be
tough for us because we're followers of Christ straight up life is gonna be hard
sometimes it's just downright gonna suck but we stay focused on God and we know
things are gonna be okay things are gonna work out and it's gonna be even
better when we reach the finish line right now in chapter 41 that official
finally remembers Joseph things finally click for him when Joseph I'm sorry when
the Pharaoh needs to have this dream interpreted for him so the official he
finally remembers Joseph say oh yeah see the Pharaoh he's having his dream it's
troubling him there's it's very detailed it's very vivid a lot of stuff's
happening and he reached out to everyone he could think of you know we're talking
magicians wise men you know everyone he could think of and not a single one of
them could tell him about his dream so this official you know he tells Pharaoh
hey I was in jail you know and this guy he interpreted my dream and he's been
wrongfully imprisoned so Pharaoh set for Joseph Joseph gets cleaned up he goes
in you know and uh Pharaoh tells him hey I'm having these dreams I need it
interpreted he's like hey you know what sorry I can't interpret the dream
however God can he gave the credit to God the one it truly belonged to the
glory the victory of God's because on his own could he do it no absolutely not
God had to intervene here so and then you think about he's standing here you
know basically first but don't you say hey I was told you can do this it's like
no God can and that's a pretty bold statement to make to the highest man in
the land in a land where they still worshipped several gods and then he went
on until Pharaoh and I was like you know what let me tell you what God's telling
you in this dream he told him what was coming and how to plan for it and
because of this Pharaoh now saw Joseph as Potiphar once had as someone who
could be entrusted with the greatest control Joseph not only was no longer
jailed but elevated to one of the highest levels possible at that time one
of the highest levels imaginable at that time Joseph was now higher than even
Potiphar was he was now in charge of all of Pharaoh's palace and all of his people
Joseph he got back up that ten count hadn't been made yet he's back up he's
back in the fight swinging like a champ oh after this he was promoted again to
Pharaoh's second in command Pharaoh even said you know you know you're gonna be
the higher I'll only be hired to you on the throne life was good he was in
charge of all of Egypt not just part of it not just a slim piece of it all of it
that's how much the Pharaoh trusted him now in chapters 42 43 44 Joseph has a
reunion of sorts with his brothers all right the fam there's a famine going on
they're coming there you know their dad has sent them they're trying to you know
get food and all that kind of stuff you know this is the same brothers who had
sold him years prior now the thing here though is they didn't recognize Joseph
at this point you know a lot of time had passed and likely because of Joseph
position they're not even expecting it to be him so Joseph he has a little bit
fun he kind of he toys with them a bit it's not until chapter 45 that he makes
himself known to them not only has his own dream from their youth come to pass
but he shows kindness not anger he could have but he shows kindness not anger love
not disdain the Bible says this in Genesis 45 verse 5 and now do not be
distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here because
it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you ah the big picture is
starting to show itself isn't it Joseph was put into a position to save the
lives of a nation not just a couple thousands you know we we focus on the
now that is our tendency that is part of the human condition we focus on the now
and for Joseph it was several years decades even an entire lifetime that he
was being built up and you know in prosperous you know successful you know
that's what that word prosperous prosperous means is that he was he was
made successful by God you know because God had this plan for him and not only
that but even in the hardest times and with the biggest struggles Joseph stayed
loyal to him you see in life we see a small episode during the time that it's
happening we don't see the story arc that's coming we don't know where things
are headed each day is just a frame in the big motion picture of life in the
film Rocky Balboa Sylvester Stallone's character he says this you me or nobody
is gonna hit as hard as life but it ain't about how hard you hit it's about
how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward how much you can take and keep
moving forward that's how winning is done and it's true we're going to
experience a lot of hardship a lot of obstacles a lot of hard hits in life
sometimes it's gonna come one hit at a time other times we're going to be
absolutely stunned because of how fast and hot how unrelenting it's going to
be James chapter 1 verses 2 through 5 the Bible says this consider it pure
joy my brothers and sisters whenever you face trials of many kinds because you
know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance let perseverance
finish its work so that you may mature and complete not lacking anything if any
of you lacks wisdom you should ask God who gives generously to all without
finding fault and it will be given to you it goes on to tell us in James 1
verse 12 blessed is the one who perseveres under trial having stood the
test that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to
those who love him so hardships obstacles they're inevitable they are
inevitable it's going to happen as painful as they may be they're meant to
mold us into what God has planned for us into the people he wants us to become
and they're made to remind us to look to him not just to rely on ourselves but to
rely on him like can be compared to boot camp or basic training for the kingdom
you know and you think about military boot camp basic training those have
gone to law enforcement fire academies you know they tear you down and they
build you up you know the world is going to tear us all down the world wants us
to be less than who we are you know that's that's that's Satan that's the
devil he wants us to be lesser than however God he then guides us through
those obstacles he guides us through the successes and the defeats the highs the
lows the ups the downs so that in the end we are built up stronger and wiser
and better prepared and able to serve the mission that he has for us and to
serve his kingdom life is our training ground and the Bible is our manual
through it that is our hope that is our future those who have served you know
let's face it we take a lot of pride in the training the different schools that
we went to and the service the different things that we did the places that we
went to you know and if this is something that is so great how much
better how much bigger how much more awesome is it going to be for each and
every one of us as a member of God's kingdom of God's army of God's family
now we also need to remember with these things you know it's not just about us
yeah it happens to us but happens to all of us we need to remember the hardships
they also came for Jesus however we don't want through them alone I said
Jesus is there with us in John 16 verse 33 Jesus tells us I have told you these
things so that in me you may have peace in this world you will have trouble but
take heart I have overcome the world see right there even Jesus tells us in this
world you will have trouble so for those you know I like to say you know live
your best life now no no because if this is your best life that that's saying that
the kingdom to come is not going to be at that level and it's going to be so
much better so much better life is hard and sometimes it's hard to remember that
we need to keep our eye on Jesus we need to look to Jesus we need to depend on
him however it's at these times that we need him the most so I encourage you I
implore you go to him tell him your hurt tell him your worry tell him your
struggle and be bold about it don't sugarcoat it he he wants the real you
the true you he wants that ugly part of you that just lets those tears out or
that anger out and that frustration because we all have struggles however
they will not last forever and Jesus he's there with you with me with all of
us to help us all get back up every time the world knocks us down so I encourage
you get back in the fight listen to what Jesus is telling you to do and if you do
that that is how you're gonna win the fight all right y'all are blessing go be
the church I want to thank you for joining us today if you have any
questions prayer requests or would like to know more about our ministry you can
find us on our website at be the light sanctuary org or on Facebook at be the
light sanctuary we'll catch you next time God bless