Life Is Not Easy

“Here comes that dreamer!’ they said to each other. ‘Come now, let’s kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns and say that a ferocious animal devoured him. Then we’ll see what comes of his dreams.”

Genesis 37:19-20

Life is hard. Have you ever felt all alone, like you have no one in the world? Joseph went through a period of his life where he was all alone. He was, without a doubt, fearful of what was going to happen to him. I’m sure he questioned God, and wondered if He was even going to survive. I want us to start our study on Joseph by looking at his trials and tribulations. Everybody has a beginning to their success story. Some are prettier than others. This is Joseph’s beginning.

Joseph was Jacob’s favorite son. This fact was well known and shown in many ways. The fact that Jacob showed this favoritism through his actions was one of his many downfalls. Joseph knew he was highly favored by Jacob and he let this fact shine. We see in Genesis 37:2 that Joseph brought a bad report to Jacob about his other sons. This was one of the things Jacob could rely on. Joseph was always watching out to see if his brothers were doing the right thing. He was seeing how he could tattle on his brothers and instigate their next punishment. He even had a special robe or cloak that stood out from his brother’s. Joseph’s cloak was described as long, colorful, and made of expensive material. Most cloaks were knee length and made of neutral cloth. Joseph’s cloak was specially made for him and made him stand out from the others in his family. It could have been a sign of authority. Well, of course all this led to jealousy in Joseph’s brothers as it would in any group of siblings. Joseph’s brothers despised him and absolutely did not want to be around him.

Favoritism in families can sometimes be unavoidable, but it divides families and brings hurt to all those involved. We learned in our 1 John study how God does not show favoritism or is bias in His love. His love is equal for all His children. When we show love to our family members, we need to make sure our actions do not show favoritism even if we have it in our thoughts. Our actions speak very loudly, and we can prevent division and hurt through our actions of love.

Can you relate to any of these characters? Maybe you have a child that you favor, or have a sibling you are jealous of, or maybe you are the sibling that is the instigator and always looking for a way to make yourself look better. Listen to what God is saying to you through this passage. What is God wanting you to learn?

Recall a time where jealousy divided your family. Has anything been done to mend those wounds?

God blessed Joseph with a dream. In his dream Joseph’s family were binding sheaves of grain in the field and suddenly Josephs’ sheaf rose and stood up, while all the other sheaves bowed down to it. This dream made his brother’s blood boil. They questioned, “Do you intend to reign over us?” Genesis 37:8 tells us they hated him all the more because of this dream. Then Joseph had another dream where the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to him. The sun represented his father, the moon represented his mother, and the eleven stars represented his brothers. These two dreams brought many questions for Joseph, his father, and his brothers. They all had different thoughts about these dreams. Jacob heard about Joseph’s first dream and then his second dream and knew the possibility of this dream’s fulfillment was huge. When something that God speaks to you is repeated, you can be certain it is from God and it is the truth. Jacob knew this and kept these dreams in his mind but did not know what they meant. One thing was certain, these dreams came from God. God was already preparing for what was about to happen.

In Genesis 37 we are told three times that Joseph’s brothers hated him. This fact sets the scene for what is about to happen. Joseph’s brothers have gone to tend to the sheep and Jacob asks him to go check on them. Joseph obeys his father and takes off to check on his brothers. Never does the thought cross his mind that he may never see his father again. Genesis 37:19 tells us that the 11 brothers see Joseph coming in the distance. They immediately are disgusted by the sight of their brother and begin plotting his death. Imagine this scene. I wonder which of the brothers was the first to suggest killing Joseph. How could jealousy lead to such rage and thoughts of killing? Jealousy can sometimes hinder our vision to the point of blinding us of what is right. This is when jealousy leads to serious sin.

What do you regret doing because of jealousy?

How have you been wronged because of jealousy?

Through God’s sovereignty, Joseph was not killed by his brothers, but he was sold into slavery. His brothers stripped him of his special cloak, threw him into a cistern, and then sold him to Potiphar, the captain of the guard, one of Pharoah’s officials. If we were looking at the story of our lives, this is where we might say everything started to fall apart. At the age of 17, Joseph was moved into a city that was completely different from anything he had ever seen. He was surrounded by people who worshipped many gods unlike the One True God he worshipped; the culture was opposite of the life he lived in the fields as a shepherd, and he was a slave. What was he supposed to do?

From here, things just kept getting worse, or so it seemed. In Genesis 39 we see that Joseph was a slave for Potiphar’s household. Joseph worked hard and proved to Potiphar that he was a man of honesty and integrity. Potiphar put him in charge of everything in his household. But this positive outlook didn’t last long. Potiphar’s wife found Joseph attractive and tried to pressure him into sleeping with her. Joseph denied her request and she retaliated by saying he attacked her. For a slave to try to sleep with the lady of the house would have meant death. This was a significant crime that would not have been looked upon lightly, but for some reason Potiphar dealt lightly on Joseph’s punishment. Joseph was sent to prison.

Joseph went from a 17-year-old boy who was his father’s favorite child to a slave with no privileges or freedom to a young man second in command to Potiphar a lowly, common prisoner for a crime he did not do. These prisons were used to house forced laborers or hold the accused who were awaiting their trial. None of these circumstances were deserved. There is no doubt that Joseph hurt mentally and physically through this suffering. His pain ran deep. I’m sure he questioned why this had to happen to him, what the rest of his life would look like, and how would God rescue him from this situation.

When my husband, Doug, was diagnosed with cancer, I thought our life was over. The word cancer, at the age of 36, was almost too much to bear. It scared me to death. I was so afraid that my husband would not be here to grow old with me, he would not see our children graduate and grow into adults, he would not accomplish his life goals that he set for himself, we would not see our dreams come true. He deserved to get to see his dreams come true. I questioned, but we pushed through the battle, and he was declared in remission. Doug and I came out of that as new people. God taught us so much about faith, trust, obedience, and understanding. Our walk with God matured immensely. Then the cancer came back. What a blow that was to us. I asked God, “What else do you have for me to learn?” I wondered why we were having to go through it all over again. It didn’t make sense to me. When Doug was healthy and we came out the other side of that battle, we were once again changed people. God was not finished with us and I know without a doubt that He is still working on us. As I look back, through the first cancer diagnosis, I was still grasping for control. I thought I was giving it fully to God, but I truly wasn’t. I wasn’t relying on God completely. I was listening to the doctor’s percentages on survival and trusted that he would be healed because of that. We were still in our house and I had control of what my children were doing. I was able to go to every doctors appointment with Doug. Yes, there was a lot that was out of my control but I was still the mama and wife I was before the diagnosis. The second diagnosis was different. There was nothing to control. The doctors were now giving me percentages of Doug dying from cancer, we were having to move our family to a new state for Doug’s treatments, I did not know where my children would be and if they would be able to move with us. Our lives were turned upside down and when you are put in that position you have no other choice but to fully surrender yourself, your family, your finances, and your faith to God. That full surrender changed me forever. Doug and I will never look at life the same. We will never look at God the same. When you remember Who is on the throne and you place Him back up there and take yourself down, miracles happen!

Recall a time in your life where your suffering was almost too much to bear.

How did you see God’s protective hand helping you through your circumstance?

Joseph did not allow his suffering to be his only focus. He could have seen his situation as hopeless and given up, but we see that Joseph worked hard in his role as a slave. He did not allow his suffering to keep him from seeing what God can do. Through our suffering, it is easy to fall into the pit of self-pity, disappointment, and anger. Joseph looked past his circumstances and focused on his response to them. With God’s help, our worst circumstances can be used for good. No matter where we are in life, we can take Joseph’s example and work hard in each small task we are given. Everything we do is for the Lord. Our work, play, and missions are all done for God. If we see everything we do in that manner, then we should do it all to the best of our ability, no matter how bad our circumstances are.

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” Deuteronomy 31:6

“I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.” Philippians 4:11

We must learn to be content in all our circumstances because the Lord is working through all of them. When you are in the midst of your worst trials, God is there. He has plans that are beyond our wildest dreams. His sovereignty is displayed through every detail of our life. He is the one in control. When we respond to our circumstances in a way that keeps God in control, His perfect will flourishes.

“Let me put this question to you: How did your new life begin? Was it by working your heads off to please God? Or was it by responding to God’s message to you? Are you going to continue this craziness? For only crazy people would think they could complete by their own efforts what was begun by God. If you weren’t smart enough or strong enough to begin it, how do you suppose you could perfect it? Did you go through this whole painful learning process for nothing? It is not yet a total loss, but it certainly will be if you keep this up!” Galatians 3:2-4 The Message

Can we get through our trials and tribulations through our own effort or through our response to what God is doing through our trials? God began a good work in us and He will see it to completion. We cannot complete what we did not start. Our response means everything!

In what area of your life do you need to give God the control?

How does God want you to respond in your current circumstance?