Recreate Church, Pastor Michael Shockley—Service, Sunday, October 24, 2021

Turning Obstacles into Opportunities

Today Pastor Michael is picking back up on the story of Joseph, who we left last week in a precarious situation.  At this point, it looks like Joseph’s dreams are at the bottom of the pit he’s in!

God’s plans can mess up ‘our’ plans, but our plans are only the plans of a human being.  God sees everything!  God definitely changed Joseph’s plans and dreams.  It looks like he had a demotion of sorts!  But while Joseph was a slave, the Lord was with him.  That’s the difference maker!

Joseph was free in his spirit, his brothers were slaves in their spirit.  So we ask the question: if God was with Joseph, why isn’t his life easier right now?

We assume the proof of God being with us is our life being easy.  That’s not true. The road to where God wants to take you might lead through a valley.

God will take Joseph through Potiphar’s house to Pharaoh’s house!  And that is God’s plan.

A good news summary today: It’s the hard times that teach us and makes our faith grow. 

(CSB Baker Illustrated Bible Study Notes) 39:1–6. Joseph finds himself in the employ of Potiphar, a high-ranking official of Pharaoh (39:1). What goes through the mind of the bewildered teenager, who has been uprooted violently from his home, sold as a servant, made to live with strangers, and purchased off the trading block and is now dwelling in a foreign country?

Joseph has two things going for him. First, the Lord is with him (39:2). Joseph may not know this—at least not yet, for although the Lord is with Joseph, the Lord does not keep Joseph out of trouble and danger. This is the only chapter in the Joseph story (excluding chaps. 38 and 49, where Joseph is either absent or minimally present) where “LORD” appears, and it appears seven times, all by the narrator. In addition to the divine presence, Joseph is a diligent worker, one who impresses his master with his conscientious industriousness (39:3–4). Joseph is to Potiphar what Jacob was to Laban. Both of these non-Israelites experience blessings because a child of Abraham is in their midst. Joseph oversees everything except Potiphar’s food (39:5–6).

Today’s verses are found in Genesis 39: 1-6.