A Sermon Preached at the ACK St. Hellen’s Parish Sunday 22nd January 2012 in honour for the last candidates for Standard 8 and Form 4
Texts:
- Joseph’s Life
Introduction
Every person has a dream or a vision of either what he would like to achieve. Our lives are controlled by dreams and visions. And to some extent, our lives are interpreted in terms of dreams and visions. Dreams and visions are so important such that our whole lives seem to hang on them rather than on God. Therefore, when our dreams / visions are shattered, our whole world crumbles down completely and life is not worth living. Many, who have no hope in Christ, may turn to heavy drinking / drugs, reckless living and even mental breakdown. It is not easy at times to cope with shattered dreams.
Let me also clarify that the dreams / visions we do have, God may have the same or similar for our lives, but the mode of the attainment of that dream may differ.
Illustration: someone desired to be a professor in chemistry but ended up a professor in counselling.
Joseph’s life:
- Genesis 30:22-24 the birth of Joseph
- Genesis 37 Joseph’s dreams and how he was sold by his brothers.
- Genesis 39-50 Joseph’s experience in Egypt.
Joseph was born like any other child who awaits his vision and dreams to be unravelled. He experienced love, mixed with hatred and jealousy.
Let’s try to imagine a picture of Joseph’s experience – from the time he took food to his brothers until he was in prison.
A close analysis of Joseph’s life will reveal three principles:
- First Principle: Life must Begin a Fresh
The principle of life must begin a fresh is evident in Joseph’s life. If we are to cope with shattered dreams, then we must employ the principle of “life must begin a fresh”.
Philippians 3:13b “But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is a head…”
Isaiah 43:18-19 “18 “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. 19 See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.”
Joseph had to begin life a fresh in every “stopovers” in his life and adapting to new changes, like:
- New culture – Hebrews were pastoralists, Egyptians were agriculturalist.
- Different religion – Hebrews were monotheistic; Egyptians were polytheistic
- Different language – Jews spoke Hebrew; Egyptians spoke a different language
Therefore, Joseph had to devise a system of survival for the time being as he waited for God’s vision to be fulfilled in God’s time and way. Life can begin a fresh for any of us if only we can be able to devise systems of survival; systems, that can help us cope with our shattered dreams for the time being.
- Second Principle: Accepting the Reality
To accept the fact that I did not achieve my vision / dream is usually difficult. Most of us either take our mourning for failure for a long time or perpetually live in denial. Reality is reality, which can never change however much we try to cheat ourselves. Reality is constant and rigid which can only be overcome by accepting it. For example I may be taking a certificate course but hangs around with those taking a degree course, in order give an expression that I am in the university too. But when I carry out the reality check on myself, the reality is I am in a certificate college.
Joseph had to accept the fact that for the time being he had to live without brothers, sisters and parents. He had to accept the fact that fatherly love has been replaced by being a slave; an object bought and owned by Potipher. Accepting the reality brings healing which in turn, helps one enjoy his circumstances. I believe that we can still be productive in our shattered dreams. Joseph, the slave, Joseph the house boy, prospered in Potipher’s house and Potipher’s house was blessed.
Genesis 39: 2-6a “2 The LORD was with Joseph and he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master. 3 When his master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD gave him success in everything he did, 4 Joseph found favor in his eyes and became his attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and he entrusted to his care everything he owned. 5 From the time he put him in charge of his household and of all that he owned, the LORD blessed the household of the Egyptian because of Joseph. The blessing of the LORD was on everything Potiphar had, both in the house and in the field. 6 So he left in Joseph’s care everything he had; with Joseph in charge, he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate.”
Genesis 39:20b-23 “But while Joseph was there in the prison, 21 the LORD was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden. 22 So the warden put Joseph in charge of all those held in the prison, and he was made responsible for all that was done there. 23 The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph’s care, because the LORD was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did.”
Friends, with every happening in his life, Joseph would have thought that either he was wasting time or he will never achieve his dream. With God, there is neither passing of time nor wasting time:
Ecclesiastes 9:10a “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might…”
Proverb 22:29 “Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will serve before kings; he will not serve before obscure men.”
Joseph was diligent in all that he did under every circumstance. He did not loose heart.
- Third Principle: Employed Patience as Events Unfolded
As Joseph prospered in Potipher’s house, the devil used Potipher’s wife to attack Joseph’s integrity. It was a dirty experience and Joseph ended up in prison for a crime he did not commit. In prison, he had to turn into an interpreter of dreams – “A System of survival for the time being?”
Genesis 40:14, 23 “But when all goes well with you, remember me and show me kindness; mention me to Pharaoh and get me out of this prison. 23 The chief cupbearer, however, did not remember Joseph; he forgot him.”
Gen. 41:1 “When two full years had passed, Pharaoh had a dream: He was standing by the Nile…
Joseph was patient as he waited for the fulfilment of his dreams. Events unfolded in his life, some ugly but he waited:
Psalm 40:1-3 “1 I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry. 2 He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. 3 He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the LORD.”
Every experience is a step towards the fulfilment of the vision. However ugly, dirty, discouraging, heartbreaking, painful; it is a step towards the achievement of the dream. There are times when we wonder whether we will ever realise our dreams. Things may seem not to be happening and it is as if we are going through a desert and stagnation. We feel that we are not productive. Let me encourage you that there is planning going on; the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are planning the next step and the next victory. This is all towards the realisation of the dream.
For example: Moses left Egypt when he was 40 years of age and for 40 years he was taking care of Jethro, his father in law’s flock in the desert. For these years, probably Moses thought that his dream of ever becoming a leader was shattered. These forty years were years of dryness, anxiety, uncertainty, and where one feels that God has forgotten him / her.
Friends, those times you feel as if you are in a spiritual desert, do not be discouraged God is planning for your next move. It does not matter how long it will take; for Moses it was 40 years, and for Joseph it was 13 years – Gen. 37:2; 41:46.
Conclusion
- Example, there is a story of three trees on the mountain that had different dreams.
God’s plans over our lives will definitely prevail over our shattered dreams. He is God! He may carry us through some painful experiences but we must be patient. My current position should not dictate my future but God is Lord of my future. At the moment, my circumstance may shout the opposite but in God; my circumstance is just but a system of survival for the time being; it is a stopover. A system of survival for the time being may be:
- Working as a laborer
- House help
- Roasting maize etc
My personal testimony:
- Poverty being raised up by a grandmother who was a widow
- No calling letter to Form 1 because of failure in standard 7
- Academic awards
- Professionals