Practical Living

Dale O'Shields: Thank you for joining us for today's Practical Living broadcast. I pray that through this message, you will learn how to apply God's Word and truths to any situation in your life. Stay with us as we discover God's truths that will transform us.

I want to talk to you this afternoon about how you handle disappointments in life. The title of our series, Lifequakes, is a word that really describes the moments in life when we have events that transpire that shake us up in some manner. They rattle our world, rock our world, and upset us on some level spiritually, mentally, or emotionally. We all go through times like that. There are moments that we can anticipate, just the regular give and take of life. Then there are moments when we experience things that we did not anticipate, but they suddenly come upon us and become lifequake moments.

Jesus himself referred to people experiencing these lifequakes. In Matthew chapter 7, verse 24, Jesus talks about two men building houses. One man built his house on sand, and another man built his house upon a rocky foundation. The wind, the waves, and the rain came to both men. The foolish man's house, built on sand, crumbled at the quaking of the terrible weather that came his way. The man who built his house on the rock stood firm and was able to endure.

So we learn a lesson that in life, we experience all kinds of storms and lifequakes that happen, but we need to build our lives on the firm foundation of Christ, His Word, and obedience to His Word. Jesus makes that very clear. We have been talking about how you lifequake-proof your life. How do you make sure that you're on a good, solid foundation? Today, our focus is going to be on an Old Testament character named Joseph, not to be confused with the New Testament Joseph, who was the husband of Mary. This Old Testament Joseph is in the lineage of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He is one of Jacob's sons, from the 12 tribes of Israel.

We see this amazing story of Joseph unfolding for us, starting in Genesis 37. I want to talk to you today about the significant disappointments that Joseph had to deal with in his life. You and I face all kinds of disappointments as well, and if we are not careful, these disappointments can derail us, shake our faith, and truly shake our resilience and walk with God. I am going to break this lesson into two parts. We will conclude the story of Joseph next weekend, so this is the first part. I encourage you to be back as we conclude next weekend as a continuing part of our series.

Two things today that we will look at. The first thing to understand from Joseph's life is that we are to expect life and people to treat us unfairly. It is an expectation we should have that life is going to be unfair and people sometimes are going to mistreat us. A disappointment is an unfulfilled expectation. A disappointment is when there is an expectation that doesn't happen. You expected it, but it does not happen. It doesn't happen the way you thought it would, or it doesn't happen in the time frame you wanted. You cannot separate disappointments from expectations; they go together. Your expectations will determine either your celebrations or your disappointments in life.

We start out the story of Joseph understanding that he has a lot of expectations about his life. These expectations come from a couple of dreams that God gives him. Genesis 37:2 says, "This is the account of Jacob’s family line. Joseph, a young man of seventeen, was tending the flocks with his brothers, the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives, and he brought their father a bad report about them." Joseph tattle-tales on his brothers, which is indicative of some of the family problems we will see unfold here.

Israel, which is another name for Jacob, loved Joseph more than any of his other sons because he had been born to him in his old age. He made an ornate robe for him. Some of you are familiar with the multicolored coat of many colors; that is what it is referring to here. When his brothers saw that his father loved him more than any of them, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him. You start to see a lot of anger, resentment, and dysfunction unfolding in this family. The siblings are not getting along at all. None of these brothers appreciate Joseph, and he is having to navigate relationships with people who really do not like him, even though he is his father's favorite.

Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more. The family dynamics were getting worse. He said to them, "Listen to this dream I had: We were binding sheaves of grain out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it." Joseph is essentially saying he arose while they all bowed down to him. That is not the kind of statement that makes family life better. His brothers said, "Do you intend to reign over us? Will you actually rule us?" They hated him all the more because of his dream.

Then he had another dream and told it to his brothers: "Listen, I had another dream, and this time the sun, moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me." When he told his father and his brothers, his father rebuked him. Jacob asked, "Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you? Do you believe we are all going to bow before you?" His brothers were jealous, but his father kept the matter in mind.

So we see Joseph's God-given dreams for his future, but also his lack of wisdom in the way he shared them with his brothers, which caused anger and jealousy. Joseph was learning a lesson at 17 years of age. He learned that not everyone is rooting for your success or will believe in and support your dreams. Sometimes people around you are just not happy about you being happy. They would rather you be miserable because they are jealous of you, which leads to mistreatment or a lack of proper relationships.

Joseph had to deal with this family tension. It began to unravel as he found himself in a difficult circumstance with his brothers. His brothers were taking care of the family flocks. Jacob sent eleven of the brothers out one day and kept Joseph at home. Finally, Jacob said to Joseph, "Go check on your brothers and see how they are doing." Joseph searched for his brothers, and when he found them, Genesis 37 says, "So Joseph went after his brothers, but when they saw him in the distance and before he reached them, they plotted to kill him." Their jealousy had become murderous; they wanted to kill their own brother.

The oldest brother, Reuben, stepped in and tried to mitigate the murderous plot. Reuben said, "Let's not take his life. Don't shed any blood. Throw him into this cistern, here in the wilderness, but don't lay a hand on him." When Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his multicolored robe. They took him and threw him into the cistern. While Joseph was down in this hole, Reuben went away to take care of some business. While the other brothers were there, some Ishmaelite traders came along. One of the brothers, Judah, said, "Come, let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites."

Joseph, who had all these dreams for his life, had been spared from death but was now sold into slavery by his own brothers. Can you imagine the shock and disappointment of being treated that way by your own family? The Ishmaelite traders took Joseph to Egypt and sold him on the slave market. Genesis 39 says, "Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt. Potiphar, an Egyptian who was one of Pharaoh’s officials, bought him from the Ishmaelites. The Lord was with Joseph so that he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master."

When his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord gave him success in everything he did, 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 that he owned. I want you to follow this story. It starts with an exciting, mountaintop dream of becoming a ruler. Then, his brothers throw him in a pit and sell him into slavery. He goes from high expectation to great disappointment. However, in Potiphar's house in Egypt, things start to improve.

The Bible says he was successful there, and things were looking up because he was ruling over Potiphar's household. But the story continues, and we see another disappointment in Joseph’s life. Genesis 39:7 says, "And after a while his master’s wife took notice of Joseph and said, 'Come to bed with me!' But he refused. 'With me in charge,' he told her, 'my master does not concern himself with anything in the house; everything he owns he has entrusted to my care.' " He resisted her seductive moves.

He told her, "No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?" Though she spoke to him day after day, he refused to go to bed with her. He maintained his integrity, purity, and relationship with God. One day, he went into the house to attend to his duties. None of the servants were inside, but Potiphar’s wife was. She caught him by his cloak and said, "Come to bed with me!" But he left his cloak in her hand and ran out of the house.

The only lesson I would add here is, if you are running away from sin, make sure to take your coat with you. When she saw that he had left his cloak in her hand, she called her household servants and said, "Look, this Hebrew has been brought to us to make sport of us! He came in here to sleep with me, but I screamed. When he heard me scream for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house." It was a false accusation, a complete lie that diminished Joseph's reputation with Potiphar.

The Bible tells us that she kept his cloak until Potiphar came home and then told him the lie. Potiphar burned with anger and put Joseph in prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined. Joseph's story is a series of ups and downs. He starts at the top with great dreams, then ends up in a pit. He is sold into slavery, but things turn positive when he oversees Potiphar’s house. Then, he is falsely accused and lands in prison—and not just any prison, but the secure location where Pharaoh’s prisoners were kept. Up, down, up, down, up, down.

This was not the end of the disappointments. The next part of the story is also painful. Joseph went into the prison and began to succeed there too. Every time he was put down, he rose back up. I call Joseph the "cream man" because he always rose to the top. The warden of the prison put him in charge of all the prisoners. There were two prisoners from Pharaoh’s administration: the cupbearer and the baker. Both had dreams while in prison, but they did not know what they meant. Joseph interpreted the dreams for them.

He told the cupbearer that in three days, he would be forgiven and restored to his position. He told the baker that in three days, he would die. He interpreted the dreams for both officials. The cupbearer was going to live, so Joseph said to him, "But when all goes well with you, remember me and show me kindness; mention me to Pharaoh and get me out of this prison." Joseph asked the cupbearer to tell Pharaoh he was an innocent person so he might be pardoned. Joseph ended up in prison for thirteen long years. He asked for help, but the Bible says, "The chief cupbearer, however, did not remember Joseph; he forgot him."

Up, down, up, down—Joseph went through many disappointments in his life. These disappointments involved circumstances and people. I want to remind you today that life is unfair. Sometimes life and people treat you very poorly. Hard things come our way, and people can be mean and adverse. Joseph contended with these ups and downs. He easily could have become cynical and untrusting or developed a victim mentality, feeling like nothing good ever lasted. That could have been his mentality, but it was not.

He handled his expectations and disappointments the right way. The primary lesson is that life and people will not always treat you fairly. You will experience disappointing events this year. You will encounter wicked, self-centered, and ambitious people who are willing to step on you to get ahead. You will likely encounter jealous and destructive people. That is the reality for all of us. No matter what happens to you this year or in the years to come, if you faithfully walk with God, there is not a single event or bad person that can remove you from the destiny God has planned for your life.

Some really bad things happened to Joseph, and some bad people entered his life, but it did not keep him from his divine destiny because he walked faithfully with God. Psalm 37 tells us, "Do not forget about the wicked or envy those who do wrong." When these kinds of people show up, do not worry about them or envy them, "for like grass they soon fade away; like spring flowers they soon wither." David tells us to trust in the Lord and do good, and then you will live safely in the land and prosper.

No matter what you experience, keep your trust in the Lord and keep doing good. You can be assured that you will live safely and prosper. It was true for Joseph, and it will be true for you as well. So, number one: expect life and people to treat you unfairly at times. Adjust your expectations because it is a part of life. The second lesson is this: when you are going through these situations, choose better over bitter. It is evident that Joseph got better, not bitter. There was not a single bit of bitterness in his life.

As we go through the ups and downs of life and disappointments, we respond or react in certain ways. Some people respond with bitterness. They develop a victim mentality, wondering why bad things always happen to them. They form a negative frame of reference and view the world through the lens of a victim, believing everything will be bad. Little by little, they become bitter, hard, cynical, and resentful. Bitter people do not grow bitter overnight; they grow bitter over time. It is a matter of how they handle things little by little.

With each disappointment, they become a little harder. They accumulate bitterness on the inside until they are hardened by life's circumstances, rejection, and unjust treatment. It happens slowly but significantly. You can see bitter people all around us; they are angry, resentful, cynical, and untrusting. That can happen to us in moments of disappointment. But Joseph became a better person, not a bitter person. If you handle your disappointments the right way, God will use them to shape you for your destiny.

God will use disappointments to test and shape you so that when the right moment shows up, you will be ready because you handled your disappointments the right way. Disappointments are designed to test you and form your character, allowing you to see God work in and around you. You learn to grow, overcome, and become more resilient. You learn to be more compassionate and competent. Joseph never became bitter; he became better. When his brothers sold him into slavery, he did not become bitter.

Genesis 39:2 says, "The Lord was with Joseph so that he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master." Potiphar gave Joseph complete administrative responsibility over everything he owned. Joseph could never have risen to that place of responsibility had he been a bitter man. If you grow bitter, you are going to miss opportunities. God has opportunities for you even in your disappointments, but bitterness and resentment will cause you to miss them. I see it all the time, and it saddens me to see people with tremendous potential fail a test.

They become angry or bitter and miss the opportunity God provided because they did not handle things the right way. Joseph handled his slavery the right way. When he went to prison, did he become bitter? Most people would be bitter if they were falsely accused and imprisoned despite doing nothing wrong. Let’s see how Joseph handled it. The Bible says, "But the Lord was with Joseph in the prison and he showed him his faithful love. And the Lord made Joseph a favorite with the prison warden. Before long the warden put Joseph in charge of all the other prisoners and over everything that happened in the prison."

The warden had no more worries because Joseph took care of everything. The Lord was with him and caused everything he did to succeed. It is vital to recognize that if the Lord is going to be with you, you must be with Him. You cannot expect the Lord to be with you if you are not with Him. To be with Him means you have the right spirit and attitude. Joseph was given an opportunity that he would have missed had he been bitter. This was all a setup for an amazing promotion.

I am sharing many scriptural stories and passages today because I want you to get the story of Joseph in your heart. Joseph was in prison for thirteen years. Toward the end of that time, Pharaoh had two troubling dreams. He called in all his counselors and wise people, but they could not interpret them. The cupbearer remembered and said, "I forgot to tell you about Joseph. There is a guy in prison who interpreted dreams for me and the baker, and they came to pass. I was restored and the baker was killed, exactly as he said. He knows how to interpret dreams. God is with him and will give him the wisdom to interpret yours."

Genesis 41 says Pharaoh sent for Joseph at once. He was quickly brought from prison, shaved, changed his clothes, and stood before Pharaoh. Pharaoh shared his dreams, and by God's grace, Joseph interpreted them and gave Pharaoh the answer no one else could. However, Joseph would not have been ready for that moment if it were not for the previous thirteen years. You do not know what is coming in your future, but the time to get ready for your future is not when it shows up; the time to get ready is now.

Whatever you are going through right now is critical. God is in control and He is working. Do not miss what you are going through in this moment. Do not become bitter or angry. What is happening now is preparing you for the days to come. Joseph was ready to stand before Pharaoh because he had done things the right way and remained faithful to God during those thirteen years. After Joseph interpreted the dreams, Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Since God has revealed the meaning of the dreams to you, clearly no one else is as intelligent or wise as you are. You will be in charge of my court, and all my people will take orders from you. Only I, sitting on my throne, will have a rank higher than yours."

Joseph became second-in-command, the prime minister of Egypt. Pharaoh placed his signet ring on Joseph's finger, giving him the authority to make decisions and oversee the land. Pharaoh dressed him in fine linen and placed a gold chain around his neck. He had Joseph ride in the chariot reserved for the second-in-command. Follow the story: Joseph received a dream from God, ended up in a pit, was sold into slavery, worked in Potiphar’s house, was falsely accused of rape, and thrown into prison. He was in prison for thirteen years and forgotten by the cupbearer, but God did not forget him.

Joseph handled things the right way and did not become bitter. Because of that, a moment came when Pharaoh sent for him. Joseph became the prime minister of Egypt. Nothing can keep you from your destiny in God if you follow, serve, trust, and obey Him through life's ups and downs. Nothing can get you out of the will of God except you—not circumstances and not other people. Some of you have rascals in your life causing you all kinds of trouble. They can cause trouble, but they cannot get you out of God's will.

If you are living right, serving God, and navigating disappointments correctly, God will fulfill His destiny for your life. If you do your part, God always does His. He never fails. I conclude today by asking the most important question: are you bitter about something? Has a disappointment left you bitter—a relationship that fell apart, a job you lost, or someone who mistreated you? Has something happened that you have grown bitter about? Bitterness, anger, and other negative emotions come in different forms, but they can keep you from being excited about God’s plan and will.

Is there anything you need to let go of today? I challenge you to let go of it, because once you do, you position yourself for God to fulfill His destiny for your life. Would you bow your heads with me as we pray? Father, we thank You for Your Word and for the story of Joseph. It is an incredible story with many ups and downs. But Joseph was faithful to You all through the journey. He navigated his disappointments the right way and held on to faith and confidence in You. Even though those situations tested him, he came out like gold, and You fulfilled the dream You gave him when he was seventeen.

I pray for any of us here today who might be dealing with bitterness over a disappointment—a failed relationship, a job situation, or a business. I pray that we would release any bitterness and trust that our lives are in Your hands. Let us trust in You and do good, just as Joseph did, so that we can navigate life's events and experience the promotion You have in store for us. Seal this word in our hearts by Your Spirit, I pray. In Jesus' name.

I would like to close today by giving you an opportunity to ask Jesus to be the Lord of your life. Would you pray with me right now? Right where you are, simply bow your head, and I am going to give you a prayer to pray. You can simply speak or whisper this prayer out, and from the sincerity of your heart, call upon God. I promise you that He will hear and answer you. Let’s pray together. Start by simply whispering the name Jesus. Let the declaration of His name come from your heart.

Say: "Jesus, I know that I am a sinner and that I have fallen short. I am sorry for all of my sins. Jesus, I believe in You. I believe that You are God’s Son and the Savior of the world. I believe that You died on the cross for my sins and that You rose from the grave and are alive today. Lord Jesus, come into my heart. Come into my life. Forgive me of my sins. Give me a new start in You. I commit my life to You. In Jesus' name, Amen."

If you prayed that prayer with me, I want to encourage you with a promise from God's Word that when we call upon the Son of God, salvation comes to our lives. He changes us from the inside out, and you become a new creation. Old things pass away, and all things become new. That is exactly what has happened to you today. Your next step is to make sure that you get into a good Bible-believing church. Begin to study God's Word and get a copy of the Bible if you do not have one. Spend time every day in prayer. I also encourage you to check out the resources on our website at church-redeemer.org. Get those into your hands and get started in your new life with Jesus Christ. Thanks again for joining us today. May God bless you, and we look forward to seeing you next time.