Our Savior Lutheran Church

Last Week

Last week we looked at a divine mosaic of circumstances God used to shape Joseph for the great famine relief work he implemented for Egypt and the surrounding nations. This week we will look at how God tenderly relieved the emotional and spiritual pain Joseph had suffered during years of mistreatment.

To Get Us Started

Life brings a lot of pain and discomfort. We can deal with – and even grow through – pain and discomfort if we also experience healing and consolation.

1. What was the worst childhood injury or illness you experienced? Describe your recuperation.

2. Who was the soother in your family as you grew up? How did this person give comfort? Who is the soother in your family now? How does this person give comfort?

The Word

We’re looking from a different angle at many of the same verses we discussed last week. This time we’re exploring the healing process God provided Joseph during the seven years of enormous prosperity that preceded the great famine.

Genesis 41:41-52

So Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I hereby put you in charge of the whole land of Egypt." [42] Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his finger and put it on Joseph's finger. He dressed him in robes of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck. [43] He had him ride in a chariot as his second-in-command, and men shouted before him, "Make way!" Thus he put him in charge of the whole land of Egypt.

[44] Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I am Pharaoh, but without your word no one will lift hand or foot in all Egypt." [45] Pharaoh gave Joseph the name Zaphenath-Paneah and gave him Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, to be his wife. And Joseph went throughout the land of Egypt.

[46] Joseph was thirty years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from Pharaoh's presence and traveled throughout Egypt. [47] During the seven years of abundance the land produced plentifully. [48] Joseph collected all the food produced in those seven years of abundance in Egypt and stored it in the cities. In each city he put the food grown in the fields surrounding it. [49] Joseph stored up huge quantities of grain, like the sand of the sea; it was so much that he stopped keeping records because it was beyond measure.

[50] Before the years of famine came, two sons were born to Joseph by Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On. [51] Joseph named his firstborn Manasseh and said, "It is because God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father's household." [52] The second son he named Ephraim and said, "It is because God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering."

Observations

Joseph understood rejection from those he loved and served. He also understood false accusations and being punished and put in shackles for something he didn’t do. In all this, God did not forget Joseph, and Joseph did not allow bitterness to wrap its tentacles around his troubled soul.

Nevertheless, he was just as human as any of us – and the emotional pain must have been almost more than he could bear. How did God bring about mental and emotional healing in Joseph’s heart and mind?

Observation 1

All of us need a sense of “freedom,” but the most important freedom God has provided is the freedom we can experience in Christ – no matter what our circumstances.

As men who know Jesus Christ personally, we need not offer the parts of our bodies “as slaves to moral impurity, and to greater and greater lawlessness” (Romans 6:19). Rather, since we are new creations in Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:17), we are free to offer our “bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God” (Romans 12:1). Having been “liberated from sin, you become enslaved to righteousness” (Romans 6:18).

As Christians, we also have a new sense of freedom in our relationships with other believers. Again, listen to the words of the apostle Paul: “For you are called to freedom, brothers; only don’t use this freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but serve one another through love” (Galatians 5:13)

People who are in bondage to sin are also in bondage to other human beings who “carry out the desire of the flesh” (Galatians 5:16) – which involves “sexual immorality, moral impurity, promiscuity, idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambitions, dissentions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and anything similar” (Galatians 5:19-21).

This kind of lifestyle is not true freedom. People use and abuse one another. Relationships quickly become self-centered and vain. On the other hand, Christians who “live by the Spirit” and who “follow the Spirit” (Galatians 5:25) are free to “serve one another through love” (Galatians 5:13), reflecting the “fruit of the Spirit” – which is, “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23).

Rather than using our enslavement to the flesh to manipulate others for our own ends, we can use our freedom in Christ to build others up. When we do, we’ll be built up ourselves. This kind of freedom within the body of Jesus Christ brings emotional healing. People who come from dysfunctional families can be “re-parented” by receiving unconditional love. They can learn the true meaning of love and in turn will be able to share that love with others.

Observation 2

All of us need respect from others, but the most important factor is to be able to “respect ourselves” because we are living in the will of God.

Nothing brings more emotional healing in our lives than when we respect ourselves. Nothing brings more “self-respect” than when we “follow the Spirit” (Galatians 5:25). Conversely, nothing is more self-destructive than to live under a cloud of guilt and self-condemnation that accompanies a sinful lifestyle. Rejected by his brothers and imprisoned by the boss he respected so highly and served so faithfully, Joseph had every reason to lose self-respect and bemoan his fate. Instead, he sought for God’s will and followed it as perfectly as he could.

When we deliberately walk out of God’s will, we lose self-respect. Emotional energy is devoted to fighting feelings of guilt and rationalizing sinful behavior. Fellowship with God is broken, and relationships with other Christians are strained. This kind of “spiritual sickness” promotes “emotional sickness.” The two cannot be separated. But, conversely, following God and walking in His will lets us feel good about ourselves. Then emotional energy is focused on pleasing God. What better place to be than in the “good, pleasing, and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:2).

Observation 3

All of us need to experience success, but the most important success we can experience is to have God’s approval.

I know Christian men who have violated biblical values in order to be accepted by others – a boss, a friend, a marital partner. Though they may be successful by the world’s standards, they’re miserable people. Acceptance by others means virtually nothing when our behavior is not acceptable to God.

On the other hand, when we can lie down to sleep at night with a clear conscience knowing that God has been pleased with our attitudes and actions, what a blessed and rewarding experience! Nothing gives us more inner strength to face the challenges of life than “a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith” (1 Timothy 1:5).

Observation 4

All of us need companionship to overcome emotional hurts, but our most important companion is Jesus Christ.

Just before Jesus returned to His Father, He gave His disciples a wonderful promise – “And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). God in Christ and through the presence of the Holy Spirit has said, “I will never leave you or forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5). Joseph experienced God’s abiding presence – even in an Old Testament setting. Though Jesus Christ had not come to earth yet, Joseph’s heavenly Father never forsook him. When his brothers sold him into Egypt, “the Lord was with him” (Genesis 39:3). When Potiphar’s wife falsely accused him and when Potiphar sentenced him to prison, “the Lord was with Joseph” (Genesis 39:21).

If this was true in Joseph’s life, how much more so in the lives of those of us who have been redeemed by the blood of Christ and “sealed with the promised Holy Spirit” (Ephesians 1:13).

Observation 5

All of us need to experience the joy of having children in our lives, but we must remember that one or our greatest joys can come from having spiritual children.

As far as we know, the apostle Paul never had children of his own. However, he had many “spiritual children” – people he had introduced to Christ. But no one brought joy and healing to Paul’s heart like Timothy. This great apostle “adopted” this young man as his missionary companion and identified him as his “true child in the faith” (1 Timothy 1:2).

When Paul wrote to the Philippians, he allowed all of us to pear into his soul and to catch a glimpse of how much Timothy’s friendship and loyalty meant to him. Listen carefully to Paul’s heartbeat: “For I have no one else like-minded who will genuinely care about your interests; all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. But you know his proven character, because he has served with me in the gospel ministry like a son with a father” (Philippians 2:20-22).

To Discuss

3. Which of these best expresses your first reaction to the story of Joseph and the years of abundance?

a. It’s too good to be true.

b. Justice is served.

c. Virtue triumphs over evil.

d. Why don’t things ever work out like that for me?

e. You can’t keep a good man down.

f. It can’t last.

g. Other _____________________

4. What persistent knot of trouble in your life would you like to see untangled and turned to success like Joseph’s was?

5. How would you contrast Joseph’s former restrictions with the freedom he gained?

6. How might the type or level of respect shown to Joseph differ between the season he served in Potiphar’s house (& then in prison) and when he served as Egypt’s famine relief administrator? How did his experiences in Potiphar’s house and in prison prepare him for success with Pharaoh?

7. Do you think Joseph’s success as the famine relief administrator was more satisfying than his success in Potiphar’s house and the prison? Why or why not?

8. What personal consolation for all the years of suffering do you imagine Joseph drew from his wife and sons?

9. At present time how does the consistency of your Christian life affect your self-respect?

10. What aspects of family life give you the greatest sense of satisfaction?

11. Joseph eventually received the approval of people because he never quit valuing the approval of God. In what situations do you struggle with wanting the approval of people more than the approval of God?

12. How has your relationship with Jesus brought emotional healing to some aspect of your life?

Too often men assume that they shouldn’t have emotional needs or pains, let alone any concern with the healing of them. But we all need freedom, respect, success, intimate companionship, and someone to pass on our life wisdom to. When one or more of these is missing, our hearts – manly hearts that they are – hurt.

13. Pray for one another that each man will know liberty from sins, habits, and hurts that would keep him in bondage.

14. Ask God to bring wholeness to one another in self-respect, success, and family relationships.

15. Pray that God would give each man in the group someone to whom he can pass along the spiritual wisdom of his life.

Next Week

This week we saw how Joseph’s focus on pleasing God ultimately brought him true success. In the coming week, ask God to show you areas where you need to focus more on pleasing Him. Next week we will discover that Joseph had no idea what his dramatic success as famine relief administrator ultimately meant and who would be the most important recipients of his help.