Brian Kenning
20 July 2014
Some big themes
• Life is full of challenges and tests:
God uses these challenges and test to shape character
• There is no place we can go, not circumstance or force which can separate us from God:
You’ll never go where God is not
• God is good even when life isn’t
• Doing the right things doesn’t always bring good outcomes
• Pay forward is better than payback:
Forgiveness doesn’t diminish justice – it entrusts it to God
• Whatever challenge comes your way you’ll get through it
• God sends us into tough places because He has a purpose and a plan: how you behave matters, what you do counts
Reading: Genesis 50, 15 – 21
When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “What if Joseph holds a grudge against us and pays us back for all the wrongs we did to him?” So they sent word to Joseph, saying, “Your father left these instructions before he died: ‘This is what you are to say to Joseph: I ask you to forgive your brothers the sins and the wrongs they committed in treating you so badly.’ Now please forgive the sins of the servants of the God of your father.” When their message came to him, Joseph wept.
His brothers then came and threw themselves down before him. “We are your slaves,” they said.
But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.” And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.
“You intended to harm me
but God intended it for good
to save many lives”
1 ‘intended”
Means to weave or plait
You wove evil – but God rewove it for good
2 ‘accomplish”
Means to build
God the Master builder takes broken pieces and builds something of worth
Romans 8: 28
In all things God works for good…
Not all things are good
But God is good
He reweaves, reworks, rebuilds good outcomes
When you can’t see the hand of God
trust in the presence of God.
… “the Lord was with Joseph”
Questions for personal reflections and group discussion
1 Share a highlight, or life lesson from the Joseph file series
Read Imagine yourself as one of Joseph’s brothers. What thoughts and feelings might you be experiencing now that Jacob is dead? What are you asking of Joseph. How might you react to his response in verse 20?
2 Read Genesis 50: 15 – 21
Imagine yourself as one of Joseph’s brothers. What thoughts and feelings might you be experiencing now that Jacob is dead? What are you asking of Joseph. How might you react to his response in verse 20?
3 Put Genesis 50:20 in your own words
4 Share a time when you have experienced Genesis 50:20 in your own life
5 How would you respond to the person who is struggling to see God working for good