God Sent Me Here

"Our Christian experience
must agree with the Bible.
We will be taught by the Bible
and fed by the Bible.
But we do not believe in Christ
because He is in the Bible:
we believe in the Bible
because Christ is in us."
Claxton Monro









God Sent Me Here:

4Then Joseph said to his brothers,
"Please come closer to me."
And they came closer.
And he said, "I am your brother Joseph,
whom you sold into Egypt.
5"Now do not be grieved or angry with yourselves,
because you sold me here,
for God sent me before you to preserve life.
7"God sent me before you
to preserve for you a remnant in the earth,
and to keep you alive by a great deliverance.
8"Now, therefore, it was not you who sent me here, but God
Genesis 45: 4,5,7,8a NAS

What a change we see in the account of Joseph…
how his character has changed from when we first met this young lad
who had been spoiled by Jacob his father.
He was favored, loved more than his siblings,
which lead to all kinds of family dysfunction.
He wore his special coat as an external sign of his favored status,
and his prideful heart inside –
which couldn’t help but boast of the revelations of his dreams…
“You my family will all bow down to me.”
Now, after a series of adversities, we find a man.
A man of authority, second in command in all of Egypt,
an man of humility, and a man with a compassionate heart
that mirrors his Creator.

Joseph had grown not just chronologically, but spiritually as well.
We often pick on Jacob because he favored his ‘son of old age,’ above his siblings,
and no doubt that caused lots of problems for this family,
the budding nation of Israel.

What isn’t stated in the account of Genesis,
but which is very apparent to me,
is that despite his obvious parental shortcomings,
Jacob had one thing right.
He raised his son to have a reverential awe of God.
He was raised to honor and obey the Lord.

This foundation of his faith sustained him, preserved him (and his family)
and brought him favor with God, and with man.

During the trials of Joseph I can hear him crying out to God…
“Why did You allow my brothers to throw me into this pit?”
“Why did You allow my brothers to sell me to the Midianites?”
“Why did You allow me to be sold into servitude in Egypt?”
“Why did You allow my master’s wife to accuse me falsely?”
“Why did You allow me to be unjustly thrown into jail,
when I have been righteous before You?”
“Why did You allow Pharaoh’s cup-bearer and baker
to forget all my kindnesses to them?”
At the same time that he cried out to God,
(something we all need to do more often)

he saw the faithful hand of God in his every circumstance:
My brothers wanted to kill me,
but God, delivered me from their hands…
I have been sold into slavery to Potiphar,
but God, has given me great favor with him…
I have been unjustly thrown into prison,
but God, has given me great favor with the warden…
But God, but God, but God…
In each one of these circumstances,

Joseph no doubt was tempted to be bitter, angry and offended,
indeed he had been wronged – over and over again.

But God, showed Himself to be faithful in every trial of Joseph’s faith.

2Consider it all joy, my brethren,
when you encounter various trials,
trials = Greek peirasmos (pi-ras-mos')
From G3985; a putting to proof (by experiment [of good], experience [of evil], solicitation, discipline or provocation); by implication adversity: - temptation.

3knowing that the testing of your faith
produces endurance.
4And let endurance [ed:fkj – which comes only through trials]
have its perfect result,
so that you may be perfect and complete,
lacking in nothing.
5But if any of you lacks wisdom,
let him ask of God,
who gives to all generously and without reproach,
reproach: Greek - oneidezō (on-i-did'-zo)
From G3681; to defame, that is, rail at, chide, taunt: - cast in teeth, (suffer) revile, upbraid.

and it will be given to him.
6But he must ask in faith
without any doubting,
for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea,
driven and tossed by the wind.
7For that man ought not to expect
that he will receive anything from the Lord,
8being a double-minded man,
double-minded Greek – dipsuchos (dip'-soo-khos)
From G1364 and G5590; two spirited, that is, vacillating (in opinion or purpose): -
unstable in all his ways.

God is faithful always,
even when the circumstances we face
don’t seem to proclaim His faithfulness.

The truth is that in every circumstance we face,
His abundant mercy and grace are always there for the taking.

If we will press into His presence we will find them…
if we allow our emotions and fears to control us,
we will seldom perceive their presence.

Through our every trial, some small and some great;
we are invited to grow in our understanding of God
and His divine purposes for allowing tribulation to cross our path.
It is all part of the maturation and transformation process.

It is in these times that we come face-to-face with our own…’but God’s’
Here we are molded and shaped by the hand-of-God,
it is here that we become formed a little closer into the image of His dear Son.

God’s intent here is greater than simply blessing Joseph
for his devotion and obedience (not that that isn’t important; it is).

In this demonstration of Gods provision we find:
1- a proclamation to an unbelieving world
about God’s authority and power.
2- the use of this situation to sustain Joseph and his family
3- the preservation of His chosen people –
the nation of Israel

These people at the time of this account
don’t look much like a nation, never mind a mighty nation
as promised in the covenant with Abraham,
which was renewed with Isaac and Jacob.

At the time of this record in Genesis,
Jacob’s family numbered about seventy-five people.

To become a nation they would need:
1 to be a people
2 to have the law
3 to possess a land
None of these things were in place,
but God was working on His covenant promises.

By the time God’s people would leave their captivity,
recorded in the Book of Exodus,
these seventy-five, this remnant of God,
would number over two million!

He would lead them and give them the Law,
and then finally bring them into the Promised Land,
to become a nation of His choosing.

We should note, that there was nothing special about these people.
They were the least of the peoples surrounding them.
That’s precisely why God chose them.
He wanted to demonstrate how they could be made perfect in weakness,
by following and obeying their God.

This is also why he chose us with all our imperfections...

Next time you find yourself in one of these trials,
you might first ask;
“Did God send me here?”

Then seek His face to find out why.
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