Garwood Presbyterian Church

Overcoming All Odds

Genesis 41:14-43, Genesis 50:15-21, Romans 8:28, Hebrews 12:1-4
#5 In "We Are Overcomers Through Christ"

Introduction: We have been looking at the life of Joseph. And from our Scripture readings today from Genesis, we saw that he reached the pinnacle of vocational success and became second to Pharaoh himself in all of Egypt, and also had success in his family relationships, which are so important. For all of this to happen, Joseph had to overcome the problems of his family upbringing, a major temptation to a young single man, terrible injustice being done to him, and his own flaw of pride.

1. What Was the Key to His Success?
   1. Through everything, Joseph continued to look to God, trust Him, and love Him.
   2. Because Joseph did this, Genesis says repeatedly that "the Lord was with him."
   3. If you continue to look to God, trust Him, and love Him, He will be with you also.
      1. James 4:8 says, "Come near to God and He will come near to you."
      2. In Proverbs 8:17, God says, "I love those who love me . . . ."
2. Because Joseph Continued to Trust God, God Was Able to Prepare Him For His Life's Purpose
   1. If Joseph had become angry over his circumstances and defied God, he would have been un-prepared to become second in command to Pharaoh.
   2. If Joseph had become depressed and given up on God, he would have been unprepared to be-come second in command to Pharaoh.
   3. But Joseph continued to look to God, trust Him, and love Him in spite of everything.
      1. So when he became a slave in Potiphar's house, he rose to second in command there.
      2. And when he was unjustly thrown into prison, he rose to second in command there also.
3. Joseph's Greatest Challenge
   1. It was not his rising above everything to become second in command to Pharaoh.
      1. It was how he was going to handle his position of immense power.
   2. With great power comes great temptation.
      1. Would Joseph come to depend on his position and power instead of the Lord?
      2. Would Joseph come to love his position and power more than the Lord?
      3. Would Joseph start to use and abuse his position and power and make it his God?
   3. Joseph resisted all the temptations that go along with being the second most powerful person in the world, because God had prepared Joseph through 13 long years of suffering and pain to not depend on his circumstances, but to depend on Him alone.
   4. And Joseph remained faithful to God, and was also very successful in his job for Pharaoh.
4. Joseph Was Also Successful With His Family Because He Saw God's "Big Picture" For His Life
   1. Joseph was successful with his family because he was able to forgive them.
   2. What helped him to do this is that he came to understand that "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good . . . ." Genesis 50:20.
   3. Romans 8:28 says that God can bring good out of anything that happens in our life if we will continue to love and trust Him, and follow His ways.
      1. So, instead of being shortsighted & only seeing sin & Satan bothering us, we need to have the long range vision of seeing God at work above the fray of our difficult circumstances.
      2. This even helped Jesus to endure the suffering of the cross Hebrews 12:1-4 says.

Conclusion: What we have seen today is the importance of our looking to God above our circumstances, trusting Him no matter how bad things get, and lovingly following His ways at all times. Do this and God will be with you like He was with Joseph, and you will also become an overcomer and have God's victory in your life.