Keep Pressing On Genesis 37:3-4 3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age. Also he made him a tunic of many colors. 4 But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peaceably to him. This is where the story of Joseph begins. He’s favored in his father’s house but hated by his brothers. He’s a dreamer who dreams lofty dreams that make his brothers hate him even more. Genesis 37:18-20 & 25-28 18 Now when they saw him afar off, even before he came near them, they conspired against him to kill him. 19 Then they said to one another, “Look, this dreamer is coming! 20 Come therefore, let us now kill him and cast him into some pit; and we shall say, ‘Some wild beast has devoured him.’ We shall see what will become of his dreams!” 25 And they sat down to eat a meal. Then they lifted their eyes and looked, and there was a company of Ishmaelites, coming from Gilead with their camels, bearing spices, balm, and myrrh, on their way to carry them down to Egypt. 26 So Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is there if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? 27 Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother and our flesh.” And his brothers listened. 28 Then Midianite traders passed by; so the brothers pulled Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt. His brothers hated him so much they were going to kill him but decided to sell him into slavery. Can you imagine how Joseph felt? I can imagine him asking why they were doing this. He must have felt horribly rejected. I can’t even imagine how that would feel. So Joseph goes off into slavery and ends up in Potiphar’s household. His master saw that everything he put his hand to prospered so he ends up putting him in charge of everything in his house. The LORD exalts him here but again there is someone coming against him. Potiphar’s wife has her eyes set on this good-looking young man. She pursues him but he says no I can’t sin against God because you are my master’s wife. She has her own ideas though. Genesis 39:11-20 11 But it happened about this time, when Joseph went into the house to do his work, and none of the men of the house was inside, 12 that she caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me.” But he left his garment in her hand, and fled and ran outside. 13 And so it was, when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and fled outside, 14 that she called to the men of her house and spoke to them, saying, “See, he has brought in to us a Hebrew to mock us. He came in to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice. 15 And it happened, when he heard that I lifted my voice and cried out, that he left his garment with me, and fled and went outside.” 16 So she kept his garment with her until his master came home. 17 Then she spoke to him with words like these, saying, “The Hebrew servant whom you brought to us came in to me to mock me; 18 so it happened, as I lifted my voice and cried out, that he left his garment with me and fled outside.” 19 So it was, when his master heard the words which his wife spoke to him, saying, “Your servant did to me after this manner,” that his anger was aroused. 20 Then Joseph’s master took him and put him into the prison, a place where the king’s prisoners were confined. And he was there in the prison. So here again Joseph is taken from a place of favor to a lowly place through no fault of his own. Once again he is rejected and cast out. In the prison, the keeper sees that the LORD is with Joseph and he ends up putting him in charge over the other prisoners. Again, he is elevated to a place of favor. If you don’t know the rest of the story you should read it some time. He eventually is called on to interpret the dreams of Pharoh and when he does it Pharoh is so impressed that he also exalts him to a level of favor over everything in Egypt except Pharoh himself. He’s put into a position where he is eventually able to save his entire family from the famine. He tells his brothers not to worry about what they’d done to him because although they meant it for evil, God was able to use it for good. Joseph went through a lot of things he would have preferred to avoid. As it turns out, every place he went was necessary to bring him to where he needed to be to be able to help his family. Joseph seems to have kept a good attitude throughout it all. You might ask me how I know that. Well, wherever he went the LORD’s favor went with him. The LORD is the same yesterday, today, and forever. 400 years later as Moses is leading His people out of Egypt they murmured and complained and God told Moses He would just zap them and start over with Moses children. God doesn’t like complaining. In the natural, Joseph had every reason to complain but he didn’t. Also, the fact that he was exalted everywhere he went says something about his attitude. If he were whining and crying about things not being fair he wouldn’t have been at his best and he wouldn’t have made everything his hand touched prosper. Let’s move on to someone else who has to deal with an unfair situation. Luke 22:38-44 39 Coming out, He went to the Mount of Olives, as He was accustomed, and His disciples also followed Him. 40 When He came to the place, He said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” 41 And He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and prayed, 42 saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.” 43 Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him. 44 And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. Our Lord is in a very unfair situation. Having no sin He is to be made to bear the punishment for all sin on Himself. I’m sure He would have rather been in His Father’s house with favor, than to be getting ready to bear this great burden. He’s in such agony that He sweat drops of blood. Yet, He yields to the will of God. He presses on just as Joseph pressed on, just as we should press on in every situation. I have always loved my husband. Over the last four years the level of respect I have for him has grown immensely. I watch him wake up day after day while most are still snug in their beds and go off to a job he doesn’t enjoy. It a difficult job both mentally and physically. He comes home tired and dirty then he gets up the next morning and does it all over again. He presses on. He doesn’t do it just for his benefit but to benefit the whole family. Even on the days that he doesn’t want to play work, he presses on. As Paul writes to the Philippians: Philippians 3:12-14 12 Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. 13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Press on! Remembering that all things work together for good for those who love the Lord and are the called according to His purpose. Notice that I didn’t say all things are good. I’m going to borrow an analogy from Kent Hovind. Let’s say you come over to my house and you’re hungry. I say to you how about a cup of flour? Here’s a teaspoon of salt. How about a half cup of olive oil? Tasty, huh? A teaspoon of baking soda maybe a pat of butter. What? All those things are nasty? Well, how about we mix them all together and make some biscuits. See! They work together for good.