Chapel of the Lake
Overcoming Despair
Welcome to Chapel of the Lake in Lake St. Louis, Missouri. The chapel family is a multi-generational community of believers who gather weekly to worship and explore God's Word as we grow in our relationship with Jesus Christ. Join us now as Pastor Keith Spa opens the scriptures. Well, good morning family. It's good to be in the Lord's house today. What a beautiful fall day. I encourage you to take your Bibles and open to the book of Genesis and chapter 40 as we continue in our study looking at the life of this marvelous young man Joseph. As we come to the Word of the Lord this morning, let's go to him in prayer. Father, we're grateful to be here this morning in this place gathered together with the family. What a joy to have the fellowship of saints, to encourage us and to help equip us. What a joy to have the blessing of your Word that we might hear from you. Pray that you would speak this morning that our minds and our hearts would be attentive that we might not only hear but put into practice what we learn. And Father, we do thank you for the privilege as we are here in missions month and we've heard already from Harley so much about ways that we can participate together in this endeavor to reach the world with the good news of Jesus. Pray, Father, that we as a church would continue to be engaged and active and busy in this mission you've given to us to be your ambassadors to those around us and then to be partners with those who are serving in places where we cannot go around the world and that together we might see the good news of Jesus spread and men and women come to put their faith in Him. Now again, Lord, we come to your Word, we ask your grace in Jesus' name. Amen. I read a story this past week of a ship that ran aground somewhere just offshore of Mozambique back in 1961. As the crew worked to free the ship from the sandbar just offshore somehow some water began to get into the boat or into the ship I should say and it caused a short which caused an electrical fire. The fire spread and it ignited vapors in the mechanical room which resulted in an explosion and so the ship began to burn and while lifeboats were busy ferrying passengers to shore one of the lifeboats was dashed against the ship and everyone on that boat perished. Some people jumped into the sea to escape the flames rather than wait for other lifeboats to get to them but as they jumped into the sea they found they were contending not only with rough seas but with riptides and there were sharks in the water. Of the folks who managed to get to shore they discovered that there were lions in the jungle near the beach. The account reads like the script of a disaster movie where you go from one peril right into the next peril and into the next peril and so it was. You know sometime life feels like that. That we encounter a rough patch a difficult time, a suffering a time of trial in life and then before that's over we find ourselves tripping into another one and before we emerge from that we find another wave of trouble and difficulty about to swamp over us and another one and it's just one trouble follows another and we with each one we sink a little beeper, with each one we grow a little more weary and we despair wondering if we will ever get through this. Some of you have been there. Some of you may feel like you are there right now. I'm sure that if we took a trip across the country over to the east coast and we talked with folks there in Florida, the Carolinas, Alabama we would discover many folks who feel like that today. How do we endure such times without giving up without just falling into the pit of despair? Just quit. Give up. We have seen in the life of Joseph this marvelous young man we have seen that his life has been a story of highs and lows. One who was the favored son promoted to a place of leadership, position of leadership but then beaten by his brothers, thrown into a pit to die, then be lifted out of the pit only to be sold to slave traders, get to Egypt, be sold as a slave, work as a slave and over time be promoted to running the household. Potiphar was the master, ultimately being his right hand man who took care of everything, ran everything for Potiphar, a trusted place of honor and prominence only then for Joseph to be falsely accused and to be thrown into the dungeon, the prison. That's where we left him last week in the dungeon. We're going to go back here to our main passages chapter 40 but we're going to go back to the last verses of chapter 39 this morning because what we want to look at this morning as Joseph is here in the dungeon as he has experienced all of these trials and troubles, how does Joseph not end in despair? We never see him fall into despondency to get lost and immersed in despair and we wonder how does he do that. As we go through these verses today I think we will find some clues. I think we'll find some things that not only kept him out of despair but will be of help to you and me when we find ourselves in desperate times, in difficult times. We find ourselves thinking maybe I just want to give up. Let's learn from Joseph for there are several keys here. We'll pick it up in verse 20 of chapter 39 if you want to follow along. And Joseph's master took him and put him in the prison, the place where the king's prisoners were confined and he was there in prison. But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. It's very easy to jump right to the phrase, yet the Lord showed him steadfast love and skipped past the phrase he was there in prison. It's easy to skip to that to the Lord's steadfast love and miss the part about prison although he put it there in those two verses. It's four times there he's in prison because while things do get better for Joseph in prison we have to remember all the time he's still in prison. Just like when he was back at Potiphar's house before this where things got really good for him and he was in a great spot running all of Potiphar's things he was still a slave. God's love was active in Joseph's life but it didn't remove Joseph from prison nor did it prevent him from brutal suffering. I mentioned last week over in Psalm 105 there's a little snippet there, a little summary of Joseph's experience in that Psalm and it says this in Psalm 105 and verse 18, "His feet were hurt with fetters and his neck was put in a collar of iron." You see when Joseph was put in prison it wasn't just you know he was put into a little minimum security prison where they have TVs and tennis courts and a swimming pool and nice grounds to walk around. When his prison sentence began he got the prison sentence that we might expect for a violent sex offender which is what he was falsely accused of being. His feet were bloodied and bruised from shackles, chains bound around his feet and from a collar of iron that is around his neck again most likely chained to the wall. We don't know how long he was in that condition maybe for hours, maybe days, maybe weeks, maybe months, maybe a year or so. What I know is about ten minutes of that would have been plenty for me thank you and I would have been fussing and complaining already. He was only after significant misery and suffering that his condition would gradually and slowly improve as he gained favor with the warden. It took even more time for Joseph as we'll see in a bit to be promoted to the place where of responsibility where he eventually ends up running the prison. But something to grab hold of here for us actually two things just from these verses to help us when we are in times of trouble and the first is to remember that God is with us and God is for us even and especially even when we can't see it. We noted it last week earlier in this chapter that God was with Joseph even when he was a slave in Potiphar's house and we noted that not only is God with Joseph but Joseph is with God. Joseph is following God he's committed to honoring God even in the midst of this place. He's trusting him. The same truth which sustained Joseph in Potiphar's house is going to sustain Joseph here in prison and it's the same truth which can sustain you and me when we're in times where everything is falling apart when we are in times when the trials come. God is with us. God never promised that his people will not suffer that they will never have trials that they will never have problems but he did promise to be with us in our suffering. Promises like in Hebrews chapter 13 where it says, "For he God has said I will never leave you nor forsake you so we can confidently say the Lord is my helper. I will not fear what can man do to me." See God is with us. He may put us through some difficult times but he always does it for a purpose as Paul writes to the Corinthians. He says, "For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all." If you know anything about the life of Paul his troubles were we would never call them light or momentary. We would call him huge and severe but he says in contrast to what's coming. You see they are light in their momentary because there's an eternal glory that is coming. Another promise in Psalm 105 verse 19, again speaking about Joseph and that little summary snippet there in Psalm 105 it says, "Until what he, that's God, had said came to pass the word of the Lord tested him." God was testing Joseph. He was testing him, preparing him for big things yet to come that Joseph doesn't know about and we don't see yet till we get there. But God is at work. God is with us and he is at work in us and he is working for us for a purpose. If that is what we know and if we are trusting God with that, if we have faith in him, if we understand that he is with us and working his plan for us then it makes sense that we will do the next thing that Joseph does. Go back to the text in verse 22 of chapter 39. "And the keeper of the prison put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners who were in the prison. Whatever was done there he was the one who did it. The keeper of the prison paid no attention to anything that was in Joseph's charge because the Lord was with him and whatever he did the Lord made it succeed." Joseph is in prison but he knows that God is with him. Joseph is in prison and he knows that God is at work and so Joseph makes a choice. He does here just as he had done in Potiphar's house he chose to bloom where God has planted him. He has chosen to make lemonade from the lemons. He's chosen to serve God wherever he is, wherever God has put him. Whether it's back home with daddy or whether it was as a slave in Potiphar's house or now even in prison, Joseph has chosen to have an attitude and a character and a work ethic that brings honor to God. We need to do that whatever our situation, whatever our circumstances, we need to have such an attitude and such a character and such a work ethic that all of those honor God. Joseph is exemplifying. He's living out what the Apostle Paul will later call for all of us to do when he writes the Colossians in Colossians chapter 3, applying even to slaves. He says, "Whatever you do work heartily as for the Lord and not for men knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ." We are to live in such a way that we remember that we are serving Jesus Christ and that our inheritance is in heaven. We're not concerned about the results here. We're not concerned about our situation here. We are looking to honor Christ in our situation. Whatever the results are, we're going to do what's right and we're going to do it in a way that pleases Jesus. I find it interesting here that it says that whatever Joseph did, it succeeded somehow. I mean, he's in prison and he's blessing Joseph and blessing the prison so that the prison is prospering. I don't know if they had a garden or if Joseph said, "Instituted prison reforms," said, "What about..." We got all these guys sitting here. We could bake license plates for chariots or whatever. You could make some money for the prison and maybe we could buy something like a pillow or a blanket or whatever. The guard bought it and the prison prospers. It's the Lord who does it, but it's Joseph saying, "What can I do here? How can we honor God in the midst of this horrific situation?" Instead of being bitter about our situation, we are to make the most of the opportunities to serve and to honor Christ in our situation. Don't be bitter about your situation, but look, how are you going to honor Christ in your situation? Well, now we're to chapter 40 and finally we'll begin there in verse 1. Sometime after this, the cupbearer of the king of Egypt and his ended baker committed an offense against their Lord, the king of Egypt. And Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker, and he put them in the custody of the house of the captain of the guard in the prison where Joseph was confined. The leading words there, sometime after this, Joseph has at this point been in prison for perhaps two or three years. Now if this were my story, that would not only be the first words, they would be a big bold print and highlighted and flashing because I would be, and it wouldn't be just sometime after, it would be after years of being in prison, pastor gave this suffering there in prison for a long time, because that's how I think. Here it's just sometime after this, we have to really think to put ourselves in Joseph's shoes here as to what it was. Now because of concerns of assassination by poisoning, the positions of cupbearer and baker are highly trusted and important positions in the administration of a king, the Pharaoh. Matter of fact, in the courts of many kings, the cupbearer becomes perhaps the most trusted advisor to the king because he literally holds the life of the king in his hands. But in this case, something happened. The cupbearer and the baker somehow offended the king, something they said, something they did, some insinuation was made, perhaps some plot, some conspiracy theory was out there and they just ended up on the wrong side of it. We don't know what happened, but they're in trouble and Pharaoh orders them into prison, and they go to the prison of the captain of the guard who we know from the chapter before is Potiphar, and it's the place where the king's prisoners are kept, and so they get put right in there where Joseph is. Verse 3, "The captain of the guard appointed Joseph to be with them, and he attended them, and they continued from some time in custody. More time goes by." What's significant to note is that Joseph has been running the prison. These guys get put in with him. They're roommates, sweetmates, whatever in this dungeon, and it says here Joseph attended them. He serves them. Joseph is running the prison, but he serves them. We begin to learn about Joseph's character. He is humble. He's a servant. More time goes by, and one night they dreamed, they both dreamed. The cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt who were confined in the prison, each his own dream, and each dream with its own interpretation. When Joseph came to them in the morning, he saw that they were troubled, so he asked Pharaoh's officers who were with him, that is the cupbearer and the king, in the custody of his master's house. He said, "Why are your faces downcast today?" Again, another glimpse into a remarkable glimpse into Joseph's character. He's in a prison. He has suffered greatly over the years, and yet he walks in, and here's these two guys, and they are sad. They are depressed because they've had dreams. My response, you're sad? What's up with you guys? Get with it. A bunch of wimps you haven't suffered dearly like, "I haven't been here for years." I would have no sympathy. I wouldn't even notice that they were upset because I'm too busy with my own pity party. Any of you guys throw pity parties? I'll send you some invitations to mind if you need some. I throw good ones. When we're in the midst of our pity party, we don't notice anybody else around us. Joseph isn't having a pity party in prison. He's sensitive. He looks around at these guys. He says, "What's up? Why are your faces downcast today?" How remarkable is that? He's a marvelous model here for you and me of selfless caring. I think that's a third thing that helps us to understand how he has endured these trials without getting despairing and despondent. He truly cares about and cares for other people. It's a reminder for us that if we don't want to end up in the throes of despair, then we need to break out of our pity parties and we need to focus on the needs of others. Philippians chapter two challenges us to do that. In humility, count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interest, but also to the interests of others. Galatians chapter six reminds us that as we have opportunity, let us then do good to everyone, especially to those who are the household of faith. One of the best things that you and I can do when we find ourselves in difficulty and in trial, and we find ourselves starting to get overwhelmed by those is we need to start looking toward the needs of others. How can we serve others? How can we meet others' needs? How can we care for other people? What we discover then is a couple of things. We discover many times that our troubles aren't nearly as bad as their troubles, and we also discover that as we care for them, we find ourselves comforted. We find ourselves getting strength as we try to point them to Christ. We remember to listen to those promises ourselves. Well, they said to him, verse eight, they said to him, "We've had dreams, and there is no one to interpret them." And Joseph said to them, "Do not interpretations belong to God? Please tell me." Joseph says, "Hey, you've got dreams, you want to know the answers?" Well, there's lots of answers out there that aren't worth listening to, but the real answers God has them. Do not dreams, do not interpretations belong to God? The only one who knows the thoughts of a man are God, and God can interpret these for you. Tell them to me. Joseph seems confident that God will give him the answer to their questions. What I realize here is that Joseph recognizes that when we are in trouble, when we are in difficulty, we need to cling to God's words, not to anything else. We need to hear from God. And he's telling these guys, "You need to hear what the Lord has to say about this." What's interesting is that Joseph didn't have any of the many wonderful promises that we have written in God's Word. They hadn't been written yet. Joseph exemplified he lived out the promises that we have written for us, but he didn't have those written for him. He didn't have promises like Romans 8, 28. And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for the good, for those who are called according to his purpose. That if we love God, if we have a relationship with God through Jesus Christ, if we're trusting Him, we can be absolutely confident that God is at work in the middle of our darkest days, our most difficult trials, anything that we are encountering, God is at work. Whether it is a severe trial of a moment or whether it has been in prison for years, God is still there with us and for us. A few verses later in Romans 8, it says that, "As it is written for your sake, we are being killed all the day long. We are regarded as cheap to be slaughtered." There's a life verse you can put on your refrigerator. I don't know of anybody that has that on the refrigerator. Therefore, for your sake, we're being killed all the day long. We're going to be regarded like cheap to be slaughtered. Here's the good news. No! Yes, it's hard out there. It's difficult out there. We have a great enemy who wants to take us out, but we, in all these things, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. Yes, life can be tough. It can be difficult. We may be suffering, but we can rest easy because we have a glorious future. We have an inheritance in Jesus Christ. He wins, and we win with Him. So also, because of those things, we need to have no fear. As David wrote in Psalm 46, "God is our refuge and strength, the very present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear, though the earth gives way." Joseph didn't have those scriptures. What Joseph did have was what his grandfather Isaac had taught him about the faithfulness of God. And what Joseph did have were, do you remember those two dreams he had about eight years or so prior to this? When he was seventeen years old, he had those dreams that he didn't know what they meant. He shared them with his father and brothers. You know, what's really interesting is that all of a sudden we've got dreams again. These two men with dreams, and Joseph is like, "I know somebody." God knows the answer to the interpretation of your dreams. Tell me your dreams, and we'll get you the interpretation. And that's going to happen here in just a second. But you know, there's nothing in the text anywhere which says that God ever gave Joseph the interpretation, the understanding of his dreams. He had these dreams. But what did they mean? I find that fascinating because I don't think that he ever got that, that interpretation. All that he knows is, God gave him some dreams, and they mean something. And what it means is, God is doing something. God has a purpose. I don't know what the purpose is. I don't know what he's doing, but that was enough. It was enough for Joseph to say when he was in the pit and when he was as a slave and now that he's in the prison to say, "God, you are in charge. You are sovereign, you're working things. I don't know what you're doing, but that's enough. You're doing something. I'm going to trust that you're going to work out your plan and that it's good." Well, I find that marvelous faith and how it is for you and me. We need to trust God's word. God has given to us so many wonderful and precious promises here that we can cling to. That he is with us. He will never leave us. We talked about that, that he is at work in our life, that we need to have no fear and so many more promises. Let's cling to those. So, verse 9, the chief cup bearer told his dream to Joseph and said to him, "In my dream, there was a vine before me, and on the vine there were three branches, and as soon as it budded, its blossom shot forth and the clusters ripened into grapes. Pharaoh's cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes and pressed them into Pharaoh's cup and placed the cup in Pharaoh's hand." Then Joseph said to him, "This is its interpretation. The three branches are three days. In three days, Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your office, and you shall place Pharaoh's cup in his hand as formerly when you were his cup bearer. Only remember me. When it's well with you, and please do me the kindness to mention me to Pharaoh and so get me out of this house. For I was indeed stolen out of the land of the Hebrews, and here I have done nothing that they should put me into the pit." The cup bearer was in three days, was going to be released from prison and get his job back. And so Joseph says, "Hey, would you do me a little favor? When you get back there, where you have the ear of the King, would you just put in a nice little word for me? Tell me you met this nice little Jewish boy back in the prison, and he interpreted a dream for you, and he's unjustly imprisoned, and could you get me out?" The fifth thing I notice here that for you and I to do when we are in difficult times is do what you can. Do what you can that's appropriate to remedy your situation. If there's a lifeboat, jump in it. If you are needing food and there's an opportunity to work, you know, if there's something practical and appropriate to do to fix your situation, it's good to do that. God expects us to trust him, he intends for us to trust him, but he also expects us to do what we can to take responsible actions to care for ourselves, as God provides opportunities and he provides means to do that. Even as the apostle Paul told the Thessalonians, he says, "If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat." Trusting God is not an excuse for being lazy, but we are never just to work. We are to recognize that ultimately we are dependent on God in everything, but Joseph here rightly makes a very reasonable and a very appropriate request. Remember me when you get into Pharaoh's court. Well, the baker has observed this. He's pretty excited, verse 16. When the chief baker saw the interpretation was favorable, he said to Joseph, "I also had a dream. There were three cake baskets on my head and the uppermost basket, there were all sorts of baked food for Pharaoh, but the birds were eating it out of the basket on my head." And Joseph answered and said, "This is its interpretation. The three baskets are three days so far so good. In three days, Pharaoh will lift up your head from you and hang you on a tree, and the birds will eat the flesh from you." Oh, the baker was sorry he asked. Not such a good thing. May I say at least he had a few days' warning to get his heart right with God, if he would. Incidentally, just, you know, every one of us, every one of us are simply a heartbeat away from eternity. Today may be the last day for any one of us, so the Bible says today is the day of salvation. If you are not trusting and following Jesus as your Lord and your Savior, make today the day you turn to Him. If you come to Him for salvation, trust Him as your Savior and have a new life now, an eternal life forevermore. On the third day, the text goes on, which was Pharaoh's birthday. He made a feast for all his servants, and he lifted up the head of the chief cupbearer and the head of the chief baker among his servants. He restored the chief cupbearer to his position, and he placed the cup in Pharaoh's hand. But he hanged the chief baker as Joseph had interpreted to them. So just as Joseph had said it would, it all happened. Joseph has something not to look forward to though, right? A good word in the Pharaoh's ear, and maybe Joseph will be freed, right? Not so much. You know the story. Verse 23, yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him. Ouch. Last thing for us to do, actually next to last, in times of difficulty, wait patiently on the Lord. God's timing is quite often not what we would like it to be. Matter of fact, we discover next verse, first verse of the next chapter. It's two full years passed by. Two more minutes would have been plenty for all of us. Two years. I imagine that Joseph was excited when the men left. He knew it was going to happen. He knew that this cupbearer would be back in the good graces of the Pharaoh, and maybe today is the day that I'll get a little call. Joseph Pharaoh wants to talk with you. Maybe today, a day went by, a week went by, a month went by, a year went by. At this point in time, with everything that's happened, he doesn't need more blows. He doesn't need another thing crashing on him. All he needs right now is just there was my hope and nothing. Here's where I would fall into despair. What are we to do? Wait patiently on the Lord because his timing is not our timing. Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, Peter writes, that at the proper time, he may exalt you. God's timing may not be our timing, but it's always the right timing. It's always the proper time. What Joseph doesn't know is that God is working in him, preparing him for big things. There are still lessons that he is learning. Still skills he is developing. At the right time, our God is so good he won't let Joseph sit down there one day extra. Not an hour extra. When the time is right, God will say it's time. And that's next week's story. So Joseph is to do what David calls us to do in Psalm 27. Wait for the Lord, be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. We sang that earlier. By the way, waiting is not passive. In this case, waiting for the Lord, I should say, is not passive. It's active because it's not just waiting. It's waiting on the Lord. It's recognizing God's in control. I may not like waiting, but I recognize he has the time. And if we're going to get out of despair, we have to recognize God's controlling the time. One last thing that we need to do, and that is this. We need to pray. Pray. You know, one of the most intriguing things that caught me as I was studying this week and preparing this message, and I'm looking on the things that we are to do. And I said, oh, you know what's not on the list here? Is pray. And then I realized it's not on the list because I'm going through doing the things that Joseph did. And I look and I realize nowhere here does it say Joseph prayed. Nowhere here does it say Joseph prayed. And I had to read through again. I read it through two or three more times going somewhere here. Well, you got to have this man praying. It never says he prayed. Now, I think he did. I think it's just not recorded. It doesn't mean he didn't pray, but it's not recorded. Joseph obviously is expecting something from God because he gets this interpretation for the guys. He says, you tell me your dream. I'll give you the interpretation. He's obviously expecting communication from God, but it's never says he prayed here. But I put it here on the list of things to do because we know that when we go through the pages of Scripture, we see people like David pray. The Psalms are full of his prayers and his prayers are the type of prayers that I pray when I am throwing my pity party. God, where are you? Are you listing God? Read the Psalms when you're and pray the Psalms when you're hurting. David prayed in his troubles. Daniel prayed in his troubles. The apostle Paul prayed in his troubles. Jesus Christ, the night before his crucifixion, prayed in his troubles. If they all prayed, shouldn't we? And the answer is yes. Matter of fact, we should do as Paul tells the Philippians in Philippians chapter 4, do not be anxious about anything but in everything with prayer and petition, with thanksgiving or prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God, and then the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, regard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. If we want to have the peace of God in difficult times, we need to pray. Wonderful things here that Joseph has demonstrated for us. Remember, God is with you and for you. Bloom where you're planted. Seek to serve God in your trouble. Not just be anxious to get out of it. Care about and for others. Cling to God's word. Do what you can. Wait patiently for the Lord and pray. Let's pray. Father, how we need this. Because sooner or later every one of us ends up in times of difficulty, in times of trial. Some of us are today in great trial. Some may be there in the next few days. Thank you for this example of this godly man who was a positive example who never got, got swallowed up in despair. But rather he rested in you. He trusted you. And in the midst of the difficulties, he brought great honor to you. He served you. He served others. Teach us to do that, Lord. Help us to approach our days and our weeks, our months and our troubles and our trials in this way so that you will be honored and also for our own good. This we ask in Jesus name. Amen. May God bless you as you grow in your walk with him this week. [BLANK_AUDIO]