Brothers to Bondage

We return to the book of Genesis. For the last several months, we took a break from Genesis in order to take some time to think about the church—what God's word has to say about the doctrine of the church. Now, we have an opportunity to finish this book. Genesis 37–50 follow the story of Joseph and the sons of Jacob. And as we enter into Genesis 37, we encounter what really is the darkest cycle in the book of Genesis. We see the themes that we saw from the very beginning of the book—life, death, and hope—reenter into the story.

In this final cycle, not only do we see the darkest expressions of having to live in a broken and sinful world, but we also see some of the clearest pictures of the goodness of God and what he intends to do in the world through his redemptive mission. I wonder what you would do if you had to encounter what Joseph does. Let me go and read us from the whole chapter, from chapter 37, verse 1. If you don't have a Bible, you can use a pew Bible in front of you. If you don't own a Bible, we would love for you to just keep that Bible; consider that a gift from us to you. We would love for you to have a copy of God's word. Here is Genesis 37.

Jacob lived in the land where his father had stayed, the land of Canaan. These are the family records of Jacob.

At seventeen years of age, Joseph tended sheep with his brothers. The young man was working with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives, and he brought a bad report about them to their father. Now Israel loved Joseph more than his other sons because Joseph was a son born to him in his old age, and he made a long-sleeved robe for him. When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not bring themselves to speak peaceably to him.

Then Joseph had a dream. When he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more. He said to them, “Listen to this dream I had: There we were, binding sheaves of grain in the field. Suddenly my sheaf stood up, and your sheaves gathered around it and bowed down to my sheaf.”

“Are you really going to reign over us?” his brothers asked him. “Are you really going to rule us?” So they hated him even more because of his dream and what he had said.

Then he had another dream and told it to his brothers. “Look,” he said, “I had another dream, and this time the sun, moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.”

He told his father and brothers, and his father rebuked him. “What kind of dream is this that you have had?” he said. “Am I and your mother and your brothers really going to come and bow down to the ground before you?” His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind.

His brothers had gone to pasture their father’s flocks at Shechem. Israel said to Joseph, “Your brothers, you know, are pasturing the flocks at Shechem. Get ready. I’m sending you to them.”

“I’m ready,” Joseph replied.

Then Israel said to him, “Go and see how your brothers and the flocks are doing, and bring word back to me.” So he sent him from the Hebron Valley, and he went to Shechem.

A man found him there, wandering in the field, and asked him, “What are you looking for?”

“I’m looking for my brothers,” Joseph said. “Can you tell me where they are pastoring their flocks?”

“They’ve moved on from here,” the man said. “I heard them say, ‘Let’s go to Dothan.’” So Joseph set out after his brothers and found them at Dothan.

They saw him in the distance, and before he had reached them, they plotted to kill him. They said to one another, “Oh, look, here comes that dream expert! So now, come on, let’s kill him and throw him into one of the pits. We can say that a vicious animal ate him. Then we’ll see what becomes of his dreams!”

When Reuben heard this, he tried to save him from them. He said, “Let’s not take his life.” Reuben also said to them, “Don’t shed blood. Throw him into this pit in the wilderness, but don’t lay a hand on him”—intending to rescue him from them and return him to his father.

When Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped off Joseph’s robe, the long-sleeved robe that he had on. Then they took him and threw him into the pit. The pit was empty, without water.

They sat down to eat a meal, and when they looked up, there was a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were carrying aromatic gum, balsam, and resin, going down to Egypt.

Judah said to his brothers, “What do we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? Come on, let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay a hand on him, for he is our brother, our own flesh,” and his brothers agreed. When Midianite traders passed by, his brothers pulled Joseph out of the pit and sold him for twenty pieces of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took Joseph to Egypt.

When Reuben returned to the pit and saw that Joseph was not there, he tore his clothes. He went back to his brothers and said, “The boy is gone! What am I going to do?”

So they took Joseph’s robe, slaughtered a male goat, and dipped the robe in its blood. They sent the long-sleeved robe to their father and said, “We found this. Examine it. Is it your son’s robe or not?”

His father recognized it. “It is my son’s robe,” he said. “A vicious animal has devoured him. Joseph has been torn to pieces!”

Then Jacob tore his clothes, put sackcloth around his waist, and mourned for his son many days. All his sons and daughters tried to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. “No,” he said. “I will go down to Sheol to my son, mourning.” And his father wept for him.

Meanwhile, the Midianites sold Joseph in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and the captain of the guards.

— Genesis 37:1-36 (CSB)

Let's pray. Lord, we do ask that you would help us in the midst of dark providences to be able to trust in your promises. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.

The Reality of Dark Providences

Has following Jesus been all that it's cracked up to be? Has it worked out? I wonder if you've grown up hearing testimonies like this: “Before I knew Jesus, my life was a wreck. I was completely lost. I was hopeless. My life was miserable. My work wasn't working out. My studies were difficult. I was depressed, discouraged, despondent. And now that I found God, my health improved. I got straight A's. My problems were solved. And I trust God in order to bring me to whatever he has planned for next.”

I grew up hearing stories exactly like that. And let me tell you, I love stories like that. I'm so grateful for God's ability to redeem anyone and bring them to Christ. But I also wonder, depending on how those stories are told and how you hear them, what you think you are being redeemed from. What is the primary problem that Jesus comes to solve? Does he come to solve your workplace dispute? Is he there to address your health that's continuing to fail?

What if following Jesus involves more than just gaining a crown, but also carrying a cross? If our faith is built primarily around being redeemed from the world's problems, then that means our faith will also fail under the world's persecution.

Where we left off in Genesis, we saw a list of Esau's descendants, name after name, all rulers, all kings, all leaders of their tribes. We see Esau's descendants ascend to great heights. They have amassed immense amounts of power and influence. And if that's the way that the unrighteous are treated, you would expect in the next chapter for God's people to ascend even higher.

And yet, what we see in chapter 37 is that they don't. Jacob is still in the land of Canaan. And rather than ascending up to greatness, we see brotherly conflict descend into bondage. Rather than gaining a great legacy of powerful men, Jacob finds his sons turning against each other. And in the midst of brotherly betrayal, we also get to see God continue to lay the groundwork to fulfill his providential promises.

I wonder what kind of story or narrative you would be more drawn to. I wonder which story is more realistic for you: a world where you gain prosperity, or a world of dark providence? We'll follow this story in three phases. First, we'll look at these brothers—what they were doing with each other. Second, we'll look at the betrayal. And third, we'll look at the blood. Brothers, betrayal, blood.

The Destructive Power of Favoritism and Envy

Point one: brothers. You see the story pan from Esau to Jacob, and we aren't given another family list, even though he introduces it as the generations or the genealogy of Jacob. You don't see a list of names; you get a story about a family's life. But this family life is tense. And the reason why it's tense is because Joseph's brothers are bad. They are bad enough that Joseph becomes a snitch; he tells his dad about how bad his brothers are.

And it seems like his father didn't really need any convincing. He already knows, or he already doesn't like them. At the very least, Jacob has a favorite. And we know, because God's eternal truthful word says that Jacob had a favorite, because Joseph was born to him when he was old. Men tend to grow softer with age. It's different when you're young and you're parenting, and you feel like your child's obedience is a direct reflection of your good or bad parenting. But when you look at grandparents, they tend to chill out. You can spoil the kid rotten because they're not staying at your home; you can hand the kid right back.

And you see Jacob here looking at Joseph with favor. But if we're being honest, you don't have to be old to pick favorites. We pick favorites all the time. I still remember sitting at a sermon where a pastor behind the pulpit said, “I have a favorite grandchild, and it's him.” And he pointed at the kid in the midst of all of his other grandchildren sitting in the pews.

Jacob's favoritism is that obvious. The brothers get literal visual proof because Jacob gives his son a bougie robe that he can wear around, demonstrating in front of his brothers every single day just how much more Jacob loves Joseph—a repeated reminder of the chasm between the love that Joseph has and the love that his brothers lack. I mean, it's frustrating. I remember in high school when my parents decided to buy a new mattress for my sister who had already left for college. I had to walk past that room every day, reminded that I wasn't the favorite. We laugh, but favoritism is more than just a natural inevitability. By the way, I got permission from my sister to share that story. She embraces her role.

Favoritism is more than just favoritism; it's also partiality. James 2:1 tells us that believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism. Deeming others to be more worthy of your love on the basis of how you perceive their loveliness is for you to take the place of a judge and to take authority that belongs to God. It doesn't matter if you like them more because they are richer, or because they are better looking, or because they're not as annoying. When you do that, you take the place of God.

And Jacob should know this because he himself was a victim of favoritism. His dad, Isaac, liked Esau more than him. And yet, he is blind to his own faults. The sins of his father pass on to the son, and because of that, his own sons feel spurned. But then Joseph takes that and rubs salt into his envious brothers' wounds. You can see that in verse 5, when Joseph had a dream and told it to his brothers, they hated him even more.

So imagine that dream. Joseph had his dream. He has all these bundles of grain where his sheaf stands up and the other sheaves bow down, and his brothers are filled with hatred. They are so mad they can't help but repeat the most absurd idea of what this dream points to: “Are you really going to reign over us? Are you really going to rule us?” They reject his dream, not because they've disproved it, but because they don't like it. They're offended by it.

But Joseph's next dream is even worse, in verse 9. He had another dream and told it to his brothers: “Look, I had another dream, and this time the sun, moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” He told his father and brothers, and his father rebuked him. Notice now it's not just the brothers. His whole family—this constellation of the sun, moon, and stars in the night sky—come and bow down to him. And now it's not just the brothers, but his own dad rebukes him and says, “Am I and your mother and your brothers really going to come and bow down to the ground before you?” It says in verse 11 that his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind. They are full of envy towards their brother.

You see, if favoritism is partiality from a position of power, envy is looking at someone in relation to what they have that you don't. It's sorrow or anger at another person's good. And Jacob's brothers here are envious. And while their envy and jealousy is completely understandable, it is also completely inexcusable. To look at the good someone has as a reason to sulk, or to covet, or to rage is to oppose the God who gave them these good things.

If you want to tear your family, or your workplace, or this church apart, fill it with jealous people. Fill it with envious people. It is a fire that will consume every adversary. Because when you are filled with envy, you can't win. When other people are doing well, it sinks your joy. Your own success only matters as much as it's good in relation to other people's accomplishments. You see, envy can't feed your soul any more than a trophy can feed your body.

And their jealousy blinds them to what the Lord may be doing. Notice who takes a step back to think and to consider: it's Jacob. He keeps the matter in mind. He himself experienced dreams of heaven at Bethel, and he pays attention to what God may be revealing to Joseph. And you and I are supposed to do that too. This is foreshadowing in the story that's not going to pay off until many chapters later, so just keep a pin in that. But for now, don't get lost in the dreams of grandeur, because Joseph is about to receive a cold, ice-bucket of devastation.

The Depth of Betrayal

Point two: betrayal. Look at verse 12. Jacob tells Joseph, “Go to your brothers.” And he asks Joseph if he's ready to go, whether he's prepared to go to meet his brothers at a very specific location. He's supposed to go and meet his brothers in Shechem.

If you remember Shechem, you'd remember that some stuff went down in that city, right? Simeon and Levi, after Dinah gets taken advantage of, trick the men there to get circumcised and come through, and they slaughter every man that exists inside of that city. And now, just like how Simeon and Levi betrayed Shechem, these brothers are ready to turn on their own brother. This is a hint at the devastation that Joseph is about to experience.

But it's not just the location that's creating this foreboding mood or this atmosphere; it's also the environment that he's walking into. It says that he goes to Shechem and Joseph ends up wandering in a field—another place of nostalgia, not for Joseph, but for us. We've been going verse by verse through the book of Genesis. Can you think of another story in Genesis that takes place in a field? Cain and Abel in the field. Cain tells Abel, “Let's go out to the field.” And the moment that the two of them are in the field, Cain kills his brother. Can you start to hear the trumpets getting louder?

He heads further away from home. He heads north. And as he goes further and further up, he lands at Dothan, a city whose name means “two wells,” because he's about to get chucked down one.

The brothers see him in the distance, and before he reaches them, they plot to kill him. They say to one another, “Oh look, here comes that dream expert! So now, come on, let's kill him and throw him into one of the pits. We can say that a vicious animal ate him. Then we'll see what becomes of his dreams!”

The brothers can immediately tell it's Joseph. And the reason why they can tell it's Joseph is because he's wearing that stinking robe that enraged them so much, and they immediately plot to kill him. Can you see what upsets them in the way that they talk about their brother? They say, “Look at that dream expert. Let's murder him and see what becomes of his dreams.” Their hatred is stoked by the very thing that caused their envy, and it bears fruit in the plotted murder of their brother.

Reuben steps in and reminds them of an old law that exists in Genesis 9: you don't shed human blood. God tells Noah that whoever sheds human blood, by humans his blood will be shed, for God made humans in his image. And while that should prick their consciences enough to think about, I don't know, treating their brother like a human being, instead they take that and try to make a loophole. Reuben can't stop them. At best, all he can do is redirect their hatred.

And so they grab Joseph, strip him of his robe, and throw him in the pit with hopes that without water or food, Joseph would die and waste away. And in that, they technically didn't do it. Their consciences are so seared that while Joseph is presumably starving at the bottom of a pit, they are sitting next to it having dinner.

Not only can they stomach sin, they're also led by their senses. These Ishmaelites come with other goods. If you remember, Ishmael is the brother of who? Isaac. So, you have another brother that's different than the child of the promise. And they're smelling all the things that they're giving; they're seeing all the goods. And so, they don't just murder, they also get consumed by their greed. And so, they sell Joseph into slavery for twenty pieces of silver.

The Sin of the Heart and the Need for Reconciliation

And let me ask you: are they technically getting away with it? Are they not violating God's law? Did they catch God in a loophole by not being the one who physically murdered their brother? No, no they didn't. Even if their brother was buried deep into the ground, his blood would still cry out for justice. Even if he's chained, God would see that Joseph is stripped of his dignity. More than that, the spirit of Genesis 9 and not taking someone's blood is not just about not killing people; it's about recognizing the dignity and worth of every single human person.

Can you see how despicable slavery is? Murder, even favoritism—to look at someone made in the image of God and to say that they're not worthy of my respect, or love, or care. This is why Jesus says in Matthew 5:

“You have heard that it was said to our ancestors, Do not murder, and whoever murders will be subject to judgment. But I tell you, everyone who is angry with his brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Whoever insults his brother or sister will be subject to the court. Whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be subject to hellfire. So if you are offering your gift on the altar, and there you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled with your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift.

— Matthew 5:21-24 (CSB)

Can you imagine that? Saying “idiot,” you are literally sentenced to eternal punishment in hell. Because God is not a robot that activates whenever a technicality has been reached. He sees everything. He sees your heart. The ironic thing is trying to navigate around God's law as though God doesn't see what you're doing to your brother. And you and I will be fools too if we think that we can get away with a sassy side-eye, or a passive-aggressive comment, or a bitter act of the cold shoulder, because God doesn't just care about what you do; he cares about how you feel. He sees your soul.

If that describes you, if you can think of specific people in your mind as I'm talking about this right now, can I just encourage you not to throw them into a pit or throw them under the bus? You can talk to them. You can have a conversation immediately afterwards. Jesus says, “If you are offering a gift on the altar and there you remember your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there at the altar and go first. Go and be reconciled to your brother or sister and then come and offer your gift.”

The surgical work of an honest conversation will do more good than if you let the cancer of bitterness spread all throughout your soul. We may look at Joseph's brothers as though they're being ridiculous and overreacting, or doing something that's despicable and evil. But all of us know that when we let the seeds of envy grow in our hearts, we can be driven to do some crazy things.

In contrast, our church covenant says that we're supposed to cultivate Christian sympathy and feeling, and Christian courtesy in speech; to be slow to take offense, but always ready for reconciliation, mindful of the rules of our Savior to secure it without delay. Wouldn't you want to be part of a community like that, where people have thick skins and truthful hearts, where they're leaning in and ready to forgive, where they're willing to confront each other when they have conversations?

You can do that. You can do that by walking across the aisle and having a conversation with someone today. But these brothers don't use their words. Instead, they thrust their brother from the pit of death into the shackles of slavery. And the way that they decide to cover up their evil is through blood.

Deception and the Pain of Hypocrisy

Point number three. Read with me from verse 29.

When Reuben returned to the pit and saw that Joseph was not there, he tore his clothes. He went back to his brothers and said, “The boy is gone! What am I going to do?”

So they took Joseph’s robe, slaughtered a male goat, and dipped the robe in its blood. They sent the long-sleeved robe to their father and said, “We found this. Examine it. Is it your son’s robe or not?”

His father recognized it. “It is my son’s robe,” he said. “A vicious animal has devoured him. Joseph has been torn to pieces!”

Then Jacob tore his clothes, put sackcloth around his waist, and mourned for his son many days. All his sons and daughters tried to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. “No,” he said. “I will go down to Sheol to my son, mourning.” And his father wept for him.

Meanwhile, the Midianites sold Joseph in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and the captain of the guards.

— Genesis 37:29-36 (CSB)

Reuben's plan doesn't work. He comes back and realizes that he lost his opportunity to save his brother. And so they take Joseph's robes, and they slaughter a goat and they dip the robe in its blood. Decades prior, Jacob as a young man deceives his dad by killing a goat and taking the goat's skin with its fur and wearing it on his arms to trick his dad and receive the blessing. And now his sons also deceive him with a goat, mimicking human blood with their brother's blood.

And Jacob is devastated. He is inconsolable. His despair drags his soul straight down to Sheol where he thinks his son is. And can you see the peak of his sons' hypocrisy here? The very same sons who tried to kill their brother are the ones that are trying to comfort their father. No one was exempt. All of his sons try to comfort Jacob. Their hatred has so clouded their judgment and perception of reality that they are able to simultaneously carry the guilt of their sin while trying to fake sorrow and offer hollow comfort to their dad.

That's what hypocrisy does. It builds a double life built on lies. It speaks peace while hiding violence. It projects holiness while fostering hatred. And if that's you, you will never find true peace because the mirage that you've built to protect yourself is actually the very same thing that's rotting your soul. Even for these brothers, their conscience weighs on them for decades. You see that later in the story.

True peace doesn't arrive until the very end of the book, in chapter 50, verses 20 to 21, because there is a difference between getting away with it and actually resolving the problem. There's a difference between faking innocence and being declared forgiven. See, the former masquerades as though you're okay while simultaneously carrying the weight of your sin, while the latter drops the act and is able to embrace true accountability.

There are two ways you can live your life: you could choose to be a hypocrite, or you could choose to be an honest man. And the brothers don't do that. At least not yet. And the story ends with despair and Joseph headed straight to Egypt.

Finding Hope in the Pit of Despair

So what do you do with a story like this? It feels like one of those despicable dramas where you see evil characters get more and more evil until they receive their just deserts. But, you know, there's another character in the story that we haven't really talked about that much. In fact, we would argue that he's the main character of the next thirteen or fourteen chapters: Joseph.

He doesn't say much. He honestly doesn't even do much. He tells everyone about his dreams, he goes to see his brothers, and for the rest of the story, there is not a single word that comes out of his mouth. I mean, you would expect if this guy is supposed to be the main character of the next fourteen chapters that you would at least mention something about the way that he felt or the things that he tried to do. I mean, if you're thrown into a dusty pit, what would you do?

And yet, I think Joseph looks remarkably like all of us. When you're stuck between your dreams that you had and the reality—the pit of your despair—there isn't much you can do. You're stuck in a pit. All you can do is sit there. It's no wonder that Jacob laments that his son went down to Sheol, or the place of the dead, because that's how despair feels, doesn't it? It feels like you're dying. All throughout Scripture, you see the picture of Sheol and the pit overlapping. Psalm 88 says:

Lord, God of my salvation, I cry out before you day and night. May my prayer reach your presence; listen to my cry. For I have had enough troubles, and my life is near Sheol. I am counted among those going down to the Pit. I am like a man without strength,

— Psalm 88:1-4 (CSB)

So what do we do when we're confronted with the dreams of rule and the reality of death? How can you and I live as Christians who have been receiving such great promises from God about where we will be and the things that are in store for us, when we open this book and we hear dream upon dream and grace upon grace, and you look out with your own physical eyes and all you see is despair and devastation around you?

Let me tell you that if you feel that way this morning, you are exactly where God wants you to be, because it is in that darkness and that pit that God is at work. Notice where Joseph is at the end of this story in verse 36. Yes, he's a slave, but notice who he's a slave to: he becomes a slave to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and a captain of the guards. He could have been sold to any Egyptian. He could have been forced to work in a field or starve in his bondage. And yet, in God's providence, in his mysterious work in Joseph's life, he embraces the shackles that the Lord's providence has given him, and the Lord leads him straight into closer proximity to power.

The True Joseph and His Perfect Righteousness

I mean, you can imagine all the questions Joseph wrestles with. And yet, God orchestrates his greatest betrayal to bring about what will ultimately lead to the blessing of all nations. Can you see how that would be good news for an Israelite who is wandering through the wilderness, stuck doing a literal death march around the desert while they're waiting to be able to enter into the Promised Land, wondering what God is doing from the chains of Egypt as they yearn for the place that God wants them to be—a land flowing with milk and honey?

Moses is trying to tell them: if God can use the darkness of Joseph's slavery to accomplish his plans, then he can absolutely use the trials that you and I experience in order to accomplish his will. But it goes deeper than that. Joseph isn't just an example of how Israel should act. He points forward to another man, the true Israel, who would redeem us from more than just famine, but from the shackles of sin itself.

You know who also trusted the Lord's promises in the darkness of the pit of death? Jesus. And if you read this story, I think the gospel writers have Joseph in mind exactly as they're writing through the passion narrative of what Jesus himself goes through. Jesus trusts in the Lord's promises despite the ridicule of his own family. Jesus is sent to the sons of Israel only to be rejected by them. They plot to kill him. They strip him naked. They throw him into death. Jesus was sold for thirty pieces of silver. And unlike Joseph's symbolic death, Jesus was killed, hung on a cross, and sent down to death at the hands of sinners.

If you want to see an example of the darkest providence, look at Jesus trusting in his Father as he's betrayed by the hands of men. And yet, that betrayal leads to the redemption of all nations. That descent into death wasn't a violation of God's plans. It wasn't even an act of God out of some despicable evil that he had in his heart, but this dark providence would be an essential part of God's plan—not to be destroyed by sin, but to destroy sin, to cover it completely. Not by hiding it away, but by forgiving it, by bringing it to light and covering it with his grace.

See, if you're sitting here this morning and you feel the tension in your heart, if you are filled with hatred or bitterness or envy, God will not accept you by you roleplaying like a Christian. You cannot “fake it until you make it.” This is not about keeping up a veneer of holiness. What God requires of you is true repentance—a genuine, honest exposure of yourself before a holy and righteous God. And if you repent of your sin and you trust in the risen Christ, he accepts you, not because you've tricked him, but because he's forgiven you.

You see, Jesus's blood is different than the blood of Joseph, or at least the blood of this goat in this story. When Jesus covers you with his robe, when you go before the Father with all of your sin, all of your hypocrisy, all the hatred that you have in your heart, and you stand before God's holy throne, Jesus covers you with the robes of his righteousness, covered with his blood. And when his Father looks at you, God the Father doesn't see your sin. He will look at you and say, “This is my son's robe. This is my son's righteousness.” And our heavenly Father will accept us into his kingdom.

And if you and I get accepted into God's kingdom because of his Son's blood, what room is left for us to be envious? What do we actually lack? How can we possibly focus on the things that we don't have in this paltry world when we've already received everything that we could ever need? How can we possibly bring ourselves to hate our fellow brother and sister when we have already been forgiven so much? How can we compare and covet when we've been overwhelmed with grace upon grace upon grace, and we've been given such incredible hope?

I don't know if you feel betrayed by the world, whether you feel like the world's dealt you a hand that you never asked for. You look at the great dream of the gospel and you compare it to the despair of reality, and you feel like you have no idea what God's doing. I know Jeremiah felt that in chapter 20. He literally looks up at his Lord and Savior and says, “You deceived me.” And if that describes you, I just want you to know that God has not turned his back on you. That's exactly what the Lord himself experienced in his suffering, crying out to his Father, “Why have you abandoned me?”

Not only that, you're in a long line of Josephs before you, that when the world intends evil for you, intends to tear you down and rip you to shreds, you can look at the words of Joseph as an example that what man intended for evil, God intended for good. Or Job in his book, chapter 2:10: “Shall we accept only good from God and not adversity?” Or Paul with scars from the whips on his back writing:

And not only that, but we also boast in our afflictions, because we know that affliction produces endurance, endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope. This hope will not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. For while we were still helpless, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly.

— Romans 5:3-6 (CSB)

You don't have to just look at the Bible, too. You can just look around at the other people in this room. All of us stumbled in here this morning. Christians are not Christians because we have it all together. We understand that the main thing that we do in the Christian life isn't the grandiose things that we do for Jesus; it's the fact that the world can pummel us into the ground and we still stand up because we trust in a Savior who's going to make something of this mess. The hall of faith is full of sufferers, all picking up their cross and following their almighty Savior. And in this perplexing, blessed in-between, as we go from despair towards God's dreams, we can trust him with what tomorrow brings.

I was reminded of this quote yesterday. I think it's a more powerful testimony than any of the success-driven, improve-your-life mantras that we might try to tell ourselves. George Mueller was a famous man. He trusted the Lord, ran an orphanage, was a man of prayer, and people love the testimonies of all the amazing ways that God showed his provision as he prayed and relied on God to be able to sustain these children in his own life. I think what's most impressive is what he wrote in his journal after the Lord took his wife after decades or years of suffering. He wrote this in his journal. He said:

“It pleased God to take to himself my beloved wife after he had left her to me 23 years and 6 weeks. By the grace of God, I am not merely perfectly satisfied with this dispensation, but I kiss the hand that administered the stroke. And I look again for the fulfillment of that word in this instance: ‘In all things, God works for the good of those who love him.’”

You can trust him today. You can hope in that kind of God.

Let's pray. We do pray that you would help us to be able to trust you in the midst of the brokenness of this world, to be able to trust in your promises, in what you're doing. And we do ask, Lord, that you would return soon and make things right again. We pray all this in Jesus' name. Amen.