We jumped in to the meat of the "Extraordinary" series this past Sunday as we covered Genesis 37-42. The story follows the unbelievable journey of Joseph and his dreams.
Now, we need to set this up to show how it might relate in today's world....here's how we did it.
A few weeks ago, I traveled to a Beach Retreat location in Panama City, to check it out for the upcoming retreat in June. It looked familiar in pictures and it was very similar to a place I stayed in 17 years ago when I was fresh out of college and working as a summer intern at a church. When I pulled in to the location, it didn't look anything like the place I had imagined in my head. I am finally old enough to realize, in real time, that things change over a 17 year period.
I jumped out of my car because it was raining and ran for cover under the breeze way covering that overlooked the basketball courts...I pulled my phone out to take a picture (see below) and that's when it hit me. I walked out on to the court and stood there for a while and the memories came flooding back. This was the exact spot we dropped our luggage and started shooting around (I wasn't a very good intern because I was supposed to be keeping everyone in line and stationary while the youth pastor checked us in).
What I started to think about was the journey I had been on. I knew 17 years ago that I would be a youth pastor some day and there I stood, 17 years later, as a youth pastor. It was surreal, nostalgic and quite a trip to be honest. I can clearly say that the road from that court in 1996 to me standing on it again in 2013 was not how I would have planned it, yet, there I was....and I began to think of Joseph and his dream in Genesis 37.
He had a dream that his brothers would one day bow down to him and he made the mistake of telling them the dream. No one likes "that guy." Those dreams are awesome if you are the one who comes out on top, but he was already hated by his brothers because his was the "favored" child. His second dream included his parents this time and they would all bow down to him.
His brothers plotted to kill him one day, as Joseph went to check on them, at his father's wishes. When he arrived, they roughed him up, stripped off his coat and threw him in a pit and then sat down to eat (talk about ruthless siblings). They decided (wisely) not to kill him, but rather, sell him to a group of people traveling through. Those people, in turn, sold him to Potiphar, who was in charge of Pharaoh's army (we'll come back to this).
Do you think that Joseph started to question the dreams he had while in the pit? Maybe, but what about now? He went from a pit to being a slave? The Bible says that "God was with Joseph" and everything he did, God blessed. He was put in charge of Potiphar's whole house. Potiphar's wife thought that included her. She seduced Joseph time and time again and Joseph refused every time....even running away from her while she yanked his garments...Now she had him. She claimed attempted rape, Potiphar got mad and through Joseph in prison. He did the right thing and ended up in prison.....Come On Man!
Do you think he started to doubt those dreams now? Pit, to slave, to prison! The bible says that God was with Joseph and blessed everything he did and he was put in charge of the prison. He just happened to meet 2 royal workers who had been thrown in prison, a cup bearer and a baker....what does a baker have to do to get thrown in prison? Joseph explained the dreams that these 2 prisoners had (because Joseph was kind of an expert on dreams, hmm ....). They came true and 2 years later, Pharaoh had a dream and Joseph was remembered because of the dreams he predicted that came true about the 2 prisoners.
HUGE PART! Joseph was summoned by Pharaoh and the Bible says, they took Joseph out of a "pit" to clean him up and make him presentable before Pharaoh He interpreted the dreams and Pharaoh was so impressed with Joseph, he decided to make Joseph 2nd in command of all of Egypt, WOW! Joesph didn't see that one coming I bet.
A few years later, there was a famine in Israel and it was known that Egypt had food because of Josephs 7 year plan. Jacob (Joseph's father) sent the sons to Egypt to get food and who just happened to be in charge of the food distribution.....Joseph. He recognized them but they had no clue who he was and when it was their turn to approach and ask, they all bowed down before Joseph (Genesis 42:6).
Preparation! Scholars differ between how many years it took for the dream to come true. Roughly the idea is generally viewed between 24-28 years. What was so important about the pit? It wouldn't be the only time that Joseph would be in a pit and it was as if that first pit experience was a set up to the second pit, the final place Joseph was before he became 2nd in charge. What was so important about being sold to Potiphar? If you are going to be 2nd in command of everything in Egypt, wouldn't it be important to know military tactics, strategy and lingo? He spent quite a few years serving the Captain of the Royal Guard, consistently hearing conversations and strategy about military life. What was so important about the prison? First, the fact that he was not killed by Potiphar is huge! Prison almost seems like protection for Joseph rather than punishment. Oh, and he happened to be thrown in the royal prison where he just happened to meet 2 royal prisoners, who just happened to have dreams, and one of those guys just happened to remember Joseph when Pharaoh had a dream....pretty crazy coincidence huh?
Did Joseph experience the same nostalgic moment like I had, standing on the court in Panama City? We don't know, but we can clearly see that Joseph's dreams did come true, but it probably wasn't the exact road Joseph had thought he would take to get there.
We all have "pits" in our lives...they are unavoidable. But it's how we look at our "pits" that determine where we will end up some day. Whether we have stumbled in to them ourselves, or someone has thrown us in the "pit", the "pits" in our lives are not punishment (although they may seem that way from the view we currently have). Those "pits" are to prepare us, for just that right moment in time, that we can't see. Joseph broke free from his pit to land in another pit and when the time was right, God was all over this situation....just as he had been while he was a slave and a prisoner.
God is calling each of us out of our "pits" and the promise of hope is this, God is there with you, always. He is in the mess, in the pit, in captivity, in prison, with you. In order for us to ever take hold of the palace, we must first learn to be prepared in the pit. I heard one pastor say it this way....in order to serve in the palace, you have to learn to serve in the pit. We all want to view the palace but we must first break free from our "pits"
To end the night, we asked the students, "what are those "pits" in your life. No matter how deep or shallow, they need our attention and through the death and resurrection of Christ, we have been extended a rope to climb out of our "pits".....His grace is sufficient for each one of us! We then placed 6 inch pieces of rope on a table and had the students, as they were moved to, grab a piece of rope, find an adult who was standing by, kneel at the cross we positioned in the center of the room and pray together....leaving that rope at the foot of the cross because that "pit" had been defeated and victory to overcome it is possible through Christ. Amen?
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