JOSEPH #61 | JOSEPH IN EGYPT #43 | LAST WORDS OF JACOB #32
Pastor Christopher Choo
LESSON 3657
JOSEPH #61
JOSEPH IN EGYPT #43
LAST WORDS OF JACOB #32
11. JOSEPH #8
PRINCIPLES OF GODLY LEADERSHIP FROM THE LIFE OF JOSEPH #2
2. HOPE IN THE LORD
The dreams of leadership that God gave him convinced Joseph that he had a divinely ordained purpose and destiny that he had to fulfill.
But he was cruelly set back by his own brothers from obtaining his full potential as a prophetic seer of God. In their envy and jealousy, they sold him off and he ended up on a slave block in Egypt.
A man like his own flesh and blood may impose on one's life but it is God who ultimately disposes of it.
Joseph will learn that God's presence was with him wherever he went even in the pit and prison.
In the crucible of Egypt, he learned one of life's most enduring lessons: hope in God alone, not man.
For God uses disappointments to bring His servants to the place where their only hope is in Him.
In prison, he helped the cupbearer to regain favor with Pharoah. "Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph but forgot him” (Genesis 40:23).
Joseph’s story to this point reminds us that in our broken world, God’s response to our prayers doesn’t necessarily come quickly. Joseph was seventeen years old when his brothers sold him into slavery (Gen. 37:2). His final release from captivity came when he was thirty (Gen. 41:46), thirteen long years later.
What is today's lesson on leadership?
Joseph was a leader in waiting - waiting in hope.
If you want to be a leader like Joseph, then it starts with one thing: stay close to God. There will be good times and there will be hard times, but God loves you and is working in you and through you, even when you cannot see it or understand it. So trust and hope in Him, and lead well.
The author of Hebrews exhorts us to keep our faith and be patient so as to inherit the promises of God.
(Hebrews 6:12)
Joseph seems to have had these two virtues in abundance.
But while waiting he had hope - which features prominently in the definition of faith ( which is " the substance of things hoped for " ).
Thus the leader in the making knows three things about Hope like Joseph did:
1. HOPE IS NOT ESCAPISM OR WISHFUL THINKING.
Hope is not uncertain nor wishful e.g.
"I hope it doesn't rain today " or "I hope so".
“Hope is one of the theological virtues. This means that a continual looking forward to the eternal world is not (as some modern people think) a form of escapism or wishful thinking, but one of the things a Christian is meant to do. It does not mean that we are to leave the present world as it is. If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were just those who thought most of the next.” – C.S. Lewis
We have hope in eternal life, which means that we can attack today with a renewed vigor and strength.
Hebrews 11:1
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
Romans 15:13
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.
Romans 5:1
Through him, we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
2. HOPE IS IN THE PERSON OF GOD OR CHRIST - NOT IN MAN.
"Without Christ, there is no hope.” -Charles Spurgeon
Psalm 39:7
And now, O Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in You.
"Everything that is done in the world is done by hope" – Martin Luther
Psalm 119:81
My soul longs for Your salvation; I hope in Your word.
Psalm 42:11
Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise Him, my salvation, and my God.
1 Thessalonians 1:3
Remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
3. HOPE IS FUTURE
Faith brings the future into the now but Hope is in the future as we await the fulfilment of God's promises in His perfect timing.
The future can be a scary thing, with so many uncertainties.
Who knows what tomorrow might bring?
When we have faith in Christ, however, we have hope not only in this life but in the next.
The future, while uncertain, can be entrusted to God, and He will help us through.
Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God. – Corrie Ten Boom
Why should we have hope in Christ?
Because He has plans for us for good, to give us a future and a hope for better things, either in this life or the next.
Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.
Hebrews 10:23
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.
Lamentations 3:24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.”
Romans 12:12
Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.
Romans 8:24-25
For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
Even though we are to have hope in the future God has for us, there are going to be times when we have suffering and pain in our lives. God tells us that that suffering helps produce in us perseverance and character, which will lead to hope.
So while we’re in the midst of suffering, we should look to Him, not only to give us strength, but to give us patience and the ability to endure. Better things are yet to come!
Romans 5:1-5
"Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us."
