LIFE IN THE HANDS OF THE POTTER: JOSEPH



Sermon Notes, September 11, 2016
Rev. Garry McGlinchy

Pastor Garry’s sermon Sunday was titled “Life in the Hands of the Potter: Joseph,” and was based on Genesis 37:1-11 and Genesis 45:3-11.  In the first passage, where Joseph tells his dreams, we see that he is arrogant and over-confident.  Being Jacob’s favorite son and knowing God’s design for His life fueled his self-assurance, and as you might imagine, this did not sit well with his brothers.  Jacob should have seen what was coming in this dysfunctional family. His brothers hated him, and began to plot and conspire against him. They beat him up, threw him in a hole, and sold him into slavery.  However the pain that he endured teamed with his self-assurance and knowledge of God allowed him to prosper where most would have failed.  Along the way Jacob added a quiet wisdom to his confidence and won the hearts of everyone he met.  Two things we can learn from Joseph: first, God uses our suffering to develop strong character and deep wisdom; second, God uses any situation for His glory.
God uses our suffering to develop strong character and deep wisdom.  It is not uncommon from brothers and sisters to fight.  But how many of you have irritated your family so much that they sold you into slavery?!  Even though Joseph’s brothers went to the extreme to get rid of their brother, their actions were unjust and unfair.  However, God used Joseph’s hardships to mold him, to shape him, into more than he ever thought possible.  God used this hardship, along with a few others, to readjust his self-assurance into a confidence that was centered in his knowledge and understanding in God.
God uses any situation for His glory.  The great thing about this story is that  not only do we see Joseph grow into a godly man, but that through it all Joseph had a deeper insight into the true reason why God allowed his brothers to sell him into slavery.  He had a deep perspective that he would not have been exposed to had his brothers left him alone.  The main thing that we can take away from this story is that God uses any situation for his glory, even when others intend it for evil.  No matter what you have been through, are going through, or will go through, God has the power to use that experience for His glory!
God knew that Joseph’s brothers were going to sell him into slavery.  He also knew that Potiphar’s wife would falsely accuse him of making sexual advances towards her and have Joseph thrown in jail.  He also knew that through those situations, as unfair as they may have been, they would break Joseph’s pride and allow room for the Holy Spirit to shape him into the godly man that God needed him to be. 
We have a God that takes every single situation, that uses everything, whether it’s good or it’s bad, for His glory, and His alone.  You want to know why our country is in shambles?  So that true Christians have something more to do.  The reason why there’s so much hurt and brokenness in our world, in our country, is so that we can show people their need for Christ.  Don’t look at it any other way.  It’s so we can be the church wherever we are; so we can follow in His footsteps through all of this pain; like Christ suffered for us on the cross, we can suffer with them.
At the end of Joseph’s story he has the opportunity to come face-to-face with his brothers and forgive them.  This could only happen if he was living life in the hands of the Potter.  It could only happen because he was allowing God to shape him into someone new, take away all the cracks, the pride, the attitude, the bragging.  It was through his commitment to god and his dedication to understand God’s purpose in his life that Joseph was able to grow out of his immature pride into a mature, Godly wisdom. 
Through all the things that happened to him, his positive response transformed each setback into a step forward in the right direction.  He didn’t stand on the “Why me?” question.  He asked, “What do you want me to do now, Lord?”  People were aware that wherever Joseph went, God was with him.  The question for us is when we are faced with unforeseen hardships, are we going to be the “Why me?”  person or the “What do you want me to do now?” person.  Will we allow God to shape us into a vessel to be used for His glory, or are we going to stay the same and allow our hardships to overtake us?  When you are facing setbacks, remember that God is with you!

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