New Message Series: The Life of Joseph
Message
Life of Joseph #2: Judah and Tamar: Is this God’s plan?
Genesis 38
This Sunday, we come together to worship God, celebrate communion, and enjoy our monthly fellowship feast. Bring yourself and some food to worship this Sunday, take a neighbor or two, as we enjoy fellowship in the Lord’s presence.
We are off and running in our new message series on The Life of Joseph. Last week we opened with Genesis 37 where a ‘favored’ child runs into some trouble with intense sibling rivalry, leading us to ask the question, “Is this God’s plan?” In spite of all the human trouble in the story, God does have a plan.
Discerning God’s plan in our lives, much less in the movements of history and culture is a challenging exercise. How difficult is it to understand God’s plan in the everyday happenings of our own lives?
In spite of all the human trouble in the story, God does have a plan.
When it comes to Scripture, seeing God’s unfolding plan is best found in the overarching whole. The Bible is a history of God’s salvation. God is in the details and in the grand narrative. We will see again this week that God works in mysterious ways, as we enter into Genesis 38 and 39, the stories of Judah and Tamar and Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife.
Whether it’s human standing on principle that leads to evasive and proactive action, or human temptation seeking to derail obedience, or injustice done one to another, God has a plan.
Often, we cannot see God’s plan in the midst of daily life with its oscillating ups and downs. If we are blessed, we can look back in time, to the history and events of our own lives, and see and experience how God has been working all along. If we are extra blessed, we realize and experience God’s working in our lives in the present. And sometimes, we hold on to the unknown questions of God’s working in our lives, never fully seeing or experiencing God’s working in our lives in the midst of struggle, until we see him face to face in glory. All of these things can be true.
In light of Genesis 37 and 39, we have to wonder how Joseph is doing with his own seeing and experiencing of God’s blessing. I imagine it would have been tough.
See you Sunday,
Pastor Mark