Please read the associated Scripture: Genesis 37; 39; 41-18; 50
An Introduction: If you have brothers or sisters, share about the general temperament among your siblings while growing up in your home.
I’m sure you've had this discussion with your friends before. Everyone’s has a different story. For me, I was the oldest of four and there was a huge age gap between me and my last two sisters. For me, I was probably jealous of them but at the same time there could have been jealousy for me—either way each of us has a different story in how we’re related to our siblings. For me, I look at how my birth was positive in how I came into the world--I was the oldest of four!!! When I was younger, it was really hard for me to appreciate the birth order. This brings us into the Discussion Questions from the main book:
- Why did Joseph’s brothers want to get rid of him? Earlier in “The Story, Session 2,” we learned about Jacob stealing his older brother’s birthright from Esau. Well Jacob, years later, had 12 sons and the youngest (born of Rachel; the wife he worked for and loved first) became Jacob’s favorite. His name was Joseph. Jacob showed Joseph great favor, lavishing him with gifts. This lead the rest of Jacob’s boys to resent their younger brother. Joseph also told his brothers of a “dream” he had; where all of them would bow down to him. Their jealousy is why they wanted to get rid of him.
- Why does God allow hurtful things to happen to people? God allows hurtful things to happen because God has a bigger plan for them. Hurtful things happen through our suffering because 1) He is with us through the suffering process, 2) There is a purpose for our suffering and 3) As we suffer, we are brought closer to God throughout this process.
Have you ever prayed for healing for yourself or someone else and felt like God didn’t answer? He hears your prayer and he will answer in His time and according to His plan. Sometimes the healing we seek will not be granted in this life. Sometimes the healing God has planned comes when we are in His kingdom. Trust that His will is perfect and that the struggle you are in has God’s purpose for your lives and the lives of others within it.
It is easy for us to look at Joseph’s story and realize that God had a plan for him. What we must remember is this: Joseph didn’t know what God’s plan was for his life when he was facing some 23 years of slavery. He didn’t know what would happen when Potiphar sent him to the jail when he was wrongly accused of trying to seduce Potiphar’s wife. He trusted the will of the Lord. While this doesn’t mean that we will trust perfectly, it simply means that when we have fear and doubt, we must lay these things at the foot of the cross. Jesus said in John 17:33: “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” He has overcome, and because of this he has deprived the world of the power to harm your soul. Because we belong to Him, he rejuvenates, protects, and comforts our souls.
- What were the positive effects of Joseph’s being sold into slavery? If you read the story and think about the Upper Story you will find that God allowed Joseph to be sold into slavery for HIS purpose. God knew the time of feast and famine would come to Egypt. He knew that without His servant in the right place at the right time, both Egypt and the Jews would perish. If Egypt perished, how would God deliver the Jews to the Promised Land? How would Christ be born of Abraham’s line if Jacob’s line perished? Ultimately Joseph’s brothers’ lives were saved when the famine of their homeland hit. It was through their brother that they all survived.
- What does Joseph’s statement to his brothers, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good,” tell you about God? Wow! Read these words again!!! This tells me that just because I may not know the reason, doesn’t mean God doesn’t know the plan!! We really should trust His plan. Each of us are human-- We are expected to doubt God from time to time but as we survive this journey on earth, remember we are to lay that doubt at the foot of the cross and cling to His promise of life everlasting. Trust his plan and remember we will get closer to Him as a result.
- In what ways have you seen God work through the most bleak and hopeless situations to cause a greater good? This is for you to answer. Each of us have our own situation as an example to answer this question, and we should do our best to remember we can get through it if we trust in the Lord. Do you remember the tornado that came through Lamar, Pike and Griffin? I think as a community we come closer to God collectively and more openly than another other example more recently than 911…I remember riding down Highway 18 and noticing neighbors being there--helping each other. I saw the remnants of that terrible disaster that just happened the night before. I remember thanking God for not letting that affect me that way but I also prayed for them. In that instance, it was such a bleak and hopeless situation but through it, we helped each other, came closer as a community and I became closer to God. I think it is sad that it takes an event like that to be so thankful for your blessings—but again, I know God let that happen for a reason.
Michelle: For me this is very personal. My father suffered a massive stroke in 2010. It was immediate and unexpected. He lost the function of half of his brain. He was paralyzed on one side of his body and did not utter another word for the remainder of his life. It was devastating not to be able to hear my father’s reassurances daily. I was used to them, used to his wisdom, and his constant affirmation. Aside from the devastating effects this had on his quality of life, I had to come to terms with the fact my father would die and I had to watch him suffer slowly until God took him home. I know that I am not the first person to endure this kind of struggle and I will not be the last. What I do know is that God used this struggle for His purpose in my life. It is because of my Father’s illness that I began to seek the Lord more fervently. I was hungry for His love and affirmation, His comfort and peace. Through this God has brought me closer to Him in a way I could have never imagined. He has told me that I am HIS, for all time. He has used me to bring the love of Christ to others and I now share a personal relationship with him instead of one that is a duty for me. None of these things would have happened had I not endured the storm and made a conscious decision to seek and trust God. I will not tell you the road was easy, I was wearier than I have ever been in my life, I doubted, was angry, frustrated and hurt. You see, the healing I prayed for didn’t come to my father on this side of heaven. It wasn’t easy to hear the Lord tell me “No” to what I was asking of him. What I take comfort in is this; God answered my prayer for healing. He gave my Daddy the ultimate healing. Daddy is in the presence of the Savior rejoicing and he will NEVER feel pain again. My peace with his illness, the suffering and his death did not come immediately; I had to decide to lay my pain, my anger, my fear and doubt for God’s purpose at the cross. I had to ask him to take these things and be willing to let them go. Let me tell you though, once I did… the freedom I have received is absolutely indescribable.
- Why can God be trusted at all times? We are living the Lower Story on earth to get to the upper story. God is in control. Remember, we should align our life with God and if we do so our story isn’t finished yet!
Video Session
DVD Discussion
- From a divine perspective (Upper Story), he was in the best place. How do you see God working in Joseph and showing blessing, even in the pain of these moments of his life? The Lord was with him and made it the best place it could be. The Lord provided for Joseph. The struggles made him the man he became today.
- In the darkest of times of Joseph’s life we read that “the Lord was with Joseph.” How have you experienced the Lord being with you in the hard times of your life? What are the signs that God is with us, even in the darkest places? This is a personal question for you to answer. It can be some of the smallest of things really. Even sunshine streaking through the clouds to the end of a long, tough day for me…
- Joseph waited two years in prison for someone to remember him and send help. Tell about a time you waited for months or years on an answer from the Lord. How did you make it through this long season of waiting? …Personal thought…
- God has an amazing ability to bring good out of life’s bad situations. Think about a time with something hard and painful happened in your Lower Story, but later you saw God accomplish something wonderful in the Upper Story of his will. …Personal thought…
- At the end of Chapter 3 of The Story, Joseph was reunited with his brothers twenty-two years after they sold him off as a slave. What strikes you about Joseph’s attitude toward his brothers and the way he treats them? What does this teach us about the condition of his heart and the depth of his faith? Wow, that really must have taken Joseph an EXTREME amount of faith. He had all of that time to dwell on what his brothers had done to him…but instead he was ready to help them. Joseph did something most of us fail to do. He aligned his life with the will of God. He trusted in God’s plan for his life and was able to recognize the purpose of his suffering.
- Joseph could have retaliated and gotten revenge on his brothers for all the wrong they had done to him. Instead, he provided for them and extended forgiveness. What makes it so hard to forgive people who have intentionally wronged us? What can we do to forgive, even when it is difficult? I cannot really think of a time when somebody intentionally wronged me. But, when something does happen where I have felt wronged, I have learned so much over the years that the best thing I can do is NOT take it personally. Let God lead the way. I try to remember that things happen for a reason and it was God’s way and a way for me to learn, grow stronger and be a better Christian because of it.
We have all received the gift of Grace and Forgiveness from Jesus Christ. This is an instantaneous gift and one that continues to follow us. If we understand that we have done nothing to earn this, then we can realize that we do not deserve it, it is freely given. We also must understand that un-forgiveness does not punish the person who wronged us, it does not hold them in a prison. It holds us captive to the chains of bitterness and resentment. If we put these two truths together, we see that 1. As followers of Christ, we should offer that same forgiveness to others. In doing this we shine a light for Him, that they might know the love and acceptance of Jesus (that we have received and continue to receive daily) through our own actions. 2. Through forgiveness, we learn to depend on the Lord’s justice. We cut the ties of the enemy in our lives. We refuse to give Satan the power to control us, to affect our relationship with God and with others. We become a light for Christ instead of giving the enemy more hatred to destroy lives.
- Charles Colson could say, “If I had not been caught and ended up in prison, I would never have become the man I am today.” Joseph could say, “If my brothers had not turned on me, if Potiphar’s wife had not falsely accused me, I would have never become the king’s right-hand man.” Describe how your life would be different if you had never faced a specific time of challenge and struggle. Finish the statement: If I had not _______, I would never have ______. …Personal thought…
- Romans 8:28 tells us, “In all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” What is one situation in your life where you need to embrace and experience this truth? Think about this: God is able to turn things around, for all who love God, into good. Wow, that just makes me feel so good inside in out. I feel like I should place this little note in front of my computer at work.
- Read movement 1 of The Story (p. 10). How does God unfold his story in this first movement and how does this connect with your story? Well for me that last sentence on page 10 does it for me… ”The rest of the Bible is God’s story of how he kept that promise (to get us back) and made it possible for us to enter a loving relationship with him.” All I have to do is chose to follow Him. He will see me through it!!!
Read this verse and place your name in the blanks. Jesus prayed this for YOU before he died on the cross. This is HIS promise to you and not just a blanket statement here. He intends this for you!
John 17:20-26
“I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message. 21 I pray that _________will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may _______ be in us so that the world will believe you sent me.
22 “I have given ________ the glory you gave me, so _________ may be one as we are one. 23 I am in __________ and you are in me. May ___________experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love _________ as much as you love me. 24 Father, I want ___________ whom you have given me to be with me where I am. Then __________ can see all the glory you gave me because you loved me even before the world began!
25 “O righteous Father, the world doesn’t know you, but I do; and these disciples know you sent me. 26 I have revealed you to them, and I will continue to do so. Then your love for me will be in them, and I will be in them.”
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