Joseph

The following program is a first person narrative using authors license to tell stories drawn from the Bible and the books of Ellen White. Welcome to Family Storytime with Karlie Fraser. Join us as we step back in time to hear about Joseph. Hi there. My name is Hessey, and I would love to tell you about the strangest day of my life. Had anyone told me that morning what was going to happen, there is no way I would have believed them. It began like normal. I had a breakfast of dates and bread at home and then collected my scribes bag and headed to work at Pharaoh's palace. As soon as I arrived, I knew something was different. Everyone seemed really stressed, almost panicky. People spoke in hush tones and walked quietly through the palace halls. Quickly I went to find Hetipe, another scribe who worked in the palace. The hallways of Memphis Palace are like a maze, and it took me far too long to track her down. Finally, I found her in the kitchen. I should have looked there first. She always eats when she's nervous. I asked her what in the world was going on, and she replied that Pharaoh had dreamt two dreams the night before, and they weren't like normal dreams. He believed that these ones had been given to him as a message. The problem was he didn't understand what they meant, and it had been driving him crazy along with everyone else in the palace. I wondered why the priests hadn't been able to help him, but Hetepi explained that they were just as confused as everyone else. It wasn't long before Kazemdi, the chief butler, walked into the kitchen to get some more refreshments for Pharaoh. I asked him how Pharaoh seemed to be doing, and he replied with a worried shake of his head that he had never seen Pharaoh this stressed, and he wished there was something that he could do about it. Kazembi then went on to say that the atmosphere of the palace reminded him of two years ago, when he had been thrown into prison because people thought he was plotting against Pharaoh. All of a sudden, he dropped the jug that he'd been holding in his hand and juice splashed up onto his tunic and across the table as he cried out, of course, confused. I remember Hetterby and I just staring at him, waiting for an explanation, as one of the figs he had dislodged from the platter rolled to a stop in the corner of the kitchen. Joseph is the answer. Joseph? Who in the world is Joseph? Kizemde went on to explain that while he had been in prison, he had received a dream, and he didn't know what it meant. But Joseph, an Israelite slave who was also in prison, had explained that his god could tell him the meaning of the dream. So Kazemdae had hesitantly shared his dream with Joseph, who then explained its meaning. It was a prediction of the future that said he would be set free in three days'time. And it came true exactly as Joseph's God had said it would. Maybe this Joseph could explain pharaoh's dreams. Without even changing his stained tunic, kizembe ran back to Pharaoh to share with him what he had just told us. After helping to clean up the mess, hetepi and I made our way as fast as possible to the balcony that overlooked the inner throne room. Our roles as palace scribes gave us limited access to what went on in this room, and we certainly did not want to miss what was about to take place. Below us, we could see the room slowly filling with noblemen in fine clothing. Some of them even had the prestigious gold collar around their necks. In one corner we could see the priests with their rich garments and shaved heads, all whispering together about the events that had shaken the palace. Everywhere we looked, gold flashed up at us, reflecting the torchlight. Then, in an instant, everything went completely silent as the doors at the end of the throne room opened and two guards entered, stationing themselves on either side of the doorway. Everyone bowed low as Pharaoh himself entered the room and sat down on his golden throne. He picked up some figs from the platter Kazemde had managed to refill beside him and motioned with his hands to the soldiers at the other end of the hall. Slowly, two doors opened and everyone's attention was stolen as one of the palace messengers accompanied a foreign looking slave into the throne room. Hang on a second. That's Joseph. He was a slave who had been bought by Potiphar about 13 years ago. Everyone knew him to be honest and trustworthy, so much so that he had risen through the ranks to become Potiphar's manager. Everything looked good for him until Potiphar's wife accused him of doing something that he didn't do, and he ended up in prison. Apparently he worked just as hard in there as he had before and ended up being given full command of everything that happened in prison, too. Now here he was, on his knees, waiting for Pharaoh to speak. Pharaoh explained how he had dreamt two dreams. In the first one, seven big, healthy cows had appeared out of the river, followed by seven skinny cows who then ate the first ones but didn't get any larger. No wonder Pharaoh was confused. These dreams sounded very weird. Then he went on to the second dream, where there were seven heads of grain on a stalk, big and healthy. As he watched, seven other heads of grain appeared on another stalk next to the first ones. They were very small and skinny, and as he stood there looking at them, they reached over and ate the first seven heads of grain, but they didn't get any bigger, and that was the end of the dreams. It was at this point that I was really glad I wasn't Joseph. And I didn't have to explain the dreams. They made no sense to me or anyone else in the room. But as I studied Joseph's face, I could see that he wasn't the slightest bit stressed about what Pharaoh had said. Instead, he simply said that both the dreams actually meant the same thing and God was giving Pharaoh a warning about the future. There were going to be seven great years of harvest where Egypt would collect more food than ever before. This was sounding good to me. Seven years is a long time, and I loved the idea of massive harvests. However, Joseph then went on to say that after those years, there would be another seven years of famine. During this time, there would be no harvest at all and Egypt would have to rely on the food that had already been collected. Whoa, hold up. That sounded like it wasn't going to be much fun at all. Sitting on his throne and looking a little worried, pharaoh waited for Joseph to go on. As we stood there leaning over the balcony, we heard Joseph suggest that Pharaoh find someone very wise to collect a fifth of the harvest and store it up all over Egypt. This sounded like a great suggestion, and soon everyone in the room was talking about who would be the best person for the job. Pharaoh stood and the room went silent. He commanded that Joseph be taken away and then left the room himself. In an instant, it became mayhem. Everyone was talking, gesturing and making suggestions, all the while wondering how on earth Egypt was going to be saved from seven years of famine. I don't know how long it was before Pharaoh came back, but it felt like hours. Sitting down on his throne, he motioned for the doors to be opened and Joseph was led back in again. Everyone held their breath as they waited for Pharaoh to speak. In a voice that echoed through the hall, Pharaoh said, it is clear to all of us that your God speaks through you. There is no one as intelligent and skilled as you, Joseph, in all my kingdom. Therefore, I am appointing you to save Egypt. We couldn't believe it. Pharaoh had just appointed a foreign slave as second in command of our whole country. Slowly, Pharaoh rose to his feet and taking off the signet ring he had been wearing, he put it on Joseph's hand. He gave him beautiful linen to wear and placed a gold chain around his neck. Before we even realized what was happening, pharaoh had swept Joseph out the door and onto a golden chariot that waited outside. The two chariots rode through the streets of this city and everywhere they went, people bowed down in respect. I couldn't believe how everything could change so much in one day. Joseph got straight into preparing for the increased harvest by building storehouses all over the country, and it wasn't long before he needed extra. Scribes. Hetepi and I were assigned to assist him and the seven years of plenty passed by more quickly than we thought possible. However, the more time we spent with Joseph, the more confident we became that God had provided enough food for Egypt to survive the seven years of famine. It was an incredibly hot day and we were traveling up the Nile River to Thebes. When I asked Joseph how he survived being a slave and then being thrown in prison unfairly, he said that no matter what people thought of him or what they did to him, he had always known that he was God's treasure and that God had a plan for his life. He knew that God would never give up on him, so he just had to trust. Through everything he'd experienced as a slave and in prison, god was preparing him to help save Egypt. He said God will always bring something good out of bad situations in life. I realize now that I want to follow Joseph's God. He is the only true God. I know that when life is tough, god always has a plan to make things better. So even when it's hard, he is preparing me to have the skills that I need to help others. I am his treasure and so are you. Will you pray with me? Dear God, thank you so much that even when life seems really hard, and even when it seems unfair and we don't know why things happen, we can trust that you see us, that you know us, that you created us and that you have such an incredible plan for each one of our lives. Thank you that you are willing to use us to bless others. We pray that you will guide us, that you will help us to understand just how much you love us. Thank you so much, Father. Amen. Thank you, Karlie, for showing us how God is able to bring so much good out of a bad situation. We now hand over to Jesse and Christopher for a Bible discussion on today's topic. What an encouraging story about how in even the worst of circumstances in life, god can transform them into opportunities for good. Thank you, Karlie. You know, the story of Joseph made me reflect on events in my life where I've discovered God's transformative power in turning bad situations into good ones. You see, I remember when I was younger, I was at the front of church, standing behind the pulpit and getting my notes ready to preach a sermon. Now, preaching was still a very new experience for me, and as my knees knocked together, I stood up there very, very nervous. Then, just as I open my mouth to say my opening statement, my slideshow suddenly begins to run ahead of me, not obeying the remote in my hand. The slides keep flicking through before I've even spoken about them. Now, to begin with, this just made me more nervous. But as the problem was being fixed, it gave me the opportunity to casually talk with the congregation and have a bit of a laugh at the mishap. So when the slideshow was ready to cooperate, I felt much more comfortable to present, and hopefully many people were blessed by that sermon. Wow, God can really bring out the good from any situation. I can remember a time when he did that for me as well. During my last year of school, one of my goals for next year was to study a Bachelor of Theology and Ministry at Avondale. But I was still unsure. So to confirm my decision, I prayed to God that if he wanted me to go to Avondale, he would provide a scholarship to do so. But when the time came to receive the scholarship, I was sorely disappointed to discover that it had been given to somebody else. So I thought it was a God's plan for me to go to Avondale. Little did I know he still wanted me to, just not yet. After my disappointment, I decided to discover for myself whether ministry was what God wanted me to do. And so I enrolled into the Arise program. There I discovered the blessing of ministry, my passion for evangelism, and God's ultimate plan for my life, which eventually led me to Avondale the very next year. And yet, if it weren't for that disappointment and trial that I faced at school, god would never have been able to transform negative experiences into growing opportunities. It's so true that when we look back at our lives, we can see God's hand in everything. Now, someone who saw God's divine plan more than anyone else, I think, was Paul. The Apostle Paul writes in Romans eight and verse 28, and we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose. Paul can say this from experience, as he can identify all of the times throughout his ministry in which God has made trials intended for evil into opportunities for good. He says in two Corinthians chapter eleven, verses 25 to 27, three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked. A night and a day I've been on the thief in journeys often in perils of water in perils of robbers in perils of my own countrymen in perils of the gentiles in perils in the city in perils, in the wilderness, in perils, in the sea, in perils, among false brethren, in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often in hunger and thirst, in fastings, often in cold and nakedness. Paul suffers through all of these terrible experiences, and yet he recognizes that through all of these he has been able to be a witness and a testimony to the God he serves. Let's open the Bible and turn to Acts chapter 16, to read a story of where god was able to use Paul's suffering to save a lost soul. Before our story begins, Paul and Silas are preaching the Gospel in Philippi. When they encounter a woman possessed by an evil spirit, they cast out the demon. However, the city begins to turn on them, and they are eventually beaten and sent to prison for nothing more than helping a young woman. Now that the stage is set, let's start reading from verse 25 in Acts chapter 16. But at midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly, there was a great earthquake so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were open and everyone's chains were loosed. And the keeper of the prison awaking from sleep and seeing the prison doors open, supposed that the prisoners had fled. But Paul called out with a loud voice, saying, do yourself no harm, for we are all here. Then he came for a light, ran in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. And he brought them out and said, source, what must I do to be saved? Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved, you and your household. Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes. And immediately he and all his family were baptized. Now, when he had brought them into his house, he set food before them, and he rejoiced having believed in God with all his household. Wow. And Paul would have never been able to have the opportunity to witness to the jailkeeper if he hadn't first been thrown into jail. Just when all hope seems to be lost, god is miraculously able to bring light into the darkness. Exactly. You know, the apostle James also talks about enduring through trials and temptations in life. Let's turn together to James, chapter one, to discover the importance of trusting in God through trials. You know, what James writes is interesting, really, because he gives a new perspective of the trials we face in life and how God uses them for our benefit. Read along with me in verses two and three in the first chapter of James. James says, my brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. So James tells us that through trials, our faith is actually made stronger. I mean, think about Joseph. When he was in prison for a crime that he didn't commit. He would have had to rely on God for strength, and his faith became stronger in the process. And when Paul and Silas were also in prison, they were singing hymns to God and asking God to save them from imprisonment. And seeing God save them from imprisonment would have strengthened their faith. So really, when we face trials in our lives. God can use them as an opportunity to witness to others as well as strengthen our faith in him. All we have to do is trust in God's plan. Hey, Christopher, does the story of Joseph sound familiar to hmm, story about a young man sent to exile in a strange land who gets promoted because he can interpret the dreams and visions of the nation's. Hmm, sounds a lot like the story of Daniel. Really? That's right. It's Daniel. Daniel is another example of how we can shine God's light in a world of darkness, even when faced with trials. Now, do you remember some of the trials that Daniel faced? Oh, well, to begin with, the Babylonians required Daniel and his friends to eat the unclean food offered to idols, which went against Daniel's beliefs. But trusting in God, he refused to eat the prescribed food and ate only fruits and vegetables. So Daniel was a witness even through just his eating habits, as he and his friends became healthy and strong compared to the sickly and weak men who ate from the king's table. Perhaps Daniel's greatest trial, however, was when the king issued a decree that only the king was to be worshipped. Once again, Daniel was faced with a trial. But trusting in God's plan, he remained true to his faith and to his God. He continued to pray openly three times a day, even under the punishment of death. So when he was eventually caught and thrown into the lion's den, god miraculously intervened and saved Daniel's life. Because of this miracle, the king then issued a new decree that all the people of every nation and language that dwelt on the earth should worship the God of Daniel, who spared him from the lion's den. Oh. What about John the revelator? He was sent as a prisoner to the island of Patmos because he refused to stop preaching the gospel. But during his exile, God revealed to him the Book of Revelation, which continues to shine a light for Christians today. I'm starting to pick up a bit of a theme here. It seems that a lot of these people are thrown into prisons. Yeah, that's right. But when I think about it, trials don't have to be a case of being thrown into a prison. Sometimes the trials we face are different. It could be somebody's bullying you at your school. It could be that an important test or exam is coming up and you're feeling a lot of pressure and a lot of stress. Or maybe it's when your family isn't getting along and home just isn't a happy place that it used to be. Or maybe when you have to move to a new house and leave all of your friends. We all go through different trials in our lives, but that's when we need to trust in God most. Just like Joseph, Paul, Daniel and John, we can put our faith in God that he will transform these dark trials into opportunities for blessing. Jesus said in Matthew chapter five and verse 16, let your light shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. It is in the darkest times that we can shine our light and be a witness to others. So when life gets dark, turn to the light of the world, Jesus Christ, and let him transform your life, your faith and your circumstances into an opportunity to shine your light. You have been listening to Family Story Time, a production of Three ABN, Australia. Radio.