Character Development
When we face difficult experiences, we should ask God to help us view these
crises as opportunities to develop our Christian character.
Here now is Gene:
Now what we have happening here is
two years later.
And the Pharaoh has a dream.
And seven well-fed cows came up out of the Nile.
And then there were seven lean cows
that came up out of the Nile.
And the seven lean ones ate up the seven well-fed ones.
That was the first dream.
And Pharaoh woke up and he couldn't figure that out.
And then there was a second dream.
Seven heads of grain. Seven thin heads of grain.
The seven thin heads of grain devoured
the seven heads of grain--the good grain.
And again he woke up. Couldn't figure it out.
And it was at that point that he asked all
of the soothsayers and fortune tellers to
interpret his dream. They couldn't.
He was frustrated out of his shoes.
And then the chief cupbearer remembered.
This is two years later.
So if you go to the text, verses 14 and 16:
Then Pharaoh sent for Joseph...
And the reason he sent for Joseph was
because the cupbearer says:
Oh, I've been neglectful. Two years later. Oh, now I remember.
I remember this young man that interpreted my dreams.
Now obviously God is in control of all this
but it didn't excuse the cupbearer
for forgetting--obviously.
That's another mystery that's hard to
put it all together, isn't it?
The cupbearer was selfish, responsible,
and yet God used his forgetfulness to
achieve His divine purposes in Joseph's life:
Then Pharaoh sent for Joseph,
they quickly brought him from the dungeon.
And he shaved, he changed his clothes,
he went to Pharaoh.
And Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I have had a dream,
and no one can interpret it.
But I have heard it said about you that
you can hear a dream and interpret it."...
Now obviously, where did he hear that?
He heard that from the cupbearer.
And so here's his response:
"I am not able to," Joseph answered Pharaoh. ...
Now, think about that.
You talk about being an opportunist.
Taking advantage of a situation, to build up yourself.
But Joseph said: I can't do it.
"...I am not able to," Joseph answered Pharaoh. ...
But, Joseph said: I know someone who can.
This is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and my father Jacob.
..."It is God who will give Pharaoh a favorable answer."
Now think for a moment with me as to
what has happened to this young man
in terms of character development.
Here are a series of things that happened:
When Joseph was mercilessly sold into
Egypt by his brothers and then tempted
by Potiphar's wife, he didn't allow
depression and despair to take over his life.
Was he depressed? Was he angry?
Was he hurt? Absolutely.
But he didn't allow it to take over his life.
That's growth. That's maturity.
There is growth in maturity.
Secondly: When he was tempted to be
immoral, he took a stand for righteousness.
Was that easy? Not for a young man like Joseph.
Red-blooded young man, being tempted day, after day, after day.
He could have rationalized so easily by saying: Hey, I am really ultimately responsible to her.
She's my boss. She's over all the slaves of this household. But he didn't.
Three: When falsely accused and sentenced to prison, he didn't allow
bitterness to wither his soul.
Did he feel badly being in prison?
Of course he did. That's why he shared this with the cupbearer.
Get me out.
You know, represent me to Pharaoh.
This is not right.
Fourth: When the chief cupbearer
forgot to intercede for him, he learned patience.
Two years went by.
Do you think he was often tempted to
think about how this man had failed to
represent him after all that he had done for him?
But he didn't allow bitterness to take over.
When the king of Egypt honored him
as being greater than all the magicians of Egypt,
how did he respond? With true humility.
I can't do it but God can.
Now that's an incredible testimony of a
young man who is developing character in his life.
And that's really, in essence, what trials can do for us.
We don't like that.
It doesn't feel good, but it can help us to
grow up rather fast. If indeed, we see
this from God's point of view.
And so James wrote, chapter 1, verses 2 through 4:
Consider it a great joy...
Does that mean jump up and down with
happiness because you're going through a trial?
No. But consider this one of the greatest
experiences of your life in terms of
what God has allowed in your life in
order to grow spiritually.
Consider it a great joy, my brothers,
whenever you experience various trials,
knowing that the testing of your faith
produces endurance.
But endurance must do its complete work,
so that you may be mature
and complete, lacking nothing.
Do you see that at work in Joseph's life?
It's not a happy experience.
From the time he was 18 and the time
he was 30 years old. To go through all of
his pain, all of his suffering.
But through this process we see
incredible character development.
And so the Principle from James reads:
When we face various difficulties,
we should view these painful
experiences as opportunities.
And that's not easy.
Opportunities. When I'm in the midst of a trial,
it's difficult to see this as an opportunity.
But I think what this Principle says to us
is to see it as an opportunity to grow.
And so let me read that again:
When we face various difficulties,
we should view these painful experiences
as opportunities to become more
mature in our spiritual walk with Jesus Christ.
And in this Old Testament setting,
we see Joseph certainly applying this
Principle that is more fully outlined and
described here within this particular
Old and New Testament situation.
And so the question is:
What difficult experiences have you had
that have helped you become a more mature Christian?
And I would have to say probably--
and certainly a lot of this is my own
inexperience, immaturity--but the most
painful experiences have been when
I've trusted people I shouldn't trust.
When I believed in people that I
shouldn't have believed in and they betrayed me.
Now if you've been in the ministry for years,
as I have, you have those experiences periodically.
And I must admit that one of the areas
where I've needed to grow is that I'm too trusting.
And as one person said to me one time:
Gene, you expect everybody to treat
you the way you treat them.
And he said: It just ain't so.
It's not going to happen that way.
And I had to learn the hard way.
Now I still trust people. Because you
can't be a leader unless you trust people.
You've got to trust people.
You can't be a good father unless you trust people.
A good husband. A good mate. Marital partner.
But the fact is, we need discernment.
And there are times we should be much
more cautious in how much we trust.
We need to be much more discerning.
And that's one of the areas, I would say,
that I've had to develop in terms of my
own character in my own life.
And I'm sure as you think about issues
in your own life, there areas where
you've experienced character
development because of trials.
Because of disappointments. Because of heartaches.
And that was certainly true of Joseph.
Because God has a plan here in terms
of Joseph--a unique plan.
And in order to become what God
wanted him to become at a very early
age he had to go through these experiences.