Persevering in the Pit

Gen. 40

You are asked to do something that is wrong, you choose not to do it, and then come the consequences of your obedience – the sometimes difficult consequences of obedience to God. You are willing to accept them; however, instead of things getting better, they seem to be getting worse. The thoughts of – this is so unfair – start to creep in. You feel as if you have unjustly been thrown into a pit and you see no way out. You soon realize you must now learn to persevere in the pit.

This is easier said than done. How does one do it?

What can we do as Believers to persevere in the pit?

This morning we will answer this question by continuing our look at the life of Joseph – a man who was stretched and strengthened by God.

Today we will see Joseph as he stretched by finding himself in yet another pit and we will see him as he is strengthened by God in order to persevere in that pit.

We will look at where persevering in the pit begins, where it continues and finally where it ends.

What we will see each in each place is that there is always an attitude from which specific actions should flow in order to show that we indeed have the right attitude.

Through observing Joseph as God gives him the ability to persevere in the pit, it is my prayer that we will take the principles learned and apply them to our lives, so that we too will succeed at persevering in the pit.

We will be studying Gen. 40. Let’s begin by reading verses 1-8 where we will see persevering in the pit begins with acknowledging God’s sovereignty.

Gen. 40:1-8

1 Then it came about after these things, the cupbearer and the baker for the king of Egypt offended their lord, the king of Egypt.

2 Pharaoh was furious with his two officials, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker.

3 So he put them in confinement in the house of the captain of the bodyguard, in the jail, the same place where Joseph was imprisoned.

4 The captain of the bodyguard put Joseph in charge of them, and he took care of them; and they were in confinement for some time.

5 Then the cupbearer and the baker for the king of Egypt, who were confined in jail, both had a dream the same night, each man with his own dream and each dream with its own interpretation.

6 When Joseph came to them in the morning and observed them, behold, they were dejected.

7 He asked Pharaoh’s officials who were with him in confinement in his master’s house, “Why are your faces so sad today?”

8 Then they said to him, “We have had a dream and there is no one to interpret it.” Then Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell it to me, please.”

Persevering in the pit begins with acknowledging God’s sovereignty.

Joseph acknowledged God’s sovereignty. He continued to show his reliance upon God. How so?

First of all, he did not focus on himself or his circumstances.

He did not sit in the corner and cry. He did not have a pity party. By looking back to 39:21 we know that the Lord gave Joseph favor with the chief jailer. I do not believe that this is something God did instantaneously by simply having the chief jailer just look at Joseph say I trust you. Rather I believe the chief jailer knew Joseph’s case, observed Joseph’s actions, saw the results of them, and then granted Joseph favor. In other words God allowed Joseph’s faithfulness to gain him favor with the chief jailer. So instead of focusing on himself and his circumstances, what did he do? Look at verse 4.

4 The captain of the bodyguard put Joseph in charge of them, and he took care of them; and they were in confinement for some time.

In verse 4 ‘took care of them’ is literally translated ‘ministered’.

So instead of focusing on himself and his circumstances, he ministered to others.

Joseph continued to serve God by serving others. Joseph had every reason to keep to himself, to stay away from other people. It was due to his dealings with other people that he was in jail in the first place. His brothers were out working in Shechem, a city where not to long ago they had exacted revenge on all the males of the city by killing them for raping their sister. Joseph was sent by his father to check on his brothers to make sure they were safe. This resulted in him being sold into slavery. He was faithfully serving as a slave to Potiphar and was wrongfully accused of raping Mrs. Potiphar. As a result he was sent to jail. At this point most people would just keep to themselves, but not Joseph. He continued to serve God by ministering to the chief cupbearer and the chief baker as well as all of the other prisoners under his charge. Verse 8 tells us he did something else as well. The cupbearer and baker were sad because they had dreams but no one to interpret them. Look at Joseph’s response in verse 8.

8 Then they said to him, “We have had a dream and there is no one to interpret it.” Then Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell it to me, please.”

Not only did he minister to others, he also made known his faith in God to others.

He expressed his faith in God to others. When the cupbearer and the baker came to Joseph troubled due to having no one to interpret their dreams, he did something out of the ordinary. In those days when you needed a dream to be interpreted you automatically called an expert. There were all kinds of sorcerers, conjurers, magicians and the like. Due to Joseph position of favor and influence, he could have called for the chief diviner to come and interpret the dreams. Instead of doing so, which is probably what the cupbearer and baker were hoping he would do, he said – do not interpretations belong to God? In doing so he was saying that his God, the one true God, was greater than all the so called diviners of the day and he was expressing that his faith was in his God and in no one else.

Persevering in the pit begins with acknowledging God’s sovereignty.

Joseph did so –

by not focusing on himself and his terrible situation,

by ministering to others, and

by making known his faith in God to others.

Practically speaking, how can we as Believers do the same?

1. We must stop meditating upon our problem and start meditating upon God.

We must stop focusing on our problem, our situation or circumstances. We must remember and focus on the character of God. Psalm 103:19 states – The Lord has established His throne in the heavens; His sovereignty rules over all. Eph. 1:10 states that He works all things after the council of His will. This means that nothing, not a single thing is going to happen in your life that does not first pass by the sovereign throne of God. We should memorize Psalm 103:19 and Eph. 1:10 and others. Have them there so the Holy Spirit can bring them to mind when we are in the pit. Let’s get our minds off of our problems and set them on God and His character.

2. We must also put our mediations into action.

We can do this by ministering to others. 2 Cor. 1 tells us that sometimes when we have difficulties, it is so we can minister to those who go through the same. Find ways to serve others. Look for opportunities to spend time investing in those who are in need. Make ministry to others a priority.

3. And if that ministry involves sharing our faith with others, so be it.

We should look for opportunities to share with others the greatness of the God in whom we are trusting not just to pull us out of the pit, but to ultimately give us eternal life. Sharing how God carries His children in difficult times is a great way to open the door for sharing more. Many of the OT prophets suffered in order to be better equipped to make God’s name known. The same is true of Christ’s disciples.

We must not allow our circumstances to destroy our faith in God. The conviction that God is with us in every circumstance, frees us to continually trust and serve Him, no matter how bad the circumstance may be.

Persevering in the pit begins with acknowledging God’s sovereignty.

Let’s read verses 9-22 and see persevering in the pit continues with accepting the reality of the situation.

Gen. 40:9-22

9 So the chief cupbearer told his dream to Joseph, and said to him, “In my dream, behold, there was a vine in front of me;

10 and on the vine were three branches. And as it was budding, its blossoms came out, and its clusters produced ripe grapes.

11 “Now Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand; so I took the grapes and squeezed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and I put the cup into Pharaoh’s hand.”

12 Then Joseph said to him, “This is the interpretation of it: the three branches are three days;

13 within three more days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your office; and you will put Pharaoh’s cup into his hand according to your former custom when you were his cupbearer.

14 “Only keep me in mind when it goes well with you, and please do me a kindness by mentioning me to Pharaoh and get me out of this house.

15 “For I was in fact kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing that they should have put me into the dungeon.”

16 When the chief baker saw that he had interpreted favorably, he said to Joseph, “I also saw in my dream, and behold, there were three baskets of white bread on my head;

17 and in the top basket there were some of all sorts of baked food for Pharaoh, and the birds were eating them out of the basket on my head.”

18 Then Joseph answered and said, “This is its interpretation: the three baskets are three days;

19 within three more days Pharaoh will lift up your head from you and will hang you on a tree, and the birds will eat your flesh off you.”

20 Thus it came about on the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, that he made a feast for all his servants; and he lifted up the head of the chief cupbearer and the head of the chief baker among his servants.

21 He restored the chief cupbearer to his office, and he put the cup into Pharaoh’s hand;

22 but he hanged the chief baker, just as Joseph had interpreted to them.

Persevering in he pit continues with accepting the reality of the situation.

Joseph accepted the reality of the situation. He did not deny his disappointment with his situation. How so?

One way he did this is found in verse 15.

15 “For I was in fact kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing that they should have put me into the dungeon.”

In other words, he acknowledged his hurt. He showed himself to be human. He did not hide behind a mask of bravery and say I am fine, I am happy, everything is a-okay. Rather he acknowledged his circumstances as painful and frustrating.

Another thing he did is found in verse 14.

14 “Only keep me in mind when it goes well with you, and please do me a kindness by mentioning me to Pharaoh and get me out of this house.

Here, he admitted that he could use the help of others. He asked for help. He did not resign himself to go at it alone. He did not take to the common attitude of our day that says – I do not need anyone’s help. I can handle this by myself, thank you. Joseph admitted that he could use the help of others.

A final thing he did in accepting the reality of the situation is found in verses 18-20.

18 Then Joseph answered and said, “This is its interpretation: the three baskets are three days;

19 within three more days Pharaoh will lift up your head from you and will hang you on a tree, and the birds will eat your flesh off you.”

The baker shared his dream with Joseph and was expecting a favorable interpretation. Joseph, in no uncertain terms said, you are going to be put to death for your crime. In other words, he did not compromise his trust in God. He was honest and did not lie to gain favor. He did not tell the baker what he thought that he wanted to hear. He did not try and manipulate the situation. Joseph could have been tempted to shift his trust from God and place it in these two men. Joseph’s thinking could have been – I will give the baker a greatly exaggerated, wonderful interpretation, before the three days are up he and the cupbearer will get me out of here, I will be free, and the cupbearer will be so elated with being reinstated to his position that he won’t bother to hold me accountable for the baker’s death. Joseph did nothing of the sorts. He approached nothing but the truth. He asked for the help of others but not to the point of placing his trust in them rather than in God. He did not compromise his trust in God.

Persevering in the pit continues with accepting the reality of the situation.

Joseph did so –

by acknowledging his hurt;

by admitting that he could use the help of others; and

by not compromising his trust in God.

Practically speaking, how can we as Believers do the same?

1. We must be willing and able to say, to – I am in a pit. Be honest with yourself. Tell God what He already knows – cry out to Him – don’t try to deny the reality of your situation. Look in the mirror and say – I am in a pit. We shouldn’t stop there.

2. We must be willing to ask for and accept the help of other people. Pick up the phone and make a call. Meet someone for coffee. Talk to someone. God never designed for any of us to go it alone. Seek out the help of others. Let someone help.

3. Finally, we must not turn our trust to our perceived wasta. Let’s not try and play “connect the wasta dots” by gathering as much wasta as possible and then use it all in one big bang to try and solve our problem. We must keep in mind that ultimately it is God who will deliver us. We must go back to our mediation upon Him. We must keep Him and Him alone as the object of our trust.

Persevering in the pit continues with accepting the reality of the situation.

It begins with acknowledging God’s sovereignty.

Finally, verse 23 tells persevering in the pit ends in God’s timing, not ours.

Gen. 40:23

23 Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him.

Persevering in the pit ends in God’s timing, not ours.

It has been 10-11 years since Joseph was sold into slavery. To now, every time it seems as if he is about to step out of the pit, he makes what seems to be the final step out just to be pushed down further into the pit. This time is no different. The cupbearer forgot Joseph. He did not remember him.

And it will still be another two years before Joseph is finally pulled out of the pit by God. But Joseph didn’t know that. Put your self in Joseph’s shoes. You are waiting any day for someone to come and take you out of jail. You are waiting to hear – Joseph the chief jailer wants to see you. You are waiting to hear him say, the cupbearer has put in a good word for you and someone is in need of your services. A day passes and nothing, a week goes by, and still nothing. The weeks turn into months and the months into years. And as the years pass you wonder if it will ever end, if you will ever get out of the pit. What would you do?

We know what Joseph did.

Joseph patiently trusted God.

Though the cupbearer forgot him, did not remember him.

He knew that God did not forget him, that God did indeed remember him.

And he showed this through his actions.

He started persevering in the pit as he acknowledged the sovereignty of God –

by not focusing on himself and his terrible situation,

by ministering to others, and

by making known his faith in God to others.

He continued persevering in the pit as he accepted the reality of the situation –

by acknowledging his hurt;

by admitting that he could use the help of others; and

by not compromising his trust in God.

All as he trusted that his persevering in the pit would end in God’s timing.

Are you in a pit right now, any sort of pit?

If so, I pray that this message has been both encouraging and challenging to you.

I pray that you will be able to take the truths and apply them in your life.

Above all, I pray that as you are persevering in the pit, more than ever you will know that God is with you from beginning to continuation to end.

We must remember God will never forget us. He can not it is against His nature.

He will always remember us. He has promised to do so and He always keeps His promises.

He is sovereign.

He is God.