Come Follow Me: 7 Principles from Joseph in Egypt

Joseph in Egypt (Genesis 37–41): 7 Principles for Trusting Jesus Christ Through Trials | Walking with the Savior

In this episode of Walking with the Savior Podcast, John Merrill Kirkman teaches from Genesis 37–41 about Joseph in Egypt—his journey from pit to slavery to prison to palace—and shares seven principles showing how Jehovah (Jesus Christ) is with us in hardship. He connects Joseph’s story to a recent interview with CS Wilson, who was falsely accused and imprisoned for 17 years, and invites listeners to hear that “modern-day Joseph” episode. The principles include: God’s presence even when life feels unfair, choosing integrity over comfort, delays as preparation, gifts making room for opportunity, betrayal becoming purpose, trials developing leadership before titles, and adversity refining faith rather than ruining it. He emphasizes trusting Christ over outcomes and ends with thematic hashtags and encouragement to follow and share.

00:00 Joseph in Egypt Overview
01:56 Principle 1 God With You
05:19 Principle 2 Choose Integrity
06:21 Principle 3 Delays Prepare You
07:41 Principle 4 Gifts Open Doors
09:20 Principle 5 Betrayal to Purpose
11:35 Principle 6 Trials Build Leaders
15:16 Principle 7 Faith Refined
18:11 Hashtags and Final Invitation

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Transcript

John Kirkman 0:00

Joseph in Egypt. That's what we're talking about today. Genesis 37 to 41, and welcome to this week's episode of Walking with the Savior Podcast. I'm John Merrill Kirkman, and I'm talking about Joseph in Egypt today. Now, most of the episodes in this podcast are interviews from people who have walked with Christ and hearing their stories of overcoming struggle, challenges, and adversity. And last week we had a story from CS Wilson as he talked about his overcoming being falsely accused and imprisoned for 17 years. And that reminds me of Joseph sold in Egypt. And so if you haven't heard that episode for a modern day, Joseph sold into Egypt and being falsely in prison. Go check out CS Wilson's. Episode on Walking with the Savior Podcast. Now today, Joseph and Egypt, Joseph's life went from pit to slavery to prison, and finally to the palace. Most of us would call that a terrible life plan. But what if those hard chapters weren't detours at all? What if they were the very places God used to shape Joseph into the person who could save Nations? Today I wanna share with you seven principles from Joseph's story that show how. God. Now when we say God here, we're talking about Jehovah and I like adding that. That is Jesus. And when you do that with the Old Testament, all of a sudden we get another New Testament, a testimony of Jesus Christ and not just see him show up in the New Testament. We see him show up in the Old Testament, Joseph's story shows how Jesus Christ can grow us in the middle of our hardest trial. So I've got seven principles and my favorite one is the sixth one. So you don't wanna miss that one, but seven's pretty good too. Principle number one, God is with you even when you life feels unfair, right? God is with you even when life feels unfair. Unfair. Genesis 39, verse two says, the Lord was with Jo Joseph so that he prospered. In other words, Jesus was with Joseph so that he prospered. Joseph was trade. Bri's brothers sold into slavery. Falsely accused and imprisoned. Yet the scriptures repeatedly say this phrase, the Lord was with him. Now that the Lord is in all caps, that's Jehovah in the Hebrew. And that's Jesus. So if you read it like this, when, and this is the NIV version of Genesis 39, verse three. Now, when the master saw that the Lord lemme read it like this, when the master saw that Jesus Christ was with him, and that Jesus Christ gave him success in everything he did, do you see how that changes everything? Jesus Christ was with him, but while Joseph was in the prison, it says in verse 21. Jesus Christ was with him. Jesus Christ showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden. So the warden put Joseph in charge of all those who held that were held in the prison, and he was made responsible for all that was done the word, and paid no attention to anything under Joseph's care because. Jesus Christ. The Lord was with Joseph and Jesus Christ gave him success in whatever he did. Wow. That changes it. And so that's why this story's a perfect fit for Walking with the Savior podcast, where we interview people in their stories about, about walking with the Savior. And so Joseph is a testimony. That God is with us even when life feels unfair. So let's go back to Genesis 28, where Jacob in Jacob's Stairway or Jacob's Ladder, if you didn't catch last week in episode where I shared Jacob's Ladder. Jacob said Jesus Christ says to Jacob, I am with you. I will watch over you wherever you go. I will bring you back. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you. Joseph's story reminds me of that verse in Jacob Genesis 28 15. So here's the principle. Your circumstances do not determine God's presence in your life left out, misunderstood, treated unfairly. Joseph shows that hardship does not mean. Abandonment. Ooh, I love that. So often our life we're like, things go bad, and we're like, God, why are you abandoning me? God, why don't you love me? God, why don't you care about me? In reality, that promise given to Jacob applies to all of us as House Israel. I am with you. I will bring you back. I will not leave you. I will fulfill my promises. Those are given to each of us as we start, as we make covenants with Christ and walk with him. He has not left us. Principle number two, integrity matters more. Than immediate comfort. Genesis 39, 9 where the pot of her's wife was trying to seduce Joseph, and he says, how then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God? Wow. What about great question? And I used this to help my students memorize this phrase. I just said, how can I do this great wickedness and sin against God and you just, how then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God? How then can I do this great wickedness of sin against God just over and over? Remember that phrase and it becomes a tool when we face temptation. Now, when tempted by Potiphar's wife, Joseph chose obedience over convenience, even though. It cost him his freedom. Doing what's right may cost you now, but it protects your future. He chose character over comfort who? Principle number three, God can use delays to prepare you. Wow. Don't we all get stuck in God's timing? Timing. We get frustrated at God's timing. We are like, why does this take so long? Maybe you have some things you're working towards, and it's like obstacle after obstacle after obstacle. And this story is a great testimony that God can use delays to prepare you. Joseph interpreted dreams correctly, but the butler forgot about'em for two more years. And one other thing to consider is Joseph was sold into Egypt at 17, or sold to Potter for at 17. He ends up in the palace at 30. So this is a 13 year up and down journey. Things look good, things look really bad. Things look good, things look really bad. But all along this, God's using this, this, these delays to prepare him for something bigger and better. So delay is in denial. God is preparing you while you wait. The prison wasn't punishment, it was preparation. Yes. Principle number four, your gifts make room for you. Genesis 41 verse 38. The Pharaoh has just had the Joseph interpret all his dreams and so Pharaoh asked this court, can we find anyone like this man, one in whom the spirit of God resides like this man, this guy is, got it. Joseph developed and used his spiritual gifts of interpreting dreams even while he was in prison, along with other leadership gifts, that he developed and worked on while in prison and. The Pharaoh instantly knew after hearing the interpretation of these dreams, that Joseph had some incredible leadership gifts, most of all being that Jesus Christ was with him and was communicating to him and helping him and these spiritual gifts helped him to stand out to Pharaoh. So your spiritual gifts will open doors. If you keep using them. Sometimes we get shy with our spiritual gifts. Sometimes we hide our spiritual gifts. Sometimes as the scripture says, put our light under a bushel. He's like, let that light shine those spiritual gifts. So Joseph didn't stop being faithful just because he wasn't being recognized. And he just kept pressing forward and his gifts eventually made room for him. And as we show up using our spiritual gifts, developing our leadership skills, they will make room for us as well. Principle number five, God turns betrayal into purpose. Ooh. Now, if you've lived a life, you're gonna be betrayed. If you've lived a life, you're gonna have friends who forget you. If you've lived a life, you're gonna, you have bad things happen to you. And sometimes we think, oh, those bad things are evidence that God doesn't love me or that I'm a bad person, or that nothing good happens in our life. In reality. Sometimes those betrayals are the very things that turn to our greatest purposes in life. And if you want some stories of that, just go listen to all my interviews where nearly everybody has some form of betrayal or hardship or struggle. Show up unexpectedly and then they later turn that into their purpose. So Joseph was sold as a slave, later becomes governor of Egypt. Wow. What others may harm mean for harm God can transform to Good. I'm gonna say that again. What others mean for harm. God can transform for good Dad is just a beautiful principle and we have to learn to trust God in that. When? Those hard times come, there's purpose, there's lessons, there's learning that's gonna transform us, and that life isn't happening to us. Life is happening for us, and that God isn't against us, that God is for us, that Jesus isn't against us, that Jesus is for us. And when we covenant with Christ and walk with Christ, our future really is bright. And that those things will be transformed into the positives that will help us and aid us later in our life. So your worst chapters can become the setup for your calling. Your worst trials become your future purposes and your future powers, and they don't have to stop you or hinder you or. Keep you down, your worst chapters can be the setup for your future calling and your future powers. Principle number six, my favorite one. Trials develop leadership before the title ever comes. Before Joseph ever ruled Egypt, he managed Potiphar's house. He organized prison affairs, he served other prisoners. He solved problems quietly behind the scenes. God develops our capacity in small places before he trusts us with big influence. Joseph had learned administration. He'd learned emotional control, spiritual sensitivity, problem solving under pressure, the pit trained humility, the prison trained leadership, the palace revealed it Growth often happens in places no one applauds. So here's wild, here's a wild thing. Have you ever learned about bamboo bamboo's, kind of this wild plant, it's the fastest growing plant in the world. A stock of. Bamboo can grow six inches or more in a single day. That's crazy, right? But here's the thing that actually matters. Bamboo grows its leaves in the summer and its roots in the winter. It takes advantage of each season and while it appears totally dormant in the winter, it's not dormant at all. The roots are growing like crazy underground. Preparing for that explosive summer growth that is up and coming. So we grow through seasons two, all of us, and this is where it gets really good. This is where it gets really good when you're in a prosperous season. Externally speaking, there's a ton of building and expansion happening. You're visible, you're producing, things are moving fast. That's your summer, but then the winter comes, maybe the economy shifts, maybe a relationship ends, maybe goals don't happen and pan out the way we want it. Everything feels quiet on the outside. Barely anything seems to be happening and here's what I want you to remember. That's your root growing season. That's when the real work happens beneath the surface. It's when you deepen, when you get stronger, when you build the foundation, that's going to support your next level of growth. Growth. The mistake most people make is wishing for an easier life during the winter. Don't we all, don't we all want an easier life in the winter? We're stressed, we're frustrated, we're wondering if you're we're even capable., But the golden move is to see every season as an opportunity winner isn't punishment. It's preparation. So if you're going through something challenging right now, that's your cue. You're in a bamboo winner. Sometimes it's, we have to do that internal growth, that quiet growth that nobody can see. That's the bamboo winner. And if we grow ourself in the winner. And those bamboo winners will be prepared for the bamboo summer, which is explosive growth on the outside. We see that in Joseph's life, all these quiet time that's 13 years from being sold to being rising as the prince, or whatever you wanna call it in the palace. 13 years of internal growth and that led him to reach a high, high status. I just, I love that because so much of life is the quiet internal growth growing periods, and it prepares us for future opportunities. Final one, adversity refined your faith. It doesn't have to ruin your faith. So often we hear about people who are angry at God or mad at God, feel like God forsook them and left them a abandoning, where are you in my trials? Why is this happening to me? But adversity doesn't have to destroy our faith. Maybe it could, maybe it could bring us closer to Christ. So in the, in Joseph's ex story, despite all his bitterness, he gave God credit. He gave Jesus Christ credit. The Pharaoh wanted him to interpret dreams, and he says this, do not interpretations belong to God? Don't they belong to Jesus Christ? Here he is giving credit to Jesus Christ. Again, he truly walked with Christ. And kept him with him despite all the low parts and the bitter parts, which is so phenomenal because I'm not good at that at all. I'm working on it. I'm working on it, So Joseph had every reason to become bitter. He was betrayed by his family, forgotten by friends, falsely accused. Yet he testified of Jesus Christ while he was in prison. Trials reveal what your faith is really rooted in. Are we ref, is our faith rooted in the outcomes and our trust that the outcomes will look like we want? Or is our faith just rooted in Jesus Christ, trusting him that we don't know the outcome, but trusting him that the outcome will be good? And that's a hard one, especially with terminal illnesses or death of loved ones. But eventually though day is gonna come, and maybe it's not till the next life where Jesus shows us the outcome is better than we ever imagined, and so do we have faith in Christ or living God or trust in the outcomes and just complete trust in him. The outcome's gonna look totally different than we ever imagined. But all along the way, it makes zero sense. Joseph's story makes zero sense when he is thrown in prison for honoring Christ. Commandments, it makes zero sense when he was sold by his brothers. This plan makes zero sense, but he had complete trust in Jesus Christ so when you think about it, hardship can, it can harden your heart or it can deepen your dependence on Christ, harden your heart or deepen your dependence on which, which one do we want? Joseph chose a deeper trust in Christ. So I want to end with a few hashtags, hashtag from pit to palace, hashtag prison prepared him, hashtag pit to purpose. Hashtag faith in the furnace. Hashtag Jesus was with Joseph. Hashtag trusted the process. Hashtag no pit too deep. Hashtag God writes better stories. Hashtag from slave to save. Hashtag dreams don't expire. You got this friends, you're awesome. I want you to realize that Christ is with us. That as we walk with Christ, our future is bright, and we can be like Joseph, we can trust like him. We can have a, we do have a bright future when we walk with Christ. Thank you everybody for giving us a listen. If something in here was inspiring to you. Click the follow button Share with a friend. Go check out CS Wilson's episode where he shares his modern day Joseph story of being imprisoned falsely for 17 years. Him himself, 17 years for a crime he did not commit, and how he came out. A faithful disciple of Christ, your awesome friends. Have a great day and thanks for joining us on this week's episode of Walking with the Savior.