(Note: Scripture is read before the anthem—please put words on screen, followed by visual during anthem

Genesis 41:1-16, 37-43 Pharaoh's Dreams
From Prison to Position= Genesis 41:1-16, 39-43

1 When two full= years had passed, Pharaoh had a dream: He was standing by the Nile, 2 when out of= the river there came up seven cows, sleek and fat, and they grazed among the re= eds. 3 After them, seven other cows, ugly and gaunt, came up out of the Nile and stood beside those on the riverbank. 4 And= the cows that were ugly and gaunt ate up the seven sleek, fat cows. Then Pharaoh woke up.

5 He fell asleep again and had a second dr= eam: Seven heads of grain, healthy and good, were growing on a single stalk. 6 A= fter them, seven other heads of grain sprouted—thin and scorched by the ea= st wind. 7 The thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven healthy, full heads. Then Pharaoh woke up; it had been a dream.

8 In the morning his mind was troubled, so= he sent for all the magicians and wise men of Egypt. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but no one could interpret them for him. 9 Then the chief cupbearer said to Pharaoh, "Today I am reminded of my shortcomings. 10 Pharaoh was once angry with his servants, and he imprisoned me and the chief baker in the house of the captain of the guard. 11 Each of us had a dream t= he same night, and each dream had a meaning of its own.

12 Now a young Hebrew was there with us, a serva= nt of the captain of the guard. We told him our dreams, and he interpreted them f= or us, giving each man the interpretation of his dream. 13 And things turned o= ut exactly as he interpreted them to us: I was restored to my position, and the other man was hanged."

14 So Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and he was quickly brought from the dungeon. When he had shaved and changed his clothe= s, he came before Pharaoh. 15 Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I had a dream, and= no one can interpret it. But I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it." 16 "I cannot do it," Joseph replied to Pharaoh, "but God will g= ive Pharaoh the answer he desires."

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37 The plan seemed good to Pharaoh and to = all his officials. 38 So Pharaoh = asked them, "Can we find anyone like this man, one in whom is the spirit of God?" 39 Then Pharaoh sa= id to Joseph, "Since God has made all this known to you, there is no one so discerning and wise as you. 40 You shall be in charge of my palace, and all= my people are to submit to your orders. Only with respect to the throne will I= be greater than you."

41 So Pharaoh s= aid to Joseph, "I hereby put you in charge of the whole land of Egypt." 42 Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his finger and put it on Joseph's finger. He dressed him in robes of fine linen and put a gold chain around h= is neck. 43 He had him ride in a chariot as his second-in-command, and men sho= uted before him, "Make way!" Thus he put him in charge of the whole la= nd of Egypt.

From Prison to Position Genesis 41:1-16, 39-43

So far, we’ve followed Joseph “From Peak to Pit” and “From Pit to Prison.” Along the way, Joseph shares with = us an amazing testimony concerning the faithfulness of God and His ability to bri= ng something good out of our bad experiences…and to accomplish through us things we could never have imagined—unless, of course, God made them known to us in a DREAM.

One of the things that impresses me when I study the l= ife of Joseph is the very prominent role played by dreams. We’re= first introduced to a young, seventeen year old who pesters his brothers and worr= ies his father with his outlandish dreams of grandeur. Two of his dreams involve family m= embers bowing down before him! You k= now, there are some things that are best left unsaid, but that didn’t keep Joseph from saying them.

We won’t take time to look at Genesis 40 now, bu= t it tells of the Pharaoh’s baker and his cupbearer who get thrown in jail--the same jail that Joseph is in--and THEY both have dreams as well. Joseph interprets their dreams, te= lling the cupbearer that he will soon get his old job back, while breaking the ne= ws to the baker that he will soon be toast!&n= bsp; And Joseph was right!

This was a crucial moment for Joseph, because as we le= arn in our text for today, Pharaoh also had dreams. He wanted to know their meaning, a= nd his cupbearer told him that he knew someone who could interpret dreams. This is what finally, after 13 long years, got Joseph out of prison and into a high position in Pharaoh’s government.

Speaking of which—government, I mean--hasn’= ;t this been an incredible week? On Monday, we remembered a man who said, “I have a dream” and whose faith and perseverance led to much-needed changes in our nation’s laws and practices.

Then, on Tuesday, we witnessed the swearing in ceremon= y of a new president who in so many ways embodies and fulfills that dream. Whatever your ethnicity or politic= al persuasion, unless you’re just incredibly hardheaded or racist or mea= n, you had to be impressed by the significance of these events. So were you?

Martin Luther= King, Jr., once said, “The ult= imate measure of a man is not where= he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times = of challenge and controversy.” President Obama would do well to remember these words, and we would = do well to pray for him, for the challenges are already obvious, and the controversies are sure to come. The honeymoon won’= ;t last long, will it?

This morning, we trace the life of Joseph “From Prison to Position.”= ; God put a dream in Joseph’s = heart when he was only seventeen years old, but the fulfillment of that dream was= a long time in coming.

Surely there were moments while Joseph was languishing= in prison when he wondered if his dream would ever come true. Thirteen years is a long time to wait. Maybe he felt that life= was passing him by—do you ever feel that way?

Waiting is a dilemma.= For most of us, waiting is something we really don’t like to d= o; yet we are often called upon to do it anyway! I often stop by to see families in hospital waiting rooms who are anxious to receive news concerning their lov= ed one—that’s a hard kind of waiting to do.

Many in our world today are doing some tough waiting r= ight now because their dreams have been put on hold, or shattered—people w= ho this time last year thought they could soon retire, but not now; students w= ho are about to graduate from college and enter the work force, but now they a= re signing up for grad school because the jobs aren’t out there. Lots of plans have been put on hold—people’s dreams are having to wa= it.

It’s hard to imagine a more difficult experience= of waiting, though, than being in prison—compounded in Joseph’s ca= se by the fact that he was falsely imprisoned. On one hand, he had his dreams. On the other, he had no choice but= to wait and wonder if those dreams would ever be realized.

As I studied the story of Joseph this week, I was impr= essed that it could teach us some things about waiting--about taking an experience that we see as being negative, and turning it into something positive. Let me share with you a few observ= ations:

1. THINK OF WAITING AS A TIME OF P= REPARATION. What I mean here is that when you = find yourself going through difficulties, and your dreams are put on hold, keep = the perspective that you really have no idea what God may be preparing you for.= We are probably guilty at times of wanting to see our dreams come true prematurely—before we’re re= ady.

Some are bless= ed with the good sense to know when they’re not ready for certain responsibilities:

Charlie= Brown and Linus were talking one day. Linus says, “I don= 217;t like to face problems head on. I think the best way to solve problems is to avoid them. In fact, this is a distinct philos= ophy of mine. No problem is so big= or so complicated that it can’t be run away from.” Well, let’s hope and pray th= at our new President doesn’t think this way!

There are some problems that just won’t go away—like the little fellow who hadn’t studied as he should. Before going to bed, he prayed:

“Now I lay me down to rest, a= nd hope to pass tomorrow’s test. If I should die before I wake, that’s one less test I’ll have to take.” Chan= ces are, he’s in trouble!

Some of us avoid preparation at all costs—but th= is ends up costing us dearly—and in many different aspects of life. Maybe God has to intentionally put= some of our dreams on hold so He’ll have time to prepare us for what’= ;s next--we have to wait for now because we’re just not ready.

When seventeen year old Joseph was talking so big abou= t his dreams to his older brothers, he thought he was ready to do anything—“Just go ahead and put me in charge of Egypt, God. I’m ready!” But God said, “NOT!--YouR= 17;re not ready.”

There was a lot of growing and maturing that Joseph ne= eded to experience before he would be ready to lead. If we have to wait, we would be wi= se to use our time to prepare for the future.

2. THINK OF WAITING AS A TIME OF OPPORTUNITY. We can focus on how all this delay= is unfair, how much we’re losing as we wait, and how much better life wo= uld be if we didn’t have to wait, OR we can seize the opportunities that exist in the midst of our waiting and make the most of them.

God has positioned each of our lives in a unique place= of influence—it may be our family, our job, our neighbor or team or SS Class. Whatever--we all have = access to people, situations and resources that are ours alone to do something with. Maybe we’re not l= iving our dream at the moment, but if we would simply ask how God can use us in t= he place we’re in, there might be undreamed of possibilities right where= we are!

Eventually, Joseph would be promoted to his dream job, literally, but only because he first seized his opportunities and made the = most of them—yes, even while he was waiting in prison.

A lesser person would have spent his time whining and complaining and would have missed those opportunities. Joseph made the most of them.

In Genesis 39, for example, we learn that when Joseph = was working as Potiphar’s servant, he gave his best and was elevated to t= op servant. Later, when falsely imprisoned, the chief jailer saw Joseph’s character and put him in ch= arge of all the other prisoners. T= HIS led directly to his opportunity to interpret the dreams of two of those prisoners, which eventually got him released from jail and into a high posi= tion of power.

All of this resulted from Joseph’s openness to t= he opportunities that came his way whi= le he waited for his “big break.” Sometimes “the big breaks” happen because we have faithfully given our be= st to all the smaller opportunities that have come along—opportuniti= es that others might overlook.

Jesus talked about this. He told us to be faithful in small things and He would make sure we had opportunities to be faithful in greater things. Well, this same princ= iple was at work way back in Joseph’s time. Joseph was faithful. The opportunities came.

3D"Captain

Last week, we witnessed a remarkable example of someone taking advantage of very limited opportunities in the midst of horrendous circumstances:

Refusing to give in to what= seemed to be overwhelming odds against him, Captain “Sully” seized upon a very tiny window of opportunity and successfully ditched his plane in the Hudson River. And 155 people on board that fligh= t, along with their families and friends and all the rest of us are forever grateful to this hero.

Friends, Joseph’s story is every bit as remarkab= le: because he took advantage of his opportunities even while in prison, God wo= rked through Joseph to save his own family, as well as the whole land of Egypt, = from famine. God’s Word pain= ts Joseph as a hero. The moral o= f that story is don’t get so caught up in things that are not as you would l= ike them to be that you miss out on the opportunities you have right in front of you!

3. One other thing: THINK OF WAITING AS A TIME OF CLARIFICATION. There’s a story about a chic= ken farmer who was losing a lot of birds. He decided to write a letter to the Department of Agriculture: “Gentlemen,” he wrote, “Something is wrong with my chicke= ns. Every morning, I find two or three= of them lying on the ground cold and stiff with their feet in the air. Can you tell me what's wrong?̶= 1;

3D"http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2008/02/the_origin_of_the_chicken.=

Several weeks later, he received a very official-looki= ng document with the following reply:
“Dear Sir: Your chickens are dead.” Don’t = you know he was glad he got that cleared up—and believe me, I know all ab= out letters--and the need for clarification!

A. I don&= #8217;t know at what point it became clear to Joseph—was it while he was wait= ing in prison or only after he took the reins of power in Egypt?—but sure= ly it dawned upon him at some point that God wants to use each of our lives for some purpose in this world, that He = has something for each of us to do, but first He must get us ready. He must help us grow into these responsibilities.

B. Another clarification issue: God had to get Joseph away from a father who doted over him and brothers who hated him to = help him arrive at a sense of who he really was and what God wanted him to b= e.

How many people have been ruined by power or wealth th= at came too soon, before they were clear about their lives and values and motivations, and before they had learned to depend on God? All these things had to be clarifi= ed in Joseph’s life.

C. While = he waited in prison, Joseph also gain= ed clarity about his gifts and abilities.= He had dreamed dreams before, but he had not been an interpreter of dreams until approached by Pharaoh’s former baker and cupbearer. Interpreting their dreams gave him some much-needed confidence when he was l= ater asked to interpret Pharaoh’s<= /i> dreams.

D. Now th= is: the cupbearer had promised to tell Pharaoh about Joseph two years earlier, but = the man somehow forgot to do this. Later, though, you don’t hear Joseph complaining to Pharaoh ab= out the cupbearer’s lousy memory. He doesn’t waste time trying to get even—which, when you think about it, is exactly the spiritual quality he would need later in dealing with those brothers who ha= ted and mistreated him.

Maybe you’re waiting for something to happen in = your life right now—and you’re tired of waiting—but Joseph rem= inds us that God often has to clear up some things in our lives before we’= re ready for Him to use us. He m= ay be preparing us for something beyond our highest hopes and dreams.

We don’t always know. Joseph didn’t know. But as hard as waiting in prison m= ust have been for him, it became time well spent. It served a purpose. It prepared h= im for the next chapter of his life.

This is what the Apostle James was getting at when he = wrote: “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work = so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” (James 1:= 2-4)

We don’t understand why we have to wait or persevere—why life can’t always happen on our time table. We can resist it and complain abou= t it, or we can open our lives to all the possibilities that present themselves a= s we wait.

If you feel that your life is in a holding pattern rig= ht now—waiting, wondering, worrying about the future—then please consider this: 1) God may be PREPARING your life for something that you don’t know about yet. 2) And waiting always holds OPPORUNIT= IES for new insight and growth. 3)= And, finally, as the old song says, “We will understand it better by and b= y”—CLARITY will come in God’s time= .

As James said, such times are a “test of our faith.” Be patient. Trust God. Pass your test—and like Jose= ph, learn and grow and get ready for what God has in store for your life next! =