Title Joseph's Relationships (Genesis 45:4-15)
Description Joseph's Human Relations (Genesis 45:4-15)
: Pastor Won Sa-yeon
Joseph's Relationships (Genesis 45:4-15)
(Introduction) We meet good people and bad people in our lives. In such a case, in order to live a successful human relationship, we must learn a lesson from 'Joseph's Human Relationship'.
(一) Joseph gave the other person a sense of security.
You cannot compare Joseph and Hamlet, but there is a crucial difference between the two. It is an attitude towards enemies. Hamlet managed to control himself, suppressing hatred and hatred. But in the end, he struggled to get revenge and his life ended in tragedy.
But Joseph's heart was not burned with hatred. He had the security that came from the peace that God had given him.
When Joseph was sold to his brothers and served as a slave in Egypt, he could have been filled with hatred and revenge toward his brothers when he suffered in a foreign country away from his beloved hometown and warm arms of his parents. I could even imagine the tragedy of giving up on my own life and ending my life. But in Joseph's heart there was peace from God.
How could there be such a peaceful sense of security? Joseph was sold as a slave to Potiphar, the Egyptian guard, but he had a strong faith in God. He refused the temptations of Potiphar's wife several times, but eventually was framed and put in prison.
However, he had successful relationships even in prison. Genesis 39:21-22 says, "The Lord was with Joseph and was kind to him, so that he found favor with the prison, and the prison placed all the prisoners into Joseph's hands." They did not look back on anything they had entrusted to them.”
From a human point of view, Joseph seemed like a series of failures, but from God's point of view, he continues to prosper. Joseph was sure of this guidance of God. After being put in prison, he also gave his fellow prisoners a sense of security.
I gave a peaceful answer to the chief drinking officer or King Pharaoh who was anxious and worried about dreams in prison. The chief cupbearer who met Joseph, or King Pharaoh, threw away all his worries and uneasiness and became happy and joyful. This is one aspect of the beautiful relationships that lead to success in Joseph's life.
That's right. A person who always thinks of others before myself and knows how to be considerate can lead a successful life.
Dear saints, Build good relationships with others. Then I believe you will have a successful life.
(二) Joseph gave the other person trust.
Newton, an evangelical pastor in England, classified human beings into three types.
The first type is the Jonah type, who avoids life. Such a person is a person who is self-centered, thinking only of his feelings and his desires, whether it be someone else's death or not.
The second type is a person who gets on a running horse and hangs from the horse's neck. This kind of person holds the horse's neck tight for fear of falling, so he can't afford to worry about anything else. He is not driven by his own will, but is driven by the horse as he runs.
The third type is a person who trusts all of himself to God the Creator and lives faithfully according to God's instructions.
Joseph is the third type of person. He is a man who has completely surrendered himself to God. He was honest with God and faithful with people. He is a man who has done his best in his work.
But Joseph's situation was getting worse and worse. He went from being a slave to being a prisoner. Joseph's situation was truly pitiful. It was a situation in which an ordinary person would have given up on life.
So, in such a situation, how could Joseph gain the trust of many people? Genesis 39:3 says, “And his master saw that the LORD was with him, and he saw that the LORD prospered in all things.”
Joseph was a slave in Egypt, but his life was lived as a son (servant) of God. Verse 4 says, "Joseph found favor with his master and served him, and he made him head of the household, and he put all that he had into his hand." When you see that Joseph, who was only a slave, was entrusted with all the big family affairs, you can see how much his master Potiphar trusted him.
The society we live in today is a credit society. You can use your credit card to buy and enjoy benefits in every way. However, once trust is lost, it is difficult to recover.
Joseph gained the trust of not only Potiphar but also Jeon-ok and Pharaoh. By interpreting Pharaoh's dream and suggesting countermeasures, it made him recognize his abilities and personality. That's it. When we have a relationship that gives everyone a strong sense of trust, we can succeed in life, no matter how bad the situation is.
Dear saints, We pray in the name of the Lord that you will not lose trust in people even if you lose everything else.
(3) Joseph gave the other person intimacy.
One day, on a windy and windy day, around 1:00 a.m., an elderly couple came to the lobby of a small hotel in Philadelphia.
They said, "Can I get a room here?" The waiter said, "The rooms are full. There is nowhere to stay in this city. But where are you going when it's raining like this? If it's okay with you, I'll empty my room. Don't worry about me."
The next morning, the old couple paid for the lodging and said, "You are the manager who should be the best hotel owner in America. One day I will build a hotel for you."
Upon hearing this, the waiter laughed to himself. But two years have passed. This person was given a plane ticket with a letter asking him to come to New York. He soon went to New York. And we were led to a hotel in the city which was hugely built of marble.
There stood an old man whom he had kindly welcomed two years ago. The old man smiled brightly and said, "That's the hotel I built for you to run."
This old man was William Waldolph Asto. The name of the hotel was also the famous Waldolph Astoria Hotel at the time. And this man who was invited to run the hotel was George C. Bolt. He was a poor man, but his kindness to an elderly couple led him to a successful life.
Did Abraham and Lot also kindly welcome the stranger, but did not receive the angel? How about Joseph in today's text? How ugly are you? They tried to kill him and threw him into a pit to starve him. Later, he sold himself to Ishmael for 20 pieces of silver.
But Joseph was more kind to his brothers because he was afraid that they would feel sorry for them. He gave me tips on how to deal with situations that may arise in the future. In a moment when bloody vengeance would not be enough, Joseph showed favor to his brothers.
If there is a person we can admire in the world, wouldn't it be a person like Joseph? Dear saints, Kindness is the oil that softens human relationships. Saints! May you always be kind to anyone, regardless of your personal feelings.
(Conclusion) Joseph had successful relationships with everyone he met in Egypt, where he was sold into slavery. It was because of God's care that he was able to develop a successful relationship.
He was never lazy, and he did not wish for any lure. They didn't even want a miracle from God. He lived his life to the fullest. He was honest so that everyone around him could trust him. So the people around him were forced to acknowledge the God he believed in.
Now, if we want to live a successful life, we want to build relationships like Joseph, so we want to be people who give peace of mind, trust, and intimacy to all the people we form into our encounters.