Get 30 FREE sermons.

PRISON WAS A PART OF GOD’S PLAN (39 OF 50)

by Donald Cantrell

Scripture: Genesis 39:1-23
This content is part of a series.


Prison Was a Part of God’s Plan (39 of 50)
Series: Genesis
Donald Cantrell
Genesis 39:1–23


Theme: “Joseph won the battle over temptation, though it cost him”

I – Joseph’s New Place (1 – 6)
II – Joseph’s Nemesis Prowling (7 – 18)
III – Joseph’s Noted Punishment (19 – 23)

“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you have imagined. As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler.”
Henry David Thoreau

“Dreams come true; without that possibility, nature would not incite us to have them.”
John Updike

“Hold fast to your dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken winged bird that cannot fly.”
Lanston Hughes

If one looks at the life of Joseph and stops reading the story in Genesis 39, they would assume that he was a failure and his dreams never came to fruition. He had gone from being the favorite son of his father to the most hated sibling of his brothers.

Joseph had made a journey down to Shechem and then to Dothan to check on his brothers, but they had other plans for him as he is thrown into a waterless pit, before being sold to a caravan headed to Egypt.

He had been a dreamer, even revealing his dreams to his brothers and to his father, but how about those dreams now. The dreams of Joseph did not include a waterless pit, nor did they include a walled prison, so his dreams were dashed and his life would never become what he had dreamed, right?

God had other plans for his servant. He needed the pit and he needed the prison, before he could take him to the palace. None of us would choose the pits of life or the prisons of life, but God will often send us there before allowing us to reach the palaces of life.

The Lord had to hone off some pride and haughtiness out of his servants life, to humble him and let him know that his dreams were God’s dreams and they were a part of a much bigger plan.
The Rest of the Story

Marcel Sternberger was a methodical man of nearly 50, with bushy w ...

There are 23000 characters in the full content. This excerpt only shows a 2000 character sample of the full content.

Price:  $5.99 or 1 credit
Start a Free Trial