Keeping Hope Alive (Part3B)

Welcome to the second part of our third and final episode of the series. We shall dive right in.

In the story of Gideon God said:

10 If you are afraid to attack, go down to the camp with your servant Purah 11 and listen to what they are saying. Afterward, you will be encouraged to attack the camp.” So he and Purah his servant went down to the outposts of the camp.

(Judges 7:10 – 11)

Yet this encouragement was given after Gideon had already asked for more than one sign to show that God was definitely with him. God is ever ready to provide the encouragement we need for walking in victory, but it matters that we pay attention and continue to meditate on what we receive.

In the story of Joseph, we are informed that God provided him with dreams of his great reign, even when he was just a boy. However, before this dream became a reality, he was betrayed, enslaved, slandered, imprisoned, forgotten, and disregarded. Yet, despite the many years of suffering, he held on to the dreams God gave. Not only so, but he kept his mind on the light. He kept an eye open to the good things in his life, and in this way, he was able to see that God was still with him during his days of suffering. In his story, we are told:

3 When his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord gave him success in everything he did, 4 Joseph found favor in his eyes and became his attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and he entrusted to his care everything he owned. 5 From the time he put him in charge of his household and of all that he owned, the Lord blessed the household of the Egyptian because of Joseph. The blessing of the Lord was on everything Potiphar had, both in the house and in the field.

Now Joseph was well-built and handsome, 7 and after a while his master’s wife took notice of Joseph and said, “Come to bed with me!”

8 But he refused. “With me in charge,” he told her, “my master does not concern himself with anything in the house; everything he owns he has entrusted to my care. 9 No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?

(Genesis 39:3 – 9)

Notice how Joseph says, "How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?”. He sees that it is God who made things go well for him in Potiphar's house, and he believes that sleeping with Potiphar's wife would be a great sin, since God had blessed him through Potiphar. Yet I ask you...

Was Joseph not a slave?

If ever you doubt that he was not of high reputation, consider the rest of the story. He was imprisoned and abandoned by Potiphar with no one to defend him. You see, he was no greater than a chief houseboy, yet he still believed God was with him. And surely, God was! Because despite being a slave, he was esteemed above other slaves. You might say, "But where is the joy in being a slave. The young man was once the favorite son of a rich man?!". And if you did say so, then you see clearly the power of optimism. In being optimistic, Joseph saw clearly that God was the one promoting him. In being optimistic, he said to the butler in prison, "remember me when you are released", believing that God might bring him victory through him. It says about Joseph when he was in prison:

But while Joseph was there in the prison, 21 the Lord was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden. 22 So the warden put Joseph in charge of all those held in the prison, and he was made responsible for all that was done there.

(Genesis 39:20 – 22)

Other people in this position might not have seen the good in being put in charge of their fellow prisoners, and might have treated the role with indifference. After all, was he not once a freeman put above his brothers and well fed? But, Joseph, keeping his mind in the light, saw that God had given him this position and attended to his duties faithfully. He attended to the well-being of the other prisoners, and it was during one of his faithful execution of duties that he attended to the very imprisoned butler who remembered him after being released (although it took a good while), and who contributed to Joseph attaining freedom.

One thing can be seen in both Gideon and Joseph's stories: God was moving in both. For Gideon, he saw this when he spied on the enemy camp and heard what they were saying; he saw that they were afraid. And for Joseph, he continually perceived God's favour on his life. Yet could not Gideon have focused more on the strength of numbers his enemy possessed over his, instead of the fear they seemed to have? Could not Joseph have only focused on what he could have had if he wasn't a slave? Therefore, we see that the focus of our minds greatly affects the direction of our confidence and peace.

We are told in Philippians:

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

(Philippians 4:8)

This is vital because it enables us see when and where God is moving. And if we can see the good, then we can do what David says:

Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits:

(Psalm 103:2)

And when we remember, then we can do what Paul says:

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!

(Philippians 4:4)

When we continually meditate on the encouragement we receive, whether sermon, prophesy, Word read, benefit noticed, or thing seen (move of God), then we can continually rejoice, putting up a positive attitude and character in the face of storms. And in this way, we can continue to have unshakeable hope. And true hope birthed from God shall not disappoint us because its substance is faith, so that purest hope is the manifestation of faith. And, God, because he made us his children by his death and simultaneously shed the knowledge of this love in our inner being (for just as men of Adam intrinsically know God, as revealed in Romans 1:21, we too know Abba), has proven to us his assured faithfulness and willingness to stand for us. So, we have a full right to go boldly unto his throne of grace and expect answers to our prayers. We have every reason to be confident of his great move in honour of his promises!

So, then this is the journey of hope as revealed in Romans 5

Word is preached/ prophesy is given/ God shows you something THEN you are comforted THEN you can endure THEN/WHILE in endurance you show a better character as you continue to meditate/ hear that encouragement THEN your confident expectation of the good promised continues to grow stronger/ remain.

Paul says it like this:

³ Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, ⁴ and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, ⁵ and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

(Romans 5:3 - 5)