TRIBULATIONS

Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

A look at the life of Joseph is a good example of how all things work together for good.

GENESIS 39:13-23

Joseph was accused of attacking Potipher’s wife. When he wouldn’t succumb to the wife’s advances, she grabbed his garment and cried out her accusations. He was put in prison.  This “prison test” was a test of perseverance.

What are you going to do when you do the right thing and suffer the wrong results. What are you going to do when someone lies about you and others believe it. Are you going to continue to serve the Lord during this time? Joseph was innocent, but he was imprisoned for years, but he continued to serve the Lord.

There are 4 things that tribulations produce in our lives.

 

1. TRIBULATIONS PRODUCE PERSEVERANCE

 ROMANS 5:3-5

Romans tell us that we glory in tribulations. Word for “glory” as used here is not what you think. Here it is used to me “to rejoice.”  We can rejoice in our tribulations because they produce perseverance. Perseverance in turn produces character; character in turn produces hope.  Hope will not disappoint.

Here’s what Paul is actually saying in this passage:  there’s a reason to rejoice in tribulations because they produce perseverance which produces character which produces hope. And that hope will not disappoint.

It’s not the tribulations that cause us to rejoice, but its what the tribulations produce in our lives – we start becoming what God wants us to become.

 

2. PERSEVERANCE PRODUCES CHARACTER

 Did you ever pray or get prayed for and things got worse? Maybe the person you are praying for, or even you, are in God’s” boot camp.”  Maybe the tribulation is prolonged because God is trying to teach you something. You may find yourself somewhere between enduring the tribulations and attaining the hope. God wants you to not give up but to persevere, because this is building your character.

GENESIS 40:14

Everything Joseph did prospered, even when he was in prison. While in jail he was able to interpret the dreams of both the butler and the baker. All he asked the buter in return was to remember to mention him when he got out of jail.  If you look at the passage, four times Joseph used the word “me.”  It was all about him. Maybe God was trying to teach him that it wasn’t all about him. It took two more years before the butler mentioned to the pharaoh that Joseph was still in prison and perhaps, he could interpret the king’s dream.  God gave the pharaoh the dream. He could have given the pharaoh the dream the same day the butler got out of prison. Why did God wait two years? God was trying to teach Joseph about perseverance. Perseverance is doing the right thing even though your circumstances do not change. Joseph continued to serve during the time he remained in prison.

 

3. CHARACTER PRODUCES HOPE

 Joseph wore a coat of many colors that roused his brother’s anger, causing them to throw him into the pit and sell him to slavery.  Joseph wore a coat in the presence of Potipher’s wife. That coat was in her hand when she made the accusations that landed him up in prison.  Perhaps Joseph’s coats teach us that once satan finds out something in your life that will bring you tribulations he will keep bringing it back up. He figures out your weaknesses and keeps bringing them back up. He knows how to get to you.

When satan finds out something that works in your life he will keep bringing it back up. When he figures out your weakness, he keeps bringing it back. he knows how to get to you. That’s what he uses.

 

4. HOPE PRODUCES DIVINE APPOINTMENTS IN YOUR LIFE

PROVERBS 13:12 — Hope deferred makes the heart sick…

This scripture means … misplaced hope makes the heart sick. If your heart remains steadfast with our unchanging God, you will never have a sick heart.

Hope will result in divine appointments in your life. But you must keep your hope in God and not look at the circumstances surrounding you.

 

Here’s a grammatical play on words using the rule of double negatives that may help to understand how hope results in divine appointments in your life:

The rule of double negatives is that if two negatives are used in one sentence, the opposite meaning is conveyed.

The scripture says, “Hope does not disappoint.”

“Dis” at beginning of word is the same as saying “not.”

So, think of this scripture as saying, “hope does not not appoint.

The rule of double negatives tells us these 2 negative words cancel themselves out and become a positive.

Hope does not not appoint.

Hope does appoint.

What does hope produce? It produces divine appointments.

 

GENESIS 40:6-7

Joseph looked at the outward appearances of the butler and baker and asked why they were so sad. Joseph wasn’t like them; he did not sulk and act miserable about the situation he was in.  Instead, he kept ministering to other people while he was in his tribulations, in his prison. He continued to persevere, which produced a Godly character in him, which produced hope, which resulted in a divine appointment in his life. He was promoted to the second most powerful person in the world. He then knew it was because of God, and not because of himself.

Don’t focus on your circumstances. Focus on God. Turn your focus outward to help and minister to other people during the time of your tribulations.

Donald Trump, whether you like him or not, is in tribulations. Tribulations produce perseverance in him. That perseverance produces character in him, and the character produces hope in him.  Because of this, he will have a divine appointment at the end of this year when he becomes the next president.