Character Development
Perseverance
Getting Through Difficult Situations
Quarter 4 Unit 2 Lesson 5
Genesis 37, 39–46
With God’s help, we can persevere through difficult situations.
REMEMBER
“And we boast in the hope of the glory of God.
Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.”
Romans 5:2b-4
What happens when you swim a great distance? As you begin, you may feel strong and ready to go. But as you tire, it is more difficult to keep your head above the water. You may feel impatient or frightened.
Suffering is similar. When we struggle through challenges, at first we may be full of energy and hope. But as we continue on and become weary, despair and disappointment may take over.
Our challenges may threaten to overwhelm us.
Think of a time you felt like you were drowning in despair or difficulty.
What helped you to keep going?
What did you learn about yourself during that time?
What did you learn about God?
Such struggle calls for perseverance and hope. Romans 5:3, 4 tell us that suffering will produce perseverance, which produces character, which produces hope—a hope that does not disappoint.
The Bible does not promise we will never experience difficulty. But it does promise that God will give us the strength to get through it.
As we go through the deep waters of suffering, we can rejoice in the hope that there is One who will always be with us.
Jesus will use our suffering to produce hope.
Often when studying the story of Joseph, we focus on him as a victim of a series of unjust actions. But Joseph’s story begins at an interesting point, which could be the key to his success.
As a youth, Joseph was a favorite of his father’s. The favor shown him was not because of anything he had done. His father cultivated the division sown between Joseph and his brothers.
But Joseph multiplied the bad feeling against him when he committed a pesky little brother error.
In a time and a place when visions from the Lord were treated rather seriously, and in a culture grounded in concepts of honor and shame, Joseph shared a vision that he should have known would cause trouble and fan the flames of irritation and envy.
Why did he do it? I’m not sure that he intended to cause more problems with his brothers. But it does seem that he felt entitled to share the vision in a public way because of his favored position.
Instead of holding his tongue and thinking before speaking, he felt it was perfectly fine to offer an embarrassing image of his brothers (and then father) up for discussion. He simply didn’t seem aware of his effect on others.
The subsequent harsh treatment he received perhaps opened his eyes and brought him low in both a figurative and literal sense.
Thereafter, Joseph succeeded not through pride, but through humility.
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Part One: JOSEPH was his FATHER’s favorite son.
His father treated him differently and gave him a special coat. JOSEPH’S BROTHERS were jealous and unkind to their little brother Joseph. But Joseph had two dreams about how he’d someday have authority over his brothers, and he told his brothers about the dreams. This made his brothers angry!
A while later, Joseph visited his brothers out in the sheep pasture. His brothers saw him coming (Genesis 37:19, 20):
“Here comes that dreamer!” they said to each other. “Come now, let’s kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns and say that a ferocious animal devoured him.Then we’ll see what comes of his dreams.”
When Joseph arrived, the oldest brother, Reuben, convinced the others not to kill him.They tore his special coat and threw him into the pit. Joseph was abandoned and betrayed by his brothers.
If a person is treated as an outcast, like Joseph was, what are some possible reactions that person might have?
What do you think Joseph thought about his brothers’ actions?
Part Two:The BROTHERS sold JOSEPH into slavery to someTRADERS.
The traders sold Joseph to an Egyptian official named POTIPHAR. And then we read this in Genesis 39:2-4:
The Lord was with Joseph so that he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master.
When his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord gave him success in everything he did, 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.
But POTIPHAR’S WIFE lied to Potiphar about Joseph, making it seem like Joseph was trying to harass her.
Joseph had no chance to defend himself. He was a slave with no rights and was put in prison.
Joseph had been treated so badly—thrown out and sold into slavery.
What factors helped him to not only keep going but to excel in his work?
Potiphar had noticed God with Joseph. He trusted Joseph so much because he knew God was with him.
Why do you think he lost all trust in Joseph when his wife told this story?
Joseph had gone from being a favorite son to a person with no honor.Yet because God was with him, he was able to persevere, even after being betrayed and sold into slavery.
He had lost everything, but he depended completely on God. In serving God, he tried to live in a way that would honor him. And this was seen by the people around him.
Yet once again, he was stripped of all honor and his good position because of someone else’s bad choices.
Potiphar, his master, was no doubt angry not just because of the insult to his family’s honor, but also because of the loss of his good manager.
He could have killed Joseph, but he put him into prison, which leads us to the next part.
Part Three:
In 39:20-23, we read this:
But while Joseph was there in the prison, the Lord was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden.
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.The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph’s care, because the Lord was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did.
JOSEPH persevered in prison once again. He didn’t just survive; he made wise choices and demonstrated that he was trustworthy.
The warden trusted him fully with the management of the prisoners. While Joseph was in prison, TWO PRISONERS had dreams.
Joseph listened and explained what God had shown him about the dreams. Both prisoners had once worked for PHARAOH, and one of them returned to his position after serving his prison sentence. Joseph had asked the man to remember him when he was released.
But the prisoner went back to work for Pharaoh and two years went by. He did not remember Joseph.
By now you can see the pattern developing for Joseph—honor, betrayal, imprisonment. Looking at his life so far, how would you describe it?
Many people in Joseph’s situation would have given up. What do you think that would have looked like for him?
How would his actions or perspective have been different?
Have you ever felt like you’re having a Joseph kind of life—where you keep trying to do the right things, but bad things keep happening to you?
Scene Four: PHARAOH then had two troubling dreams.
He called for his MAGICIANS and wise men. Pharaoh told them about his dreams, but none of them understood.
Finally, the former prisoner remembered JOSEPH and how he was able to explain dreams.
So Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and Joseph told Pharaoh what God revealed to him—that the dreams were a warning of a famine that would devastate Egypt.
Then Pharaoh said (Genesis 41:39, 40):
“Since God has made all this known to you, there is no one so discerning and wise as you.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.”
Joseph became the second most powerful person in Egypt and led the people with wisdom.
Why did Pharaoh listen to Joseph?
Consider Joseph, Pharaoh, and the people of Egypt. What might have happened to any of these characters if Joseph had decided to give up?
Part Five:
For our last scene, we’ll look at what happened when the famine struck the land.
JOSEPH’S BROTHERS experienced the famine too, and they heard that they could buy grain in Egypt. So they went to Egypt to purchase food from the governor of the land.
But they did not realize that governor was JOSEPH. Joseph recognized his brothers and could have been cruel to them, but he chose to forgive
After setting up some tasks for them so he could be sure of their intentions, Joseph revealed himself to his brothers (45:4, 5):
Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come close to me.”
When they had done so, he said, “I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you.”
*Joseph was in a position of great power.
What do you think his options might have been for ways he could have treated his brothers?
Do you think his position made it harder or easier for Joseph to forgive his brothers?
It’s one thing to have a positive outlook. But it’s another thing to face difficult situations and make hard choices and then follow through on those choices with right actions.
Joseph lived with perseverance and resiliency. But he never did anything on his own.
Throughout all of his ups and downs, God was with him. And throughout it all, Joseph showed his humility and gratitude by honoring God with his actions and his integrity.
Perseverance doesn’t just mean continuing to work hard. It also means continuing to be true to who you are, even when it’s difficult.
Giving up your values when facing difficulties, or compromising in order to reach your goals, will only hurt you in the end. True perseverance means using resilience to overcome failure and difficulty—without compromising your values.
**Persevering is about taking little steps every day. It’s about making progress— even if it’s small. It’s about sticking it out in the dark places and treating the people around you with respect, no matter what has been done to you by others.
It’s about holding on to hope and believing God is with you, even when the evidence of that is not clear.
Romans 5:2b-4
“And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.”
What should we boast in?
What do you think “the hope of the glory of God” means here?
Why wouldn’t it be appropriate to boast about our own successes?
Should we boast about our suffering instead? Why?
Consider the difficulties Joseph faced: He was an outcast, bad things happened to him, he endured difficult situations for a long time, and he faced temptation to get revenge on people who hurt him.
Think of a time when you experienced a difficult situation and you chose not to persevere. How or why did you give up?
Now, think of a way you could persevere and be resilient in a similar situation in the future.
Joseph asked for help from those around him, and he received help from God too. Who can you go to for help when you are trying to persevere?