If Joseph had entertained any hopes of escaping and finding his way back home, they were dashed on reaching Egypt, where Joseph is resold into a prominent household. Genesis 39:1 tells us that “Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him from the Ishmaelites” (NKJV). Suddenly the young man was thrust into a strange new language and culture.

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Our families and close relationships are pivotal in the development of our self-esteem. Joseph had grown up believing that he was something special — the oldest son of the most beloved wife (Genesis 29:18). He was definitely his father’s favorite, and the only one with a beautiful coat of many colors ( Genesis 37.3-4).

But who was he now? A slave, someone who could be bought or sold at will. Look at how quickly his whole situation changed. Look at how quickly life seemed to have turned on him.

Indeed, Joseph learns the lesson that we all have to learn. If we are dependent on others to tell us what we are worth, then we will be in for a rough ride and be horribly confused, because not everyone is going to appreciate who we are or what we are like. Instead, we need to find our self-worth in what God thinks of us — how God sees us — and not in the roles that we currently have.

How does God see each of us? (Isaiah 43:1; Malachi 3:17; John 1:12; John 15:15; Romans 8:14;  1 John 3.1-2).

God looks at each of us with glasses tinted with grace. He sees a potential, beauty, and talent that we can’t even imagine. Ultimately, He was prepared to die for us so that we could get the opportunity to become all we were created to be. Though showing us our sinfulness and the great price it cost to redeem us from it, the Cross also shows us our great worth and value to God. Regardless of what others think of us or even what we think about ourselves, God loves us and seeks to redeem us from not only the power of sins now but from the eternal death that they bring.

The key question, then, is always the same: How do we respond to the reality of God’s love, as revealed in Jesus Christ?

<–Monday Wednesday–>

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Joseph takes pain, complicated relationships, and anxiety with him as he travels to Egypt, where he is to be sold as a slave. This was not a restful trip as he fought back the tears.

“Meanwhile, Joseph with his captors was on the way to Egypt. As the caravan journeyed southward toward the borders of Canaan, the boy could discern in the distance the hills among which lay his father’s tents. Bitterly he wept at the thought of that loving father in his loneliness and affliction.

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Again the scene at Dothan came up before him. He saw his angry brothers and felt their fierce glances bent upon him. The stinging, insulting words that had met his agonized entreaties were ringing in his ears. With a trembling heart he looked forward to the future. What a change in situation — from the tenderly cherished son to the despised and helpless slave! Alone and friendless, what would be his lot in the strange land to which he was going? For a time Joseph gave himself up to uncontrolled grief and terror. …

Then his thoughts turned to his father’s God. In his childhood he had been taught to love and fear Him. Often in his father’s tent he had listened to the story of the vision that Jacob saw as he fled from his home an exile and a fugitive. … Now all these precious lessons came vividly before him. Joseph believed that the God of his fathers would be his God. He then and there gave himself fully to the Lord, and he prayed that the Keeper of Israel would be with him in the land of his exile.” — Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, pages 213, 214 (italics supplied).

Some cultures emphasize the role of the community over the individual, while other cultures are inclined to emphasize the role of the individual over the community. While we find a balance between these two in Scripture, there is clearly a call to personal as well as corporate commitment to God. Joseph begins to find rest in his relationships by making a personal decision to follow God.

What do the following verses teach us about personal commitment? (Deuteronomy 4:29, Joshua 24:15, 1 Chronicles 16:11, Psalm 14:2, Proverbs 8:10, Isaiah 55:6).

To find rest, we each must make a personal decision to follow God. Even if our ancestors were spiritual giants, this faith and spirituality aren’t transmitted genetically. Remember, God has only children, no grandchildren.

<–Sunday Tuesday–>

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Joseph knew about dysfunctional families. It had already started with his great-grandparents, Abraham and Sarah. When Sarah realized that she was barren, she had convinced Abraham to go to her servant Hagar. As soon as Hagar was pregnant, the rivalry began. Growing up in this atmosphere, Ishmael and Isaac took the tension into their own families. Isaac made a point of favoring Esau, and Jacob spent his life trying to earn his father’s love and respect. Later on, Jacob was tricked into marrying two sisters who did not get along and competed with each other through a childbearing race, even enlisting their maids to bear Jacob’s children.

Review the incident detailed in Genesis 34:1-31. What kind of emotional and relational impact would all this incident have had on the family as a whole and on young Joseph, as well?

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The rivalry between the mothers obviously spilled over to the children, who grew up ready to pick a fight. As young adults, Joseph’s older brothers already had massacred all the males in the town of Shechem. The oldest brother Reuben displayed dominance and defiance to his aging father by sleeping with Bilhah, Rachel’s maid and the mother of several of Jacob’s children (Genesis 35:22). Meanwhile, Joseph’s brother Judah mistook his widowed daughter-in-law for a prostitute and ended up having twins with her (Genesis 38).

Jacob added fuel to the fire of all this family tension by his obvious favoritism toward Joseph in giving him an expensive colorful coat (Genesis 37:3). If ever there was a dysfunctional family, the patriarch’s family could have competed with it.

Why do you think that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are all listed as faith heroes in Hebrews 11:17-22 when you consider their messy family relationships?

God’s faith champions often fall short of their own and God’s expectations. These men are listed in Hebrews 11 not because of their messy family relationships but in spite of them. They learned — often the hard way — about faith, love, and trust in God as they wrestled with these family issues.

<–Sabbath Monday–>

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Sabbath Afternoon

Read for This Week’s Study: Genesis 34:1-31; Hebrews 11:17-22; Deuteronomy 4:29;  1 John 3.1-2; Genesis 39:1-23; Ephesians 6:1-13.

Memory Text: “You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked; but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen” ( 2 Peter 3.17-18, NKJV).

The young man carefully scanned the horizon. Then, finally, he saw them. He had been looking for his brothers for days. As he approached, waving and calling to the grim-faced group, he got anything but a warm welcome. His own brothers actually wanted to kill him. If it hadn’t been for Reuben, there may have been no story to tell. Reuben convinced the rest just to rough him up a bit and throw him into a dry well. Later, Judah came up with the grand scheme to get rid of him and make a bit of money, too, by selling him to some passing slave traders.

What an example of family dysfunction!

We get to choose many things in life, but not our family. No one is perfect, and none of us have perfect families and perfect family relationships. Some of us are blessed by parents, siblings, and other family members that reflect God’s love, but many have to settle for less than the ideal. Family relationships are often complicated and painful, leaving us restless, hurt, and carrying loads of emotional baggage that we, in turn, off-load on others.

How can we find God’s rest in this area of our lives? This week we turn to the story of Joseph and his family ties in order to watch God at work bringing healing and emotional rest despite dysfunctional family relationships.

Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, August 7.

Sunday–>

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Praying Without Ceasing

By Andrew McChesney

Ning Cing’s two daughters wanted to go to a Seventh-day Adventist school when they arrived in the United States as refugees from Myanmar.

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Eight-year-old Lun made it a matter of prayer during morning and evening family worship. “Please, God, help us,” she prayed. “We want to go to an Adventist school. If You want, You can help us.”

Nuam was only four and not ready for school, but that didn’t deter her. “Please, God, help us,” she prayed.

Their single mother, Ning, wished she had a choice other than public school in their new hometown in the state of Georgia. But she didn’t have money to send Lun to the Adventist school. She had other problems as well. She couldn’t speak English. She didn’t know how to drive. She had no job.

Then the headaches started. The pain spread to her left arm and left side. She lost sight in her left eye.

Ning wept. How would she care for her daughters, much less send them to Adventist school? As she cried, she read the Bible and prayed. “God, please answer my prayer,” she said. “Give me a miracle.”

Slowly the pain disappeared, and her sight returned. A warehouse offered her work, and an Adventist pastor drove her to the job interview. When she was hired, coworkers picked her up at the house and took her back. Then she learned how to drive. Her salary, however, was small.

The first school year ended, and Nuam was old enough to start first grade in the fall. Both daughters kept praying. When the new school year started, both girls entered public school. Still they kept praying.

“God, please help us,” Lun prayed. “Send kind, rich people to pay the school fees. We want to learn the Bible in school. We want to know You.”

Three weeks into the school year, an Adventist friend called. Funds from a Thirteenth Sabbath Offering would help cover the girls’ tuition at the Adventist school. “Your girls can start next week,” the friend said.

Lun was ecstatic. “Thank You, God!” she exclaimed. “You are able to do everything. You heard our prayers. We love You, God. We praise You.”

Nuam began to cry. “Oh really?” she said. “God really answered our prayers?”

The sisters woke up early, at 5:30 a.m., for their first day of school. They eagerly watched and waited at the window for the school bus to arrive.

“God is very great to my family and me,” Ning said. “He cares for us and loves us so much.”

Thank you for your 2011 Thirteenth Sabbath Offering that helped Ning’s daughters go to an Adventist school. This quarter’s offering will again help refugee children get an Adventist education in the North American Division. Thank you for planning a generous offering.

Produced by the General Conference Office of Adventist Mission.
Find more mission stories at adventistmission[dot]org

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