Over the past weekend, Pastor Kong Hee drew from the story of Joseph’s life to teach the church about the purpose of hardships and how to navigate them.
Last weekend (6-7 May) saw a special celebration on the City Harvest Church stage. 7 May is the church’s anniversary, and Sunday marked CHC’s 34th year of existence. Kong Hee and his wife Sun were on stage both services to celebrate with the church, sharing stories and inviting members of the church who have been journeying with them since the early days, from those that were teenagers when the church began, to the first adults in the church like Shirley Yeo (better known as “Aunty Shirley”) who leads the Nursery Ministry and “Aunty Mag”, mother of CHC pastor Choong Tsih Ming. These “old-timers” led the church in an old worship song that they used to sing during the church’s days at Hollywood Theatre.
After the time of joyful celebration, Pastor Kong delivered a simple but powerful message to encourage the church. “Dark times hit many of us, and we become fearful,” he said. Some pain is short-lived, while others are prolonged, dragging on year after year. “We don’t understand why God doesn’t deliver us from this season instantly.”
Thankfully, in His Word, God has given believers truths to live by under any circumstance in life. Pastor Kong drew the congregation’s attention to the life of Joseph in the book of Genesis. “The Holy Spirit put Joseph’s story in Genesis for a reason,” said the pastor. “If you are walking through a long season of darkness, the story of Joseph will greatly encourage you.”
Genesis 37 starts with the 17-year-old Joseph tending flock with his brothers, and he tattled to their father about his brother’s wrong-doings. To add insult to injury, their father, Jacob blatantly showed favouritism towards Joseph, gifting him—and only him—an ornate robe. It is no wonder his brothers resented him.
To make matters worse, Joseph was an arrogant and proud young man. He dreamed that his brothers’ bundles of grains gathered around his bundle of grain and bowed down, and told his brothers they would one day bow down to him. Joseph’s behaviour fuelled his brothers’ hatred and they plotted to kill him (Gen 37:18-19).
Joseph was eventually sold by his brothers to an Egyptian slave trader. Potiphar, the captain of Pharaoh’s guard, bought Joseph from the slave market and he worked in Potiphar’s house for the next 10 years. Despite his status as a slave, Joseph was hardworking, had a spirit of excellence and most of all, he was trustworthy.
“These are the attributes you need to have if you want a promotion: diligence, excellence, and integrity,” Pastor Kong said, encouraging the congregation.
Potiphar soon promoted Joseph to his chief of staff. But Potiphar’s wife became infatuated with Joseph, and when he rejected her advances, she accused him of assault and Joseph was thrown into jail. But even in jail, Joseph exemplified such diligence, excellence and integrity (Gen 39:22) that he was put “in charge of all those held in prison, and he was made responsible for all that was done there.”
The chief cupbearer and the chief baker were in jail together with Joseph. Joseph had a gift of interpreting dreams, and he accurately interpreted both their dreams, and the chief cupbearer was released while the chief baker was put to death. One day, Pharaoh had disturbing dreams that no one could interpret, and Joseph was summoned to the palace. As the Holy Spirit came upon Joseph, he explained Pharaoh’s dreams with clarity and accuracy. Pharaoh was so impressed by Joseph’s capability and wisdom that he was released from prison immediately and promoted to the king’s second-in-command.
From the promise to the pit and finally, to the palace, Joseph went through 14 long years of hardships and shame. Pastor Kong noted that to accomplish God’s plan, suffering is absolutely necessary, and the Bible explains why. The pastor presented four valuable lessons from Joseph’s story.
1. GOD IS ALWAYS WITH US IN OUR DARK TIMES
“This is the fundamental truth,” the pastor preached. When his brothers were plotting to kill Joseph, God protected him and his brothers decided to sell him as a slave instead. Even when he was a lowly slave, God was with him and gave him favour with his master.
Genesis 39:2-4 explained that Joseph found favour with Potiphar and was put in charge of Potiphar’s household. Later, V21-23 showed that Joseph again found favour in prison because God was with him.
“Just as God was with Joseph in his dark times, God will be with you,” said Pastor Kong.
Jesus has promised His people that He will be with them (Mt 28:20, Heb 13:5, and Ps139:7, 11-12). “No matter what or who causes the circumstances, the fundamental truth remains: God is with you in the darkness because you belong to Jesus,” the pastor said. Nothing can separate God from His people.
2. GOD HAS A PURPOSE FOR ALLOWING DARK TIMES IN OUR LIVES
God understands what His believers are going through, and He loves them deeply. He has a specific purpose for allowing the darkness to happen.
For Joseph, the dark season was preparation for him to become the saviour of Egypt and the surrounding nations. There was a serious famine coming which would kill millions of people, and the nations needed someone to lead them through the worst catastrophe of their lives. God was preparing Joseph to be that person.
Moreover, Joseph had to save his family and carried God’s promises to be a blessing to the world. To stop God’s promise from coming to pass, Satan worked hard to create division in his household, to make the brothers envious and resentful of each other.
What appeared to be an evil on the part of Joseph’s brothers was turned into an act of salvation by God. God did not cause Joseph’s suffering, but He allowed it to happen. God personally joined Joseph in his sufferings, and He turned every evil into a divine purpose. Most of all, all these happened to draw Joseph close to God Himself and to transform him into God’s likeness.
Joseph went from being an insensitive, disrespectful boy to a kind and compassionate leader. Through the dark season of his life, Joseph lost his sense of self-importance and entitlement and learned to be humble and to trust and obey God. Joseph also developed integrity and was able to resist the seduction of Potiphar’s wife. All these hardships shaped Joseph into a man who bore God’s likeness in values and temperament.
“He uses all our present sufferings and dark times to conform us to the image of God,” explained Pastor Kong. “The Holy Spirit is using all the challenges right now to change us and make us more like Christ.” (Rom 8:28-29)
3. DARK TIMES WILL LAST AS LONG AS NECESSARY FOR GOD TO ACCOMPLISH HIS PURPOSE
To be the saviour of his generation, Joseph had many things to learn. He had to learn and understand the culture, the values and traditions of the people, and to build relationships with them. Only then could he gain their respect. It took him 14 years to get there, but those years were absolutely necessary.
Without working at Potiphar’s house and in the prison, Joseph would never know he was good at administration, a skill he would need during the famine. The dark season became a training ground to activate his gifts and leadership skills. All the years of enduring twists and turns to his fate also taught Joseph patience and adaptability.
As such, when Joseph had to manage the food supply during the famine, he did not look for shortcuts. He knew how to come up with a 14-year plan to manage the food supply. By the time the famine came and destroyed the land, Joseph had shored up enough grain for the whole population. His wise management of the food supply not only saved Egypt but allowed him to provide for the people of all the nations around Egypt including his own family and brothers who had sold him away.
Without enduring all those hardships, Joseph would have grown up to become a self-absorbed, self-righteous man who did not need to lift a finger in his father’s household. God used his sufferings and struggles as the means to elevate him to a position where he could save the lives of millions. “God can use us greatly as well,” assured Pastor Kong.
Very often people want to rush through the dark times, but it is during these dark times that the Holy Spirit changes and moulds Christians.
4. IN THE DARKNESS, WE MUST WALK TOWARDS THE LIGHT
“Focus on God, and on His love for you and His promises in His word,” Pastor Kong taught. Jeremiah 29:11 recorded that God’s plans for His people are of good and not of evil, to give them a hope and future. He encouraged the church to focus on God’s word, to spend time in worship and devotion to God even in the darkest moments.
God is always leading His people to the light. One will only stay in the darkness if one refuses the light God has shown him. Often, the Lord gives the believer just enough light for one step at a time, just enough to know where to go next.
No matter what was happening in Joseph’s life, he was always moving towards the light. His story ends in Genesis 50:20 where he revealed that everything that happened in his life was according to God’s plan. Despite all his pain and suffering, Joseph never lost his faith in God, he had a trusting obedience regardless of the outcome of his circumstances. By the end of his life, he had developed a perfect faith in God.
In closing, Pastor Kong encouraged the congregation to trust God even when they are going through the worst pain and suffering, because He is always with them in the most painful moments of their lives. He encouraged them to have faith like Jesus.
