Healing for the Broken Heart

Healing for the Broken Heart

Genesis 41:50-52  

 

Introduction

1. Let’s be honest, the only thing that’s predictable about our world is that it’s unpredictable. Our world is crazy.
2. A few years ago, a friend sent me a funny story which perfectly illustrates how our crazy world can sometimes feel like. . .

 

ILLUS – I told my son. . .

 

3. And this crazy world can leave a bitter taste in your mouth.
4. Have you ever started a day, and before you even get out of bed, you just know it’s going to be a “one of those days?”
5. A while back my wife, Heidi, showed me a funny cartoon which captures this feeling so well; it’s in the form of a prayer.

 

ILLUS – Dear God. . .

 

6. Perhaps you have also noticed how quickly that bitter taste from the world can turn into a broken, bitter heart.
7. But God does not want our hearts to get bitter because of the problems and pains of this life.
8. During our study, we’re going to look at the example of one of my favorite men in the Bible, his name was Joseph.
9. In Genesis 41, we will discover important principles for how God healed his broken heart.
10. The good news is, if your heart is broken, God wants to heal your broken heart too.

 

Genesis 41:50-52

 

Context

1. Joseph was a teenager when he lost everything.
2. Joseph’s story begins in Genesis 37 when he was about seventeen years old.

• He was his father’s favorite (v. 3).
• His brothers were jealous (vv. 4, 11).
• One day, they threw him into a pit (vv. 18-24).
• They wanted to kill him but sold him into slavery instead (vv. 25-28).
• He was taken to Egypt — alone.

1. While in Egypt, Joseph went from a slave to a prisoner because his master’s wife falsely accused him of making advances while his master was away (Genesis 39:6-23).
2. In a few years, Joseph lost:

• His family
• His home
• His reputation
• His freedom

1. For 13 years, Joseph lived either as a slave or a prisoner.

• From the world’s perspective, Joseph had every reason to be bitter and angry with God.
• But when we read Genesis 41, everything changes for Joseph.

2. One night, Pharaoh has two troubling dreams (vv. 1-7).
3. Pharaoh summons his court officials but no one is able to interpret his dreams (v. 8).
4. Then Pharaoh is told about Joseph’s ability to interpret dreams and he was immediately brought before Pharaoh (vv. 9-14).
5. God gave Joseph the ability to interpret both of Pharaoh’s dreams, they were, in fact, one and the same (vv. 25-32):
6. Egypt would experience seven years of abundance;
7. Followed by seven years of severe famine.
8. After interpreting Pharaoh’s dreams, Joseph proposed an administrative solution; Egypt should store 20% of the grain harvested during the seven good years to use for food during the seven years of famine (vv. 33-36).
9. Pharaoh was so pleased with Joseph’s proposal that he immediately elevated him to second in command over all in Egypt (vv. 38-44).
10. Joseph went from prisoner to prime minister in a single day.
11. The only person greater than Joseph was Pharaoh.
12. But here’s the real question: Was Joseph free on the inside?

• You can be successful and still be bitter.
• You can smile around your family and friends and still be broken inside.
• The answer is found in the names Joseph gives his two sons.

 

 

Transition: Joseph names his first son Manasseh, saying, “God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father’s household.”

• He names his second son Ephraim, saying, “God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.”
• These two names reveal God’s cure for a broken heart.
• If you want God to heal your broken heart, first, you must:

 

1. Let God Make You Forget (51)

 

• Now when we hear “forget,” we think:
• “I forgot my keys.”
• “I forgot my password.”
• “I forgot where I put my phone.”
• That’s not what Joseph meant.
• Joseph wasn’t saying he had spiritual amnesia.
  • He remembered what happened to him.
  • But he wasn’t ruled by it.

 

Transition – There are two ways to “forget.”

 

1. There’s a “Wrong Way” to Forget
2. The meaning of the name Manasseh is significant because it means, “making to forget.”
3. What was Joseph forgetting? Joseph tells us, “God has made me forget. . .”
4. “All my trouble.”
5. “All my father’s household.”
6. Basically, Joseph was saying, “God has made me forget all my trouble and all who caused me trouble.”
7. What did Joseph mean when he said that?
8. Was Jospeh saying that God gave him the ability to “write off” his family?
9. Did Joseph disown his family?
10. Did Joseph’s heart become bitter and emotionally cold towards his family?

 

APPL – There is a wrong way to forget. . . it looks and sounds something like this. . .

• “I’m done with them.”
• “I don’t care anymore.”
• “They’re dead to me.”
• “I’ll never trust anyone again.”

 

APPL – Here’s the problem with forgetting the wrong way. . . Your heart will never heal.

• Sure, you may have built a wall around your heart.
• And that wall might protect you — but that wall will also trap you.
• Bitterness feels powerful at first.
• But over time, it will poison you.
• Bitterness is like drinking poison and hoping the other person gets sick.

 

Proverbs 14:12, There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.

 

Transition – How did God make Joseph forget? The right way. . .

1. God’s way is the “Right Way” to Forget
2. Years later, Joseph says something incredible to his brothers. Listen to what Joseph said to his brothers twenty years after they sold him into slavery:

 

Genesis 45:5, 7, And now do not be grieved or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life. . . God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant in the earth, and to keep you alive by a great deliverance.

 

APPL – Why did God give Joseph a divine perspective about his suffering?

• Because Joseph stayed close to God, and staying close to God helped Joseph keep his faith.
• During those years of suffering, Joseph was

comforted by the fact that. . .

• God was with him in the pit.
• God was with him in slavery.
• God was with him in prison.
• God was working in his life even when life was unfair.
• God had not forgotten Joseph, nor had He forgotten His promises to Joseph, that one day he would be head over his brothers (Genesis 37:5-11).
• Joseph was convinced that nothing came his way without passing through God’s sovereign hands first.

 

APPL – We live in a world that hurts innocent people. But our God knows, sees, and hears the cries of His people.

 

Exodus 2:23-25, During that long period, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God. God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob. So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them.

 

2. Joseph even had compassion for his brothers.
3. After his father, Jacob, died Joseph’s brothers were afraid that Joseph would seek revenge.
4. But Joseph did not seek revenge against his brothers. He promised to provide for and bless his brothers and their families instead.

 

Genesis 50:19-20, “Do not be afraid, for am I in God’s place? And as for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive. So therefore, do not be afraid; I will provide for you and your little ones.” So he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.

 

APPL – In many ways Joseph’s words are a picture of God’s patient love for us.

 

1 Corinthians 13:4-5, Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. (NIV)

5. By the way, Joseph gave his sons Hebrew not Egyptian names. If Joseph had really “written off” his family, he would have named his sons Ramses and Tut.
6. Also, by calling his first son Manasseh, Joseph was forced to remember the reason why he gave him that name.
7. Whenever Joseph said, “Manasseh” he would remember his past trouble but from God’s perspective.
8. And each time Joseph said, “Manasseh” he also remembered his family but with God’s heart for them.
9. I believe that Joseph was healed BEFORE he received an apology from his brothers.

 

APPL – Forgiveness is a choice.

• In fact, I also believe many do not feel forgiven by God because they struggle with forgiving others.
• Their wounded heart has become infected with unforgiveness and bitterness.

ILLUS – Clara Barton, the founder of the American Red Cross, perfectly illustrates my point. . .

8. This means that God healed Joseph’s heart so much that he was able to live each day without being ruled by the pain of his past.
9. He was not trapped by the pain of betrayal.
10. He was not bound by the pain of false accusations.
11. God had healed the deep wounds in Joseph’s heart.
12. By doing so, God could then use Joseph for greater things.

 

APPL – Like Joseph, God is still writing your story—even when the chapters are painful.

• Maybe. . .

• Someone lied about you.
• Someone spread rumors about you.
• A friend betrayed you.
• A parent hurt you.
• A spouse broke your trust.

• You may not get an apology. Joseph didn’t.

• Healing doesn’t begin with their apology.
• Healing begins with your surrender.
• Forgiveness is not pretending “It didn’t hurt.”
• Forgiveness is saying, “I trust God with my hurt.”

 

APPL – Do you have deep wounds? Have you been through bitter trials?

• God doesn’t want to erase your memory.
• God wants to heal your heart.
• God wants to make you forget the right way.
• God wants to give you a Manasseh.

 

1. Let God Make You Fruitful (52)

 

1. Forgiveness brings fruitfulness
2. The name Ephraim means “double fruitfulness.” It speaks of abundant blessing.
3. Joseph recognized that his life was abundantly blessed because of God. God had made his life fruitful.
4. He was fruitful in Potiphar’s house.
5. Joseph was fruitful in prison.
6. And he was fruitful in Pharaoh’s kingdom. . . all because of God’s favor.
7. As Christians, what does good fruit, the kind of fruit that God desires, look like?

 

Galatians 5:22-23, But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

 

3. Jesus told us the key to bearing good fruit; abide in Him.

 

John 15:5, 8, I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing. By this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.

                       

APPL – But can a person truly abide in the Lord while carrying a grudge? I don’t think it’s possible.

 

APPL – Because bitterness produces:

• Anger
• Jealousy
• Gossip
• Division

 

APPL – Yet forgiveness produces:

• Peace
• Strength
• Maturity
• Leadership

 

Transition – Next, please notice something incredible: Joseph said “God made” him fruitful in the land of his “affliction.”

• Not after it.
• Not away from it.
• In it.
• Egypt was the place of his pain, not a “land flowing with milk and honey.”
• But Egypt became the place of his purpose.
• This brings us to a very important principle. . .

 

1. Be fruitful even in places of affliction
2. The word affliction means “a state of hardship and trouble, misery, poverty, suffering.” It includes physical, spiritual, and emotional affliction.
3. Yet in this place, Joseph was fruitful. Why?
4. Because Joseph did not wait for things to get better in Egypt.
5. Joseph was fruitful in the midst of the affliction he suffered.

 

APPL – Some of you may feel like you are in “Egypt” right now.

• Joseph is teaching us something powerful:
• You don’t have to wait for life to change before you grow.
• God can grow you in the middle of your difficulties.
• Your struggle does not have to cancel your fruitfulness.
• Sometimes it produces it.

• Joseph was able to lead Egypt God’s way because his heart wasn’t poisoned by unforgiveness and bitterness.

 

APPL – But how can we bear good fruit in a place of affliction?

• It all depends on where you go to satisfy the hunger and thirst of your soul.

• You see, when your heart is broken, you might feel tempted to go somewhere for comfort.
• Some go to:

• Unhealthy relationships
• Alcohol and drugs
• Even food, it’s called “comfort food” for a reason.

• But those don’t heal the heart.
• Only God can heal the heart. That’s why David wrote:

 

Psalm 63:1, O God, You are my God; I shall seek You earnestly; my soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

 

Conclusion

 

Joseph’s life gives us two powerful truths:

1. God can heal your past.
2. God can grow your tomorrows.

 

But the order matters.

• First Manasseh. Then Ephraim.
• First forgiveness. Then fruitfulness.
• First healing. Then growth.

 

Is there someone you need to forgive?

• Is there hurt you’ve been holding onto?
• Is there anger you’ve ignored?
• Is there a wound you’ve hidden?

 

God doesn’t want you living life with a hurt heart.

• He wants to heal you now.
• Let God:

• Make you forget.
• Make you fruitful.

Genesis 41:50-52

50Now before the year of famine came, two sons were born to Joseph, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, bore to him. 51Joseph named the firstborn Manasseh; “For,” he said, “God has made me forget all my trouble and all of my father’s household.” 52And he named the second Ephraim; “For,” he said, “God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.”