Stumbling Blocks and Stepping Stones

Gen 45:1-9
Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all his attendants, and he cried out, "Have everyone leave my presence!" So there was no one with Joseph when he made himself known to his brothers. And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard him, and Pharaoh's household heard about it. Joseph said to his brothers, "I am Joseph! Is my father still living?" But his brothers were not able to answer him, because they were terrified at his presence. 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. For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will not be ploughing and reaping. But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.
"So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. He made me father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt.

Gen 47:27-28
Now the Israelites settled in Egypt in the region of Goshen. They acquired property there and were fruitful and increased greatly in number. Jacob lived in Egypt seventeen years, and the years of his life were a hundred and forty-seven.

Gen 50:15-21
When Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, "What if Joseph holds a grudge against us and pays us back for all the wrongs we did to him?" So they sent word to Joseph, saying, "Your father left these instructions before he died: 'This is what you are to say to Joseph: I ask you to forgive your brothers the sins and the wrongs they committed in treating you so badly.' Now please forgive the sins of the servants of the God of your father." When their message came to him, Joseph wept. His brothers then came and threw themselves down before him. "We are your slaves," they said. But Joseph said to them, "Don't be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. So then, don't be afraid. I will provide for you and your children." And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.

Stumbling blocks or stepping stones
All manner of terrible things had happened to Joseph. He had been cruelly betrayed by his own brothers, thrown in a pit, had his property taken away, sold as a slave, been falsely accused when he had done nothing wrong, thrown into prison, forgotten once again.
If ever a man had reason to plot revenge, it was Joseph. He had cause to be angry at everyone, angry at his brothers, his father, the slave traders who bought him, the employer's wife who destroyed his life, the employer who didn't believe him, the fellow prisoners who forgot him, the jailers who imprisoned him, and last but not least, angry at God.

Every single one could have been a massive stumbling block, a rock of offence in his life - but instead, every single one became a stepping stone, not a stumbling block.

When years later his brothers stand before him and their lives are in his hands, he weeps over them, is gracious to them, repays them with life and kindness. Don't worry, he says in so many words, God was in this, God was in control along, God had a plan, God was working it for good, God was working it even for your sakes.
Instead of elevating the trial and circumstance to a place of importance and judging his life in relation to the problem, he demoted the problem, and judged the problem in view of his life. It was his relationship to God that determined his attitude to trials and troubles.

Things happen - whether they are stumbling blocks or stepping stones depends solely on your elevation - the height from which you approach them.

There is no difference between a stumbling block and a stepping stone - the same stone that causes you to stumble is the same stone that
It is often said that your attitude determines your altitude but I believe the opposite is true - your altitude determines your attitude. Your altitude with God determines your attitude to life and all its trials.

The same stone - Jesus says the Bible is the stone that builders rejected, but has now become the chief cornerstone. Same stone!

It was a concept Jesus used again and again - every trial he faced became an opportunity. Just when they thought they had caught him out with a tough question - instead of the tq being a stumbling block, Jesus turned it round and made it a stepping stone to greater revelation.
The coin in the fish, the taxes to Ceasar, the crowds in the country (why did you bring them here to starve) And ultimately, the rock that the builders rejected becomes the chief cornerstone. Jesus, a stumbling block to those who refuse to believe, the rock of salvation for those who believe. The savour of life to believers, of death to those who don't.
Moses and Israel - forever moaning - did you bring us to the Red Sea to die, did you bring us out of Egypt and into the wilderness to starve? Yet every time, God used it as an opportunity to display His glory, to display His power and grace and love.

How do you turn stumbling blocks into stepping stones?
Jesus said to John - come up higher and I'll show you. Rev 4:1 Revelation was as book of tough stuff - a progressive revelation of a couple of thousand years of history, most of which was going to be terribly difficult for the church. But because John has come up higher, he sees the eventual triumph of the Lamb and the Kingdom of God. If you stay earth bound, you never catch the eternal, heavenly perspective. If you judge God and your life by circumstances then you will forever be a prisoner of circumstance. Come up higher with God - let your relationship with God be the standard by which all else is judged. Come up higher with God and let Him give you a different perspective on life.

Chinese Church - they don't pray stop the persecution, they pray instead that their persecutors will be saved, that Jesus would be honoured in all, that the gospel would triumph.

Things in life can be difficult - Jesus said in this world we will have troubles, but don't be afraid He said, I have overcome the world. That's how you become an overcomer, when you come up higher with Jesus, seated with Him in heavenly places, realise who you are in Him, who He is in you.

That's why Paul could say none of these things move me. That's why he could say these light and momentary troubles are working a far greater weight of glory. That's why James could say count it all joy when you fall into different troubles. Paul singing praises in prison.

The bottom line is do we trust God, do we really believe that our life is in his hands. Even if it looks as if our life is being ruined by someone or something else - it's not. You have eternal life, the King is on the throne, God is your God.

God didn't promise that everything in life would go right - he promised something far greater than that - he promised eternal life, his life in you, his image perfected in you, sonship, forgiveness. This is faith, real faith. When you begin to look at life, saying none of these things move me, I'm not phased by any of it. It's not a question of being defeatest, but of triumphing in and through it. Look at Hebrews 11 - they were pilgrims, they saw that this was not their world, they were only passing through, they confessed a greater reality, a greater world, a greater kingdom, and some of them were killed and beaten and tortured along the way but it didn't phase them, because they knew where they were headed. By faith they embraced a greater reality.

From the higher point you get not only the bigger picture but also the eternal perspective