God's Bigger Story | Randy Frazee | Summer 2020
Going Deeper Discussion
How did Joseph’s glimpse of the Upper Story give him the ability to forgive his brothers? How might this help you forgive someone who has betrayed you?
Describe a time in your life where in the Lower Story things looked bleak, but ultimately in the Upper Story it turned out for the good.
If Michelangelo painted a scene of your life on the Sistine Chapel, what would it look like?
Teaching Notes
God wants us to read the Bible as we would view a mural.
There are two stories going on in the Bible at the same time:
The Lower Story is our individual story and how we see life from our perspective.
The Upper Story is the story God’s is writing
The Story of Joseph (Beginning in Genesis 37)
Age 17
Betrayed - Promoted - Forgives - Dies
“The Lord was with Joseph so that he prospered…”
Genesis 38:2
While Joseph was there in prison, the Lord was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden.
Genesis 39:20-21
So Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and he was quickly brought from the dungeon. When he had shaved and changed his clothes, he came before Pharaoh. Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream, and no one can interpret it. But I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.” “I cannot do it,” Joseph replied to Pharaoh, “but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires.”
Genesis 41:14-16
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 be no plowing 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.
Genesis 45:3-8
Joseph stayed in Egypt, along with all his father’s family. He lived a hundred and ten years and saw the third generation of Ephraim’s children. Also the children of Makir son of Manasseh were placed at birth on Joseph’s knees.
Genesis 50:22-23
Application
Have you ever been in a place where the Lower Story in your life looked one way, but in the end, you caught a glimpse of the Upper Story and it made sense of it and a good story emerged?
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
Romans 8:28
If Michelangelo painted a scene of your life on the Sistine Chapel, what would it look like?