The Lord was with Joseph in Potiphar’s house and now the Lord was with him in prison. And watch this! The Lord began to prosper him and give him favor with the chief jailer. Before he knew it, Joseph was running the whole prison. Here we go again!

 

Joseph loved the success that he experienced in Potiphar’s palace. He had learned all kinds of lessons as Potiphar gave him more and more responsibility. He discovered gifts he didn’t know that he had. This was a huge house, so he had to learn budgeting, forecasting, inventory, and human resources. But after awhile, he had learned everything he could learn in that position. He didn’t know it, but he had milked that situation for all the lessons he could get. He liked his position and his perks. But he couldn’t stay there, because God had more for him to learn. Where would he learn those lessons? He would learn them in Pharaoh’s jail. And in a very short amount of time, Joseph was running the jail as he had governed Potiphar’s great estate.

 

It was another step in his preparation.

 

That’s what grievous setbacks really are: God interrupts our plans, hopes,

and dreams in order to accomplish His plan in our lives…

 

Psalm 119:68 states the life-changing truth: “You [God] are good and do good.” When we are blindsided by a shocking and sudden reversal in our comfortable circumstances, we immediately lose our balance and equilibrium. We begin to spin downward out of control into depression. In those moments we must reach for the ripcord—the ripcord that produces truth in the midst of chaos. When life as you know it and as you like it falls apart, what do you reach for? You must reach for the truth. You may be hurt, you may be

speechless, you may be unjustly accused. What is your anchor in times of great distress and loss? It is the truth of the goodness of God. The Lord is good and does good.

 

Our first reaction when we suffer loss is to question the goodness of God. I have done that and so have you. But may I be frank here? We must learn to grow up in our faith. We must get hold of our hurt and our disappointment and anchor our lives and our emotions on the truth of God. And the truth is simply this: God is good, does good, and is in control of all things.

 

I may not see it, I may not feel it, I may not understand it, and I may not appreciate it. But this one thing I know: God is good. And if He who controls all things has permitted this grievous setback to come into my life, then He will show me His goodness in some way that I cannot possibly see at the present moment.

 

I go back to Martin Luther. Actually, before we go back to Luther, let’s go back to Johannes Gutenberg, the brilliant inventor of the printing press who died in bitterness. Let me show you how God used a grievous setback in Luther’s life to intersect with Gutenberg’s invention. This is so far out of left field that only God could have thought this one up.

 

When Luther, a Roman Catholic priest, stood up to the Roman Catholic Church in 1517 for their radical departure from the teachings of the Bible, he became a marked man. His life was in serious danger. As he made his way to Worms, Germany, to defend himself before the emperor, he fully expected to be burned at the stake. This was the common punishment for those who stood against the authority of the church.

 

Luther refused to change his position before the emperor. He was given a day to reconsider. When he appeared again before the emperor, he was directly asked if he would recant the teachings in his books. His reply is now classic: Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Scriptures or by clear reason (for I do not trust either in the pope or in councils alone, since it is well known that they have often erred and contradicted themselves), I am bound by the Scriptures I have quoted and my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and will not retract anything, since it is neither safe

nor right to go against conscience. I cannot do otherwise, here I stand, may God help me, amen.

 

Immediate chaos broke out. Luther was escorted out of the building, but there were shouts that he should be thrown into the fire. And Luther was overheard saying to himself, “I am finished.” Although promised safe passage back home to Wittenberg, Luther was required to return in three weeks. As he was making his way home in his wagon with his friends, his group was suddenly attacked by armed men. Luther didn’t know if they were the emperor’s soldiers or the pope’s, but he knew that they meant him harm. Before he was kidnapped, he managed to grab his Greek New Testament and his Hebrew Bible. He then rode off with his captors to an unknown fate. Without question, he could only imagine the very worst. It was a grievous setback. He thought he had at least three weeks to get his life in order. But now the end seemed near. It was a bitter disappointment and cross providence. Why in the world would God allow him to be kidnapped at the worst possible time?

 

But later that night when they arrived at a remote castle, he discovered his captors had been sent by his good friend Frederick of Wise, elector of Saxony. He thought the kidnapping would mean the end of his life. It turned out he had been kidnapped by his friends in order to save his life.

 

At the castle, he exchanged his monk’s robe for the clothes of a knight. He was known as Knight George.

 

Luther was grateful he had been spared, but became very lonely at the castle. He was away from his friends and his students. He resisted staying at the castle for months upon end, but it was the only smart thing to do.

 

And then he got an idea. Why not use the time that he had been given to translate the Bible into German? If the people could actually read the Bible for themselves, it would make all the difference! Up until now, only priests could read the Bible since it was in Latin. But if he could put it into the everyday language of the people, it would unleash the Word of God in their hearts.

 

That’s precisely what Luther did. The Bible that he translated into German rocked all of Europe. And it is still the standard German Bible today.7 Luther’s time in Wartburg Castle changed the lives of millions who have read his translation of Scripture over the centuries. He thought he was going to die by fire—but God intended him to set all of Europe on fire by the power of His Word. That is the beauty of the cross providences of God.

 

And there’s one more nugget to the story. Gutenberg’s printing presses, which were now set up across Germany, began turning out Luther’s Bible by the thousands upon thousands. It was one thing for Luther to have translated the Bible—it was another for it to be printed in mass quantities and distributed to the people.

 

One hundred years before, it couldn’t have happened. But the providence of God was at work in the lives of both Gutenberg and Luther. And the Word of God went forth and brought about a Reformation. When we get hit with a providence that is cross-eyed and makes no sense to us, we need to take a step back, let our racing pulse slow down for a moment, and remind ourselves that God is working (somehow) on our behalf. When Luther was kidnapped, all he could see was a grievous setback. He had absolutely no clue that God would turn it into an amazing advancement of the gospel.

 

Sometimes when we’re blindsided by a severe trial, it staggers us. If we’re not careful, the shock and disorientation of such a serious loss has the potential to send us into a downward spiral toward depression and even despair.