1. The Promise
2. The Pit
3. The Prison
4. The Palace
5. The Providence

Summer is here. That means it’s vacation season. It’s the time when school is out. It’s the time to head someplace for some rest and enjoyment. And I know that many of you have your plans of where you will be heading this summer. Perhaps you are heading to the lake house. Perhaps you are heading to the Wisconsin Dells. Perhaps you are heading up further north to the Upper Peninsula. Perhaps you are heading out west to the Rocky Mountains. Perhaps you are heading south to the Florida Keys. You might be taking that once-in-a-lifetime Alaskan cruise.

When we think about a vacation, most of us think first about the destination. We think about where we are going, what it will be like when we get there, what we will see, and what we will enjoy. But involved in the vacation is not just the destination; there’s also the travel. Some of you will fly to get there as quickly as possible. Others will drive.

Now, there are two types of drivers. There are some who want the fastest route, the route that gets them from Point A to Point B in the least amount of time. These people like driving the freeway at the maximum speed limit. Then there are the scenic-route people. They don’t mind getting off the interstate. They like taking the back roads and taking their time with long breaks. They like stopping at the brown signs. Sometimes the journey is part of the destination.

Our lives are like the travel. And when it comes to our lives, we like it smooth, but we also like it scenic. We like it beautiful. We like it easy. One thing that we don’t like is this: when our life hits a detour, and we are forced to go off course. We are forced off of the nice, smooth road, where all is pleasant, to drive the dirt road, the bumpy road, the difficult road, where it will take us longer to get to our destination, with a more uncomfortable ride. And we don’t like it. And we don’t understand it. Often, the detours in our lives don’t make sense.

A few weeks ago, we finished the gospel of John, and we are headed for the book of Job. Before we get there, I want to preach a series of sermons under the broad umbrella of “When Life Doesn’t Make Sense.” I want to put some categories in your minds that I believe will help us when we get to the book of Job. Last week, we looked at Psalm 73 and the testimony of Asaph. He struggled in his faith, seeing the wicked prosper while he, being faithful to God, was experiencing some hardship. Life didn’t make sense to him. He thought that the grass was greener on the other side, and thought about hopping the fence to live like the wicked. For him, things were resolved when he saw the end of the wicked.

The title of my message this morning is “The Detours of Life.” This is the reality of our lives. Proverbs 16:9 says, “The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps.” Our plan is to drive the nice, beautiful, country road to our vacation destination. But there are times in our lives when God brings us on a detour.

Detours come in various forms. When you have longed for marriage, but you are still single at age 40. When you have expected children, but after 10 years of marriage, you are still childless. When your child is born with Down syndrome. When you find yourself caring for your aging parents. When you lose a job unexpectedly, and are unemployed for months. When your job relocates you, and you are forced to move into a new community. When you face a failed business venture, and the bankruptcy that ensues. When you had planned for the promotion and the raise, but it never comes. When you have a chronic illness that never goes away. When your children rebel against all that you have taught them. When you walk through a long season of doubt. When your marriage ends. When you get a cancer diagnosis. When a fire burns half your home. These are the sort of events that come in your life and derail you for a season.

You may have experienced them. These sorts of things may be in your future. As a pastor, I want to prepare you for them. If you haven’t faced a detour in your life, you will. And there are many times when the detour doesn’t make sense. Sometimes the detour appears unnecessary; the road ahead looks perfectly fine. So also in our lives, there are times when the detours of our life simply don’t make sense.

So this morning, as we consider the detours of life, here’s my main application for you all: I want for you to embrace the detours of your life as directed by the sovereign hand of God. I want to consider the detours of life by considering the life of Joseph. His story is told in Genesis 37-50, so you can take your Bibles and turn to Genesis 37. If you didn’t bring a Bible today, I encourage you to take one from one of the chairs in front of you and turn to page 31, where Genesis 37 begins. We are going to be covering a lot of ground this morning (fourteen chapters) so get your fingers ready to walk through the text.

Let’s begin in Genesis 37:2.

Genesis 37:2-4
Joseph, being seventeen years old, was pasturing the flock with his brothers. He was a boy with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives. And Joseph brought a bad report of them to their father. Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his sons, because he was the son of his old age. And he made him a robe of many colors. But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peacefully to him.

All of his half-brothers were older than he was. “He was a boy” among men. He was 17. His brothers were in their 20s, 30s, and maybe 40s. His brothers were slacking in their work, and Joseph had reported this to his dad. This didn’t do any favors for his relationship with his brothers. Nor did it help to have dad give Joseph this special robe, demonstrating him to be the favorite. To be the youngest and hated would be difficult for Joseph.

Our youngest son David had a birthday yesterday. And by the texts flying on our family chat, you can tell that he is well-loved by all of his siblings. Not so with Joseph. He was hated. Yet, God was with him. Look at verse 5.

Genesis 37:5-8
Now Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers they hated him even more. He said to them, “Hear this dream that I have dreamed: behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and stood upright. And behold, your sheaves gathered around it and bowed down to my sheaf.” His brothers said to him, “Are you indeed to reign over us? Or are you indeed to rule over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.

But that wasn’t the only dream that Joseph had.

Genesis 37:9-10
Then he dreamed another dream and told it to his brothers and said, “Behold, I have dreamed another dream. Behold, the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” But when he told it to his father and to his brothers, his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves to the ground before you?”

These dreams didn’t help Joseph’s relationship with his brothers. They were jealous of him (verse 11). Here’s my first point.

1. The Promise

Joseph received a promise from God in these dreams. He would be prominent among his brothers and his parents. It’s hard to believe. How will it be that this young boy of 17 years of age will someday rise to prominence in his family? That’s the foundation of the story of Joseph. This is where it’s all headed. But he doesn’t get there on the windy, beautiful, country road. He gets there through a detour. He gets there through 2. The Pit.

2. The Pit

Let’s continue the story.

Genesis 37:12-14
Now his brothers went to pasture their father’s flock near Shechem. And Israel said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers pasturing the flock at Shechem? Come, I will send you to them.” And he said to him, “Here I am.” So he said to him, “Go now, see if it is well with your brothers and with the flock, and bring me word.” So he sent him from the Valley of Hebron.

This was the moment when Joseph’s life changed forever.

Genesis 37:18-24
They saw him from afar, and before he came near to them they conspired against him to kill him. They said to one another, “Here comes this dreamer. Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits. Then we will say that a fierce animal has devoured him, and we will see what will become of his dreams.” But when Reuben heard it, he rescued him out of their hands, saying, “Let us not take his life.” And Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood; throw him into this pit here in the wilderness, but do not lay a hand on him” — that he might rescue him out of their hand to restore him to his father. So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, the robe of many colors that he wore. And they took him and threw him into a pit. The pit was empty; there was no water in it.

Imagine the violence. Ten grown men pouncing upon this 17-year-old, stripping him of his clothes, throwing him into an empty pit. This is definitely a detour in Joseph’s life. It was not what he had planned. He planned to go out to his brothers, see how the flocks were doing, and bring a report back to his father. But Joseph never came home that day. They didn’t kill him; rather, they sold him as a slave.

Genesis 37:25-28
Then they sat down to eat. And looking up they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing gum, balm, and myrrh, on their way to carry it down to Egypt. Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.” And his brothers listened to him. Then Midianite traders passed by. And they drew Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. They took Joseph to Egypt.

Joseph didn’t simply bend to this event and go willingly with these Midianite traders to Egypt. He protested and pleaded with his brothers: “No! Don’t do this! Please don’t do this. Listen to me. Take me back to my father.” I know this because later in the story, Joseph’s brothers will say.

Genesis 42:21
“In truth we are guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the distress of his soul, when he begged us and we did not listen.”

You need to catch the emotion of this event. This was not a detour that Joseph wanted to take. It was wrong of his brothers. It was awful for him. But this can be our lives. We don’t like the rough contour of the road. It’s difficult to navigate. It can be painful. We want the beautiful, smooth country road. And I’m sure that as Joseph was being carried away, life certainly didn’t make much sense to him, as detours in our lives might not make much sense to us.

The brothers covered up their evil deeds by slaughtering a goat and dipping Joseph’s coat in the blood, and showing it to their father, leading him to believe that “a fierce animal had devoured him” (Genesis 37:33).

We pick up the story in chapter 39 with Joseph in Egypt. He came to serve Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard.

Genesis 39:3-4
His master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD caused all that he did to succeed in his hands. So Joseph found favor in his sight and attended him, and he made him overseer of his house and put him in charge of all that he had.

God’s hand of blessing was upon Joseph’s life. He had been in the pit, sold as a slave, sent to Egypt, and yet God blessed him, giving him authority over all of Potiphar’s house. And if you know the story, you know that Potiphar’s wife made some sexual advances upon Joseph. She said, “Lie with me” (Genesis 39:7). But he refused (Genesis 39:8).

Genesis 39:10
As she spoke to Joseph day after day, he would not listen to her, to lie beside her or to be with her.

And so, Potiphar’s wife concocted a lie that Joseph had come upon her.

Genesis 39:19-20
As soon as his master heard the words that his wife spoke to him, “This is the way your servant treated me,” his anger was kindled. And Joseph’s master took him and put him into the prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined, and he was there in prison.

Prison! This is my third point.

3. The Prison

Joseph was a righteous man! He did everything right! It was a lie that brought him into prison! And there he sat. I have done enough jail ministry to know those who have been in prison. It’s not enjoyable. Prisons back then were far worse than our prisons today. Talking about a detour of life! I’m sure that Joseph had some seasons where he was wondering about his life. “What about those dreams?” “What about that promise of his family bowing to him?” It sure didn’t look like that would ever come to pass, as Joseph sat in a prison cell. Yet, God was faithful to Joseph, even in prison.

Genesis 39:21-23
But the LORD was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. And the keeper of the prison put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners who were in the prison. Whatever was done there, he was the one who did it. The keeper of the prison paid no attention to anything that was in Joseph’s charge, because the LORD was with him. And whatever he did, the LORD made it succeed.

Know this: in your detours of life, God won’t abandon you. He will be with you as he was with Joseph. “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5). This is the gospel: when you trust in Jesus, he will never forsake you. As Paul says in Romans 8:38-39, neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Because there is no condemnation for those who have placed their faith in Jesus. In him, we have forgiveness of sins. And he will be faithful to keep us until the end. “He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6).

Now, even though the LORD was with Joseph, and even though the LORD was blessing him, life was still difficult for him in prison. Joseph was betrayed and forgotten in prison. To make a long story short, Pharaoh was angry with his chief cupbearer and with his chief baker (Genesis 40:2). They were thrown into the same prison with Joseph, who befriended them, heard their stories, and interpreted their dreams. Joseph told the chief cupbearer.

Genesis 40:13-14
“In three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your office, and you shall place Pharaoh’s cup in his hand as formerly, when you were his cupbearer. Only remember me, when it is well with you, and please do me the kindness to mention me to Pharaoh, and so get me out of this house.”

All came to pass, but the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him (Genesis 40:23) — until two years later, when Pharaoh had some dreams of his own. He dreamed of seven cows, attractive and plump, which fed on the reed grass, then seven other cows, ugly and thin, who ate the seven plump cows. He also dreamed of seven ears of grain, plump and good, growing on one stalk, then seven ears, thin and blighted, which swallowed up the seven plump, full ears (Genesis 41:2-7). Only then did the chief cupbearer remember Joseph, and he told Pharaoh of this man who was able to interpret dreams (Genesis 41:9-13). So, Joseph was brought in to hear the dreams of Pharaoh.

Genesis 41:25-36
Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dreams of Pharaoh are one; God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do. The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good ears are seven years; the dreams are one. The seven lean and ugly cows that came up after them are seven years, and the seven empty ears blighted by the east wind are also seven years of famine. It is as I told Pharaoh; God has shown to Pharaoh what he is about to do. There will come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt, but after them there will arise seven years of famine, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt. The famine will consume the land, and the plenty will be unknown in the land by reason of the famine that will follow, for it will be very severe. And the doubling of Pharaoh’s dream means that the thing is fixed by God, and God will shortly bring it about. Now therefore let Pharaoh select a discerning and wise man, and set him over the land of Egypt. Let Pharaoh proceed to appoint overseers over the land and take one-fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt during the seven plentiful years. And let them gather all the food of these good years that are coming and store up grain under the authority of Pharaoh for food in the cities, and let them keep it. That food shall be a reserve for the land against the seven years of famine that are to occur in the land of Egypt, so that the land may not perish through the famine.”

Pharaoh saw that the Spirit of God was in Joseph (Genesis 41:38) and raised him up to be second in command of all Egypt (Genesis 41:40). This brings us to my fourth point.

4. The Palace

In this detour of Joseph’s life, he had gone from 2. The Pit to 3. The Prison to 4. The Palace. It’s as if now he is back on that beautiful, country road again. But it has been a long time.

Genesis 41:46
Joseph was thirty years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

Remember, he was 17 when he was sold into slavery. And now he’s 30. This calculates to a 13-year detour in his life. So, over the course of the next seven years, Joseph oversees the storing up of grain in the years of plenty. During these days, Joseph has some children.

Genesis 41:51-52
Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh. “For,” he said, “God has made me forget all my hardship and all my father’s house.” The name of the second he called Ephraim, “For God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.”

I love what this says about Joseph’s perspective of his detour. Yes, it was a detour of 13 years. But Joseph had come to forget his hardship at home. He wasn’t dwelling upon the past. He was moving forward with life. And God was blessing him, even in his land of affliction. It was by the grace of God that he forgot: “God has made me forget all my hardship and all my father’s house.”

And then the seven years of plenty came to an end, and the seven years of famine began to come. As Joseph had said, there was famine in all lands, but in all the land of Egypt there was bread. By this time, Joseph is 37 years old. And the entire world begins coming to Joseph to get their fill of grain (Genesis 41:57), including his long-lost brothers. Then, two years into the famine (Genesis 45:6), his brothers come to him from Canaan. Joseph is 39 years old at this time, having not seen his brothers for more than two decades.

Genesis 42:6-9
Now Joseph was governor over the land. He was the one who sold to all the people of the land. And Joseph’s brothers came and bowed themselves before him with their faces to the ground. Joseph saw his brothers and recognized them, but he treated them like strangers and spoke roughly to them. “Where do you come from?” he said. They said, “From the land of Canaan, to buy food.” And Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him. And Joseph remembered the dreams that he had dreamed of them.

This moment was not lost on Joseph, who saw the promise of his dream fulfilled, his brothers bowing down to him. Then, in chapters 42-44, we read of how Joseph accused them of being spies, holding Simeon in prison until the brothers would return again with Benjamin. When the brothers returned with Benjamin, he had to hurry out of the room, as the ESV says, “his compassion grew warm for his brother, and he sought a place to weep” (Genesis 43:30). Benjamin was his baby brother; all of the others were half-brothers. Eventually Joseph sent his brothers home, but planted a cup in Benjamin’s sack, threatening to keep him in Egypt. But Judah went on to explain how this would break their father’s heart. Finally, the reveal comes in chapter 45.

Genesis 45:1-4
Then Joseph could not control himself before all those who stood by him. He cried, “Make everyone go out from me.” So no one stayed with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers. And he wept aloud, so that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard it. And Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?” But his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed at his presence. So Joseph said to his brothers, “Come near to me, please.” And they came near. And he said, “I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt.”

One can only imagine the scene. His brothers must have stood in horror as they realized who the man was standing before them. It was Joseph, the one they betrayed twenty years before, selling him as a slave, and lying about his death to their father. And Joseph, then, tries to put their hearts at ease. He does so by speaking of the sovereignty of God. And this is the point that I want for all of you to grasp, because this will help you in your detours of life, when things in your life just don’t make sense. Joseph will tell his brothers that it’s OK, because it’s all in the plan of God. In fact, he is going to say that God was the one who sent Joseph on ahead into Egypt to save his family. So, listen for it. We will hear it three times in these words that Joseph says to his brothers.

Genesis 45:5-8
“And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are yet five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. So it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt.”

This is my fifth and final point.

5. The Providence

“Divine providence is God’s preserving his creation, operating in every event in the world, and directing the things in the universe to his appointed end for them.”^[1]

“Wait a minute!” you might say. “How is it that God sent Joseph to Egypt?” It sure looked like his brothers are the ones who sold him into slavery. Yes, his brothers did send him there. But it was under the providential hand of God that they did so. And God so works in this world that, in a very real sense, God is the one doing it. Remember, history is his story. I think that this is the key to enduring the detours that come into your life, when life doesn’t make sense, when things have turned out differently than you thought they would. Trust that God is working behind the scenes.

And I believe that embracing the providential hand of God will help you have a soft heart toward those who wronged you. Look at Joseph’s care for his brothers.

Genesis 45:9-11
“Hurry and go up to my father and say to him, ‘Thus says your son Joseph, God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me; do not tarry. You shall dwell in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your children’s children, and your flocks, your herds, and all that you have. There I will provide for you, for there are yet five years of famine to come, so that you and your household, and all that you have, do not come to poverty.’”

There is no bitterness in Joseph’s words. There’s no vengeance in Joseph’s heart. His heart is soft toward his brothers. He wants to care for them through the remaining five years of famine. I have heard it said that trials will have one of two effects upon your soul: trials will make you bitter, or trials will make you better. In this case, Joseph wasn’t bitter. The trials made him better, because he trusted in God’s working.

I don’t think that his brothers ever really grasped how fully Joseph was at ease with the evil that was done to him. Turn over to chapter 50.

Genesis 50:15-17
When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “It may be that Joseph will hate us and pay us back for all the evil that we did to him.” So they sent a message to Joseph, saying, “Your father gave this command before he died: ‘Say to Joseph, “Please forgive the transgression of your brothers and their sin, because they did evil to you.”’ And now, please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father.” Joseph wept when they spoke to him.

That’s a lie. They told the lie because they thought that Joseph’s heart was like their heart, full of vengeance. But that wasn’t his heart at all.

Genesis 50:18-21
His brothers also came and fell down before him and said, “Behold, we are your servants.” But Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. So do not fear; I will provide for you and your little ones.” Thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.

Joseph would help his brothers and care for them and provide for them. They had no need to fear the vengeance of Joseph. Why? Because Joseph trusted in the providence of God. Look again at verse 20: “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good.” Verse 20 doesn’t say, “You meant evil against me, but God used it for good.” Verse 20 doesn’t say, “You meant evil against me, but God turned it for good.” No. It’s the same verb. The brothers “meant” evil. And this same act, God “meant” for good. The brothers acted. God acted. God didn’t somehow turn the circumstances later to have it all turn out good in the end. No. From the very beginning, God was working in the detour of Joseph’s life.

So, I encourage you: when life throws you a curveball, something came your way that you didn’t quite expect, you have a season in your life that you can’t quite understand, trust that God is working this for good.

This is the great promise of Romans 8:28: “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” This includes the detours of your life. Now, that doesn’t mean that all things are good, or that all things are pleasant and nice. But it means all things are working together for God’s glory and for our good. The story of Joseph teaches us to embrace God's sovereignty, even when life doesn't make sense.

This sermon was delivered to Rock Valley Bible Church on May 31, 2026 by Steve Brandon.
For more information see www.rockvalleybiblechurch.org.

[1] Richard Mayhue, ed., Biblical Doctrine: A Systematic Summary of Bible Truth (Wheaton: Crossway, 2017), p. 218.