1 00:00:03,960 --> 00:00:07,880 Thank you so much for listening to Riverbend Churches podcast. 2 00:00:08,080 --> 00:00:11,600 Riverbend Church exists to bring people to Jesus, grow 3 00:00:11,600 --> 00:00:15,120 generations in Jesus, and send disciples for Jesus. 4 00:00:15,360 --> 00:00:17,440 We hope that you enjoy this message. 5 00:00:19,720 --> 00:00:23,400 We are in the middle of a series about the life of a man by the 6 00:00:23,400 --> 00:00:26,480 name of Joseph Joseph. And let me go ahead and start 7 00:00:26,480 --> 00:00:29,320 off with a question that I think will probably resonate with 8 00:00:29,320 --> 00:00:32,680 most, if not all of us. Have you ever found yourself in 9 00:00:32,680 --> 00:00:35,680 a position to where you were convinced, you were 100% 10 00:00:35,680 --> 00:00:39,800 convinced that you were ready to be used beyond where you're 11 00:00:39,800 --> 00:00:43,480 currently being used or you are you're ready to be used beyond 12 00:00:43,480 --> 00:00:47,160 how you're currently being used or, or or maybe you're ready to 13 00:00:47,200 --> 00:00:50,600 to take that step up, you're ready for that promotion. 14 00:00:50,720 --> 00:00:55,640 You are 100% convinced that you are ready now for what you're 15 00:00:55,640 --> 00:00:59,640 next is. However, the person or the 16 00:00:59,640 --> 00:01:03,000 people that are responsible for that elevation, for that 17 00:01:03,000 --> 00:01:06,280 promotion, they either you feel like they either don't see you 18 00:01:06,720 --> 00:01:08,400 or they go in a different direction. 19 00:01:08,800 --> 00:01:12,040 So like, for example, if you're, if you're, if you're an employee 20 00:01:12,040 --> 00:01:14,600 and you've been with your company for, for a number of 21 00:01:14,600 --> 00:01:19,040 years, you, you put the work in and you're 100% convinced that 22 00:01:19,280 --> 00:01:21,560 you would be the perfect fit for that promotion. 23 00:01:21,960 --> 00:01:23,840 You would be the guy, you would be the woman. 24 00:01:23,960 --> 00:01:25,880 You're the perfect fit for that promotion. 25 00:01:25,880 --> 00:01:29,480 Yet for whatever reason, your supervisor or the manager passed 26 00:01:29,480 --> 00:01:33,000 you over and they went with a different person or, or maybe 27 00:01:33,040 --> 00:01:35,640 your student. Maybe you're an athlete to where 28 00:01:35,640 --> 00:01:38,200 you've put the work in and the offseason and you're ready to 29 00:01:38,200 --> 00:01:42,000 take that step up and to take on an an additional role and 30 00:01:42,000 --> 00:01:46,360 responsibility and leadership on your team or or in your cast. 31 00:01:46,680 --> 00:01:50,200 But your coach or your director went with somebody else. 32 00:01:50,880 --> 00:01:57,680 Or maybe maybe you have put the dreams and the aspirations and 33 00:01:57,680 --> 00:01:59,960 the goals of the other people in your family. 34 00:02:00,200 --> 00:02:04,080 You've placed them at the forefront and now's the time to 35 00:02:04,080 --> 00:02:06,920 where you feel that now's the perfect time for you to be able 36 00:02:06,920 --> 00:02:10,320 to chase your dreams. Yet due to current finances and 37 00:02:10,320 --> 00:02:13,400 busy schedules, that seems like an impossibility. 38 00:02:14,320 --> 00:02:16,960 You, you see, all of those things are, are frustrations 39 00:02:16,960 --> 00:02:20,040 that we certainly feel. And I would tell you that it's 40 00:02:20,040 --> 00:02:23,400 really hard when we find ourselves in a position to where 41 00:02:23,400 --> 00:02:27,280 we're convinced that we're ready to be used beyond how we're 42 00:02:27,280 --> 00:02:30,160 currently being used. That's so frustrating, isn't it? 43 00:02:31,000 --> 00:02:34,400 And, and, and if you, if you understand what I mean, you know 44 00:02:34,400 --> 00:02:36,360 just how frustrating that can be. 45 00:02:36,360 --> 00:02:39,720 But I, I would tell you that's not a new phenomenon and that's 46 00:02:39,720 --> 00:02:43,160 certainly not a new feeling. As a matter of fact, we can turn 47 00:02:43,160 --> 00:02:46,520 to the Bible, we can turn to the word of God to help us navigate 48 00:02:47,040 --> 00:02:50,680 what we are to do in the midst of those frustrations and what 49 00:02:50,680 --> 00:02:54,400 we're to do with those frustrated feelings. 50 00:02:54,920 --> 00:02:57,280 And one of the one of the sections that I would advise us 51 00:02:57,280 --> 00:03:00,880 to look at just kind of in this stream in this series over the 52 00:03:00,880 --> 00:03:05,120 life of Joseph is a guy found in the his life is found for us in 53 00:03:05,120 --> 00:03:08,040 the book of Genesis, a guy by the name of Joseph. 54 00:03:08,320 --> 00:03:11,640 You see this guy he understood frustration like nobody else 55 00:03:11,640 --> 00:03:13,440 did. If you're new to the. 56 00:03:13,440 --> 00:03:16,200 Series, let me kind of bring you up on the on the same page. 57 00:03:16,200 --> 00:03:18,160 Make sure that we're all on the same page this morning. 58 00:03:18,920 --> 00:03:22,320 This guy's a 17 year old, was betrayed by his brother and sold 59 00:03:22,320 --> 00:03:25,960 into slavery and he was carted off over 300 miles away from 60 00:03:26,160 --> 00:03:28,800 from his from his own nation and his own culture. 61 00:03:28,800 --> 00:03:32,120 And he found himself right smack dab in the middle of Egypt. 62 00:03:32,280 --> 00:03:35,840 And then he was sold again as a slave to a wealthy businessman 63 00:03:35,840 --> 00:03:40,040 by the name of Potiphar. And then he's falsely accused of 64 00:03:40,040 --> 00:03:42,560 of sexual misconduct by Potiphar's wife. 65 00:03:42,800 --> 00:03:45,920 Potiphar believes her. And then Potiphar throws Joseph 66 00:03:45,920 --> 00:03:48,600 into prison. And while he's in prison, he 67 00:03:48,600 --> 00:03:53,000 seems like his life is over. He thinks that like that he's 68 00:03:53,000 --> 00:03:56,400 forgotten that his life is is over. 69 00:03:56,400 --> 00:03:58,600 And one of the things that we see through the life of Joseph 70 00:03:58,600 --> 00:04:03,040 is every step of the way we see different situations and 71 00:04:03,040 --> 00:04:05,360 circumstances. And we can look because we have 72 00:04:05,360 --> 00:04:08,480 the benefit of reading Joseph's life from start to finish. 73 00:04:08,480 --> 00:04:11,560 We can look at different stages and seasons and we can see how 74 00:04:11,640 --> 00:04:14,600 each and every one of those, much less all of them combined 75 00:04:14,840 --> 00:04:18,440 could very easily break Joseph. But by going through the life of 76 00:04:18,440 --> 00:04:22,320 Joseph, we have been discovering a truth that's been guiding us 77 00:04:22,320 --> 00:04:24,120 throughout this series. And it's actually been a big 78 00:04:24,120 --> 00:04:26,200 idea throughout this series. So if you're taking notes with 79 00:04:26,200 --> 00:04:29,200 us here, it is just as a reminder to you is what can 80 00:04:29,200 --> 00:04:31,280 easily break you, God turns in to breakthrough. 81 00:04:31,680 --> 00:04:34,680 What can easily break you, God turns in to breakthrough. 82 00:04:35,880 --> 00:04:39,720 And we see this playing out, Tom and Tom and Tom again in the 83 00:04:39,720 --> 00:04:42,200 life of Joseph. And what we have been learning, 84 00:04:42,200 --> 00:04:46,040 what God has been teaching us together collectively, whether 85 00:04:46,040 --> 00:04:49,000 you're in the room or whether you're joining us online, is 86 00:04:49,000 --> 00:04:51,920 this thought. It's what threatens us the most. 87 00:04:52,000 --> 00:04:56,280 What threatens to break us. God can actually turn for the 88 00:04:56,280 --> 00:04:58,960 good. And, and, and those instances of 89 00:04:58,960 --> 00:05:04,240 betrayal and hurt and pain, God can turn those into redemption 90 00:05:04,440 --> 00:05:09,160 and blessing and favor. And it, it's a beautiful thing 91 00:05:09,160 --> 00:05:13,600 to where when, when we come at life with, with, with a sense of 92 00:05:13,600 --> 00:05:19,000 frustration and feelings, like we're kind of kind of in a room 93 00:05:19,120 --> 00:05:22,720 with a low hanging ceiling to where we're convinced that we're 94 00:05:22,720 --> 00:05:25,800 ready to be used beyond how we're currently being used. 95 00:05:26,040 --> 00:05:29,480 That there's somebody else whose life is given to us in Scripture 96 00:05:29,720 --> 00:05:32,560 that we can sit there and go, OK, how did he navigate it? 97 00:05:32,560 --> 00:05:35,480 How did God call this person to navigate it? 98 00:05:35,480 --> 00:05:37,840 And what can I learn from this person's life? 99 00:05:37,840 --> 00:05:40,440 And that's what we've been through the life of Joseph. 100 00:05:40,440 --> 00:05:44,080 If you were with us last week, we talked about how there's, 101 00:05:44,080 --> 00:05:48,240 there's, there's God's promises to us and those are, those are 102 00:05:48,240 --> 00:05:52,040 true, those are certain, but then there's a time, a future 103 00:05:52,040 --> 00:05:55,000 coming of God's pay off of those promises. 104 00:05:55,120 --> 00:05:58,120 But in the middle between the promise and the payoff is God's 105 00:05:58,120 --> 00:06:01,720 process. And a key component to God's 106 00:06:01,720 --> 00:06:06,600 process is God's timing. It's God's timing. 107 00:06:06,960 --> 00:06:11,520 And I will tell you as a follower of Jesus, waiting and 108 00:06:11,520 --> 00:06:15,840 resting in God's timing is one of the most difficult things 109 00:06:15,840 --> 00:06:18,920 that you and I will ever do. It's one of the most difficult 110 00:06:18,920 --> 00:06:20,560 things that you and I will ever do. 111 00:06:20,800 --> 00:06:25,720 But in hindsight, we see the blessing and the favor of God 112 00:06:25,920 --> 00:06:30,160 when we rest and we have peace in God's timing. 113 00:06:30,160 --> 00:06:32,120 Here's what I want to do. I want to go ahead and invite 114 00:06:32,120 --> 00:06:35,720 you, if you have a Bible with you this morning, invite you to 115 00:06:35,720 --> 00:06:40,400 find Genesis chapter 40, Genesis chapter 40, and we're going to 116 00:06:40,400 --> 00:06:43,760 do just a little bit of an overlap of where we left off 117 00:06:44,560 --> 00:06:48,760 last week. Genesis chapter 40, we find 118 00:06:48,760 --> 00:06:51,520 Joseph in the prison. Joseph's in prison. 119 00:06:51,520 --> 00:06:54,480 He's been falsely accused. There's no judge, there's no 120 00:06:54,480 --> 00:06:57,880 jury. A Potiphar basically believes 121 00:06:57,880 --> 00:07:01,400 his wife when she said that Joseph's the one that made 122 00:07:01,400 --> 00:07:04,760 advances towards her, has Joseph thrown into prison. 123 00:07:04,760 --> 00:07:08,560 And there Joseph is for years and then Joseph is introduced, 124 00:07:08,560 --> 00:07:13,200 he gets 2 new cell mates, 1 is the royal Baker and one is the 125 00:07:13,200 --> 00:07:15,920 royal cupbearer. And last week we talked about 126 00:07:15,920 --> 00:07:19,480 it's important to know what those guys roles were so that we 127 00:07:19,480 --> 00:07:22,720 don't falsely assume that it was just like the chef, the palace 128 00:07:22,720 --> 00:07:25,440 chef and the and the palace Butler. 129 00:07:25,960 --> 00:07:31,080 These guys actually had national security clearance level 130 00:07:31,080 --> 00:07:34,120 clearance to them and they did something wrong. 131 00:07:34,120 --> 00:07:37,160 They did something to offend Pharaoh, the king of Egypt to 132 00:07:37,160 --> 00:07:39,600 where Pharaoh threw both of them into prison. 133 00:07:40,280 --> 00:07:44,920 And on one night, both of these two guys in prison had a dream 134 00:07:44,920 --> 00:07:48,520 that so disturbed them in the morning that they went to Joseph 135 00:07:48,840 --> 00:07:51,560 and, and, and they asked Joseph. They're like, hey, listen, we 136 00:07:51,560 --> 00:07:54,400 had these, we had these weird dreams last night and we don't 137 00:07:54,400 --> 00:07:57,160 know what to make of them. And Joseph tells them, listen, 138 00:07:57,360 --> 00:08:00,640 my God can interpret dreams through me. 139 00:08:00,920 --> 00:08:04,360 So tell me your dream and and hopefully God will give you the 140 00:08:04,360 --> 00:08:09,920 interpretation and and he does so they tell them they tell 141 00:08:09,920 --> 00:08:12,000 Joseph the dreams. He interprets the dreams. 142 00:08:12,240 --> 00:08:15,200 But look at what Joseph? The only thing that Joseph asked 143 00:08:15,200 --> 00:08:20,080 in return, look with me at. Verse Verse 14. 144 00:08:20,600 --> 00:08:24,720 Genesis chapter 40 verse 14, he says only Remember Me when it is 145 00:08:24,720 --> 00:08:29,160 well with you and please do me the kindness to mention me to 146 00:08:29,160 --> 00:08:33,039 Pharaoh and so Get Me Out of this house, for I was indeed 147 00:08:33,039 --> 00:08:35,360 stolen out of the land of the Hebrews. 148 00:08:35,640 --> 00:08:39,440 And here also I've done nothing that they should put me into the 149 00:08:39,440 --> 00:08:41,080 pit. It's the only thing that he 150 00:08:41,080 --> 00:08:43,200 asked. Hey, I'll interpret your dream 151 00:08:43,200 --> 00:08:45,440 for you. Just Remember Me. 152 00:08:45,440 --> 00:08:49,800 Just mention my name, mention my case to Pharaoh, because to the 153 00:08:49,800 --> 00:08:54,000 cupbearer's dream, the interpretation is, hey, in three 154 00:08:54,000 --> 00:08:57,040 days time on Pharaoh's birthday, Pharaoh's going to call you up 155 00:08:57,040 --> 00:08:58,920 out of the prison into the palace, and he's going to 156 00:08:58,920 --> 00:09:01,880 reinstate you to the Baker, the royal Baker. 157 00:09:02,280 --> 00:09:04,840 The royal Baker's probably excited like, hey, do me next, 158 00:09:04,840 --> 00:09:07,120 do me next. And Joe's like, all right, your 159 00:09:07,120 --> 00:09:09,360 dream means in three days time on Pharaoh's birthday, he's 160 00:09:09,360 --> 00:09:11,760 going to call you up out of the prison into the palace, and he's 161 00:09:11,760 --> 00:09:13,840 going to hang you. He's going to execute you. 162 00:09:14,560 --> 00:09:17,120 So obviously the cupbearer was much happier with his 163 00:09:17,120 --> 00:09:21,880 interpretation, right? But check out how how Genesis 164 00:09:21,880 --> 00:09:27,480 chapter 40 ends verse 23 yet the chief cupbearer did not remember 165 00:09:27,480 --> 00:09:31,400 Joseph but forgot him. And then if you. 166 00:09:31,640 --> 00:09:34,920 Go down to the beginning part of 41, verse one. 167 00:09:35,200 --> 00:09:37,960 After two whole years, Pharaoh dreamed. 168 00:09:39,800 --> 00:09:43,640 Now, after Pharaoh dreamed, he had a series of dreams. 169 00:09:44,600 --> 00:09:48,760 That greatly confused him. They, they confused him. 170 00:09:48,760 --> 00:09:50,720 They perplexed him. He couldn't shake him. 171 00:09:50,720 --> 00:09:52,720 You ever have one of those dreams to where you wake up in 172 00:09:52,720 --> 00:09:55,840 the morning and they were, they were so vivid and you just swear 173 00:09:55,840 --> 00:09:58,440 to yourself, I'll never eat Taco Bell late at night again. 174 00:10:00,040 --> 00:10:03,240 It was beyond that. It was beyond one of those Taco 175 00:10:03,240 --> 00:10:07,160 Bell or crystals dreams, right? It was one of those dreams that 176 00:10:07,160 --> 00:10:09,280 he couldn't shake that it really rattled him. 177 00:10:09,280 --> 00:10:11,440 It was so. They were so vivid. 178 00:10:12,040 --> 00:10:15,240 And Pharaoh being the king of Egypt, what he did is because he 179 00:10:15,240 --> 00:10:18,000 couldn't get him off of his mind, he called his chief 180 00:10:18,000 --> 00:10:20,600 religious leaders. And the Bible tells us that his 181 00:10:20,600 --> 00:10:23,760 chief religious leaders, they were very, very skilled in 182 00:10:23,760 --> 00:10:28,080 sorcery and knowledge of the occult, and they couldn't 183 00:10:28,080 --> 00:10:30,000 interpret the dreams. And then he called for his 184 00:10:30,000 --> 00:10:34,000 wisest advisers and they couldn't interpret the dreams. 185 00:10:34,360 --> 00:10:38,760 So sometime during that day, the chief cupbearer is providing 186 00:10:38,760 --> 00:10:43,720 Pharaoh his his drink. And he overhears this, this this 187 00:10:43,720 --> 00:10:46,840 quandary that Pharaoh's in his religious leaders can't solve 188 00:10:46,840 --> 00:10:48,560 the problem. His advisors can't solve the 189 00:10:48,560 --> 00:10:50,920 problem. And check out what the what the 190 00:10:50,920 --> 00:10:53,640 cupbearer tells him. He goes, oh, yeah, Pharaoh. 191 00:10:53,760 --> 00:10:56,920 Man, I feel bad. I forgot about this guy. 192 00:10:56,920 --> 00:11:00,600 It was OK two years ago. Check out what he says in verse 193 00:11:00,600 --> 00:11:03,080 12. There was a young Hebrew there 194 00:11:03,360 --> 00:11:05,720 with us. Hey, favorite remember when like 195 00:11:05,800 --> 00:11:08,200 we won't mention what I did, but remember when the Baker like 196 00:11:08,200 --> 00:11:10,640 really like did you wrong and he threw us in prison. 197 00:11:11,560 --> 00:11:13,160 There was a young. Hebrew, who was there with us, a 198 00:11:13,160 --> 00:11:14,560 servant of the captain of the guard. 199 00:11:14,800 --> 00:11:19,000 And when we told him our dreams, he interpreted our dreams to us, 200 00:11:19,000 --> 00:11:23,800 giving an interpretation to each man according to his dream. 201 00:11:24,040 --> 00:11:27,360 So basically this cupbearer comes on to the scene and he 202 00:11:27,400 --> 00:11:29,320 goes, hey, Pharaoh, listen, I know that you're religious 203 00:11:29,320 --> 00:11:31,560 leaders, they can't handle it. They can't interpret. 204 00:11:31,560 --> 00:11:33,640 I know that your advisors, they can't give you the 205 00:11:33,640 --> 00:11:35,560 interpretation. There was a guy that we 206 00:11:35,560 --> 00:11:38,560 encountered in prison and we had these weird dreams. 207 00:11:38,560 --> 00:11:41,480 The Baker and I, we had these weird dreams and he interpreted 208 00:11:41,480 --> 00:11:44,320 our dreams for us. You may you may want to give it 209 00:11:44,320 --> 00:11:47,600 a shot. So Pharaoh calls for Joseph to 210 00:11:47,600 --> 00:11:50,920 be brought up out of prison into the palace. 211 00:11:51,560 --> 00:11:55,240 And Pharaoh tells Joseph, hey, I understand that you can 212 00:11:55,240 --> 00:11:58,400 interpret dreams. I had two dreams. 213 00:11:58,960 --> 00:12:03,160 Can you interpret my dreams? I want you to look at what 214 00:12:03,160 --> 00:12:05,200 Joseph said in verse 16 because this is. 215 00:12:05,200 --> 00:12:07,920 Going to be key. For us to say Joseph answered 216 00:12:07,920 --> 00:12:12,840 Pharaoh, it is not in me. The ability to interpret dreams, 217 00:12:12,840 --> 00:12:15,600 it's not in me. God will give Pharaoh A 218 00:12:15,600 --> 00:12:20,840 favorable answer. So then Pharaoh tells Joseph 219 00:12:21,200 --> 00:12:24,680 about these two dreams and they're weird dreams like you 220 00:12:24,680 --> 00:12:27,880 can read on into Genesis chapter 41. 221 00:12:28,000 --> 00:12:32,840 Pharaoh goes, OK, Joseph, my first dream, I dreamed of seven 222 00:12:33,080 --> 00:12:36,280 good looking, healthy cows. And Joseph's probably sitting 223 00:12:36,280 --> 00:12:37,280 there going, all right, that's weird. 224 00:12:37,760 --> 00:12:40,800 But I dreamed of seven good looking, healthy cows. 225 00:12:41,960 --> 00:12:46,880 And then beside the cows, there were seven like ugly, like 226 00:12:46,880 --> 00:12:51,160 malnourished cows. And the seven ugly, malnourished 227 00:12:51,160 --> 00:12:54,520 cows, they come up to the seven good looking, healthy cows and 228 00:12:54,520 --> 00:12:58,160 they eat the seven healthy, good looking cows. 229 00:12:58,160 --> 00:13:01,400 They just devour them. And Joseph, this is probably 230 00:13:01,400 --> 00:13:04,080 like too much information, but I woke up and I thought, man, that 231 00:13:04,080 --> 00:13:07,240 was weird. And I went back to bed. 232 00:13:07,240 --> 00:13:11,240 I went back to sleep and then as soon as I started going to sleep 233 00:13:11,240 --> 00:13:14,840 I had another dream. And in this dream I dreamed of I 234 00:13:14,840 --> 00:13:19,280 dreamed of stalks of grain. And there was 1 stalk that had 235 00:13:19,360 --> 00:13:23,320 seven healthy ears of grain coming out of 1 stalk. 236 00:13:24,120 --> 00:13:28,920 And then there was another stalk that it had 7 withered and 237 00:13:28,920 --> 00:13:32,400 diseased ears of grain coming up out of that stalk. 238 00:13:33,040 --> 00:13:36,520 And the seven, the the, the stalk with the seven withered 239 00:13:36,520 --> 00:13:41,120 and diseased heads of grain went and devoured the other stalk 240 00:13:41,120 --> 00:13:46,440 with a healthy and the the the the flourishing ears of grain. 241 00:13:47,400 --> 00:13:50,320 So Joseph, I know that that's I didn't really give you a whole 242 00:13:50,320 --> 00:13:52,840 lot to go on there. It's just really weird. 243 00:13:52,840 --> 00:13:54,360 Dreams, but I can't, I can't shake them. 244 00:13:54,360 --> 00:13:57,520 I can't get them off my mind. What do they mean? 245 00:13:59,120 --> 00:14:03,960 Joseph goes on to tell Pharaoh he goes Pharaoh. 246 00:14:06,080 --> 00:14:11,480 You need to know this in verse 24 or 25, Joseph said to 247 00:14:11,480 --> 00:14:14,680 Pharaoh, the dreams of Pharaoh are one. 248 00:14:15,520 --> 00:14:19,000 God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do. 249 00:14:19,600 --> 00:14:22,400 So he starts off and he tells Pharaoh he goes, listen, they're 250 00:14:22,400 --> 00:14:24,680 two separate dreams, but they mean the same thing. 251 00:14:25,480 --> 00:14:30,000 They mean the same thing. And then he goes on to tell 252 00:14:30,000 --> 00:14:33,080 Pharaoh, This is what God told me to tell you that your dreams 253 00:14:33,080 --> 00:14:35,320 mean. Pharaoh, there's going to be 7 254 00:14:35,320 --> 00:14:36,960 years. The next seven years are going 255 00:14:36,960 --> 00:14:40,640 to be marked by prosperity. We're going to have more grain 256 00:14:40,640 --> 00:14:43,240 than we know what to do with. We're going to be prosperous. 257 00:14:43,480 --> 00:14:46,560 Everything's going to go great. Plant a seed bear. 258 00:14:46,560 --> 00:14:48,280 Fruit. It's going to be clockwork. 259 00:14:48,280 --> 00:14:51,360 We're going to have seven years of prosperity, but after those 260 00:14:51,360 --> 00:14:54,480 seven years there's going to be a global famine to where 261 00:14:54,480 --> 00:14:56,480 nobody's going to be able to grow anything. 262 00:14:57,760 --> 00:15:01,840 And Pharaoh, what God wants me to tell you is we need to take 263 00:15:01,840 --> 00:15:07,240 steps now, or you need to take steps now to store up some of 264 00:15:07,240 --> 00:15:10,600 the grain during the years of prosperity so that we have 265 00:15:10,600 --> 00:15:13,280 enough grain to get us through and get this entire region 266 00:15:13,280 --> 00:15:16,520 through the seven years of famine that are to come. 267 00:15:18,480 --> 00:15:22,920 Look down at verse 32, Joseph said in the doubling of 268 00:15:22,920 --> 00:15:25,000 Pharaoh's dream. Means. 269 00:15:25,000 --> 00:15:28,640 That The thing is fixed by God and God will shortly bring it 270 00:15:28,640 --> 00:15:30,840 about. In other words, hey Pharaoh, 271 00:15:32,080 --> 00:15:35,440 this is going to happen. This is absolutely going to 272 00:15:35,440 --> 00:15:38,840 happen. So then Pharaoh starts to make a 273 00:15:38,840 --> 00:15:44,440 plan. Flash over to verse 38, says 274 00:15:44,440 --> 00:15:48,240 Pharaoh said to his servants, Can we find a man like this in 275 00:15:48,240 --> 00:15:51,400 whom? The Spirit in whom is the Spirit 276 00:15:51,880 --> 00:15:54,200 of God. Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, 277 00:15:54,200 --> 00:15:57,440 Since God has shown you all this, there is none so 278 00:15:57,440 --> 00:16:01,920 discerning and wise as you are, You shall be over my house, and 279 00:16:01,920 --> 00:16:05,720 all my people shall order themselves as you command. 280 00:16:05,960 --> 00:16:09,320 Only as regards the throne will I be greater than you. 281 00:16:10,160 --> 00:16:14,240 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, See, I've set you over all the land 282 00:16:15,040 --> 00:16:19,160 of Egypt. So that morning, Joseph wakes up 283 00:16:19,160 --> 00:16:22,320 in his prison cell like he had for years. 284 00:16:23,120 --> 00:16:27,080 By that night, he's been tucked into his palace bed. 285 00:16:27,080 --> 00:16:31,720 He has a room in the palace. He's second command of all of 286 00:16:31,720 --> 00:16:34,760 Egypt. Now, if you've been with us 287 00:16:34,760 --> 00:16:37,920 throughout this series, we've been looking at the stages of 288 00:16:37,920 --> 00:16:40,640 Joseph's life and we've been examining, We've been asking 289 00:16:40,640 --> 00:16:43,200 ourselves three main questions. What does it tell us about 290 00:16:43,200 --> 00:16:44,880 Joseph? What does it tell us about God? 291 00:16:45,160 --> 00:16:47,000 And what does this tell us about ourselves? 292 00:16:47,560 --> 00:16:50,120 So if you're taking notes with us this morning, let's start 293 00:16:50,120 --> 00:16:53,440 with that first one. What does this tell me about 294 00:16:53,440 --> 00:16:54,880 Joseph? Everything that we just talked 295 00:16:54,880 --> 00:16:56,280 about, what does it tell us about Joseph? 296 00:16:56,600 --> 00:16:59,080 The first thing Joseph may have been wise, but he did not 297 00:16:59,080 --> 00:17:02,120 deserve the palace. Joseph may have been wise, but 298 00:17:02,120 --> 00:17:05,920 he didn't deserve the palace. If you were with us over the 299 00:17:05,920 --> 00:17:09,960 past for, for the past two weeks or not the past two weeks for 300 00:17:09,960 --> 00:17:12,720 the first two weeks, the first week when we started looking at 301 00:17:12,720 --> 00:17:16,040 the life of Joseph, we started looking at the dysfunctional 302 00:17:16,040 --> 00:17:19,599 roots, Josephs highly dysfunctional, messed up family 303 00:17:19,599 --> 00:17:21,680 tree. And, and, and we looked at how 304 00:17:22,560 --> 00:17:25,880 Joseph's dad, a God by the name of Jacob and God's going to 305 00:17:25,880 --> 00:17:28,720 change his name to Israel, was just a complete scoundrel. 306 00:17:28,720 --> 00:17:30,640 He was a deceiver. He was a defrauder. 307 00:17:30,840 --> 00:17:33,200 And we talked about that just because his dad and his 308 00:17:33,200 --> 00:17:37,200 grandmother had made some mistakes and had, had, had, had 309 00:17:37,200 --> 00:17:40,680 committed some sins, that didn't mean that Joseph was necessarily 310 00:17:40,680 --> 00:17:43,160 destined to repeat the same mistakes. 311 00:17:43,800 --> 00:17:48,120 But then in Week 2, we talked about how Joseph was was thrown 312 00:17:48,120 --> 00:17:52,040 into a pit by his brothers. And the point that we made there 313 00:17:52,040 --> 00:17:57,280 is Joseph may have been unwise, but he didn't deserve the pit. 314 00:17:57,920 --> 00:18:01,320 And if you remember, if you were with us Week 2 of this series, 315 00:18:01,480 --> 00:18:06,360 we talked about how a 17 year old Joseph is setting sitting 316 00:18:06,360 --> 00:18:08,720 around the table, the family table. 317 00:18:08,800 --> 00:18:12,800 He knows that he's highly disliked by his brothers and his 318 00:18:12,800 --> 00:18:17,280 wife has four wives and three of the four can't stand Joseph 319 00:18:17,280 --> 00:18:20,240 because their dad, Jacob, has made it very clear that Joseph 320 00:18:20,440 --> 00:18:23,000 the favorite. We can question the wisdom of a 321 00:18:23,000 --> 00:18:26,840 17 year old kid sitting around a table to where the family 322 00:18:26,840 --> 00:18:30,480 dynamics are really tense going. Hey, did I tell you about a 323 00:18:30,480 --> 00:18:32,000 couple of dreams I had the other night? 324 00:18:32,600 --> 00:18:35,600 Yeah, y'all are all going to bow down to me one day. 325 00:18:36,400 --> 00:18:40,000 We can question that wisdom. We can question the wisdom of a 326 00:18:40,000 --> 00:18:44,360 17 year old being being daddy's favorite, being given a coat of 327 00:18:44,360 --> 00:18:47,200 many colors. And every time that Joseph wore 328 00:18:47,200 --> 00:18:50,840 that coat, it was a reminder to his other brothers and to 329 00:18:50,840 --> 00:18:55,480 Jacob's other wives and their kids that Joseph was the 330 00:18:55,480 --> 00:18:57,760 favorite. We can question the wisdom of a 331 00:18:57,760 --> 00:19:00,680 17 year old always wearing that coat. 332 00:19:01,520 --> 00:19:05,920 But listen, just because we can question his wisdom there, that 333 00:19:05,920 --> 00:19:07,760 doesn't mean that he deserved the pit. 334 00:19:08,680 --> 00:19:12,720 Now, in the same way we can look at the life of Joseph, we go, 335 00:19:12,720 --> 00:19:14,680 man, Joseph was betrayed by his brothers. 336 00:19:14,680 --> 00:19:17,240 He was thrown into a pit. He was sold into slavery. 337 00:19:17,240 --> 00:19:19,200 He was falsely accused of sexual misconduct. 338 00:19:19,360 --> 00:19:21,920 He was in prison and he was forgotten in prison. 339 00:19:21,920 --> 00:19:25,120 Man, that guy had it rough. And that's all certainly true. 340 00:19:25,360 --> 00:19:29,480 But that does not all equal the fact that he deserved to be in 341 00:19:29,480 --> 00:19:32,320 the palace. Joseph may have been wise, but 342 00:19:32,320 --> 00:19:35,280 that didn't necessarily mean that he deserved to be in the 343 00:19:35,280 --> 00:19:36,680 palace. And we're going to come back to 344 00:19:36,680 --> 00:19:39,640 that truth in just a second because it's going to have 345 00:19:39,640 --> 00:19:43,600 massive ramifications on you and I in our lives in the way that 346 00:19:43,600 --> 00:19:47,640 we view the seasons of storms and trials in prisons in our 347 00:19:47,640 --> 00:19:49,200 lives. But the second thing that we 348 00:19:49,200 --> 00:19:52,840 know about Joseph, if Joseph knew his gifts came from God to 349 00:19:52,840 --> 00:19:56,640 be used for God, Joseph knew that his gifts came from God to 350 00:19:56,640 --> 00:19:59,400 be used for God. The gift of interpreting dreams, 351 00:19:59,400 --> 00:20:02,240 that was not something that Joseph went to school to study 352 00:20:02,400 --> 00:20:06,120 and he got a PhD in like mastering, like interpretation 353 00:20:06,120 --> 00:20:09,840 of dreams, right? He knew that this gift came from 354 00:20:09,840 --> 00:20:13,000 God. And like any gift that comes 355 00:20:13,000 --> 00:20:17,000 from God, the reason that it is given to us from God is to be 356 00:20:17,000 --> 00:20:20,440 used to bring people and to show people God. 357 00:20:21,360 --> 00:20:25,400 Is think about it for a second. Any point in time Joseph could 358 00:20:25,400 --> 00:20:28,960 have taken this God-given gift and used it for selfish gain. 359 00:20:30,000 --> 00:20:34,280 How easy would it have been while Joseph is in prison and 360 00:20:34,280 --> 00:20:39,080 he's interpreting the dream of of the cupbearer and the and the 361 00:20:39,080 --> 00:20:41,320 Baker and he gains this reputation. 362 00:20:41,320 --> 00:20:43,720 Hey, this guy, he can interpret dreams. 363 00:20:44,040 --> 00:20:47,440 How easy would it have been for Joseph to like? 364 00:20:47,880 --> 00:20:52,000 Set up his own private LLC while in prison and call it like 365 00:20:52,000 --> 00:20:56,200 Sleepy time. You know Dreams or DreamWorks 366 00:20:56,200 --> 00:21:00,280 like Ancient edition. He could have used it for for 367 00:21:00,280 --> 00:21:03,640 selfish gain. How easy would it have been? 368 00:21:03,640 --> 00:21:05,960 Think about this when he's called from the prison to the 369 00:21:05,960 --> 00:21:09,400 palace and Pharaoh goes, hey, I understand that you can 370 00:21:09,400 --> 00:21:12,360 interpret dreams. If I tell you my dream, can you 371 00:21:12,360 --> 00:21:14,920 interpret them? It would have been so. 372 00:21:14,920 --> 00:21:18,080 Easy for Joseph to go. If I do. 373 00:21:18,080 --> 00:21:21,680 This for you. You've got to promise to release 374 00:21:21,680 --> 00:21:26,120 me from prison or. If I do this for you, Pharaoh, 375 00:21:26,640 --> 00:21:29,160 not only do I want to be released from prison, I want a 376 00:21:29,160 --> 00:21:31,720 spot in your religious entourage. 377 00:21:31,720 --> 00:21:36,040 It would have been so easy for Joseph to use his God-given 378 00:21:36,040 --> 00:21:39,320 gifts for selfish gain, for personal gain. 379 00:21:40,120 --> 00:21:44,920 Yet three times the one of the reasons that we read so many 380 00:21:44,920 --> 00:21:47,360 different passages and verses this morning. 381 00:21:47,640 --> 00:21:51,680 So I want to show you 3 times Joseph pointed Pharaoh back to 382 00:21:51,680 --> 00:21:55,520 the sources of his of his gifting and goes hey Pharaoh, 383 00:21:55,520 --> 00:21:59,480 listen my God is the one that can interpret dreams and as a 384 00:21:59,480 --> 00:22:01,960 result. If you look at the end of 385 00:22:01,960 --> 00:22:06,360 chapter 41, notice how Pharaoh identified Joseph. 386 00:22:06,720 --> 00:22:10,280 He didn't identify Joseph when he's talking to his chief 387 00:22:10,280 --> 00:22:13,200 advisors. Man, who among us is the wisest 388 00:22:13,200 --> 00:22:15,400 advisor? Or who among us can interpret 389 00:22:15,400 --> 00:22:17,680 dreams like Joseph? That's not what he said. 390 00:22:17,960 --> 00:22:20,920 If you look at the end of chapter 41, Pharaoh said who 391 00:22:20,920 --> 00:22:23,720 among us has the Spirit of God in them? 392 00:22:24,400 --> 00:22:28,440 Because Joseph knew that his giftedness came from God to be 393 00:22:28,440 --> 00:22:32,280 used for God. So Speaking of God, what does 394 00:22:32,280 --> 00:22:36,320 this passage tell us about God? First thing I want to get you a 395 00:22:36,320 --> 00:22:38,600 jot down. People's forgetfulness does not 396 00:22:38,600 --> 00:22:41,960 delay God's timing. People's forgetfulness, and now 397 00:22:41,960 --> 00:22:46,160 we get into the tough part of our walk with with God is God's 398 00:22:46,160 --> 00:22:48,800 timing. People's forgetfulness does not 399 00:22:48,800 --> 00:22:52,240 delay God's timing. As a matter of fact, I would 400 00:22:52,240 --> 00:22:55,840 argue that the cup bears forgetfulness of Joseph. 401 00:22:55,840 --> 00:22:59,600 As painful as it must have been, as painful as it must have been, 402 00:22:59,680 --> 00:23:03,000 was not a delay in God's timing. It was a part of God's timing. 403 00:23:03,000 --> 00:23:09,040 And, and here's what I mean, in those two years, two whole 404 00:23:09,200 --> 00:23:12,560 years, Joseph was forgotten in prison. 405 00:23:12,880 --> 00:23:15,360 But in those two years, God is fast at work. 406 00:23:15,560 --> 00:23:17,320 God is at work in Joseph's heart. 407 00:23:17,520 --> 00:23:19,480 God is at work in Pharaoh's heart. 408 00:23:19,640 --> 00:23:24,560 And God is at work navigating and setting the stage, setting 409 00:23:24,560 --> 00:23:29,800 the table, working in all the variables to set up the exact 410 00:23:29,800 --> 00:23:35,120 perfect time, to exalt Joseph in the exact perfect time in the 411 00:23:35,120 --> 00:23:38,440 exact perfect fashion. And not just to exalt him, but 412 00:23:38,440 --> 00:23:42,360 to position and place him in an era to where it can be 413 00:23:42,360 --> 00:23:45,640 sustained. You see, here's where I would 414 00:23:45,640 --> 00:23:47,920 tell you is I think every single one of us, we probably all have 415 00:23:47,920 --> 00:23:51,320 stories of where we feel forgotten by people. 416 00:23:52,080 --> 00:23:55,680 And that can be so hurtful. Can it, Whether it's at work or 417 00:23:55,680 --> 00:23:59,880 whether it's at sports related or, or whatever it may be, it, 418 00:23:59,880 --> 00:24:03,680 it really is hurtful. And, and I don't know about you, 419 00:24:03,680 --> 00:24:08,000 but sometimes I get so far into my own head to where I wonder, 420 00:24:09,160 --> 00:24:14,720 did did they just forget me or did they just not see me? 421 00:24:15,160 --> 00:24:17,760 Like am I unseen or am I forgotten? 422 00:24:17,960 --> 00:24:21,280 And I don't know which is worse, you with me on that you ever 423 00:24:21,280 --> 00:24:24,040 felt that way to where you're asking yourself, am I just 424 00:24:24,040 --> 00:24:27,800 unseen or am I forgotten and I don't know which is worse? 425 00:24:28,480 --> 00:24:31,040 Can I give you a word of encouragement this morning? 426 00:24:31,760 --> 00:24:36,920 People's forgetfulness. People's forgetfulness does not 427 00:24:36,920 --> 00:24:41,920 delay God's timing because God's timing, God's perfect will, 428 00:24:42,160 --> 00:24:46,800 never rested on them remembering or recognizing you to begin 429 00:24:46,800 --> 00:24:49,280 with. It's not about other people, 430 00:24:49,280 --> 00:24:52,080 it's about God's perfect timing and this. 431 00:24:52,320 --> 00:24:55,720 So it's very easy to to assume that people's forgetfulness 432 00:24:55,880 --> 00:24:58,840 delays God's timing, but it never does. 433 00:24:59,000 --> 00:25:01,720 Second thing that tells us about God is when God promotes us 434 00:25:01,720 --> 00:25:05,520 higher, promotes us higher. It is so his gospel can reach 435 00:25:05,520 --> 00:25:09,880 further when God promotes us higher is so that his gospel can 436 00:25:09,880 --> 00:25:11,920 reach further. If you've been with us 437 00:25:11,920 --> 00:25:14,360 throughout the last several weeks, we've used that word, 438 00:25:14,360 --> 00:25:19,000 that verb promote a good bit and it, it, it's not some like 439 00:25:19,400 --> 00:25:22,880 prosperity gospel type of thing. As a matter of fact, we've used 440 00:25:22,880 --> 00:25:25,280 it in some weird ways or some weird context. 441 00:25:25,440 --> 00:25:27,920 So for example, if you were with us a couple weeks ago and last 442 00:25:27,920 --> 00:25:31,240 week, certainly we talked about how God promoted Joseph to the 443 00:25:31,240 --> 00:25:33,520 prison. It's not typically a place that 444 00:25:33,520 --> 00:25:36,120 we think of of a promotion taking place, right? 445 00:25:36,760 --> 00:25:39,760 But we talked about for the purposes of God where we know 446 00:25:39,760 --> 00:25:41,760 that God wanted to use Joseph the most. 447 00:25:41,880 --> 00:25:44,920 He actually promoted Joseph to the prison. 448 00:25:46,560 --> 00:25:50,880 Listen, when God promotes us higher, it is so that his gospel 449 00:25:50,880 --> 00:25:55,880 can reach further. Think about it from the context 450 00:25:55,880 --> 00:25:59,120 of of Joseph. What was Joseph's mission? 451 00:25:59,760 --> 00:26:01,480 It's the same as our mission today. 452 00:26:02,000 --> 00:26:04,520 Do you know that every single one of us in the room online, 453 00:26:04,520 --> 00:26:06,400 whether you're new to church, where you've been in church for 454 00:26:06,400 --> 00:26:09,520 like 80 something years, Did you know every single one of us, We 455 00:26:09,520 --> 00:26:12,640 had the same twofold mission to know God and to make him known, 456 00:26:13,440 --> 00:26:18,120 to know God and to make him known That mission for for all 457 00:26:18,120 --> 00:26:19,400 of us, that mission never changes. 458 00:26:19,880 --> 00:26:24,600 To know God and to make him known when God promotes us 459 00:26:24,600 --> 00:26:27,880 higher is so that our mission so that the gospel can reach 460 00:26:27,880 --> 00:26:30,040 further. Think about it from the life of 461 00:26:30,040 --> 00:26:34,120 Joseph in Potiphar's house. When he was a slave. 462 00:26:34,120 --> 00:26:37,800 In Potiphar's house, Joseph could reach a few slaves. 463 00:26:40,200 --> 00:26:43,320 When Joseph was in prison, he probably had the ability to 464 00:26:43,320 --> 00:26:47,160 reach many prisoners. We got promoted Joseph out of 465 00:26:47,160 --> 00:26:50,120 the prison into the palace. Now, Joseph had the ability to 466 00:26:50,120 --> 00:26:54,520 reach an entire empire. You see how that works? 467 00:26:54,520 --> 00:26:58,640 That when God promotes us, it's always so that promotes us 468 00:26:58,640 --> 00:27:01,080 higher. It's always so that His mission 469 00:27:01,680 --> 00:27:05,280 can reach further. It's always so that his mission 470 00:27:05,800 --> 00:27:08,040 can reach further. So this is what it tells us 471 00:27:08,040 --> 00:27:09,600 about Joseph. This is what it tells us about 472 00:27:09,600 --> 00:27:11,880 God. What does this entire passage 473 00:27:11,880 --> 00:27:18,240 tell me about me #1 This is so true, but I hate it so much. 474 00:27:18,800 --> 00:27:21,560 God's timing is never delayed, never forced, but always 475 00:27:21,560 --> 00:27:26,960 perfect, never delayed, never forced, always perfect. 476 00:27:28,200 --> 00:27:29,960 Let me tell you why I hate that so much. 477 00:27:30,440 --> 00:27:33,280 We found, we found ourselves at a, at a point in time. 478 00:27:33,560 --> 00:27:36,280 There's a, there's a mentor that got brought into my life, This 479 00:27:36,280 --> 00:27:39,840 is probably early 90s. He brought into my life. 480 00:27:39,840 --> 00:27:43,120 We were at a we were at a kind of a one of those in between 481 00:27:43,120 --> 00:27:46,520 times and and I go talk. His name's Doug and I go talk to 482 00:27:46,520 --> 00:27:48,120 Doug. One afternoon. 483 00:27:48,120 --> 00:27:51,080 I was like, hey, listen, let me kind of lay things out for you. 484 00:27:51,080 --> 00:27:53,520 This is where we are. I don't know kind of what's 485 00:27:53,520 --> 00:27:55,840 next. And he just looks at me as like, 486 00:27:56,080 --> 00:27:59,640 that sounds tough. And I was like, yeah, that's why 487 00:27:59,640 --> 00:28:01,960 I'm here. Doug, it is tough. 488 00:28:02,800 --> 00:28:06,560 And he goes, well, he takes a sip of his Diet Coke and he 489 00:28:06,560 --> 00:28:10,640 said, well, I can tell you is God's never early, God's never 490 00:28:10,640 --> 00:28:12,160 late. He's always on time. 491 00:28:13,560 --> 00:28:15,560 And I was like, or you could offer me a job. 492 00:28:17,640 --> 00:28:22,280 There's that. And I got to be honest with you, 493 00:28:22,280 --> 00:28:24,840 I walked away from my meeting with with Doug and I was very 494 00:28:24,840 --> 00:28:26,840 frustrated. I was kind of ticked off. 495 00:28:28,640 --> 00:28:31,080 But you know, the more I've thought back on that 496 00:28:31,080 --> 00:28:34,600 conversation with my mentor, with Doug, he's so right. 497 00:28:35,560 --> 00:28:37,960 Did you know that whenever we pray for something, God, God 498 00:28:37,960 --> 00:28:45,200 gives us one of three answers. Yes, no, wait, yes, no, wait. 499 00:28:46,040 --> 00:28:50,040 I don't know about you. I love the yes, I can deal with 500 00:28:50,040 --> 00:28:53,880 a no. I hate the wait because in my 501 00:28:53,880 --> 00:28:57,440 own mind, I'm sitting there going, OK, God wait means not 502 00:28:57,440 --> 00:28:59,760 no, but not yet. But it. 503 00:28:59,760 --> 00:29:04,000 Could be. Now you see, I think that I 504 00:29:04,000 --> 00:29:08,640 think that all of us, we want to be, we want to be living in the 505 00:29:08,640 --> 00:29:11,840 midst of God's perfect will for our lives, and we want to live 506 00:29:11,840 --> 00:29:13,640 in God's perfect will for our lives, like right. 507 00:29:13,640 --> 00:29:15,880 Now, and I'm not even saying that's a bad thing. 508 00:29:16,000 --> 00:29:19,280 What I am saying is that's not necessarily how God's timing 509 00:29:19,560 --> 00:29:23,560 works. And let me explain to you why 510 00:29:23,680 --> 00:29:26,800 one of the things that God has taught us the the why behind it. 511 00:29:27,720 --> 00:29:30,240 If you've been at Riverbend for any amount of time, we we've 512 00:29:30,240 --> 00:29:33,280 told like bits and pieces and some of them long, some of them 513 00:29:33,280 --> 00:29:38,000 short, but a part of the journey that God's had us on the Julie 514 00:29:38,000 --> 00:29:44,080 and and myself and and our kids. But you know, it is it started 515 00:29:44,080 --> 00:29:48,840 when I was born, but when Julie and I we graduated College in 516 00:29:48,840 --> 00:29:50,520 May. We got married in June. 517 00:29:50,520 --> 00:29:55,080 This is all one year we moved to Raleigh, NC in July to our 518 00:29:55,080 --> 00:29:58,120 started seminary or cemetery up there. 519 00:29:59,960 --> 00:30:04,360 I'm up there in cemetery and there there's a church in 520 00:30:04,360 --> 00:30:07,360 Raleigh that contacts me. I had no idea about this church 521 00:30:07,720 --> 00:30:09,280 never sent my resume to this church. 522 00:30:09,280 --> 00:30:12,200 They contact me to become to interview to become their 523 00:30:12,200 --> 00:30:15,240 children's pastor because what you may or may not know, my 524 00:30:15,240 --> 00:30:17,880 undergrad in college is early childhood education. 525 00:30:18,040 --> 00:30:20,200 So yes, I can color with the best of them. 526 00:30:20,840 --> 00:30:24,040 All right, can't do fractions. So if your kid needs help with 527 00:30:24,040 --> 00:30:25,680 fractions, go find somebody else. 528 00:30:27,240 --> 00:30:31,360 But early childhood education major contacted by church in 529 00:30:31,360 --> 00:30:34,560 Raleigh to interview to become their children's pastor. 530 00:30:34,720 --> 00:30:38,800 I interviewed with this church for four months, which you may 531 00:30:38,800 --> 00:30:40,120 be wondering, I didn't know that. 532 00:30:40,120 --> 00:30:41,920 That's how long churches typically interview. 533 00:30:41,960 --> 00:30:45,160 It's not. So at the end of four months, I 534 00:30:45,160 --> 00:30:47,480 get a phone call one morning by the senior pastor of this 535 00:30:47,480 --> 00:30:50,240 church. And he told me, he said, hey, 536 00:30:50,240 --> 00:30:52,360 listen, our leadership team, we met last night. 537 00:30:52,680 --> 00:30:55,200 And thank you so much for talking with them, sharing your 538 00:30:55,200 --> 00:30:58,240 heart, sharing your vision. But we decided not to have the 539 00:30:58,240 --> 00:31:00,520 position. And I was like, well, that's not 540 00:31:00,520 --> 00:31:03,640 the variable. And then, you know, that was a 541 00:31:03,640 --> 00:31:06,560 long night loading the back of tractor trailer trucks at UPSA. 542 00:31:07,440 --> 00:31:11,160 Month to the day, I get a voicemail from the senior pastor 543 00:31:11,160 --> 00:31:13,920 of a church in Jacksonville Beach, FL wanting to know if I 544 00:31:13,920 --> 00:31:16,440 was interested in having a conversation with them about 545 00:31:16,440 --> 00:31:18,360 working with their students, being being their student 546 00:31:18,360 --> 00:31:21,000 pastor. So I prayed about it a little 547 00:31:21,000 --> 00:31:24,280 bit and then I heard the word beach and then I prayed about it 548 00:31:24,280 --> 00:31:27,400 and I remembered the word beach and you know, obviously God was 549 00:31:27,400 --> 00:31:32,680 in it. So anyway, again, never sent my 550 00:31:32,680 --> 00:31:35,200 resume to this church. Had no idea Jacksonville had a 551 00:31:35,200 --> 00:31:37,440 beach, much less the First Baptist Jack's Beach. 552 00:31:37,680 --> 00:31:41,280 We end up moving down there. Ultimately, I become the the 553 00:31:41,280 --> 00:31:45,960 lead pastor of this church and let me tell you something, there 554 00:31:45,960 --> 00:31:47,600 were some really, really dark times. 555 00:31:48,120 --> 00:31:49,480 Those were some of the darkest times. 556 00:31:49,480 --> 00:31:52,280 Personally, those are some of the darkest times that I've ever 557 00:31:52,280 --> 00:31:55,360 walked through those 10 years in Jacksonville Beach. 558 00:31:56,040 --> 00:31:57,800 But you want to know one of the things that really got me 559 00:31:57,800 --> 00:32:03,280 through it is realizing I'm not the one that took a crowbar and 560 00:32:03,280 --> 00:32:05,800 open this door for me to get down to Jax Beach. 561 00:32:06,640 --> 00:32:09,680 That was God's doing. Now, there's a lot of in between 562 00:32:09,680 --> 00:32:13,720 chapters there, but God ultimately LED us here to 563 00:32:13,720 --> 00:32:17,160 Riverbend Church. I had Riverbend Church was not 564 00:32:17,160 --> 00:32:19,520 on my radar. A seemingly random phone call on 565 00:32:19,520 --> 00:32:22,760 a Saturday morning in October of 2018. 566 00:32:24,000 --> 00:32:26,320 And if you've been a part of River Bend, you know that we've 567 00:32:26,320 --> 00:32:29,400 had, we've had a series of highs and lows together, right? 568 00:32:30,000 --> 00:32:32,560 And in the midst of those highs and in the midst of those lows, 569 00:32:32,560 --> 00:32:35,880 you know that there's an undercurrent of peace knowing 570 00:32:35,880 --> 00:32:37,680 that it's God that brought us here. 571 00:32:39,040 --> 00:32:41,280 One of the. Blessings of God's weight. 572 00:32:41,680 --> 00:32:46,480 His answer of weight is He's not just setting the stage for 573 00:32:46,480 --> 00:32:49,240 what's to come. He's also setting the stage in 574 00:32:49,240 --> 00:32:52,320 our heart to give us a peace when times get dark. 575 00:32:53,280 --> 00:32:56,240 Because I don't know about you and maybe maybe you have enough 576 00:32:56,240 --> 00:32:58,680 years and experience under your belt where you know this. 577 00:32:58,880 --> 00:33:02,160 There's no such thing as a perfect scenario that walking 578 00:33:02,160 --> 00:33:04,760 very much in the footsteps in the will of God. 579 00:33:05,600 --> 00:33:08,640 Many times those footsteps will lead you through the valley of 580 00:33:08,640 --> 00:33:10,480 the shadow of death. And they'll lead you. 581 00:33:10,480 --> 00:33:14,320 Through some dark and some challenging times, what holds 582 00:33:14,320 --> 00:33:17,200 you in those dark and challenging times many times is 583 00:33:17,200 --> 00:33:20,800 the peace of knowing that God's the one that orchestrated our 584 00:33:20,800 --> 00:33:23,760 steps being there, that we're not the ones that tried to take 585 00:33:23,760 --> 00:33:26,200 a crowbar and open the door ourself. 586 00:33:27,200 --> 00:33:30,880 So the first thing that it tells us that this entire passage 587 00:33:30,880 --> 00:33:33,920 about God's timing tells us about ourselves is. 588 00:33:34,240 --> 00:33:36,520 We've. Got to learn to rest in God's 589 00:33:36,520 --> 00:33:40,640 perfect timing because he's setting the stage while at the 590 00:33:40,640 --> 00:33:44,960 same time he's installing a piece, a future piece that he 591 00:33:44,960 --> 00:33:47,880 knows that we'll need later on down the tracks. 592 00:33:48,400 --> 00:33:52,120 Second thing that this passage tells us about God is the palace 593 00:33:52,120 --> 00:33:54,720 is not the end of our journey, but the platform for our 594 00:33:54,720 --> 00:33:57,640 mission. The palace is not the end of our 595 00:33:57,640 --> 00:33:59,760 journey. Let me ask you a question. 596 00:34:00,200 --> 00:34:03,960 Last week, we talked about, you know, prisons in our lives. 597 00:34:04,520 --> 00:34:08,159 And I asked you like for you define what your prison is. 598 00:34:08,159 --> 00:34:11,560 Nobody can define your prison for you define what your prison 599 00:34:11,560 --> 00:34:15,440 is or your prison season or a stage of being in prison right 600 00:34:15,440 --> 00:34:17,639 now. It could be it could be a storm, 601 00:34:17,639 --> 00:34:20,520 it could be a trial. It could be it could be a 602 00:34:20,520 --> 00:34:25,320 feeling like kind of held back. It could be a feeling of of 603 00:34:25,320 --> 00:34:29,280 being forgotten. It could be the feeling of stuck 604 00:34:29,560 --> 00:34:33,639 that that could be your prison. Now I want to ask you, what is 605 00:34:33,639 --> 00:34:36,760 your palace like? What does it look like for you 606 00:34:36,760 --> 00:34:40,360 for God to answer your prayers? What does it look like for you 607 00:34:40,360 --> 00:34:41,639 to for God to answer your prayers? 608 00:34:41,639 --> 00:34:43,679 What does it look like when you pray? 609 00:34:43,679 --> 00:34:47,719 God, I feel that you have prepared me for what you have 610 00:34:47,719 --> 00:34:50,280 prepared me for. Does that make sense? 611 00:34:50,480 --> 00:34:54,639 You have prepared me for what you've prepared for me, so I'm 612 00:34:54,639 --> 00:34:56,960 ready for that. I'm ready to get out of this 613 00:34:56,960 --> 00:35:00,000 prison for you to promote me to my next. 614 00:35:00,680 --> 00:35:02,520 What does that next look like for you? 615 00:35:03,080 --> 00:35:06,080 Whatever that looks like for you, I can't define it for you. 616 00:35:06,080 --> 00:35:08,920 Nobody can define it for you. That's something that you've got 617 00:35:08,920 --> 00:35:13,560 to define for you. But whatever that definition is, 618 00:35:13,760 --> 00:35:15,240 that is not the end of your journey. 619 00:35:15,240 --> 00:35:16,880 It's actually the platform for your mission. 620 00:35:17,200 --> 00:35:18,880 Going back to the life of Joseph. 621 00:35:19,520 --> 00:35:22,600 Remember how we've said that in the book of Genesis, more real 622 00:35:22,600 --> 00:35:26,960 estate is given to us about the life of Joseph than any other 623 00:35:26,960 --> 00:35:30,800 person In any other event, is it more real estate is devoted to 624 00:35:30,800 --> 00:35:33,480 the life of Joseph than creation, than Adam and Eve, 625 00:35:33,480 --> 00:35:36,200 than Noah, than the flood, than Abraham? 626 00:35:36,320 --> 00:35:38,720 Life of Joseph takes up more real. 627 00:35:38,720 --> 00:35:41,840 Estate in the book of Genesis than any other person, any other 628 00:35:41,840 --> 00:35:45,360 event. 13 chapters in the book of Genesis, as a matter of fact. 629 00:35:46,160 --> 00:35:49,960 But of those 13 chapters, did you know that only four of those 630 00:35:49,960 --> 00:35:54,040 13 chapters are devoted to Joseph's pre palace life? 631 00:35:54,040 --> 00:35:59,120 Let me say that again, 13 chapters devoted to the life of 632 00:35:59,120 --> 00:36:04,240 Joseph, only four are devoted to Joseph's pre palace life, which 633 00:36:04,240 --> 00:36:08,200 means that the palace was not the end destination, that the 634 00:36:08,200 --> 00:36:11,880 palace was actually where the mission really started to take 635 00:36:11,880 --> 00:36:14,440 off and one of the things that we're going to see later. 636 00:36:14,440 --> 00:36:17,920 On in the weeks to come is this actually in the palace that 637 00:36:17,920 --> 00:36:21,600 Joseph is going to face his his most difficult challenges and 638 00:36:21,600 --> 00:36:24,240 his greatest temptations. And that's going to be so true 639 00:36:24,240 --> 00:36:28,120 for you and I as well, is typically in those palace 640 00:36:28,120 --> 00:36:31,640 seasons, in those palace stages that we typically face our most 641 00:36:31,640 --> 00:36:35,040 difficult challenges and they're sneaky and our greatest 642 00:36:35,040 --> 00:36:38,320 temptations and they're sneaky, but they will train. 643 00:36:38,320 --> 00:36:42,160 Wreck us like like no other challenges or temptations ever 644 00:36:42,160 --> 00:36:44,240 will while we're in the pit or in the prism. 645 00:36:47,320 --> 00:36:50,880 Our two fold purpose to know God and to make Him known. 646 00:36:51,200 --> 00:36:54,360 The reason that God exalts us to the palaces or promotes us to 647 00:36:54,360 --> 00:36:58,000 the palaces is it gives us a greater platform for the 648 00:36:58,000 --> 00:37:01,280 mission. But in order to seize that 649 00:37:01,280 --> 00:37:05,200 platform, in order for us to fully surrender and go, OK, God, 650 00:37:05,360 --> 00:37:08,600 what are you doing in my life? How do you want to use me? 651 00:37:09,840 --> 00:37:12,560 We've got to get really, really real and really, really honest 652 00:37:12,560 --> 00:37:16,800 with ourselves about ourselves. So as we come to an end this 653 00:37:16,800 --> 00:37:18,160 morning, I want to point your attention. 654 00:37:18,160 --> 00:37:21,240 There are four key questions that I want us to walk through 655 00:37:21,280 --> 00:37:24,040 this morning. And these are four key questions 656 00:37:24,040 --> 00:37:27,320 that I want to ask that that that we wrestle with this 657 00:37:27,320 --> 00:37:29,520 morning, that we wrestle with this afternoon, this evening, 658 00:37:29,680 --> 00:37:32,160 this week to come. Here's the first one. 659 00:37:32,800 --> 00:37:38,120 First key question, what in what areas of my life has a sense of 660 00:37:38,120 --> 00:37:42,240 entitlement crept into? Now you may think, man, that 661 00:37:42,240 --> 00:37:44,440 came out of left field. When were we talking about 662 00:37:44,440 --> 00:37:47,560 entitlement? Well, remember how we said that 663 00:37:47,560 --> 00:37:50,880 just because Joseph may have been unwise as a 17 year old, 664 00:37:51,120 --> 00:37:53,560 that didn't mean that he necessarily deserved the pit. 665 00:37:53,800 --> 00:37:57,400 And just because Joseph was wise as a young man, that doesn't 666 00:37:57,400 --> 00:37:59,160 necessarily mean that he deserved the palace. 667 00:37:59,720 --> 00:38:04,440 Isn't it so easy for us to try to justify ourselves in front of 668 00:38:04,440 --> 00:38:08,800 God and go, God, I have been through so much, man. 669 00:38:08,800 --> 00:38:11,440 I deserve this. I deserve your blessing. 670 00:38:11,640 --> 00:38:15,600 I deserve your favor and let me tell you, when we get into a 671 00:38:15,600 --> 00:38:18,640 point or when we start to enter into the territory of God, I 672 00:38:18,640 --> 00:38:21,640 deserve blank. I deserve this favor. 673 00:38:21,640 --> 00:38:24,520 I deserve this blessing. Man. 674 00:38:24,520 --> 00:38:27,880 Pride starting to creep in and pride will take us out like 675 00:38:27,880 --> 00:38:32,760 nothing else. So in what areas of my life has 676 00:38:32,760 --> 00:38:37,520 a sense of entitlement crept into second question? 677 00:38:38,160 --> 00:38:41,480 In what ways has God gifted me and how am I using that 678 00:38:41,480 --> 00:38:44,240 giftedness for Him? Every single one of us, if 679 00:38:44,240 --> 00:38:46,040 you're a follower of Jesus, every single one of us. 680 00:38:46,040 --> 00:38:49,080 We'll talk about this in our next series about the unseen 681 00:38:49,080 --> 00:38:50,600 world. Every single one of us have been 682 00:38:50,600 --> 00:38:53,800 given spiritual gifts. Every single one of us have been 683 00:38:53,800 --> 00:38:57,840 given talents and abilities. And those talents and those 684 00:38:57,840 --> 00:39:01,480 abilities, that's actually what makes you a successful mom or a 685 00:39:01,480 --> 00:39:06,320 successful dad, a successful homemaker, a successful husband 686 00:39:06,320 --> 00:39:09,960 or wife and a successful employee or a successful 687 00:39:09,960 --> 00:39:12,680 employer. But one of the things that's so 688 00:39:12,680 --> 00:39:17,240 easy for us to miss is God, what you have gifted me to do that 689 00:39:17,240 --> 00:39:20,600 makes me successful Monday through Friday or Monday through 690 00:39:20,600 --> 00:39:23,200 Saturday. And we fail to recognize that. 691 00:39:23,320 --> 00:39:26,840 No, listen, if we apply that giftedness to the Kingdom of God 692 00:39:26,840 --> 00:39:30,840 and to the body of Christ, the church man, he can, he can use 693 00:39:30,840 --> 00:39:32,760 us beyond all of our comprehension. 694 00:39:33,320 --> 00:39:37,360 So what areas of, of your life has God gifted you and how are 695 00:39:37,360 --> 00:39:40,400 you using that giftedness? How are you using that 696 00:39:40,400 --> 00:39:42,640 giftedness to bring glory and honor to him? 697 00:39:42,640 --> 00:39:45,480 If you were with us last week, we, we, we put out kind of an 698 00:39:45,480 --> 00:39:47,640 all call, not out of desperation, but out of 699 00:39:47,640 --> 00:39:49,720 invitation. If you've been a part of 700 00:39:49,720 --> 00:39:53,200 Riverbend Church for six months or more, but you haven't found a 701 00:39:53,200 --> 00:39:56,120 place to plug in and serve, we're going to. 702 00:39:56,120 --> 00:39:58,960 Encourage you to look for a place to plug in and serve. 703 00:39:58,960 --> 00:40:01,640 You can start with that connect card at the bottom of that 704 00:40:01,640 --> 00:40:03,960 connect card. Listen, that's not because of of 705 00:40:03,960 --> 00:40:07,880 desperation. Is for your own benefit because 706 00:40:07,880 --> 00:40:11,640 listen, we need you and your giftedness in the way that God 707 00:40:11,640 --> 00:40:13,720 has gifted you. And we don't believe that God 708 00:40:13,720 --> 00:40:15,560 has brought anybody here by accident. 709 00:40:15,720 --> 00:40:19,760 God has brought you uniquely here to us at this unique time 710 00:40:19,880 --> 00:40:22,040 for a unique purpose. So we need you. 711 00:40:22,320 --> 00:40:25,520 But guess what? You need us as well. 712 00:40:25,680 --> 00:40:29,320 And we grow in that relationship together by serving one another 713 00:40:29,480 --> 00:40:33,480 in the giftedness that He has given us, because we are gifted 714 00:40:33,560 --> 00:40:36,520 from God to be you. Accused for God. 715 00:40:37,120 --> 00:40:39,600 Third thing, third key question. I want to ask this that we 716 00:40:39,600 --> 00:40:41,480 wrestle with. Where in my life do I need to 717 00:40:41,480 --> 00:40:44,760 trust in God's timing? I'll go ahead and tell you I 718 00:40:44,760 --> 00:40:46,440 hate this question with a passion. 719 00:40:47,520 --> 00:40:51,120 I hate it. Where in my life do I need to 720 00:40:51,120 --> 00:40:56,440 trust in God's timing? God's timing never delayed, 721 00:40:56,600 --> 00:41:00,320 never forced, always perfect. You know, there's some of us in 722 00:41:00,320 --> 00:41:03,880 here that we have been praying the same prayer for years. 723 00:41:04,680 --> 00:41:06,040 God hasn't answered that prayer yet. 724 00:41:06,920 --> 00:41:09,920 Don't give up praying. Don't give up praying. 725 00:41:10,560 --> 00:41:13,160 There's some of you that, that, that, that are praying for a 726 00:41:13,160 --> 00:41:17,680 husband or, or a wife and, and God hasn't brought a husband or 727 00:41:17,680 --> 00:41:19,760 a wife to you. Don't, don't give up praying. 728 00:41:20,320 --> 00:41:23,040 It's in God's perfect timing. There's some of you that are 729 00:41:23,040 --> 00:41:26,520 praying for, for a new opportunity in a, whether it's 730 00:41:26,520 --> 00:41:30,560 in the same career or different career path, don't give up. 731 00:41:30,560 --> 00:41:33,880 Pray it like continue to trust in God's timing, but you got to 732 00:41:33,880 --> 00:41:37,640 identify the areas that you need to trust in God's timing to 733 00:41:37,640 --> 00:41:40,720 where you can continually bring that back to God and God and 734 00:41:40,720 --> 00:41:43,520 say, God, you know that I'm struggling with patients here. 735 00:41:43,760 --> 00:41:46,200 You know that I'm struggling with trusting in your timing. 736 00:41:46,480 --> 00:41:50,160 Would you just remind me that your timing is perfect? 737 00:41:50,680 --> 00:41:53,680 And that you are doing a work in my life, you're doing a work in 738 00:41:53,680 --> 00:41:55,920 other people's life, you're doing a work in setting the 739 00:41:55,920 --> 00:42:01,720 table, setting the stage for future success. 4th question, am 740 00:42:01,720 --> 00:42:04,200 I being faithful to the mission that God has placed directly in 741 00:42:04,200 --> 00:42:07,720 front of me? Listen, we all want to be 742 00:42:07,720 --> 00:42:12,000 promoted to that next, don't we? But one of the things that I 743 00:42:12,000 --> 00:42:17,280 found to be true is until I am faithful where God has placed me 744 00:42:17,280 --> 00:42:20,640 now, I'm not ready to be used in the next. 745 00:42:22,080 --> 00:42:25,120 Am I being? Faithful to where God has me 746 00:42:25,760 --> 00:42:30,040 Now, you see, I'm convinced. I'm convinced that Joseph was 747 00:42:30,040 --> 00:42:33,920 faithful in Potiphar's house telling a few slaves about God. 748 00:42:34,400 --> 00:42:37,560 I'm convinced that Joseph was faithful while in prison telling 749 00:42:37,560 --> 00:42:40,600 many prisoners about God. And I'm convinced we're able to 750 00:42:40,600 --> 00:42:42,800 read and we're able to dive into this later on. 751 00:42:43,000 --> 00:42:48,720 Joseph was faithful and pointing an entire empire to God. 752 00:42:49,160 --> 00:42:53,480 Am I being faithful to where God has called me right now? 753 00:42:53,840 --> 00:42:56,600 Here's what we're about to do. I want to pray over us and this 754 00:42:56,600 --> 00:42:58,400 is the time to where we're going to be able to stand. 755 00:42:58,400 --> 00:43:00,480 We're going to be able to sing, but ultimately it's the time to 756 00:43:00,480 --> 00:43:02,560 where we're going to be able to do some business with God. 757 00:43:03,080 --> 00:43:06,320 If there's any one of these four questions that has really hit 758 00:43:06,320 --> 00:43:10,520 home and kind of struck a chord in your life this morning, I'm 759 00:43:10,520 --> 00:43:12,760 going to ask like just come down and pray over it. 760 00:43:13,040 --> 00:43:16,680 Tell God. Like allow God, pour your heart 761 00:43:16,680 --> 00:43:21,320 out to God and allow him to fill you with his peace and with his 762 00:43:21,320 --> 00:43:25,040 patience and with his love and with his comfort, with his 763 00:43:25,040 --> 00:43:28,240 timing this morning. So we're going to pray, we'll 764 00:43:28,240 --> 00:43:31,200 stand, we'll sing, you respond how God calls you to respond. 765 00:43:31,200 --> 00:43:34,000 God, we love you. We thank you for who you are. 766 00:43:34,160 --> 00:43:38,000 God, you not only know what we know, God, you know it all. 767 00:43:38,480 --> 00:43:40,440 God, you know the past, you know the present, you know the 768 00:43:40,440 --> 00:43:43,440 future. God in, in, in situations to 769 00:43:43,440 --> 00:43:48,960 where it seems like your timing for us is delayed and it seems 770 00:43:48,960 --> 00:43:52,760 like maybe that that we have to take matters into our own hands 771 00:43:52,760 --> 00:43:55,080 and to to force your perfect will to come about. 772 00:43:55,320 --> 00:43:58,600 God, would you remind us that you are always in charge, 773 00:43:58,880 --> 00:44:03,480 especially in those seasons to where we feel unseen or we feel 774 00:44:03,480 --> 00:44:06,280 forgotten. God, remind us that your timing 775 00:44:06,280 --> 00:44:08,680 is never delayed. It's never forced, but it is 776 00:44:08,680 --> 00:44:12,160 always perfect. So God, I pray that you would 777 00:44:12,160 --> 00:44:16,920 help us to really take a look in ourselves and analyze our heart. 778 00:44:16,920 --> 00:44:20,920 God, is there any part of us that feels entitled to your 779 00:44:20,920 --> 00:44:24,880 blessing and to your favor? God, is there any part of us 780 00:44:25,400 --> 00:44:30,040 that is not using the ways in which you have gifted us for 781 00:44:30,160 --> 00:44:33,640 your glory? God, is there any part of us 782 00:44:34,280 --> 00:44:37,920 that is not currently being faithful to where you have 783 00:44:37,920 --> 00:44:41,560 currently placed us? God, I pray that this would be a 784 00:44:41,560 --> 00:44:45,280 time to where you continue a work in some. 785 00:44:45,440 --> 00:44:49,960 God that you begin a work in others and it's in Jesus name 786 00:44:49,960 --> 00:44:51,400 that we pray. Amen. 787 00:44:54,760 --> 00:44:57,600 Thank you for listening to Riverbend Church's podcast. 788 00:44:57,800 --> 00:45:00,920 To find out more about this message or Riverbend Church, 789 00:45:00,920 --> 00:45:04,240 connect with us online at Riverbend Church dot live.