WEBVTT 00:00:02.479 --> 00:00:04.240 Good evening, everybody. 00:00:04.480 --> 00:00:06.080 Well, I love your pastor. 00:00:06.320 --> 00:00:06.959 I do. 00:00:07.519 --> 00:00:11.359 I love his family, and I love what this church stands for. 00:00:11.439 --> 00:00:21.519 And the Oak Hills Church in San Antonio is a part of that ever-increasing list of churches around the world that is regularly blessed by what you do. 00:00:21.760 --> 00:00:32.799 And we're learning from you, crossing uh trails with you, sharing ideas with you, and we just hope to brush up against you and and and and let some of you rub off on us. 00:00:33.200 --> 00:00:35.600 So I do bring you greetings from San Antonio. 00:00:35.679 --> 00:00:36.880 I preached there this morning. 00:00:36.960 --> 00:00:40.479 I'm thankful for airlines that get us here in the afternoon. 00:00:40.799 --> 00:00:43.359 And I'm thankful for you for coming out. 00:00:43.679 --> 00:00:46.799 My church always accuses me of doing things backwards. 00:00:46.960 --> 00:00:49.200 I may be about to do something backwards. 00:00:49.280 --> 00:00:55.679 But as we were worshiping, this happens to me quite a few times during the year, and so I just have to be obedient. 00:00:56.399 --> 00:01:00.479 I sense that there might be somebody who just needs prayer before I even preach. 00:01:00.719 --> 00:01:02.479 You don't really need a word from me, do you? 00:01:02.560 --> 00:01:04.000 You need a word from Jesus. 00:01:04.239 --> 00:01:07.760 And uh I I sense that, and uh, I don't want to embarrass anyone. 00:01:07.840 --> 00:01:09.040 I don't want to put you on the spot. 00:01:09.120 --> 00:01:15.200 But if you just really came tonight hungry for prayer, before I start preaching, I'm gonna invite you to come up. 00:01:15.439 --> 00:01:16.239 Is that okay? 00:01:16.400 --> 00:01:18.159 I hope I didn't break a rule or anything. 00:01:18.239 --> 00:01:19.200 I don't think I did. 00:01:19.439 --> 00:01:23.200 So is there anybody who needs a prayer for healing, for encouragement? 00:01:23.359 --> 00:01:24.959 Don't be embarrassed, just come on down. 00:01:25.120 --> 00:01:26.000 I'm just gonna pray. 00:01:26.079 --> 00:01:28.959 We're not gonna do a lot of music, a lot of brew ha ha. 00:01:29.120 --> 00:01:29.840 We're just gonna pray. 00:01:29.920 --> 00:01:32.079 We're gonna ask the Lord Jesus, all of us now. 00:01:32.319 --> 00:01:36.000 Lord Jesus, we bless you, we thank you, we welcome you. 00:01:36.159 --> 00:01:38.799 Here we are, Father, at the beginning of the year. 00:01:39.120 --> 00:01:46.799 Some of us, Father, carry special burdens and we have needs and we have concerns, and we're bringing them to you right now, Father. 00:01:46.959 --> 00:01:47.359 Right now. 00:01:47.519 --> 00:01:48.799 We bring them to you. 00:01:49.040 --> 00:01:50.719 We ask for your help. 00:01:51.040 --> 00:01:55.359 We can't carry these burdens without you, without your strength. 00:01:55.680 --> 00:01:57.280 We have sickness, Father. 00:01:57.439 --> 00:01:59.359 Sickness in our bodies. 00:01:59.840 --> 00:02:02.079 We have joints that hurt. 00:02:02.480 --> 00:02:07.760 We have conditions, we have cancers. 00:02:09.520 --> 00:02:12.000 We have emotional issues. 00:02:12.400 --> 00:02:16.240 We're having trouble getting our thoughts together, dear Father. 00:02:16.719 --> 00:02:20.560 We're passing through dark times, doldrums, and depression. 00:02:21.120 --> 00:02:23.280 We come, Lord, and we bring these to you. 00:02:24.159 --> 00:02:26.000 Church, pray for these who have come. 00:02:26.240 --> 00:02:27.199 Just lift up your name. 00:02:27.360 --> 00:02:30.159 Go ahead and whisper your prayers and say your prayers. 00:02:30.319 --> 00:02:32.000 Just pray for these who have come. 00:02:36.560 --> 00:02:38.000 Thank you, Lord. 00:02:38.400 --> 00:02:39.439 Thank you, Lord. 00:02:40.560 --> 00:02:49.360 Those of you who have come, I'm praying for you to have a spirit of faith, just of trust, of knowledge that Jesus will get you through this. 00:02:49.599 --> 00:02:50.879 He will walk you through this. 00:02:51.039 --> 00:02:53.439 And his word to you is don't give up. 00:02:53.840 --> 00:02:55.120 Don't turn back. 00:02:55.360 --> 00:02:57.360 Keep your ear tuned toward him. 00:02:57.759 --> 00:03:02.719 A million and one voices are crying for your attention, but there's only one voice that matters. 00:03:03.039 --> 00:03:08.080 The authoritative voice, Jesus Christ, the I am of the universe. 00:03:08.400 --> 00:03:09.680 He is for you. 00:03:10.639 --> 00:03:11.680 He is for you. 00:03:11.840 --> 00:03:13.439 Believe that right now. 00:03:13.759 --> 00:03:14.879 He is for you. 00:03:15.120 --> 00:03:16.159 He is for you. 00:03:16.560 --> 00:03:18.719 Hear him say, I am for you. 00:03:19.599 --> 00:03:20.719 I am with you. 00:03:21.120 --> 00:03:22.560 I am your savior. 00:03:22.800 --> 00:03:23.919 I am your king. 00:03:24.479 --> 00:03:25.520 I know your name. 00:03:26.080 --> 00:03:27.280 I know your hurt. 00:03:27.599 --> 00:03:29.039 I know your concerns. 00:03:29.280 --> 00:03:30.240 You're not alone. 00:03:30.960 --> 00:03:31.759 You're not alone. 00:03:31.919 --> 00:03:32.879 Would you receive that? 00:03:33.439 --> 00:03:34.080 Receive it. 00:03:34.240 --> 00:03:35.199 Receive it deep. 00:03:35.599 --> 00:03:38.000 Sometimes it takes a while to receive it deep. 00:03:38.240 --> 00:03:40.159 But let it go deep down within you. 00:03:40.400 --> 00:03:41.120 He is with you. 00:03:41.599 --> 00:03:42.000 He is with you. 00:03:42.240 --> 00:03:44.240 Lord, now I want to pray for family concerns. 00:03:45.520 --> 00:03:48.639 Children who have wandered away, marriages that are on the rocks. 00:03:49.199 --> 00:03:49.759 Bitterness. 00:03:49.919 --> 00:03:53.120 Lord, we pray against the root of bitterness in families. 00:03:53.439 --> 00:03:54.639 We pray for a new day. 00:03:54.800 --> 00:03:56.000 We pray for a new dimension. 00:03:56.159 --> 00:03:59.360 Here, there, Heavenly Father, we lift these families up to you. 00:03:59.759 --> 00:04:01.919 Church, pray please, for these who have come. 00:04:02.159 --> 00:04:05.919 Some of them have come with their families, their marriages on the rocks. 00:04:06.319 --> 00:04:13.039 But Lord, we believe you can do in one moment what a thousand counselors can't do in 20 years. 00:04:13.360 --> 00:04:14.560 You can restore. 00:04:14.719 --> 00:04:20.079 You're the God of restoration, the God of renewal, the God of reclamation. 00:04:20.240 --> 00:04:23.199 And right now we ask you, Lord, we're begging you. 00:04:23.439 --> 00:04:26.959 We believe that you can speak the word and it will be done. 00:04:27.120 --> 00:04:28.560 Just speak the word, Father. 00:04:28.720 --> 00:04:31.120 Just speak a word of forgiveness over these homes. 00:04:31.360 --> 00:04:34.160 Speak a word of hope where there's nothing but darkness. 00:04:34.319 --> 00:04:36.959 Speak a word of life where there has been death. 00:04:37.120 --> 00:04:39.920 Speak a word of purity where there is impurity. 00:04:40.079 --> 00:04:43.040 And we stand against the spirit of pornography. 00:04:43.199 --> 00:04:45.680 We stand against the spirit of adultery. 00:04:45.920 --> 00:04:49.360 We stand against the spirit of selfishness and pride. 00:04:49.519 --> 00:04:55.519 And we believe, oh Father God, for a new day, a new day, please receive this church. 00:04:55.680 --> 00:04:59.199 Receive the Lord Jesus as he brings a new day into your home. 00:04:59.360 --> 00:05:04.639 This is going to be a good year because of the presence of Christ in your families. 00:05:04.959 --> 00:05:05.920 Thank you, Lord. 00:05:06.000 --> 00:05:11.279 Thank you for the healing that you have brought now to our bodies, to our homes, to our futures. 00:05:11.439 --> 00:05:13.600 We thank you, Lord, and we praise you. 00:05:13.759 --> 00:05:14.480 We praise you. 00:05:14.560 --> 00:05:15.759 We bless you. 00:05:16.240 --> 00:05:17.839 And all the church said. 00:05:18.639 --> 00:05:19.199 Amen. 00:05:19.360 --> 00:05:19.759 Amen. 00:05:19.920 --> 00:05:20.399 All right. 00:05:20.480 --> 00:05:20.879 Thank you. 00:05:21.040 --> 00:05:21.600 Let's do that. 00:05:21.680 --> 00:05:22.560 Let's give it. 00:05:30.720 --> 00:05:35.839 Well, it is a great honor for me to join you and to have these few minutes with you. 00:05:36.000 --> 00:05:39.519 It is a new year, so that means I have a new joke. 00:05:40.959 --> 00:05:44.000 And I'm not told this joke, so I'm gonna test it on you. 00:05:44.160 --> 00:05:48.959 I meant to test it on my church this morning, but they didn't seem to be in a good mood. 00:05:50.000 --> 00:05:55.040 So I'm gonna test it on you, and you can tell me whether or not I should share it anymore. 00:05:55.199 --> 00:05:56.160 You ready? 00:05:56.560 --> 00:06:03.120 Okay, so this highway patrolman pulls over this car for going too slow on Interstate 10. 00:06:03.920 --> 00:06:06.319 Pulls them over to the side of the road. 00:06:06.720 --> 00:06:12.160 Gets out of the car, walks up to the car, and he notices it's an old man and an older woman in the car. 00:06:12.319 --> 00:06:13.839 Have you ever heard this joke? 00:06:14.160 --> 00:06:18.000 Oh man, I'm always afraid the pastor told the joke the day before I got here. 00:06:18.079 --> 00:06:19.839 But in case he did, here it comes. 00:06:20.000 --> 00:06:22.240 And he says, Sir, you're driving too slow. 00:06:22.480 --> 00:06:25.199 Ma, you're barely going 10 miles an hour. 00:06:25.360 --> 00:06:27.759 And the older man said, Well, that's what the sign said. 00:06:27.920 --> 00:06:31.920 I saw it back there, and the highway patrolman said, No, that's the interstate sign. 00:06:32.079 --> 00:06:33.839 This is interstate 10. 00:06:34.000 --> 00:06:38.639 You're confusing the speed limit sign and the highway sign. 00:06:40.079 --> 00:06:45.120 About that time, the patrolman looked across the car at the lady sitting in the front seat. 00:06:45.199 --> 00:06:46.879 Her hair was blown back. 00:06:47.120 --> 00:06:48.639 Her face was ashen. 00:06:48.879 --> 00:06:52.000 She was holding on to the dashboard. 00:06:52.319 --> 00:06:54.639 And the patrolman said, Sir, is your WFOK? 00:06:54.800 --> 00:06:58.879 He says, I think so, but we just got off of Farm to Market Road 183. 00:07:11.279 --> 00:07:13.040 Having my joke for the year then. 00:07:15.519 --> 00:07:18.560 Brother James and I were talking about deer hunting before we came out. 00:07:18.720 --> 00:07:27.120 I'm not much of a hunter, but somebody in our church invited me to go deer hunting a few months back, and so we went deer hunting and waited all day, and here came a deer. 00:07:27.199 --> 00:07:28.160 We both shot at the same time. 00:07:28.319 --> 00:07:29.439 Ben went the deer. 00:07:29.600 --> 00:07:30.800 I said, I shot the deer. 00:07:30.879 --> 00:07:31.920 He said, No, I did. 00:07:32.399 --> 00:07:33.519 I said, No, I did. 00:07:33.600 --> 00:07:34.560 He said, No, I did. 00:07:34.959 --> 00:07:35.839 I said, I did. 00:07:35.920 --> 00:07:37.759 We shot at the same time, but it was my bullet. 00:07:37.839 --> 00:07:39.279 He said, No, no, it was mine. 00:07:39.519 --> 00:07:42.800 Well, we made such a ruckus that the game warden showed up. 00:07:43.279 --> 00:07:45.839 He came up and said, What are you two arguing about? 00:07:46.000 --> 00:07:48.959 I said, He says he shot the deer, but I no idea. 00:07:49.199 --> 00:07:50.959 The game warden said, I can solve this. 00:07:51.040 --> 00:07:52.879 So he walked up and he looked at the animal. 00:07:53.040 --> 00:07:56.319 He turned back and he said, Either one of you a preacher. 00:07:58.639 --> 00:07:59.920 I said, I am. 00:08:00.160 --> 00:08:02.000 He says, then you shot the deer. 00:08:02.160 --> 00:08:03.279 I said, how do you know? 00:08:03.600 --> 00:08:06.319 He said, because the bullet went in one ear and out the other. 00:08:22.319 --> 00:08:24.319 I hope that doesn't happen tonight. 00:08:25.920 --> 00:08:27.759 She had a tremble to her. 00:08:28.399 --> 00:08:32.960 The kind of tremble that you can tell just by placing your hand on someone's shoulder. 00:08:33.200 --> 00:08:35.919 I ran into her in a grocery store. 00:08:36.879 --> 00:08:39.039 Hadn't seen her in quite some time. 00:08:40.399 --> 00:08:43.679 I asked about her kids and asked about her husband. 00:08:44.720 --> 00:08:52.720 When I brought up her husband, that's when her eyes began to water, and that's when her chin began to quiver, and that's when the story spilled out that he had left her. 00:08:53.200 --> 00:08:56.240 Traded her in to use her words on a young model. 00:08:57.360 --> 00:09:01.039 She did her best to maintain her composure, but she couldn't. 00:09:01.440 --> 00:09:05.200 And the grocery store produce section became a sanctuary of sorts. 00:09:05.360 --> 00:09:11.360 And right there between the tomatoes and the heads of lettuce, we prayed. 00:09:11.679 --> 00:09:14.799 And after we prayed, here's what I said to her. 00:09:15.039 --> 00:09:17.039 I said, You'll get through this. 00:09:18.720 --> 00:09:20.480 It won't be painless. 00:09:21.039 --> 00:09:22.559 It won't be quick. 00:09:23.679 --> 00:09:27.120 But God will take this mess and use it for something good. 00:09:28.240 --> 00:09:32.559 And in the meantime, don't be foolish or naive. 00:09:33.440 --> 00:09:35.519 But don't despair either. 00:09:36.080 --> 00:09:39.679 Because with God's help, you'll get through this. 00:09:42.480 --> 00:09:44.399 A few days later, a friend called. 00:09:44.480 --> 00:09:45.919 He had just been fired. 00:09:46.639 --> 00:09:48.879 His dismissal was his fault. 00:09:49.519 --> 00:09:50.879 He felt terrible about it. 00:09:50.960 --> 00:09:58.399 He'd made some stupid, inappropriate remarks at work, and his boss really had no other choice but to let him go. 00:09:59.120 --> 00:10:02.399 Now he's a 57-year-old unemployed manager. 00:10:04.960 --> 00:10:06.799 Feels terrible, it sounds worse. 00:10:07.039 --> 00:10:14.960 His wife is angry, his kids are confused, and he and I talked for a while, and after we chatted, you know what I said to him? 00:10:16.240 --> 00:10:18.559 I said, now you're gonna get through this. 00:10:20.879 --> 00:10:23.759 It won't be quick and it won't be painless. 00:10:24.879 --> 00:10:27.840 But God will use this mess for something good. 00:10:29.039 --> 00:10:31.679 Now in the meantime, don't be foolish. 00:10:34.639 --> 00:10:36.720 But don't despair either. 00:10:37.440 --> 00:10:42.320 Because with God as your helper, you'll get through this. 00:10:44.159 --> 00:10:50.080 And then there was this teenage girl I met at a uh truck star, truck stop. 00:10:50.480 --> 00:10:51.840 My wife tells me not to go there. 00:10:51.919 --> 00:10:54.639 That's where I eat hamburgers too much, but that's another story. 00:10:54.720 --> 00:11:14.159 And I was up there several times over the summer, and there was this young girl working there, maybe 16, 17 years of age, and and uh we struck up several conversations, and one day she confided that her parents had just divorced, and that was hard on her, and what made it even more difficult was that they were demanding that she pick, live with him, live with her. 00:11:16.960 --> 00:11:19.039 And she was pretty torn up. 00:11:20.639 --> 00:11:25.440 And so we talked for a while, and then after we talked, you know what I said to her? 00:11:26.000 --> 00:11:29.279 I said, now listen, you're gonna get through this. 00:11:29.840 --> 00:11:30.399 You are. 00:11:31.919 --> 00:11:39.600 I'm not saying it's gonna be quick, and I'm sure not saying it's gonna be painless, but God will take this mess and he'll use it for something good. 00:11:41.120 --> 00:11:44.480 In the meantime, don't be foolish and don't be naive. 00:11:45.679 --> 00:11:47.919 But don't despair either. 00:11:48.399 --> 00:11:51.679 Because with God as your helper, you'll get through this. 00:11:52.480 --> 00:11:54.960 Who am I to say things like that to people? 00:11:55.679 --> 00:11:58.879 Where did I come up with that kind of promise? 00:11:59.120 --> 00:12:03.360 Well, I actually came across that in a pit of all places. 00:12:03.919 --> 00:12:08.480 A pit so deep the boy couldn't get out, so steep he couldn't climb out, had he been able to. 00:12:08.559 --> 00:12:13.120 His brothers would have pushed him back in because they were the ones who put him in to begin with. 00:12:13.279 --> 00:12:18.240 You remember the story of Joseph in the Old Testament, in the book of Genesis? 00:12:18.399 --> 00:12:20.320 His story begins like this. 00:12:20.559 --> 00:12:30.399 And so it came to pass when Joseph had come to his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the tunic of many colors that was on him, and they took him and they cast him into a pit. 00:12:31.200 --> 00:12:36.559 And the pit was empty, and there was no water in it, and they sat down to eat a meal. 00:12:37.120 --> 00:12:38.960 So it's an abandoned cistern. 00:12:39.200 --> 00:12:41.840 Jagged rocks and roots extend from the side. 00:12:42.080 --> 00:12:44.320 A seventeen-year-old boy lies at the bottom. 00:12:44.480 --> 00:13:04.399 At least he appears to be a boy, what with his downy beard and his spindly arms, his hands are bound, his ankles are tied, he lies on his side, knees crammed up to his chest in the small space, the sand is wet with the spittle where he is drooled, and his voice is hoarse from screaming. 00:13:04.720 --> 00:13:06.960 It's not that his brothers don't hear him. 00:13:08.000 --> 00:13:23.679 Twenty years from now, when famine has tamed their swagger and taken away their pride, they're going to confess that we saw the anguish of his soul when he pleaded with us, but we would not hear him. 00:13:25.600 --> 00:13:27.519 These are the sons of Jacob. 00:13:29.120 --> 00:13:32.080 These are the great grandsons of Abraham. 00:13:33.200 --> 00:13:36.639 This is the closest the Bible comes to royalty. 00:13:39.519 --> 00:13:51.360 These are the couriers of a covenant that will go to a galaxy worth of people, but on this day, they are a Bronze Age version of a dysfunctional family. 00:13:51.759 --> 00:13:55.919 They could have their own reality TV show for crying out loud. 00:13:57.360 --> 00:14:06.720 I mean, they're in the shadow of the pit that holds their baby brother, and they're passing the wine, chewing on the venison. 00:14:07.919 --> 00:14:08.559 Wine. 00:14:09.360 --> 00:14:14.080 Well, the scripture tells us, Genesis 37, they hated the boy. 00:14:14.960 --> 00:14:17.919 They hated him and they could not speak peaceably to him. 00:14:18.080 --> 00:14:20.159 They hated him, they hated him even more. 00:14:20.320 --> 00:14:21.039 They hated him. 00:14:21.200 --> 00:14:22.480 His brothers envied him. 00:14:22.639 --> 00:14:24.720 You think this was a happy family? 00:14:26.399 --> 00:14:27.759 Here's why. 00:14:28.159 --> 00:14:33.919 The father pampered Joseph like a farmer would pamper a prized calf. 00:14:34.159 --> 00:14:38.960 Jacob, you remember, had two wives, Leah and Rachel, but he really just had one love. 00:14:40.399 --> 00:14:46.559 And when Rachel died, Jacob kept her memory alive by fawning over their son Joseph. 00:14:46.639 --> 00:14:53.200 And so Joseph, Daddy's little darling, got to stay home while the other brothers went to work. 00:14:53.440 --> 00:15:01.679 Joseph, Daddy's little boy, got his coat of many colors while the others wore hand-me-downs. 00:15:03.039 --> 00:15:09.759 So the brothers caught Joseph far from home, 50 miles away from Daddy's protection, and they went ballistic on him. 00:15:09.840 --> 00:15:11.679 They stripped Joseph of his tunic. 00:15:11.759 --> 00:15:14.399 They took him and they cast him into a pit. 00:15:14.879 --> 00:15:16.480 They stripped the tunic. 00:15:16.639 --> 00:15:18.000 They cast him into a pit. 00:15:18.159 --> 00:15:20.240 Those are defiant verbs, aren't they? 00:15:20.480 --> 00:15:22.240 They're angry at him. 00:15:22.960 --> 00:15:25.440 They wanted not just to kill Joseph. 00:15:25.600 --> 00:15:28.080 They were going to cover up, hide the body. 00:15:28.240 --> 00:15:30.320 It was a cover-up from the get-go. 00:15:31.360 --> 00:15:34.559 Now I don't think Joseph saw this assault coming. 00:15:34.799 --> 00:15:35.440 Do you? 00:15:36.240 --> 00:15:44.480 Do you think he woke up that day and said, hmm, today's the day I get thrown into a pit by my brothers. 00:15:44.720 --> 00:15:47.279 So I better wear padded clothing. 00:15:48.480 --> 00:15:50.960 He didn't see this assault coming. 00:15:51.840 --> 00:15:53.279 And neither did you. 00:15:55.759 --> 00:15:58.639 Joseph's pit came in the form of a cistern. 00:15:58.879 --> 00:16:00.720 Yours came in the form of. 00:16:02.399 --> 00:16:04.080 You want to fill in the blank? 00:16:04.639 --> 00:16:06.000 A diagnosis? 00:16:07.279 --> 00:16:09.919 A foster home, a traumatic injury? 00:16:11.360 --> 00:16:14.720 Joseph was thrown into a hole and despised. 00:16:15.039 --> 00:16:15.360 You? 00:16:16.080 --> 00:16:19.519 Maybe you were thrown into a divorce court and forgotten. 00:16:20.240 --> 00:16:22.559 Thrown into a bed and abused. 00:16:25.600 --> 00:16:30.000 Thrown into an unemployment line and passed over. 00:16:31.200 --> 00:16:31.840 The pit. 00:16:33.440 --> 00:16:37.759 Does anyone make it through life without getting thrown into a pit? 00:16:40.639 --> 00:16:44.320 Joseph's story, you remember, got worse before it got better. 00:16:45.120 --> 00:16:52.960 He would have died had his brothers not been a feather more greedy than they were bloodthirsty. 00:16:53.360 --> 00:16:55.519 And they had a chance to sell him into slavery. 00:16:55.679 --> 00:16:57.039 Can you imagine selling? 00:16:57.440 --> 00:16:58.240 Don't answer that. 00:16:58.320 --> 00:17:01.840 You may have sold your brother into slavery if you'd have had the chance. 00:17:03.200 --> 00:17:05.279 They sold him into slavery. 00:17:05.599 --> 00:17:09.759 So that abandonment led to enslavement. 00:17:09.920 --> 00:17:12.480 That enslavement led to entrapment. 00:17:12.640 --> 00:17:16.400 That entrapment, if you remember, led to imprisonment. 00:17:18.000 --> 00:17:26.559 Joseph's story was a downhill slide into one problem after another for over a decade. 00:17:26.799 --> 00:17:28.559 Yet he never gave up. 00:17:30.240 --> 00:17:33.119 Bitterness never staked its claim. 00:17:34.160 --> 00:17:37.599 Anxiety never consumed his soul. 00:17:39.119 --> 00:17:43.440 Anger never metastasized into hatred. 00:17:46.480 --> 00:17:48.400 Remember what happened? 00:17:48.799 --> 00:18:02.960 Because he stayed faithful and because he stayed available, he was there when God shoulder tapped him to move from prison to palace, from prisoner to prime minister. 00:18:03.440 --> 00:18:19.119 And then literally from one day to the next, Joseph went from no hope to having all the hope he could handle in being in charge of the most powerful worldwide relief effort in the history of the world. 00:18:19.279 --> 00:18:25.039 It's not hyperbole to state Joseph saved the world from famine. 00:18:25.920 --> 00:18:26.559 How? 00:18:28.240 --> 00:18:32.000 How did he not only survive, how did he thrive? 00:18:33.200 --> 00:18:35.440 Boy, we need to know the answer to that one. 00:18:38.079 --> 00:18:40.000 We don't have to speculate. 00:18:40.559 --> 00:18:49.039 Thanks to Joseph himself, we know what he believed that enabled him to have the faith to get through this. 00:18:49.279 --> 00:18:54.799 Years later, the final words spoken by Joseph in the book of Genesis. 00:18:55.039 --> 00:18:56.960 Joseph is speaking to his brothers. 00:18:57.119 --> 00:19:03.519 Yes, the same ones who threw him into a pit, the same ones who were willing to do away with him. 00:19:03.680 --> 00:19:11.519 By now, Joseph's father is dead, and Joseph's brothers are afraid that Joseph is going to settle the score. 00:19:11.680 --> 00:19:15.039 So they come to the prince begging for mercy. 00:19:15.200 --> 00:19:21.359 And Joseph, when he sees that they are afraid, says, You just don't get it, do you? 00:19:22.319 --> 00:19:23.920 You just don't get it. 00:19:24.640 --> 00:19:30.799 He says, as for you, you meant evil against me. 00:19:31.359 --> 00:19:42.079 But God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result to preserve many people alive. 00:19:43.039 --> 00:19:45.759 You meant evil against me. 00:19:46.640 --> 00:19:50.880 He acknowledges the presence of evil in his world. 00:19:51.519 --> 00:19:57.440 He uses a Hebrew verb which comes from another word that means to weave or to braid. 00:19:57.599 --> 00:20:00.319 He says, You came weaving evil. 00:20:01.200 --> 00:20:02.799 Braiding evil. 00:20:04.240 --> 00:20:05.839 Platting evil. 00:20:06.079 --> 00:20:09.759 You had every intention to destroy me. 00:20:10.000 --> 00:20:12.160 Then he says, but God. 00:20:13.200 --> 00:20:14.880 And he uses the same verb. 00:20:15.039 --> 00:20:17.519 And he says, but God rewove. 00:20:18.640 --> 00:20:20.000 God rewove. 00:20:20.400 --> 00:20:27.440 He took the evil that was intended to destroy me, and God rewove it into something good. 00:20:28.000 --> 00:20:34.319 Something good to preserve all of these many people, to keep these many people alive. 00:20:34.559 --> 00:20:41.519 What was intended as evil, God recycled and turned into something good. 00:20:41.920 --> 00:20:45.440 Satan's plan was logical and sinister. 00:20:45.920 --> 00:20:52.000 If he could destroy Abraham, he could destroy the seed of Abraham, Jesus Christ. 00:20:52.480 --> 00:20:55.440 But watch the master weaver at work. 00:20:55.680 --> 00:20:58.640 It's a divine jiu-jitsu of sorts. 00:20:58.799 --> 00:21:08.160 What Satan intends for evil, God reroutes using the very force that came with evil and turns it into something good. 00:21:08.319 --> 00:21:10.160 We see a perfect mess. 00:21:10.480 --> 00:21:15.599 God sees a perfect chance to train, test, and teach the future prime minister. 00:21:15.759 --> 00:21:17.279 We see a prison. 00:21:17.920 --> 00:21:20.960 God sees on-the-job training. 00:21:21.200 --> 00:21:22.559 We see a famine. 00:21:22.799 --> 00:21:27.119 God sees the relocation of his chosen lineage. 00:21:27.359 --> 00:21:28.960 We call it Egypt. 00:21:29.200 --> 00:21:31.920 God calls it protective custody. 00:21:34.480 --> 00:21:59.599 Where he can lift the family of Abraham, the lineage of Christ, out of barbaric Canaan, where the Canaanites and the Amorites are going to turn more and more savage with every passing century and lift them up and place them in Egypt, the very place where Egyptians have nothing to do with shepherds. 00:22:00.960 --> 00:22:24.400 So that this Bedouin tribe of shepherds can live in relative protection for 400 years until they go from a nation of 60 or so to a nation of over 1.5 million and then turn back and reinhabit the nation, the promised land of Israel. 00:22:24.559 --> 00:22:30.480 What was intended for evil, God reworked into something good. 00:22:30.880 --> 00:22:32.160 Joseph got this. 00:22:32.240 --> 00:22:35.440 And really, my whole question to you is do you? 00:22:39.680 --> 00:22:43.200 I'm not denying the presence of evil in your life. 00:22:44.799 --> 00:22:51.039 I don't think any page in Scripture invites us to say there's no evil on this planet. 00:22:51.920 --> 00:22:57.599 I mean, it seems that every page is stained by blood and marked by tears. 00:22:57.759 --> 00:22:58.720 Wouldn't you agree? 00:22:59.279 --> 00:23:02.160 And you could probably say the same in your life. 00:23:03.599 --> 00:23:07.440 It wasn't good that he touched you the way he did. 00:23:08.319 --> 00:23:14.000 It was not God's will that she reject you the way she did. 00:23:15.759 --> 00:23:32.079 It's not right that our world be so racked with violence and hatred, and that you be the victim of someone else's stupidity or be caught up in the evil that has been passed down from generation to generation. 00:23:32.559 --> 00:23:35.440 This will not last forever. 00:23:35.839 --> 00:23:37.039 It will not. 00:23:37.279 --> 00:23:53.279 In the meantime, God gives you this promise that what was intended to hurt you, what was intended to belittle you, what was intended to destroy you, God can recycle. 00:23:53.599 --> 00:23:57.039 And He can use that into something good. 00:23:57.279 --> 00:24:01.680 And the very evil that would destroy others will not destroy you. 00:24:01.839 --> 00:24:02.240 Why? 00:24:02.480 --> 00:24:06.000 Because you will keep a but God in your story. 00:24:06.480 --> 00:24:14.000 You intended evil, Joseph said to his brothers, but God reintended it for good. 00:24:14.160 --> 00:24:15.759 You're gonna stay faithful. 00:24:15.920 --> 00:24:17.279 You're not gonna give up. 00:24:17.440 --> 00:24:18.880 You're not gonna be bitter. 00:24:19.039 --> 00:24:26.240 You, like Joseph, may be betrayed by those who promise to be with you, who should have watched over you. 00:24:26.559 --> 00:24:33.200 You may be lied about, you may end up in a prison of someone else's own making. 00:24:33.359 --> 00:24:39.039 You may end up in a situation that would have destroyed others, but listen to me, you're gonna hang in there. 00:24:39.200 --> 00:24:40.960 You're gonna get through this. 00:24:41.279 --> 00:24:41.839 Why? 00:24:42.240 --> 00:24:48.400 Because you have God who can take any evil and turn this into something good. 00:24:48.640 --> 00:24:59.599 Now, this is a regular teaching in Scripture, and I think Christians need a healthy theology of hurt, a healthy understanding of hurt. 00:24:59.759 --> 00:25:05.279 There is no scripture that I have found that says when you become a Christian, hurt stops. 00:25:05.680 --> 00:25:07.680 We live in a world of hurt. 00:25:08.720 --> 00:25:12.240 Here's the promise: God will recycle the hurt. 00:25:12.640 --> 00:25:14.160 He will use the hurt. 00:25:14.319 --> 00:25:16.960 You'll be a better person because of the hurt. 00:25:17.119 --> 00:25:21.359 You'll be able to help other people that you couldn't have helped otherwise because of the hurt. 00:25:21.519 --> 00:25:24.240 You'll be stronger on the other side of the hurt. 00:25:24.400 --> 00:25:26.079 There will be hurt. 00:25:26.640 --> 00:25:28.400 But be of good cheer. 00:25:28.960 --> 00:25:33.680 Because the Lord Jesus has overcome all of the hurt in the world. 00:25:33.839 --> 00:25:37.039 And what was intended to destroy you will not. 00:25:37.359 --> 00:25:37.839 Why? 00:25:38.160 --> 00:25:42.319 Because God can take it and use it for something good. 00:25:42.720 --> 00:25:52.960 Now, this is a truth that doesn't appear just in Genesis 50, 20, as you know, but it appears in Romans 8 and verse 28. 00:25:53.519 --> 00:25:56.480 Romans 8.28 and Genesis 50.20, right? 00:25:56.640 --> 00:25:57.599 Parallel passages. 00:25:57.759 --> 00:26:00.720 One in the New Testament, one in the Old. 00:26:00.880 --> 00:26:14.079 Genesis, Romans 8.28 says, and we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. 00:26:14.400 --> 00:26:20.079 We know that in all things, in the all things of life, God works. 00:26:20.480 --> 00:26:24.640 The individual things are very difficult and challenging. 00:26:24.880 --> 00:26:30.640 But in the all things, when they all come together under God's protective plan, good happens. 00:26:30.799 --> 00:26:32.480 Let me give you an example of this. 00:26:33.200 --> 00:26:35.039 How many of you like coffee? 00:26:36.240 --> 00:26:38.880 Boy, my wife and I love coffee. 00:26:39.359 --> 00:26:43.200 Every morning we have a cup of coffee together. 00:26:43.440 --> 00:26:47.920 And we sit out on the porch and we look over the hill country and we sip on coffee. 00:26:48.160 --> 00:27:02.640 And inevitably, after I take my first sip, I turn to my wife, Dean Lynn, and I say, honey, that's good. 00:27:04.000 --> 00:27:05.039 That's good. 00:27:05.680 --> 00:27:10.720 Now when I say that coffee is good, what am I saying? 00:27:11.680 --> 00:27:15.359 Am I saying that the ceramic mug is good? 00:27:16.559 --> 00:27:19.599 Am I saying that the coffee maker is good? 00:27:20.319 --> 00:27:22.720 Am I saying that the plug is good? 00:27:22.880 --> 00:27:25.440 Am I saying that the spoon we used is good? 00:27:25.680 --> 00:27:27.920 Am I saying that the coffee filter is good? 00:27:28.079 --> 00:27:30.480 Am I saying that ground coffee is good? 00:27:30.720 --> 00:27:33.279 Am I saying that coffee beans are good? 00:27:33.519 --> 00:27:36.240 Am I saying that the scooper is good? 00:27:37.200 --> 00:27:37.519 No. 00:27:38.160 --> 00:27:57.759 I'm saying that when all of these things work together, when they're heated up, according to the original recipe, according to the person who designed it, when they all worked together, then good happens. 00:27:58.319 --> 00:28:01.920 It is not good that your parents divorced. 00:28:02.240 --> 00:28:04.960 It is not good that cancer has gone. 00:28:05.119 --> 00:28:10.960 You'll never catch me putting my arm around somebody at a graveside service and say, well, really, this is good. 00:28:11.200 --> 00:28:12.160