WEBVTT 00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:02.319 Welcome to the Awakening Church podcast. 00:00:02.479 --> 00:00:07.040 We pray this message encourages you and provides the hope and light of Jesus Christ. 00:00:07.200 --> 00:00:08.640 Thanks for tuning in. 00:00:18.800 --> 00:00:20.879 Well, good morning, Awakening Church. 00:00:20.960 --> 00:00:22.719 It is great to be with you. 00:00:22.879 --> 00:00:24.079 Welcome, welcome, welcome. 00:00:24.160 --> 00:00:24.960 My name's Ryan. 00:00:25.120 --> 00:00:28.559 If we haven't met, thrilled that you joined us today. 00:00:28.800 --> 00:00:34.399 Um, you know, a little over a week ago, yeah, just a tiny bit more. 00:00:34.560 --> 00:00:40.000 Jenny and I, we were at the urgent care with our son getting his foot checked out. 00:00:40.240 --> 00:00:49.600 Now, uh, we're a basketball family, he was playing ball, he had somebody land on his foot, and the pain continued for so long, we're like a little nervous. 00:00:49.920 --> 00:00:52.560 Um, you know, did you fracture your foot? 00:00:52.640 --> 00:00:54.479 So we're going to get it checked out. 00:00:54.719 --> 00:01:03.200 As we sat in the waiting room, and we could, you know, you know the like plexiglass that's in front of the receptionists these days, yeah? 00:01:03.439 --> 00:01:12.719 And there was a paper, this Microsoft, you know, printout uh tape to it that had this line. 00:01:14.000 --> 00:01:18.480 If you're not making mistakes, you're not trying. 00:01:20.640 --> 00:01:22.319 Well, maybe amen. 00:01:22.640 --> 00:01:28.799 If you're a part of an inspirational at a startup or art studio, but at an urgent care. 00:01:32.159 --> 00:01:37.280 I don't want my doctor going, well, learning. 00:01:38.159 --> 00:01:40.640 Oops, trying. 00:01:40.959 --> 00:01:43.120 If you're not making mistakes, you're not trying. 00:01:43.280 --> 00:01:46.000 Oh, sorry, it was the wrong foot. 00:01:46.400 --> 00:01:51.840 Um in that moment, my confidence waned quite a bit. 00:01:53.599 --> 00:01:57.840 And then there's another waiting room we sit in in life. 00:01:58.560 --> 00:02:02.560 The one where you wish you were anywhere else. 00:02:03.040 --> 00:02:09.840 Um, about five months ago or so, I pulled into the Stanford hospital. 00:02:11.520 --> 00:02:15.840 Some of our dearest friends on the planet are here once again. 00:02:17.039 --> 00:02:29.439 It's been a painfully long, discouraging road getting to this point, and our sweet friend is here for brain surgery. 00:02:30.080 --> 00:02:32.159 The second time in five years. 00:02:33.120 --> 00:02:42.719 I've come to be close by, I've come to pray, I've come to just sit and await with my buddy as his wife is in surgery. 00:02:43.680 --> 00:02:47.520 If you ever been there, you know time just moves. 00:02:48.479 --> 00:02:49.840 Like a crawl. 00:02:53.199 --> 00:03:00.479 You watch the clock, you replay the surgeon's timeline, you refresh your phone desperately for an update. 00:03:00.800 --> 00:03:03.360 Every text brings a bit of relief. 00:03:04.479 --> 00:03:12.159 But beneath it all, there's this ache, this tension of hoping and feeling helpless. 00:03:14.400 --> 00:03:26.080 Waiting is one of the hardest things we do in life, especially in the areas that matter the most. 00:03:27.840 --> 00:03:40.560 Waiting for a relationship to be restored, waiting for healing, waiting for God to move or work in your life, waiting for your future, a promise to be filled, or an answered prayer. 00:03:41.759 --> 00:03:47.840 What do you do when you're stuck in the waiting room of life? 00:03:50.319 --> 00:04:11.199 You're waiting to hear if you got into that dream school, that program, accepted your application to find out if you got the job, made the team, waiting for your prodigal son or daughter to return home, waiting for the right person to date, to marry, waiting, hoping to start a family. 00:04:11.599 --> 00:04:14.639 And then there's the pressure of Silicon Valley, isn't there? 00:04:15.360 --> 00:04:26.000 Silicon Valley, whether you're teen or in your 50s, there's this immense pressure to have life already figured out, to know where you're going, and to be successful already. 00:04:26.800 --> 00:04:38.160 If it feels it feels like everyone has their life together, everyone's getting ahead, moving forward, getting married, getting promoted, and sometimes it just feels like life is passing you by. 00:04:39.519 --> 00:04:44.879 What do you do when your dreams are delayed or you feel like your life's on pause? 00:04:49.120 --> 00:04:55.040 In these moments of waiting in the waiting room, I think there's three questions we wrestle with. 00:04:56.319 --> 00:04:57.439 Where is God? 00:04:59.040 --> 00:04:59.920 And the waiting. 00:05:13.680 --> 00:05:14.959 This is hard. 00:05:17.040 --> 00:05:20.879 And when will it ever end? 00:05:21.120 --> 00:05:22.399 When will it be over? 00:05:22.560 --> 00:05:27.360 When will the wait be over? 00:05:28.399 --> 00:05:31.839 Sermon title today is pretty obvious: The Waiting Room. 00:05:31.920 --> 00:05:33.360 Would you say that with me? 00:05:36.079 --> 00:05:38.000 The waiting room of life. 00:05:38.240 --> 00:05:42.480 What is God up to in these moments? 00:05:43.040 --> 00:05:49.680 Years ago, I was uh with and listening to an old theology professor, Dr. 00:05:49.759 --> 00:06:02.800 Bill Lawrence, and he had this line that just stuck out to me, and it began to help me frame and make sense of some of the process and the patterns of my life and what God was doing. 00:06:02.959 --> 00:06:14.399 And it begins to help shape as we're studying the life of Joseph, like, oh, this is how God actually doesn't just work in Joseph's life, this is how God works in our life as well. 00:06:14.560 --> 00:06:22.240 He said this line In God's economy, a zigzag line is the shortest distance between two points. 00:06:22.639 --> 00:06:24.560 How many of you take I don't want to ask that? 00:06:24.720 --> 00:06:26.319 You remember geometry? 00:06:26.560 --> 00:06:27.040 Yeah? 00:06:27.199 --> 00:06:29.759 The shortest distance between two points is what? 00:06:30.399 --> 00:06:32.000 A straight line, very good. 00:06:32.160 --> 00:06:50.000 And yet in God's economy, the shortest distance to living out your God-given purpose, fulfilling who He's made you to be, living out your calling isn't a direct shot. 00:06:50.079 --> 00:06:53.040 In fact, it's a zigzag line. 00:06:53.360 --> 00:06:55.920 Let's take the life of Joseph, for example. 00:06:56.079 --> 00:06:58.959 I I I drew a little chart for you. 00:06:59.279 --> 00:07:03.360 The life of Joseph begins, 17-year-old, he's got this dream. 00:07:04.000 --> 00:07:07.199 This dream to have impact, this dream to have influence. 00:07:07.279 --> 00:07:08.720 It's actually a good dream. 00:07:08.800 --> 00:07:10.639 It's God given at 17. 00:07:11.600 --> 00:07:15.360 He's unaware that his brothers hate him. 00:07:15.600 --> 00:07:17.120 He's the 11th of 12. 00:07:17.279 --> 00:07:29.680 His dad gave him the robe of um royalty, really, the robe of influence, the robe of honor, uh, the robe that said, even though you're 11th, I promote you to number one. 00:07:29.839 --> 00:07:34.399 And so his brothers hated him and they betray him. 00:07:36.319 --> 00:07:40.800 And they rip the robe from him and throw him into a pit. 00:07:42.079 --> 00:07:43.600 Zig, number one. 00:07:45.360 --> 00:07:47.759 They're wrestling with what are they gonna do with their brother? 00:07:47.920 --> 00:07:49.519 Maybe kill him was the first option. 00:07:49.680 --> 00:07:52.399 They said that we won't get anything, we have to cover it up. 00:07:52.560 --> 00:07:53.680 Let's sell him. 00:07:55.519 --> 00:07:58.560 Only brothers could come up with this kind of logic. 00:07:59.199 --> 00:08:16.319 They sell him to some traitors that are passing by, and he moves from this pit of despair, and he's then taken down to Egypt to the superpower of their day, and he's sold to Potiphar, who is uh in the court of Pharaoh. 00:08:16.399 --> 00:08:18.079 He's the captain of the guard. 00:08:18.399 --> 00:08:22.560 And it looks like okay, is this now my life, my new life? 00:08:22.639 --> 00:08:23.600 Is this it? 00:08:24.160 --> 00:08:28.240 I'm learning a new culture, a new language, and I'm a slave. 00:08:29.519 --> 00:08:32.879 And there, something that uh we'll revisit again. 00:08:33.120 --> 00:08:34.320 We see this over and over. 00:08:34.399 --> 00:08:39.440 It says that even in Potiphar's home, it says that the Lord was with him. 00:08:40.000 --> 00:08:45.200 The Lord gave him favor, so much so that Potiphar said, I'm gonna entrust everything to you. 00:08:46.080 --> 00:08:55.919 He gave him responsibility after responsibility, eventually put a robe of leadership on him that he oversaw the entire household and affairs of Potiphar. 00:08:56.000 --> 00:09:02.159 But Potiphar's wife took notice, we talked about this last week, took notice of him, pursued him. 00:09:02.399 --> 00:09:03.600 He's a man of integrity. 00:09:03.759 --> 00:09:22.159 He even orchestrated his work and his days so he didn't have to be around her, and she sabotaged it, set a plan, dismissed the servants, and he shows up and she seizes him, grabs him, and he resists and he runs, but she rips his robe off once again. 00:09:23.679 --> 00:09:25.759 And now he's falsely accused. 00:09:26.799 --> 00:09:30.240 And things go from bad to worse. 00:09:30.799 --> 00:09:32.240 He's now thrown in prison. 00:09:32.320 --> 00:09:34.639 He's thrown in the royal prison, though. 00:09:35.759 --> 00:09:39.200 And so you see the zigs and the zags of Joseph Life. 00:09:39.279 --> 00:09:45.759 He goes from the pit to Potiphar to prison, and yet again we see this line, and the Lord was with him. 00:09:47.360 --> 00:09:49.120 And he had favor on him. 00:09:49.200 --> 00:09:59.600 And the the chief jailer sees, like, hey, this guy's like whatever he does, he's good at, and he's blessed, gives him more responsibility, more responsibility. 00:09:59.759 --> 00:10:03.200 Eventually, he is the prisoner overseeing all the prisoners. 00:10:04.080 --> 00:10:13.360 And one day, the text tells us that the chief cupbearer and the baker, now, these weren't just like a vintner, which is fantastic, by the way. 00:10:13.519 --> 00:10:16.799 We're live in the land of Napa Valley, so we love wine around here. 00:10:16.879 --> 00:10:22.000 And this isn't just the baker, which we I love treats, I love sweets, it's amazing. 00:10:22.320 --> 00:10:27.440 These were like high-level court officials of Pharaoh. 00:10:28.559 --> 00:10:31.759 They they guarded and safeguarded his food. 00:10:32.000 --> 00:10:40.240 They were confidants and gave insight and uh were speaking, you know, giving him wisdom. 00:10:40.559 --> 00:10:42.159 He got mad at them for some reason. 00:10:42.240 --> 00:10:44.240 We don't know why, threw them in jail. 00:10:44.399 --> 00:10:45.519 And the text says this. 00:10:45.679 --> 00:10:46.960 We're not told about a timeline. 00:10:47.039 --> 00:10:52.639 You can see the dotted line here that it was 13 years from dream to the palace, but he's in the prison. 00:10:52.720 --> 00:10:56.480 And and just the text tells us sometime later. 00:10:58.240 --> 00:10:59.840 Like I've just been here in this place. 00:11:00.000 --> 00:11:03.440 I've just been waiting some time later. 00:11:04.960 --> 00:11:09.279 The cupbearer and the baker, they have a dream. 00:11:09.440 --> 00:11:13.039 Joe shows up into the moment, he sees them, he sees their faces downcast. 00:11:13.120 --> 00:11:13.759 He said, What's wrong? 00:11:13.840 --> 00:11:14.559 What's troubling you? 00:11:14.720 --> 00:11:17.519 They said, We have a dream, and but we don't have anyone to interpret. 00:11:17.679 --> 00:11:25.840 In ancient Egypt, they had professional dream interpreters, by the way, and they had books that had like, you know, helped them discern the symbolism of the dream. 00:11:25.919 --> 00:11:28.240 They're like, There's no professional interpreter. 00:11:28.399 --> 00:11:31.679 And Joe says this, don't dreams belong to God? 00:11:31.840 --> 00:11:32.480 Tell it to me. 00:11:32.559 --> 00:11:34.320 I think we could figure it out. 00:11:34.879 --> 00:11:41.039 Well, the cupbearer tells his dream, and uh Joe says, Hey, good news. 00:11:41.360 --> 00:11:45.200 In three days, you're gonna be restored to your position. 00:11:45.440 --> 00:11:47.360 You're gonna be back serving the Pharaoh. 00:11:47.600 --> 00:11:49.279 When you do, remember me. 00:11:49.360 --> 00:11:51.279 And then he tells his zigzag journey. 00:11:51.440 --> 00:11:55.679 My brothers betrayed me, I was thrown into a pit, I was sold to Potiphar, I was falsely accused. 00:11:55.840 --> 00:11:56.480 Remember me. 00:11:56.639 --> 00:11:59.039 I can't get before Pharaoh, but you can. 00:11:59.840 --> 00:12:02.399 Well, the baker thought, well, that's a good interpretation. 00:12:02.480 --> 00:12:03.759 I'm gonna tell him my dream. 00:12:03.919 --> 00:12:07.679 And he says, like about these baskets on his head with bread and the birds are eating them. 00:12:07.840 --> 00:12:09.360 Joe says, Well, that's not a good dream. 00:12:09.440 --> 00:12:10.559 I'm sorry, my friend. 00:12:10.799 --> 00:12:14.080 Because in three days, you're gonna be executed. 00:12:14.320 --> 00:12:18.320 And three days later, everything happens as Joseph said. 00:12:20.399 --> 00:12:24.960 And yet, there's this curious little line at the end of the chapter. 00:12:25.440 --> 00:12:33.279 And the cupbearer, after he was restored, did not remember Joseph. 00:12:34.159 --> 00:12:35.039 He forgot. 00:12:37.279 --> 00:12:42.399 And he was forgotten for two years. 00:12:44.000 --> 00:12:48.960 What do you do when you're stuck in the waiting room of life? 00:12:49.919 --> 00:12:55.360 The three questions we ask, I believe God wants to answer in our time together. 00:12:55.600 --> 00:12:57.600 Where is God in the waiting? 00:12:57.759 --> 00:12:58.799 What is he doing? 00:12:59.039 --> 00:13:01.600 And when will it end? 00:13:02.240 --> 00:13:04.080 Where is God in the waiting? 00:13:04.320 --> 00:13:10.320 In your waiting room when you're stuck, God is with you in the waiting. 00:13:10.559 --> 00:13:13.039 Genesis 39, 20 says it this way. 00:13:13.279 --> 00:13:16.720 But while Joseph was there in prison, the Lord was what? 00:13:18.000 --> 00:13:18.720 That was pretty good. 00:13:18.799 --> 00:13:19.679 We can do it better, though. 00:13:19.759 --> 00:13:20.639 I know we can. 00:13:20.960 --> 00:13:22.320 The Lord was what? 00:13:23.440 --> 00:13:24.000 Fantastic. 00:13:24.159 --> 00:13:27.279 He was with them in the prison. 00:13:28.559 --> 00:13:36.639 In the place just where he's confined and he's unjustly accused, and he's just waiting, feeling like he's eking out his days. 00:13:36.799 --> 00:13:38.639 God says, I'm with you there. 00:13:39.440 --> 00:13:43.759 And he showed him that word kindness is the Hebrew word hasid. 00:13:44.080 --> 00:13:47.039 It says covenant, faithful love. 00:13:47.919 --> 00:13:49.279 Granted him favor. 00:13:50.799 --> 00:13:58.639 The most repeated line, uh command in all of Scripture is do not be anyone? 00:13:59.360 --> 00:13:59.840 Afraid. 00:14:00.000 --> 00:14:00.320 Yeah. 00:14:00.559 --> 00:14:07.600 Well, over 300 times throughout the scriptures it says, do not be afraid, do not be afraid, do not be afraid. 00:14:07.759 --> 00:14:16.720 And then almost always coupled with that line, do not be afraid, is the promise, for I am with you. 00:14:17.519 --> 00:14:19.919 Joshua 1 9 says it this way. 00:14:20.240 --> 00:14:27.679 Have I not commanded you, be strong and courageous, do not be afraid, do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. 00:14:28.000 --> 00:14:33.600 Isaiah 43, 1 and 2 says, Do not fear, for I have redeemed you, I have summoned you by name. 00:14:33.679 --> 00:14:34.240 You are mine. 00:14:34.399 --> 00:14:39.200 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you. 00:14:39.840 --> 00:14:52.720 Jesus, as he was giving his the great commission before he left the disciples, he said, Surely I am with you always, even to the very end of the age. 00:14:52.879 --> 00:14:54.960 Notice what God doesn't say. 00:14:55.519 --> 00:14:59.519 Don't be afraid because I'm gonna fix it all. 00:15:00.879 --> 00:15:04.559 Don't be afraid because I'm gonna change your circumstances. 00:15:06.240 --> 00:15:10.480 Don't be afraid, don't worry because the waiting's over. 00:15:12.399 --> 00:15:14.559 I'm gonna make it so it's not so scary. 00:15:14.720 --> 00:15:22.559 He says, I am with you, and my presence is enough for you no matter what you're going through. 00:15:23.440 --> 00:15:27.519 It reminds me, and I've told this story before, but it's one of the best pictures for this. 00:15:27.600 --> 00:15:35.360 When my daughter, who's now 21, was very little, uh, I love surfing, we're paddleboarding uh at the beach, and she wanted to go out with me. 00:15:35.519 --> 00:15:54.240 I was like, Oh, this is awesome! I'd love to share this with you, take you out, and put the life vest on her, and you know, we get out just past the break, and she's sitting in the middle of the um the paddleboard like this, and she's holding onto her knees, you know, and you just see her just start to shake and tremble. 00:15:54.559 --> 00:15:58.720 And she goes, Dad, dad, the waves are so big. 00:15:59.279 --> 00:16:00.559 Dad, I'm so scared. 00:16:00.720 --> 00:16:06.720 Dad, dad, we're so far from the shore, and and and the water's so deep. 00:16:06.799 --> 00:16:08.879 And take me back, take me back. 00:16:09.039 --> 00:16:15.200 And I just leaned over to her and whispered in her ear, suck it up. 00:16:19.759 --> 00:16:22.000 Of course I didn't say that. 00:16:23.679 --> 00:16:26.960 But some of us think that's what God's saying to us, don't we? 00:16:27.679 --> 00:16:36.480 Some of us think God's like, we're in that moment, we're shaking, we're struggling, and we think God's leaning over, like, oh, suck it up. 00:16:38.000 --> 00:16:39.759 You know what I told her? 00:16:41.279 --> 00:16:42.639 It's okay. 00:16:43.440 --> 00:16:45.440 Your dad's with you. 00:16:47.120 --> 00:16:52.320 You know, if you're all by yourself, you're a little girl, and you're in the middle of the ocean, it's a frightful thing. 00:16:52.480 --> 00:16:55.759 But if you're with your dad, you're gonna be okay. 00:16:56.159 --> 00:17:11.279 And you can experience the waves and the wind and the depth in a different way, not because anything's changed, it's just because the presence of your dad is with you, and God looks to you in the middle of whatever you're going through in the waiting, he says, I'm with you. 00:17:11.680 --> 00:17:13.119 And it's enough. 00:17:13.839 --> 00:17:16.319 It's enough for you. 00:17:16.720 --> 00:17:18.079 My presence is enough. 00:17:18.240 --> 00:17:20.799 Where is God in the waiting? 00:17:21.039 --> 00:17:21.839 He's with you. 00:17:22.000 --> 00:17:23.920 Well, what is he doing? 00:17:24.319 --> 00:17:26.799 God, what are you doing in this time? 00:17:26.960 --> 00:17:28.559 What are you doing in this pause? 00:17:28.720 --> 00:17:33.440 What are you doing when I'm just at this dead-end job, when it feels like others are passing me by? 00:17:33.599 --> 00:17:42.799 When I have this heart and hope for healing or my marriage or this relationship or family, what are you doing? 00:17:43.680 --> 00:17:47.759 God is still working in the waiting. 00:17:49.039 --> 00:17:52.160 His silence does not mean his absence. 00:17:53.839 --> 00:18:00.799 What feels like a pause, God is actively at work in and through it all. 00:18:00.880 --> 00:18:04.720 Let me give you three areas that God is working in the waiting. 00:18:04.880 --> 00:18:08.720 The first area he's working in the waiting is he is working in you. 00:18:09.519 --> 00:18:11.440 Why don't you notice something about Joe? 00:18:11.599 --> 00:18:12.799 This is fantastic. 00:18:13.039 --> 00:18:15.359 Do you remember Joe at the beginning, 17 years old? 00:18:15.440 --> 00:18:17.279 He's kind of a cocky dreamer kid. 00:18:17.440 --> 00:18:19.279 His brothers hate him, by the way. 00:18:19.440 --> 00:18:21.279 He doesn't even notice their hatred. 00:18:21.359 --> 00:18:24.640 He's still wearing the multicolored jacket his dad gave him. 00:18:24.799 --> 00:18:26.799 He's showing up telling them his dream. 00:18:26.960 --> 00:18:28.559 He doesn't notice anything. 00:18:28.720 --> 00:18:31.119 And then it says this, Genesis 40, verse 6. 00:18:31.359 --> 00:18:37.359 When Joseph came to them, the chief cupbearer and baker, he saw, he noticed that they were dejected. 00:18:37.519 --> 00:18:41.839 In fact, he the another way he says, he noticed their downcast face. 00:18:42.480 --> 00:18:44.640 Like he just saw something in their look. 00:18:44.880 --> 00:18:48.880 So he asked them, uh, why do you look so sad today? 00:18:49.200 --> 00:18:52.559 Well, we both had dreams, but there is no one to interpret them. 00:18:52.799 --> 00:18:55.519 And then he said, Do not interpretations belong to God? 00:18:55.680 --> 00:18:56.640 Tell me your dream. 00:18:56.720 --> 00:19:18.640 I want you to notice that God was working in Joseph in such profound ways that this self-absorbed, cocky, arrogant kid that was all about himself, that yes, indeed, had a God-given dream, but was not in any way, his character was not in a place to be able to live or hold out that God-given dream through the zigzag life. 00:19:18.799 --> 00:19:21.359 He is now in a place where he's stuck in prison. 00:19:21.519 --> 00:19:24.400 He is not acting like he is a helpless, can't do anything. 00:19:24.640 --> 00:19:28.240 He sees their downcast face and says, What's going on? 00:19:29.279 --> 00:19:32.559 Instead of self-focused, he's other focused. 00:19:32.640 --> 00:19:35.119 He's concerned, he's looking at their needs. 00:19:35.279 --> 00:19:44.160 Instead of throwing himself a pity party, he's practicing, you know, how do I serve those that God has placed in front of me? 00:19:44.960 --> 00:19:47.759 He's working in you in these seasons. 00:19:47.839 --> 00:19:58.079 I want you to notice something too about his God confidence, because by the way, intimacy with God is almost always forged through the fires of life. 00:19:58.960 --> 00:20:14.000 Through the strategic pauses, through those waiting room moments, through the places where you don't realize God is all you need until God is all you have. 00:20:15.759 --> 00:20:19.599 And he says, Do not interpretations belong to God? 00:20:20.400 --> 00:20:23.839 I know we don't have a professional interpreter here, but guess what? 00:20:24.079 --> 00:20:27.039 I've forged such an intimate relationship with God. 00:20:27.200 --> 00:20:29.119 I think he'll show me if you tell me. 00:20:31.440 --> 00:20:33.279 What is God doing in the waiting? 00:20:33.359 --> 00:20:34.480 Well, he's working in you. 00:20:34.640 --> 00:20:37.039 Secondly, he will work through you. 00:20:41.039 --> 00:20:41.519 What do you mean? 00:20:41.599 --> 00:20:43.279 This is a dead-end job. 00:20:44.160 --> 00:20:44.880 What do you mean? 00:20:45.279 --> 00:20:51.359 I'm waiting for my marriage to finally, you know, get fixed or healed. 00:20:51.440 --> 00:20:54.559 I'm I'm waiting for, you know, that next season. 00:20:54.640 --> 00:21:01.200 I'm a high school student, and you know, when I step into like that the college, then you know, I'll finally kind of step into life. 00:21:01.519 --> 00:21:02.000 What do you mean? 00:21:02.160 --> 00:21:05.920 No, God right now, He longs to work through you where you are. 00:21:07.039 --> 00:21:14.559 He longs to use your life in powerful ways if we'll just pay attention to who God's placed in front of us. 00:21:17.279 --> 00:21:21.119 Hey, a cupbearer, Baker showed up. 00:21:21.920 --> 00:21:24.720 I don't like the place that I'm at, Joe would say that. 00:21:24.799 --> 00:21:26.559 In fact, he tried to get out of that. 00:21:26.960 --> 00:21:29.119 He's like, he he pled his case. 00:21:29.359 --> 00:21:33.839 But this is where I'm placed, and so God, whoever you place in front of me, I'm gonna serve. 00:21:34.720 --> 00:21:40.480 We so often lean in and get into circumstances, psychologists call it learned helplessness. 00:21:41.279 --> 00:21:45.680 Nothing I can do can change anything. 00:21:46.160 --> 00:21:47.839 So why try? 00:21:48.160 --> 00:21:51.920 You know what they tell us that breaks learned helplessness? 00:21:52.880 --> 00:21:54.720 Helping others. 00:21:56.000 --> 00:21:57.039 Every time. 00:22:00.000 --> 00:22:04.400 I can't change my circumstances, but I certainly can serve you. 00:22:08.240 --> 00:22:10.319 See, God is working in you. 00:22:10.720 --> 00:22:12.960 God longs to work through you. 00:22:13.200 --> 00:22:19.200 And in the zigzag of life, God is working for you. 00:22:21.200 --> 00:22:23.920 Can we bring up that zigzag again? 00:22:26.960 --> 00:22:34.240 Remember, in God's economy, the most direct route to living out your God-given purpose in life is a zigzag line. 00:22:34.400 --> 00:22:44.960 Joseph at 17, he had no idea that 20 years later there would be a famine that would sweep over the known world at the time. 00:22:45.200 --> 00:22:51.279 That not only would his family and their livelihood be in jeopardy, everyone else's livelihood would be in jeopardy. 00:22:51.440 --> 00:22:58.640 Not even the super world if uh superpower that day, Egypt, if they weren't properly prepared, the devastation would be horrific. 00:22:59.440 --> 00:23:22.640 He's a 17-year-old with a God-given dream, but he has no idea that every step of the way was actually God positioning him to place him in a way where he could have impact and influence and develop his character to a place where when he put on the robe of royalty to be second in command, he was able to hold it in a way of service. 00:23:24.559 --> 00:23:26.480 Like God was working for him. 00:23:26.640 --> 00:23:29.839 We'll find out at the very end of this series. 00:23:30.000 --> 00:23:33.119 The very last sermon is called, But God. 00:23:33.200 --> 00:23:36.240 It's one of my favorite lines in all of Scripture. 00:23:36.799 --> 00:23:38.880 You intended it for harm. 00:23:39.039 --> 00:23:43.039 There's people who've done things to you, against you, who have harmed you. 00:23:43.119 --> 00:23:45.920 You intended it for harm and for evil. 00:23:46.240 --> 00:24:06.079 But God, He is sovereign and provident over the course of your life, and nothing that you've done or has come into your life and has been done against you can thwart God's purposes in your life, and you surrender them into the hands of God and say, but God intended it for good for the saving of many lives. 00:24:07.279 --> 00:24:10.160 God is working for you. 00:24:17.200 --> 00:24:17.519 Oh. 00:24:20.720 --> 00:24:22.640 So what is God doing? 00:24:26.319 --> 00:24:28.079 God is working in you. 00:24:28.720 --> 00:24:31.119 He is working through you. 00:24:35.920 --> 00:24:40.960 We have this big tree outside our house, and it's dropping all sorts of leaves. 00:24:41.200 --> 00:24:42.720 Anybody got that going on right now? 00:24:43.119 --> 00:24:43.759 Yeah. 00:24:44.160 --> 00:24:45.519 It's fall time. 00:24:47.119 --> 00:24:53.200 By the end of November, after we get a few storms, there's gonna not be a leaf on it. 00:24:54.400 --> 00:24:55.920 It's gonna be barren. 00:24:58.960 --> 00:25:09.920 You ever wonder what God is doing during the barren, dry, empty spaces of your life? 00:25:10.880 --> 00:25:20.079 A tree, by the way, botanists will tell us, has its greatest root growth when there's no leaves on the tree. 00:25:21.359 --> 00:25:28.880 When you can see nothing on the surface, the greatest growth is happening underground. 00:25:31.599 --> 00:25:38.319 This is what God is doing in you and through you and for you in the waiting room. 00:25:41.599 --> 00:25:45.599 And then there's the question, when in the world will it end? 00:25:47.920 --> 00:25:49.440 When will it be over? 00:25:51.039 --> 00:25:57.039 And the honest, true answer is, I don't know. 00:25:59.680 --> 00:26:00.799 You don't know. 00:26:02.480 --> 00:26:08.160 Joseph had no idea that he would be on a thirteen-year zigzag. 00:26:10.319 --> 00:26:14.559 Joseph had no idea if the prison was just the end. 00:26:16.319 --> 00:26:24.079 He shared and pled his case with the cupbearer, and then the cupbearer forgot him for two years. 00:26:25.359 --> 00:26:31.039 Joseph had no idea if he would ever be remembered again. 00:26:31.200 --> 00:26:32.480 When will it end? 00:26:32.640 --> 00:26:36.480 The honest answer is we don't know. 00:26:37.039 --> 00:26:39.839 But here's what I do know. 00:26:41.599 --> 00:26:44.880 God has not forgotten you in the waiting. 00:26:45.920 --> 00:26:50.160 God has not forgotten you in the waiting. 00:26:50.559 --> 00:26:55.680 Genesis 40, 23 says, the chief cupbearer, however, did not remember Joseph. 00:26:55.839 --> 00:26:56.720 He forgot him. 00:26:57.839 --> 00:26:59.039 Two years. 00:26:59.519 --> 00:27:00.960 Dag nabbit. 00:27:04.319 --> 00:27:07.599 God has not forgotten you in the waiting. 00:27:07.680 --> 00:27:14.720 In the Hebrew, that word remember, it doesn't mean to like mentally recall something. 00:27:14.880 --> 00:27:16.240 Oh, I remember that. 00:27:17.519 --> 00:27:22.880 It means to act decisively on uh behal on behalf of someone. 00:27:23.599 --> 00:27:29.519 Throughout scripture, there's this theologically rich line. 00:27:30.160 --> 00:27:31.759 God remembers. 00:27:33.039 --> 00:27:34.640 God remembers. 00:27:35.119 --> 00:27:42.160 God remembers is a covenantal phrase describing God's faithful movement to act redemptively on behalf of his people. 00:27:42.400 --> 00:27:48.559 When God remembers, he's not calling to mind something forgotten, but calling into being his promises. 00:27:49.279 --> 00:27:57.359 Every time this phrase appears, it signals a decisive moment where God breaks the silence and steps in to deliver, rescue, or restore. 00:27:58.319 --> 00:28:02.000 Genesis 8, and God, it says, remember Noah. 00:28:02.079 --> 00:28:03.359 It wasn't like he forgot him. 00:28:03.519 --> 00:28:06.240 It's now he acted decisively on Noah's behalf. 00:28:06.319 --> 00:28:08.720 The waters recede, new creation begins. 00:28:09.039 --> 00:28:14.079 Genesis 19, then God remembered Abraham, and Lot was rescued from destruction. 00:28:14.240 --> 00:28:21.039 Genesis 30, God remembered Rachel, and her barrenness was reversed, and Joseph was born. 00:28:21.440 --> 00:28:24.319 God remembered his covenant, Exodus 2, 24. 00:28:24.480 --> 00:28:27.599 And you see this Exodus and redemption begin. 00:28:27.839 --> 00:28:32.880 1 Samuel 1, God remembered Hannah and Samuel was born and a prophet raised. 00:28:33.119 --> 00:28:40.960 Luke 1, 54, God remembered his mercy, and Jesus the Christ was sent to save. 00:28:41.279 --> 00:28:47.200 And then we see this line of the thief next to Jesus. 00:28:48.160 --> 00:28:50.079 He says, Remember me. 00:28:52.000 --> 00:28:58.400 He wasn't asking Jesus to think about him when he stepped into heaven. 00:28:58.799 --> 00:28:59.920 Remember me. 00:29:01.200 --> 00:29:04.240 Act decisively on my behalf. 00:29:04.400 --> 00:29:07.839 And Jesus looked at him on hanging there on the cross with him. 00:29:08.000 --> 00:29:15.200 He says, Today, today you will be with me in paradise. 00:29:17.519 --> 00:29:20.640 I don't know the waiting room. 00:29:22.319 --> 00:29:28.799 I don't know the pause or how long it will be. 00:29:30.400 --> 00:29:38.000 But what I do know is God has not forgotten you in the waiting room. 00:29:38.799 --> 00:29:47.519 And what He promised you and what he showed you in the light, He will bring it to completion. 00:29:47.759 --> 00:29:48.720 I love this line. 00:29:48.799 --> 00:29:50.799 I've hung on to it through so many seasons. 00:29:50.960 --> 00:29:56.400 Don't question in the darkness what God has clearly shown you in the light. 00:29:56.640 --> 00:30:12.880 There's a scripture, we need these promises that we just cling to through these seasons, and one that I've cling to for so long is that he who began a good work in you is faithful and will bring it to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. 00:30:13.519 --> 00:30:15.279 Like God, you started this. 00:30:15.440 --> 00:30:17.279 Jesus, you started this. 00:30:17.519 --> 00:30:20.480 And I'm a mess if we're honest. 00:30:20.640 --> 00:30:27.039 I don't know how you're gonna bring it to completion, but what I'm confident is not on my ability, but God's ability. 00:30:27.200 --> 00:30:36.400 I'm not confident on my promises, I'm confident on your promises, and because you said it, I'm gonna bank on it, and what you begin, you'll finish. 00:30:36.480 --> 00:30:38.319 And so I'm in the in-between, baby. 00:30:38.400 --> 00:30:48.720 I'm hanging out here and I'm feeling like I'm just waiting, but you're here, you're with me, you've not forgotten me, and you are moving and working in my life. 00:30:54.079 --> 00:30:57.200 I remember it's about three years ago. 00:30:57.279 --> 00:31:00.640 We were on this mission to Mexico with our high schoolers. 00:31:00.960 --> 00:31:02.880 The very first one we did with them is awesome. 00:31:03.039 --> 00:31:20.079 Taking them down to uh the mission, and I was wrestling with God because I felt like God had put some dreams on my heart, some promises, and about a decade later, I'm looking at it and going, God, where are you? 00:31:22.319 --> 00:31:24.079 Did I hear you wrong? 00:31:25.680 --> 00:31:27.599 Should I give up on them? 00:31:29.359 --> 00:31:35.279 You know, just dream smaller, and if you dream small enough, you'll never be disappointed. 00:31:37.440 --> 00:31:48.400 And so I'm pouring my heart out to God around these dreams that He's put on my heart, and looking at where I'm at, I'm like, I don't see any earthly way how you're gonna do that. 00:31:49.440 --> 00:31:52.640 God, I feel like you've forgotten me. 00:31:53.279 --> 00:31:55.759 That have just been put on the shelf. 00:31:57.839 --> 00:31:59.359 That you pass by. 00:32:01.680 --> 00:32:04.559 We go, uh, they did worship every morning. 00:32:04.720 --> 00:32:06.079 It was beautiful, it was powerful. 00:32:06.240 --> 00:32:15.759 You'd have these, you know, kids who are in the orphanage, and they and their house parents and leaders, and then other people, and they had an incredible worship team. 00:32:15.839 --> 00:32:25.039 And and we're in this moment, we're worshiping together, and this this young guy just grabs my shoulder and I go, hi, and she's do you speak Spanish? 00:32:25.119 --> 00:32:26.160 And I'm like, No. 00:32:26.799 --> 00:32:36.240 Um God put it on my heart to share something with you, and then she just sits down, she just starts typing, and it's like a long time. 00:32:37.200 --> 00:32:39.200 And I'm going, what's going on? 00:32:39.759 --> 00:32:45.279 And then she gets Google Translate, and she just shows it to me. 00:32:47.839 --> 00:32:53.279 And as I just began to read what she wrote, I began to weep. 00:32:54.559 --> 00:33:03.119 Because some of the very lines that Google translated of what she said were the very lines I wrote in my journal. 00:33:05.759 --> 00:33:10.000 And God's whispering, I've not forgotten you. 00:33:11.279 --> 00:33:20.960 I've placed those dreams in your heart, I've placed those things, and and I've I you're in the zig and you're in the zag, and I'm working and I'm forming, I've not forgotten you. 00:33:21.119 --> 00:33:26.480 And friends, for some of you, right now, this moment is God saying to you, I've not forgotten you. 00:33:28.240 --> 00:33:39.839 I am with you, I am for you, I am working even though you don't see it, even though you don't feel it, and I've not forgotten you, I remember, and when I remember, I act decisively. 00:33:43.359 --> 00:33:45.279 You know what's interesting. 00:33:46.400 --> 00:33:48.880 There's only one thing God doesn't remember. 00:33:49.680 --> 00:33:50.799 Did you know that? 00:33:51.279 --> 00:33:52.880 He chooses not to. 00:33:56.240 --> 00:34:01.599 He says, I remember your sins no more. 00:34:03.200 --> 00:34:08.639 As far as the east is from the west, so far have I moved your sins from you. 00:34:08.800 --> 00:34:11.199 And it's not like he's a forgetful God. 00:34:11.360 --> 00:34:16.719 He says, No, no, no, I remember your sins no more because I remember my son. 00:34:17.599 --> 00:34:22.000 And you want to know that you've not been forgotten, you just take a look at the cross. 00:34:22.239 --> 00:34:28.960 I came for you, I died for you, I have risen to new life that you might have new life in me. 00:34:29.199 --> 00:34:30.400 I came for you. 00:34:35.440 --> 00:34:41.760 For some, your dreams, the things that you're wrestling with, you feel like the things you've done have disqualified you. 00:34:43.920 --> 00:34:46.239 That you're broken or you're damaged. 00:34:46.559 --> 00:35:02.239 In this moment, you cry out to the God who loves you, who restores, who brings healing, who redeems, who forgives, who loves you with an everlasting, unrelenting love. 00:35:06.320 --> 00:35:20.559 Who remembers you, who sees you, who calls you by name, call out what you're waiting for. 00:35:25.039 --> 00:35:26.239 He's with you right now. 00:35:31.119 --> 00:35:33.199 Jesus, we just invite you in this moment. 00:35:39.440 --> 00:35:44.159 Because I know there's so many of us that just feel stuck. 00:35:48.880 --> 00:35:50.960 We're crying out, where are you? 00:35:51.119 --> 00:35:53.920 And you've been whispering, I'm here all along. 00:35:54.239 --> 00:36:06.880 May my friends encounter you afresh, and may this be one of those moments where they hear your clarity, your voice, your love, your kindness, your withness. 00:36:10.880 --> 00:36:12.239 Would you strengthen them? 00:36:12.320 --> 00:36:13.920 Would you encourage them? 00:36:14.159 --> 00:36:17.599 Would you refresh the dreams you've put on their heart? 00:36:17.840 --> 00:36:21.840 Would you put a new dream, a bigger dream, a God-sized dream? 00:36:26.000 --> 00:36:27.679 For your name's sake. 00:36:28.159 --> 00:36:29.760 In Jesus' name. 00:36:32.400 --> 00:36:34.639 We hope you are blessed by this message. 00:36:34.880 --> 00:36:39.280 Please subscribe to our podcast for access to every episode as they're uploaded. 00:36:39.440 --> 00:36:41.519 And hey, we'd love to connect with you. 00:36:41.760 --> 00:36:47.519 Take a next step by filling out our virtual connection card at awakeningchurch.com slash card.