[0:00] This message was recorded at Vision Baptist Church in Alfred, Georgia. It is our prayer that you will be blessed by the preaching of God's Word. Alright, take your Bibles if you would and open them to Genesis chapter 40 with me if you would.
[0:11] Genesis chapter 40. I'm so glad that I get to share with you a big lesson tonight. Every week I, or every service and every time I preach I try my best to find out what I think that the Lord would have.
[0:24] This is actually a message if you were at Vision a long time ago. We went through this because we're now going through the book of Genesis and I went through the life of Joseph with you.
[0:34] But I've got a question for you tonight. Is your life different than what you expected a few years ago? Are you in a place in your life where things haven't worked out like you thought they would?
[0:47] Have you gone through or are you going through a very large, dry, frustrating time in your life? We're going to look at Joseph's life and Joseph is in prison and he's a forgotten man.
[1:01] This is just wasted here but let me just tell you. As a young guy I really wanted to be used of God. I don't know why. I think it's a little bit unusual, a little bit weird.
[1:12] I had this hunger to really be used of God. It affected my dreams at night. It affected what I thought about during the daytime. I was consumed with my life being used of God.
[1:25] I've dreamed many, many times of preaching to large football stadiums full of people and holding my Bible like Billy Graham used to when he was a young preacher and holding my Bible up where I could see myself.
[1:37] And I've been in the middle of preaching in front of everybody and these dreams still happen to me on occasion. And I would look down and realize that I was naked. And I would be standing there and I would look down and I'd say, I have no clothes on.
[1:52] And so I would dive below the pulpit and I would spend the rest of my dream trying to figure out how to sneak out of the room. And I would wake up and I'd go, it was a dream.
[2:03] And just recently I dreamed that I was in Peru or South America somewhere. My dreams are going to be so weird, you know. I don't know. I ate too much pizza.
[2:14] I don't even eat pizza. But I mean, I was dreaming and they had a lot of people there. And the guys hadn't organized it like I taught everybody to have it organized. And they were saying, it's your time to get ready to preach.
[2:26] And I looked around and I couldn't find my iPad. So somebody had my iPad and then I couldn't find my Bible. And so I was grabbing somebody else's Bible and I said, I'll just preach what I got right here in my heart.
[2:37] I'll just go up there and preach. And I was running towards the pulpit and I looked down and I was naked again. So sometimes life doesn't turn out like I am dressed, am I not?
[2:49] I hope. Amen. Praise God. Sometimes life doesn't turn out like you want it to. Sometimes it's not like what you think it is because sometimes you don't know who the hero of the story really is.
[3:02] In my dreams, I'm the hero. In my dreams, I'm preaching to thousands of people or hundreds of people and many people are being saved. In my dreams, I'm dealing with tons of young people I'm training and sending out into the ministry.
[3:16] In my dreams, and boy, you know, it's like the movie credits start rolling and it starts and it shows me. Like it does all these guys, you know, I'm getting out of the car. I'm walking up into the pulpit.
[3:27] I got my clothes on. I'm smiling at everybody. I'm the hero of the guy. And then I look down and find out I don't have my clothes on. I'm not such a hot shot after all.
[3:38] Here's what happened. There's a young kid named Joseph and he's 17 years old. And God lays on his heart, I'm going to do really big things with you. I'm going to do some really great things with you.
[3:49] I have big plans for you. And I know that I'm going to have to get you motivated. And I know you're too dumb to understand things. And I realize that you won't understand who the hero of the story is.
[4:00] But someday people are going to bow down to you. Your brothers are going to bow down to you. And everybody's going to bow down to you. And you're going to be big stuff. And that's all Joseph heard was, I'm going to be in a stadium and hundreds of people are going to be listening to me.
[4:12] And lots of lives are going to be changed. And they're going to write my life story. And I'm going to be somebody. But he can't get there until God beats it out of him. God has to take him down to where he can be used.
[4:29] Because God doesn't share his glory with anyone. And he is a selfish, narcissistic, into himself, believing in himself, believing in his abilities, proud of himself, proud of everything he's going to do kind of guy.
[4:44] He can do anything. Everybody likes him. Everywhere he turns. After all, he's dressed better than everybody else. And he dreams. And he's hardworking. And he's diligent. And he dreams that he's going to be used.
[4:57] And by the time you get to chapter 40, things are really not going too good. He has been sold out by his brothers. They were going to kill him. They beat him up. They threw him in a pit. One brother was going to come get him later and take him home to Daddy.
[5:10] After he tried to save his life, he was going to get him back home to Daddy. Another brother said, look, we can get some money out of him. We can sell him. And we can at least make a profit. And they won't tell Daddy he got killed.
[5:21] And there wasn't any Twitter to tell anybody a new slave brought over in Hebrew land. He's a Hebrew kid. He's over there. Nobody was going to find out. They didn't have any means of finding out.
[5:31] So they go home and they tell their dad, look, here's some material we found. Not sure whose it is. And Daddy said, that's Joseph. He said, well, they said, well, we don't know what happened.
[5:44] He said, look, it's obvious. Beasts have eaten him. Lied all the way through. Deceived their dad. And Joseph got sold into slavery. But when Joseph got sold into slavery, he immediately did what I would have not done.
[5:56] And he did the right thing. He stood up and he said, all right, my life's been a mess, but I am not going to be knocked down and defeated. I was born for something great and I'm going to accomplish something great with my life.
[6:09] And so he was put into a home as a servant. And he was good looking and he was sharp and he was smart. And he knew his way around a fancy tent. He knew his way around a large setting because he lived in his daddy's home.
[6:24] His daddy was rich. And so he knew his way around. And the next thing you know, he's in charge of Potiphar's house. And everything's going good. That's not as good as it ought to be.
[6:35] Everybody's not bowing down to him. But maybe he's probably thinking, you know, my dream was a tad off. But look, all the servants know who I am. There's only one guy bigger than me in the whole house. And that's the owner of the house.
[6:46] I'm doing pretty good. I'm going to turn out. Your life ever not turned out quite like you thought it was? Your life ever kind of got you to a place where you're like, God, where are you? Why are you letting this happen? I thought we'd have children.
[6:57] I thought they'd be healthy. I didn't expect these diseases. I didn't expect this economic problems. I didn't expect all these pressures. You ever been there? Oh, Joseph was making the best of a really bad situation.
[7:09] There he was leading the home of Potiphar and doing good at it. And then one day, Potiphar's wife, you know the story, she decides that she would like to have relations with him.
[7:19] And she comes to him and begins to try to talk to him. And he says, I couldn't do that. That wouldn't please my God. That wouldn't be right. I'm not going to do that. I will maintain my integrity. And so she grabs him and he takes off running, lets his robe plop up over his head, runs out of the house and leaves his clothes in her hands.
[7:39] And he's in his underwear. And he runs off. And when his master comes home, his wife says, look what happened. If I hadn't screamed, he wouldn't have left. He was about to rape me.
[7:50] And then he gets put in prison. But even in prison, things aren't that bad. This kid, I mean, this kid, you can knock him down once and you can knock him down twice, but he will keep getting up.
[8:00] So in prison, he goes into prison. And I think he, Prodifer probably had some pull there. He's like the chief jailer. And he comes up to, tells him, you know, better let old Joseph run things.
[8:14] He's just good at everything he does. Let him run things. And he's running things there in the jail. And time is going by. A total of 13 years will pass.
[8:24] At this point in the story, we're somewhere into 10 or 11 years that things aren't working out. There's a problem. It takes a long time to live.
[8:36] It takes a long time to live. I mean, when you first get married, we're used to fairy tales. We're used to, they hold hands and they walk off into the sunset.
[8:46] And they lived happily ever after. And that's the story we're used to. But God's got to get me where God can use me to accomplish God's purpose in my life.
[8:58] And God's got to get you to where God can use you to accomplish the purpose he has in your life. And nobody in this room is extra. And nobody in this room is not one of the special people. But the hero of every story, of every one of our stories, is the Lord Jesus.
[9:12] It is that God is at work in my life. And maybe he's working in my life as a businessman. Maybe he's working in my life as a pastor or a missionary or an employee or just a person who cleans houses.
[9:24] But no matter what it is, God has. He wants to say, you're a trophy of my grace. And I'm going to prove to everybody how big I am by taking a worthless piece of junk like you and doing something big with it.
[9:35] We don't see the story that way. We're like, God, you know, I mean, really, when you got me, you did get the best looking guy. When you got me, you really, I mean, honestly, I can make your football team.
[9:50] I can win the tournament for you. I can win the pennant for you. I'm the guy. And so God is constantly working at getting Austin off the throne and Austin out of the way.
[10:02] And I hate that. It's been ten long years. Ten long years. He's been a slave. Ten long years. He's been a slave or now he's in jail. And in the story that you read in Genesis chapter 40, there are two guys that are in jail.
[10:17] And they were both big shots. One of them was the guy who prepares the wine. He squeezed the grapes for the Pharaoh to drink. And the other guy was the guy who made the bread.
[10:28] And, you know, Joseph's the dreamer guy. So the two guys, he takes care of them. He's serving everybody in there. And so he's going around and he comes in and he sees the guy who, the grape man.
[10:42] He sees him and he's sad. And he sees the bread man and he's sad. And he says, hey, guys, what's the problem? And they say, well, we had a dream and we don't understand. I had a dream. I don't understand my dream. I can just imagine Joseph thinking, you know, I had a dream too.
[10:55] I had a dream also. I had a dream. Mine didn't work out either. And I'm still, I'm in this jail. But he doesn't say that. And he says, well, God answers, God interprets dreams. Maybe I can help you.
[11:07] And so they, the great man said, let me tell you my dream. And here's my dream. And he said, well, your dream is that in three days you will soon be lifting the cup up for Pharaoh once again.
[11:19] Really? And the bread man heard that story. And he said, wow, that sounds good. And my dream is kind of like that. And Joseph said, well, tell me your dream. And I'll interpret. And he tells him his dream.
[11:29] And he said, in three days he'll cut your head off and feed you to birds. That dream didn't turn out too good. He turns to the wine, the great man. He says, hey, buddy, when you get out, would you please not forget me?
[11:40] I never did anything wrong to get me here. I'm in jail. He doesn't blame his brothers. He doesn't blame the Pharaoh father for his wife. He doesn't blame anybody. He just says, I really don't belong here.
[11:52] This isn't where I'm supposed to be. Let me give you just a couple of the verses. You can read all this later on if you would. In verse 5, they dreamed a dream. It looks sad. In verse 12, he said, this is the interpretation.
[12:04] In verse 15, he said, here also I have done nothing that they should put me into this dungeon. And in the last verse, verse 23, when the chief butler gets out, he forgets Joseph.
[12:21] Not fair. It's been 11 years approximately. Not fair. He will be remembered, but it's going to be two more years before he's remembered. He has to be dealing with some major frustration.
[12:35] But the story is about how God gets Joseph ready to use him. And the very people who hurt Joseph are the people Joseph is going to save.
[12:46] Being used of God entails God doing a work in our lives to get us to the end of ourselves. Being used of God means God's got to get me to the end of myself so I can be used.
[13:00] He's got to get me to where he can step in. He's got to get me to where he can be the one that's the hero of the story. Because all of us want to make sure that our name comes up as the life of Joseph starring none other than Joseph.
[13:17] But the life of Joseph stars the Lord Jesus Christ and the work that he did in his life. So let me carry you through just a little bit of this. Number one, he's suffering from circumstances beyond his control.
[13:31] Suffering from circumstances beyond his control. He's been stolen out of his country. He's done nothing wrong. He's been a slaver in jail for 11 years. He has kept a good attitude.
[13:42] He's worked in whatever conditions that have been in before him. And he just can't handle or he just can't get to the end of what the problem is. You realize that most of us live in a place where we don't understand what's happening to us.
[13:56] I don't know what's going on. I don't know why God allows the things he allows to happen in my life. I want to be able to say I want so desperately.
[14:07] I remember when I started Liberty Baptist Church. I was 23 years old. And I was totally alone except for my wife and my two small children. Chris would have been pushing two and Stephanie was a few months old.
[14:21] And we go to this town all by ourselves. And I visit. I put my picture in the paper. I don't even realize that I'm 23. I know if you'd have seen me, you'd have said, that's a kid.
[14:32] But I never thought of myself as a kid. I was married. I had two kids. I'd already been serving in two other churches. And I just knew God was going to use me big time. I just knew it.
[14:43] I used to walk down the hallway of this Christian school I taught in. And as I walked down the hallway, kids, I wore a tie to be a teacher. Teachers all wore a tie. Well, I was so young, you couldn't tell if I was a teacher or a student except for my tie.
[14:57] And the kids used to come up right behind me and say, saying behind me, you've got a pretty little baby face. And I'd turn around and it all melt back in the crowd. So I wouldn't know which one of them was making fun of me. I mean, I'm really, but I don't know it.
[15:07] I really think I'm going to be used to God. That first Sunday, Bo, three came that weren't my family or friends. I took three from the actual town, three. And they didn't stay, none of them.
[15:19] Sometimes it doesn't work out. Sometimes it's frustrating beyond what we can imagine. You feel like you're being abused, used, mistreated.
[15:30] Nobody cares. You feel like maybe God himself isn't even pleased with you. And he may be punishing you. The second thing is, in the middle of the worst of it all, he was being blessed.
[15:42] Do you realize that even in this very big 13-year period of persecution and of abuse and of frustration and of everything going wrong, he's blessed.
[15:53] He was the main overseer in Potiphar's house, chapter 39 and verse 5. He became the person in charge in the prison, chapter 39 and verse 22. He gained favor with Potiphar, chapter 37 and verse 26, chapter 39 and verse 1.
[16:11] Everywhere he goes, somehow, he's not just a regular guy. He's the keeper of the prison. He's the guy in charge. He might be a slave, but he's not the one out digging ditches.
[16:23] He's not the one out doing the worst. Even in the middle of the worst days, God was still being good to him. Even in the middle of the bad days of his life, God was good to him.
[16:34] And I would ask you tonight, are you in this situation? Why does God put these stories in here? And I really think some of it is, man, I dream that when God lets me have children, my children will turn out to do this.
[16:46] But it's a long time between the birth of that baby and seeing all those dreams come true. You dream about them marrying the right person. You dream about them having their own beautiful family. You dream about them owning their own home.
[16:57] You dream about them being useful adults. You dream about how God's going to do something big. And by the way, one of the first two or three years of their life, it's just so exciting and all that. But then they start school and there's this time in there.
[17:08] You're like, is this kid ever going to obey me? Is this kid ever even going to learn to use the potty when he's supposed to use the potty? Is this kid going to ever quit cheating on tests? Is this kid ever going to quit getting in trouble? And you say, well, my kid's never gotten in trouble.
[17:20] It's just because you didn't know about it because they did. Those of you who thought your kid always did right, you just don't know what was going on. Well, they're older and they come tell you one day, this is what I did. And so there's this time we lose sight of our blessings.
[17:35] Matthew 6, 11, he is taking care of our daily bread. Not one of us in this room could deny that God's been meeting our needs. We don't have everything we ought to have. In our mind. We don't have everything we think we should have.
[17:47] In our mind. But in Matthew 6, 11, he said, pray this. Give us this day our daily bread. Now, I really want my retirement bread.
[17:58] How many of y'all have been praying about your retirement bread? Hold your hand up. Just be honest, you know. You'd like to know, well, what am I going to do when I'm 80? Well, God's like, son, I told you to pray for your daily bread. How many of you said, I don't know what thing about the government.
[18:09] They're messing up my future. Everybody's worried about what their grandkids are going to do. He said, give us this day our daily bread. Our fears and our worries are usually not about today.
[18:22] Usually, we're going to make it through today. Usually, I'm afraid of what's going to happen tomorrow. But in Matthew 6, in verse 34, he said, take therefore no thought for the morrow.
[18:33] For the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient to the day is the evil thereof. I wonder if the way Joseph got through 13 years was saying this.
[18:44] I will get up today and do what I'm supposed to do. And I'll just worry about today. And I'll let God take care of tomorrow. Maybe God hasn't provided for you. But it hasn't been the way he has provided.
[18:56] But it hasn't been the way you wanted it or what you're accustomed to. So you ask the question. Why is this happening to me? Am I still God's man? And you let's remember Joseph's not a preacher.
[19:09] So don't y'all get any idea what Joseph's a preacher. Joseph's a sheep herder. Joseph is going to be a big leader. But he's not a pastor. This isn't a story about a pastor. But he had to be thinking to himself, wait a minute.
[19:21] God gave me a dream. And I understand my dream. And I don't think my dreams are coming true. And maybe God didn't give me a dream. And maybe my life's kind of off path.
[19:34] Maybe my life's kind of off path. He interprets the dream for the butler. He interprets the dream for the baker. And maybe even he remembers the dreams that he had. Maybe he remembers what he lost.
[19:45] Maybe he remembers how hard he's been working. And yet it seems to produce nothing. We've kept a good attitude as a slave. He's kept a good attitude about being put in prison after being falsely accused.
[19:58] But maybe he's just like, I don't know if it's worth it anymore. And I'm certain that probably the ones in this room don't have that problem. But I have dealt with that so many times where people say, I've tried to serve God.
[20:10] I've tried to do right. And I don't know that it's worth doing it anymore. I don't know. You've been faithful to God. You guys have been reading your Bible. You've been praying. You've been coming to church faithfully.
[20:21] You've been honoring God. You've been tithing even when you didn't have money. And you feel like Job and you think, what in the world is going on? Why is my life falling apart?
[20:33] Chapter 40 of Genesis is one of those chapters where you stand back and say, man, if you didn't know what was coming, this is a really discouraging chapter. It's a really discouraging chapter.
[20:46] I'd just like to give you a few things here to consider. What did he do with this frustration? What did he do? How did he deal with it? Number one, he kept his relationship with God.
[20:58] Number one, he kept his relationship with God. He is God's man. And all through the story, here's what we've seen. Everywhere he goes, God keeps blessing him. When he's at Potiphar's house, Potiphar's house is blessed.
[21:09] When he's in a prison, prison is blessed. And by the way, the whole nation of Egypt is going to be blessed because he's there. This is God's man, and he worked on that relationship. And the truth is that right now, the main thing you ought to be worried about, the most important thing you ought to be concerned about, is how you're walking with God.
[21:31] Not that you're losing your salvation. The most important thing is I want to please God. The most important thing is not about how much money I got. We're so much into competition. We're so much into, I've got to figure out if I have more than you have, or if I have less than you have.
[21:46] And we live our whole lives competing with each other. When the main thing is I want to worry about my relationship. The second thing he did, he did what he knew to do where he was, whatever was in front of him.
[21:59] If you read the story of Joseph, here's what goes on in Joseph's life. Joseph got up in the morning when he was a slave and he did a slave's job. Sometimes when things aren't working out for me, can I just tell you I deal with frustration and bitterness and bad attitudes on a regular basis.
[22:18] I mean, you've got to remember, I'm the kid that dreamed I would preach in front of the hundreds. I mean, I've preached in front of a few thousand, but I dreamed of those big days. And yet, I'm 58 years old and God hasn't let that happen.
[22:31] Hardly at all in my life. It's like, God's not done that. But here's the deal. Here's the deal. I need to know whose man I am. I need to know who I belong to. And I need to know that if things aren't turning out like what they ought to do, that I'm to do the next thing God's got in front of me.
[22:47] And what God's got in front of me today is, I've got to take care of Potiphar. And I've got to take care of Potiphar's house. The next thing I've got in front of me is, I've got to take care of the jail and the prisoners. I've got to make sure the cupbearer, the banker, and the butler are taken care of.
[23:01] That's my job today. It's easy to say, well, I'm mad at God. Things aren't working out like I thought they would. So I think I'll turn my back on God.
[23:12] I think I'll walk away. I think I'll complain. I think I'll get bitter. I think I'll get a bad attitude. I think I'll step back and say, none of this works. And if anybody had a right to do that, oh, Joseph probably had a right to do it.
[23:24] It's been 11 years. It's going to be a couple of more before it's over. He's bound to be thinking that. But what did he do? He just kept doing what he knew to do, what he was supposed to do.
[23:38] So you get up tomorrow morning, you get out your Bible, and you say, I'm going to read the Bible today. You get up tomorrow, and you say, I don't know what I'm going to do about the job I need. I don't know what I'm going to do about getting a wife. I don't know what I'm going to do about taking care of my children.
[23:50] I don't know what I'm going to do about these issues. But this much I know, every day I find the time to be alone with God and to spend time with God, because that's the basic, most important thing I've got going on in my life. Could you say amen right there?
[24:01] So I'm going to get up tomorrow, and I'm just going to do that. Then the next thing you do is you get up tomorrow, and you don't sit around pouting, sucking your thumb. You don't get in a fetal position, but you get up and say, this is the next job I have to do.
[24:11] And missionaries make a phone call. You're dreaming about the day you can speak the language. You're dreaming about the day you can stay overseas. You're dreaming about the day you can sit at gym and all the tables.
[24:21] You're dreaming about that day, but that's not today. Today's day is get up and do what I know to do today. And by the way, it meant make sure the silverware was looking right, right in front of Potiphar when he sat down at his table.
[24:34] It meant make sure that all the prisoners got food today. It meant take care of all your responsibilities. He had to keep his relationship with God.
[24:46] He had to do what he knew to do. Third thing is interesting in the chapter, and I would just go through the chapter show, just try to pull it out so I could maybe make some sense, is he spends the chapter meeting the needs of others.
[25:01] He focused on other people. I don't know if you can picture this with me, but if we were making a little movie of this, here's Joseph who knows that God himself has told him he's going to have people bowing down to him, including the sun, the moon, and the stars are going to bow down to him, and all the sheaves are going to bow down to him, and everything is going to work out right.
[25:21] And he knows all that's going to happen, and he's in prison. His brothers who are going to bow down to him have beat him up. They don't bow, they beat. And he's a slave.
[25:32] But he's running around the prison, and he's taking care of everybody, and he notices that the butler and the baker are sad. I'd have been too sad to see how sad they were.
[25:44] I'd have been too bitter and too focused on myself to notice them. But he said, I'm not in here to think about old Joe. I'm in here to think about the butler and the baker.
[25:54] There's a purpose to my life, and wherever God's put me, I'm not to be focused on me. God's slowly molding him into the man who will think of others. It won't be long until his own brothers come before him and bow down.
[26:08] And he could be vindictive and take their lives, but he's slowly being molded into a man that can look at the needs of others, and he served them. He didn't look at his own needs.
[26:21] The next thing he did was he presented his case to the butler. I don't know if you noticed this, but the old butler is going to be lifted back up, going to squeeze some grapes in a cup, going to stand right next to Pharaoh.
[26:34] I mean, this guy is going to have the ear of the most powerful man in the world. He can get Joseph free. But there are several things that Joseph does that are just unusual things.
[26:46] He does present his case, but he doesn't accuse anyone. He doesn't accuse his brothers. He doesn't accuse Potiphar's wife. He simply states his case.
[26:59] He takes the obvious opportunity at hand and says, would you think about mentioning me? I was stolen out of my land. I did nothing to be brought to this place, and I would just like a fair shake in life.
[27:13] Me? I would have been plotting the death of ten brothers. I would have had it all written out. I would have had every good excuse.
[27:24] I would have said, well, if I ever get out of here, I want to see to it that Potiphar's wife pays. I would have gotten my vengeance. That's been the kind of guy I've been. Not old Joseph. Joseph keeps his relationship with the Lord.
[27:37] Joseph does what's in front of him. Joseph meets the needs of others. And Joseph presents his case without being bitter, without being angry. Can I just say that these bad times, these dry times come in our life, when things aren't working out, and most of the time, we get bitter.
[27:57] We do. We get bitter. And when we could go forward, when we could advance, when we could see God do great things in our lives, He doesn't do great things because we're not learning the lesson.
[28:09] George Mueller was famous. He wrote it in his own journal that when he was having a major problem, he would say, God, don't get me out of this problem until I learn whatever lesson.
[28:22] You have here from me. Don't get me out of this problem until I learn the lesson. I say, God, I don't need this lesson. Get me out of this. But Joseph presents the case without any bitterness.
[28:37] Joseph handles the things that God has placed in front of him, and he will eventually get delivered. What if he'd had a bad attitude? What if he'd have served in a rebellious manner?
[28:49] What if he'd have looked at the butler and the baker and said, well, I had dreams too, big boy, and my dreams didn't work out. Your dreams aren't working out. Who gives a rip? I don't care. I'm not worried about you. But that's not what he does.
[29:00] He believes and he waits. That's obvious from the story. He's blessed of God. He believes and he waits. He believes and he waits.
[29:11] I think he probably thought that day. I don't know if he did it or not. But after the butler got delivered and the baker got killed and he's back downstairs in his room, I wonder if he cleaned up a little bit and tidied up his cell thinking, hey, butler will be telling Pharaoh how I interpret his dream in just a minute and they're probably coming to get me.
[29:32] Like parole's on the way. Freedom's right outside the door. Life's going to work out for me. But it doesn't. It'll be two more years. But he knows this.
[29:43] God gave him a dream. And it is God who's finally going to promote him. I'd just like to remind you, let's back off a little bit and say this. Who's the hero of the story?
[29:54] I'm going to give you one more thing and I'll quit. But can I just tell you this? Too long. Austin's the hero of the story.
[30:05] I'm going to come rushing in. I'm going to get the credit. I'm going to be the guy. I'm going to be successful. Things are going to work out. I'm God's man. I can take care of it. I can do the right thing.
[30:16] I'm somebody else. I'm cleaner than everybody else. I live right. I do right. Have you ever noticed how we dress ourselves up? And even we know it's not true.
[30:28] If late at night, in a dark night, we were to tell the truth, you know you're not near as good a guy as you paint yourself out to be. You know that the only way you're starring in your movie role is you're putting a lot of makeup on to cover all them zits you've got.
[30:43] You know you're covering up all your bads. But you can try to look good in front of everybody. And you can try to make like the hero of the story. But you and I both know we're not. I mean, when it's dark and nobody's awake and it's just me and I know me, I'm not the big shot.
[31:00] Joseph has to get to that point. And I have to get to that point so God can use me. So let me just leave this with you. Trust God and know that He'll do what's best for you. Trust God and know He's going to do what's best for you.
[31:14] Look back at everything that Joseph's been through and realize that God was preparing him for the future God had for him. Did you know that the whole story when Joseph is back there thinking I'm supposed to have all these dreams coming true God in heaven and saying Joseph, it's never been about you.
[31:33] I see the whole scope. I just got you out from following or being the favorite son and a selfish and great and I brought you through all this way because over here I'm going to save Israel.
[31:45] I got a plan for your life, buddy. I got a plan for your life. I'm working. Actually, you're not you may be the king on the chess board but I'm the guy who moves you.
[31:58] I put you in the place I want you. I'm the guy that puts you where you're going to be and I'm working off. Trust God. Interpreting those dreams will open the door for him.
[32:09] He invests in others and that will bring a return. Whatever's going on in your life focus on what you can do to serve. Focus on what you can do to think of others and how you can do it.
[32:21] And then just do right. Do the best you can where you are. The best you can where you are. We started Vision Baptist Church. Can I just tell you?
[32:32] It's another one of my big dreams. It flopped. I mean, I just knew. I just knew at this stage in my life that we started Vision Baptist Church they would come by the hundreds.
[32:44] I just knew that by now we would be in this big auditorium and everything would just be so perfect and we'd have this training center. I had this dream of this great training center. We'd have buildings and dorms and people would be coming from everywhere and we'd be sending missionaries all around the world and instead of the handful of missionaries that we got from, I just dreamed, man.
[33:03] Big dreams. Evangelize the world and our generation. God's up in heaven saying, look, Austin, you're not the guy doing it. I'm the guy doing it. So sometimes I have these dreams and sometimes I put myself on the stage and God wants to be on the stage.
[33:19] God wants to be on the stage. God is at work in my life. Here's the big end of the story. Joseph will soon arrive at the place God told him he'd be.
[33:32] I don't know if I'm getting there. I don't know if you're getting there. But I do know this. The real hero was the God of heaven who was moving Joseph from point A to point D or E or F where he had him to get to.
[33:46] And it was God that was at work. And when the story is all said and done, God will save Israel. God called him. God prepared for him. God takes him into Egypt.
[33:57] And Joseph's actual plan leads them before it's over. They're in slavery. So the story, the hero of the story was not Joseph. The hero of the story was God. The hero of the story was God.
[34:09] And the hero of the story in your life is God. It's not about how much money you have or how much money you give or how many times you preach or how big the crowds are or if there's this big massive groups of people just coming to hear you preach.
[34:21] It's never about us. Never. And here's the frustrating part for Austin. I so desperately want it to be most of the time.
[34:36] I just really do. I just really do. Don't you? Just be honest. It would be hard for you to say it. But the truth is, don't you feel sometimes like God's kind of slighted you? Don't you kind of feel like God, He should have come through for you better?
[34:50] He should have met your needs better? He shouldn't have run you through slavery? He shouldn't have let you be falsely accused? He should have done better by you? You ever think that? It's all from the enemy.
[35:01] It's all from the enemy. We have a great God doing a great work for Himself in our lives. And we will all soon be buried and the hero will keep the story going.
[35:15] Father in Heaven, I love You. And I thank You. And I praise You. And I pray that Your people could learn from this story things that I haven't learned as well as I should. and I apologize to You and them both for that.
[35:27] God, I want to serve You. I want to step aside. I want You to be the hero. God, I want to quit thinking so much about me and the things I want. I want to focus on You. I want to focus on others.
[35:38] God, I want to deal with harsh times in my life with the right spirit. Quit looking for mine and seek Yours. I want to seek Your kingdom. I want to seek You.
[35:49] I want to give my life up for Your cause. And I'll give You praise. This message was recorded at Vision Baptist Church in Alfred, Georgia. For more information, log on to www.visionbaptist.com where you can find our service times, location, contact information, and more audio and video recordings.