Live Free with Josh Howerton - Allow God to Shape You | Ep. 117 | Tuesday July 18, 2023

Episode Date: July 18, 2023

Are your current circumstances not what you believed they would be, could be, or should be? When we are faced with difficulties in life, we can often wonder why we are experiencing them, as well as how God could possibly be using us or growing us in those situations. Despite being sold into slavery by his brothers, Joseph served with excellence, integrity, kindness, and joy. We may not understand why we're going through certain things, but we can trust that God is with us and shaping us into the person we are meant to be. For more information, visit lakepointe.church/dailydrive

Thanks for tuning in to today's Daily Drive with Lake Point Church, a daily dose of God's Word for your morning drive. When the word, not the world, becomes the majority of your week, your life will start to change. For that reason, our prayer is that God will speak to you through today's devotional. For more digital content to feed your faith, visit lakepoint.com. dot church slash daily drive. And now let's dive in to today's devotional. Episode 7, God's Ways. Here we go. Hey, welcome to the podcast. Mike Bro, and together we are on a journey of walking with God and learning how he speaks and shapes and leads the lives of people like us. And we're currently living in the story of a young guy named Joseph. And you can find

the story starting in Genesis 37. And we learned last episode that God gave him a vision, a dream of his future, that he would be someday the ruler of a nation. The problem was, he bragged about it, in front of his brothers, who already resented him for being his dad's favorite kid. So, some of you know the story, Joseph's brothers, they hated his guts, and they're out in the pastures of Dothan, they're tending sheep, and the father sends little brother Joseph on a trip to check on them, and it takes some much-leaded supplies out to the brothers. Well, they see him coming over the hill, and he's aware, and his dad likes me better than you. He's aware, and his dad likes me better than you, Jacket, and they're not happy.

They're not excited. Nobody's saying, hey, what's up, little bro? Their hate, their resentment, their jealousy, their rage begins to burn within them, and they say to each other, you know what? When he gets here, why don't we just kill him? And so they devise a plan. They find a pit, an empty cistern is there, and they say, when he gets here, let's just throw him in the pit,

and then we'll figure out what we're going to do to him. We'll just rip that stinking robe off of him. We'll kill an animal, we'll throw the blood of the animal all over his robe, we'll drop his body in a pit, pit, and then we'll tell dad that some bears, some lion, some animal got him on the way here. And he'll be history. And we won't ever bow down to him, and we'll certainly never serve him. We won't have to worry about him anymore. He'll be gone and out of the picture. And some of you think you've got some sibling rivalry going on in your home?

So Joseph shows up. He says, hey, guys, got some stuff for you. The brothers say, we got some stuff for you too. Boom, grab him, rip his robe off all of a sudden. He's in a pit looking up. Ever have one of those days? Well, his brothers sit down to eat lunch, and they're thinking about what they're going to do to him. And about that time, they see these Ishmael lights, this sort of a, sort of a gypsy band of people moving across the desert in their caravan. And one of the brothers sees dollar signs flash before his eyes. He says, hey, guys, guys, I got a great idea. We don't have to kill him.

We can just sell him. You ever want to sell your little brother? We'll sell him to these people coming by. We'll get some cash for him. And then we can still show down. had the blood-soaked robe that we found and tell him that his favorite son got tangled up with the mountain lion and that he died. Dad will never know the difference, and we won't have to live with the guilt of killing our own brother. Plus, we'll make a few bucks in the process.

And they say, that's a plan. So these Ishmaelites come along and the guys sell, they sell their little brother for about eight ounces of silver into the hands of these gypsies who go straight into Egypt and put him on a slave auction. He's bought there in that auction by a guy named Potipher, who is the head of security for the Pharaoh. Well, this guy Potter for takes him home and puts him to work. And Joseph, he's no longer the golden child of the family. His dreams, his hope, and a future, wasn't working out exactly as he pictured in his dream.

But you know what the scripture says repeatedly? It's over in chapter 39. You can read it. He says the Lord was with Joseph. You know, we've been talking about how God's will is much more about who we are than where we go or what we do, and God was interested in using whatever came Joseph's way to mold and shape his character, because there was an obvious cockiness that needed to be worked out of him. In fact, you know what, ego, pride, self-centeredness, cockiness, it needs to be worked out of all of us.

And as Joseph worked as a slave in Potiphar's house. He learned humility. And as you read, you will see that Joseph was faithful, he was obedient, he just worked hard, just did the right thing, he didn't gripe, didn't complain, he was full of integrity, and in spite of the circumstances, he just served knowing that God was with him and that God was doing something inside of him. And as a result, God used his life, and he had success with everything he touched in Potipher's house. Now let's just hit pause there, because maybe that's a word for some of us today. Perhaps the situation you're currently in isn't what you thought it would be. That dream,

job isn't all that dreamy. Or maybe you have a tough person to work for or work with or be around. It's not much fun to go to work. Refuse. Just refuse today. To slide into that negative, woe is me, this sucks, entitled kind of attitude. I encourage you just to do what Joseph did. Just choose today to work hard with excellence, with integrity, with kindness, with joy, knowing that God is with you, knowing that it's really him you're working for anyway. Perhaps God wants to put you on the potter's wheel today and shape something in you, shape something out of you, be humble and let him do it. Know that he's with you too, and that who you are becoming is what really matters to him. See you back tomorrow. As things in this story get really heated up. Have a great day.

Thanks for tuning in today. For more biblical teaching and worship, join us for our church online live weekend services on Saturdays at 6th. p.m. and Sundays at 9.30 and 11 a.m. Central Standard Time. Also, if this podcast was helpful to you, would you be sure to rate, review, and share this podcast to help get the word out? For more information about all digital ministries of Lake Point, visit lakepoint.comte.combe.combe.combe.combe.