Live Free with Josh Howerton - God Has Not Abandoned You | Ep. 120 | Friday July 21, 2023

Episode Date: July 21, 2023

God is always working behind the scenes, even when things seem bleak or hopeless. In the waiting, in the difficulty, and in the darkness, it can be difficult to remain focused and hopeful in God's promises to us. Joseph's story is a classic tale of faith, perseverance, and resilience. Despite the many challenges he faced, he never gave up on his dream and remained faithful to God. 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.comit. And now let's dive in to today's devotional. All right, man, I hope you're having a great day today, and even if it hasn't been that great, man, I hope you're filled with gratitude because we've all been blessed. And there is nothing, absolutely nothing that can pull you apart from the unfailing love of God. Hey, we've been walking through the story of a guy named Joseph.

Not Joseph, the earthly carpenter father of Jesus, but the guy in the Old Testament section of the Bible. Now, Joseph, Jesus' dad might have been named after this guy. I'm guessing a lot of kids were named after this guy because his story. story is so compelling. In fact, I actually want to name our son, Joseph, but Debbie didn't like Joe Bro. So Derek, it was. And I'm glad, I'm glad she won out on that one. Hey, we've seen so far that Joseph was a young guy like a high school senior, and God reveals to him through a dream that he would be the ruler of a nation in his future. However, 13 years have gone by since that dream, and to most outsiders, his dream would look now more like a nightmare.

but not the Joseph. Even though his life was not working out exactly the way he thought it would, God was doing some good stuff on the inside of him, and he rested in this principle. He knew that God is always with you working in the dark.

That God is always with you working in the dark. You see what Joseph could have easily done. At any one of these stops along the way, he could have said, well, you know what, I guess God was A, wrong, or B, changed his mind, or C, I did something. wrong and really tick God off so I got bumped off the master track plan or D maybe God's dream

really wasn't real to begin with so you know what I better start trusting myself I got to figure out how to make life work on my own because this is crazy I have been a fool to let him lead my life but Joseph doesn't do any of that he just continually submits himself to God and I think I know why because it says repeatedly in this text again in chapter 39 as a slave the Lord was with Joseph and blessed him greatly as he served in the home of the Egyptian master in prison, but the Lord was with Joseph there too, and he granted Joseph favor with the chief jailer. The chief jailer had no more worries after that because Joseph took care of everything because the Lord was with him. I think the whole time Joseph was remembering that God is at work,

even when it's dark. You see, when it gets dark, God doesn't go to bed. God doesn't need sleep. He doesn't need rest. He didn't take naps. Doesn't need like a double expresso shot in the morning or a red bull in the afternoon to give him wings. Needs none of that. Psalm 121 says, indeed, he who watches over Israel never tires and never sleeps, the Lord himself watches over you. The Lord stands beside you as your protective shade. That reminds us that when our bodies flop in bed tonight, because we are exhausted, when we close our eyes to rest, the inexhaustible God will be up all night working out the details of our promised hope and the future all night long 24-7-365 that's what he will be doing you see when joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers god's plan was moving ahead when he was in potter's house

god wasn't caught off guard by that when he was falsely accused and arrested and thrown in prison god's plan was not derailed when he was forgotten by pharaoh's cup bearer he wasn't forgotten by god and as joseph continued to wait in that jail as those two years passed day after day after day the at work and the dark God was timing the events of his life until just at the right moment Pharaoh

has a dream and in one 24 hour period one day God would move Joseph from the jail to the second most powerful ruling position in the nation Christian Rigger spent four years in a very dark place the infamous

concentration camp in Dau He was imprisoned there by the Nazis from 1941 to 1945 in his crime, simply being a passionate follower of Jesus. And he wrote this. Nietzsche said that a man can undergo torture if he knows the why of his life. But here at Daukeye learned something far greater. I learned to know the who of my life. He was enough to sustain me then, and he is enough to sustain me still. So listen to me today.

Listen to the life of Joseph. God has not abandoned you. He has not forgotten you. He is the who of your life working behind the scenes and whatever your dungeon experience is right now. He's committed to working all things together for good for those who love him. You can trust him.

He is with you in the dark. And maybe you just need to get honest with God, like many of us have, and just say, God, help me to see beyond the darkness. As I'm feeling crushed right now, would you re-mold me, refine me, reshape my character? help me to trust the fact that you are the God of unfailing love, and you do see the bigger picture? I urge you to pray that kind of honest prayer.

I guarantee you Joseph did, and if Joseph could survive those years of mistreatment, loneliness, betrayal, and loss, you can too. Because he's the same God, and he loves you, and he is with you, walk in the awareness of his presence today, knowing that he is working behind the scenes in your life. And I'll see you back next time. for tuning in today. For more biblical teaching and worship, join us for our church online live weekend services on Saturdays at 6 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.compt.com. Church slash daily drive.