Live Free with Josh Howerton - God Uses Your Circumstances for His Purpose | Ep. 121 | Monday, July 24, 2023

Episode Date: July 24, 2023

God’s plan is to have the right person, in the right place, for his right purposes. Tune in as Pastor Mike unpacks the story of Joseph. Joseph trusted in God’s promises to him, despite all of his difficult circumstances and situations. His story reminds us to trust in God’s plan for us, even when things don’t make sense. We can trust in and surrender to God’s plans, purposes, and provision. 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.combe. And now let's dive in to today's devotional. Hey, welcome to the Daily Drive podcast. Whatever you're doing today, thanks for slowing down for just a few minutes to join us. We're just simply trying to get to know God better and apply some truth to our lives.

And for the past couple of weeks, we've been talking about the way God leads and guides and speaks to us. If you missed any of our conversation, you go back and check it all out. We've just been unpacking some principles about God's plan, about God's will for our lives. And in recent days, we've been living in a story about a young guy named Joseph. and you can find his story in chapter 37 and following in the book of Genesis, which is the very first book of the Bible, one of my all-time favorite stories. And we have learned that God really does have a plan for our lives. He just has a much better view from above.

And we learned that God is always at work, even when it's dark. And let me just give you one more principle today to stick in your heart. God's plan is to have the right person in the right place for his right purposes. Let me give you that again. God's plan is to have the right person in the right place for his right purposes. That's always God's plan. Remember, God's will is so much more about who we are than what we do or where we go. But it's so cool when what we do and where we go messes together with the who we're becoming.

I mean, isn't it an awesome feeling to step back from a moment and realize that you are that person? And you go, whoa, I think that was a divine appointment. I didn't see that coming, but I think I was the right person at the right time being used for God's right purposes. I may have told you before my buddy Paul, who was a former next door neighbor, had a very, very colorful past with drugs, alcohol, dealing drugs, cheating, cheating at a couple of prison stays. But he gave his life to Christ, and he was so transformed. When he got out of prison, he started working as a decision counselor at our church.

and somebody would pray for people after the service. And after one Sunday morning, he walked over to my house that afternoon and says, bro, you're not going to believe it, man. This was so cool. I got paired up this morning with a young guy who was in need of a big time change in his life. And this guy started opening up to me thinking when he started talking, he's going to shock me because they started telling me about his drug and alcohol abuse. And I looked at him and said, yeah, me too.

And he started talking about how he used to steal stuff, the feed his addiction. and I said, yeah, me too. And then he kind of like dropped the bomb on me. He looked at me and said, yeah, but you'd never been to prison. I said, twice. I'd tell you it was a rush to feel like in that moment I was the right person, the exact right person at the right time, in the right place being used by God.

If you've been there, you know, man. That's a great feeling. Well, we left Joseph waiting in that jail for two years. And the king of Egypt, the Pharaoh, has these two troubling genes. dreams. He can't get anybody to explain him to him. And all of a sudden, all of a sudden, the memory of the cup bear, the guy that was in prison with Joseph, kicks in. He says to the Pharaoh, hey, you remember that time a couple of years ago when you threw me in jail? There was this guy here there. It really, really, I mean really good with dreams. His name was,

what was his name? His name was Joseph. That's it. Joseph, you ought to bring him in. And so Pharaoh does. He brings Joseph in from the prison to interpret the dreams for him, and Joseph says, it's beyond my personal power to do this, but God will reveal to you what it means. So Pharaoh goes to the dreams, and Joseph says, man, it's going to get really bad around here. I mean, we are going to have seven years of plenty. I mean, some major heavy-duty bumper crops, but then the bubble's going to burst. I mean, the economy is going to tank, and we're going to have seven years of absolutely nothing. You're going to be a big-time drought. And Fay, If you're smart, you will put the excess away in storage during the seven years of plenty so that when the famine does hit, the nation will have enough to survive.

Because I'm telling you, sir, the dream says, it's coming. And Pharaoh says, you, you're no ordinary Joe. Sorry. You said, you're pretty sharp. And then he says, I can see God is with you. Even a pagan king recognizes it. I can see that God is with you. and I'm putting you in charge of the storage process.

In fact, I will be the only one in all of Egypt with a higher rank than you. So for seven years, Egypt just got real discipline and stored away the excess, and just as the dream foretold, major famine came up on the land, seven years of famine, and you know what? Nobody in the land had any food except for Egypt. And you know who was in charge of all the food in Egypt? Yeah, Joseph. And guess who?

comes to Egypt looking for some food for their family. Yeah, Joseph's brothers. And you know who ultimately came? The whole family. And they came, it says, not recognizing Joseph. And they bowed down before him. I was surfing channels the other day and came up on an old Clint Eastwood movie

called High Plains Drifter. You ever seen it? It's about this marshal who comes back to this little town seeking revenge. He picks off all these evil guys one at a time. Now, if I'm Joseph in this situation, I probably got a little Clinties Wood Justice Revenge thing going on inside of me. I look

at my brother's thinking, well, well, well, look who is here. You've traveled such a long way. Allow me to show you to your deluxe accommodations. How do individual pits sound to each one of you, or maybe you like a nice long ride in a slave caravan, and hey, I know

this guy named Potipher, great house, evil wife, love for you to meet her. But look at this scene. as Joseph reveals his identity, as godly character, and his understanding of God's plan for his life. He says to his brothers, I'm Joseph. Is my father still alive? And I love the understatement of this verse.

But his brothers were speechless. They were stunned to realize that Joseph was standing there in front of them. Come over here, he said. So they came. They inched, closer. He said, again, I'm Joseph. You're brother. brother whom you sold in Egypt. Now you know they had to be freaking out because as he's speaking

in their mind, they're hearing, I'm your brother who you never thought you'd see again, and I'm ruling Egypt today, and therefore I'm in control of your destiny. Right now, I'm your absolute worst nightmare. But look what he says. Don't be angry with yourselves that you did this to me. For God did it. He sent me here ahead of you to preserve your lives. These two years a famine will grow to seven during which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. Yes, God, God sent me here to keep you and your families alive so that you will become a great nation. Yes, it was God who sent me here, not you.

I just love this. Joseph's saying to his brothers, look, I'm not bitter. I'm not bitter about you and me in the pit. I'm not seeking revenge for being sold to the gypsy caravan. I bought as a slave, abandoned in prison. As far as I'm concerned, God turned in. to good what you meant for evil. Now to be sure, it was a 13-year wild roller coaster ride, but you know what, God was with me. And God's been working on my character. Guys, I'm not the

same cocky 17-year-old that you heard brag about his dream. God used everything I've been through to make me into the right kind of person so that in the day of the famine, the right person would be in the right place at the right time to accomplish the right purposes of God. It was God who's sent me here, ahead of you. And you know what? It's true. The immediate purposes were to feed the nations for seven years, but the greater purpose was to preserve the sons of Jacob, so that they could become the nation of Israel, for the purposes of God, for the birth of Jesus Christ, for the salvation of the world, for you and me to be forgiven and free. It was crucial that Joseph be on the throne in Egypt that day. And I think God

says sometimes I love it when a plan comes together. You know, I love the story of Joseph, because whenever I have one of those days, one of those weeks, one of those months, one of those 13 years seasons, when I say, man, I don't get this, feels like the whole thing is coming unravel around me. This is not the picture I had in mind.

I can say, you know what, God? I can't make sense of all this. But I know can. And I know you have a better view and a deeper love, and that you're working in the dark on my behalf. So, I will trust you and keep my eyes on you and however you want to use my life, my life is in your hands. Have a great day to day. See you back next time. Thanks 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.combe.combe.