Live Free with Josh Howerton - The American Dream vs. God’s Dream | Ep. 119 | Thursday July 20, 2023

Episode Date: July 20, 2023

God is more interested in our character rather than our comfort. It may feel as if we are not living up to our expectations of what life should look like. When God calls us to follow Him, He is not calling us to a carefree life full of comfort, peace, and plenty; He is calling us to trust in Him as our good father. He calls us to align our expectations with His, allowing Him to shape our character day by day. 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. and church slash daily drive. And now let's dive in to today's devotional. Episode 9, God's Ways. Hey, what is up? My name is Bro, and this is the Daily Drive podcast.

And we just spent a few minutes trying to get to know God a little better every day. I'm trying to stick some of his truth into our hearts. So grateful that you would tune in today. And we have been unpacking some principles about this whole discovering and living in God's will thing. We're about, I don't know, eight episodes in. So if you missed any of it, you can go back and catch up. But in the last couple of days, we've been walking through the story of a young guy named Joseph, who got a vision from God, a dream about what his future was going to be like,

that God was going to rise him up above the nations, and someday he would rule. So far, after the dream, he's been beaten up and sold by his brothers, he's been auctioned as a slave, he was bought by a guy named Potipher, sought by Potipher's wife, falsely accused of sexual assault, thrown in prison and forgotten by one of the guys he tries to help there. things weren't quite lining up with the dream he had when he was 17. I think that sometimes we hear that God has a hope and future for us. We automatically equate that with the American dream. I mean, here's what I have a tendency to do.

Maybe you do too. We let our culture paint a picture of what the dream life looks like. And we set the canvas up in front of God and say, as long as your plan and this perfect picture match up with no variance, God, I'm cool with following you. as long as my life looks exactly like this, including granite countertops and perfect health, I will let you lead my life. And somewhere along the way God is trying to say, excuse me, you called that letting me lead

your life? You call that following my voice? You call that trusting me for a hope and a future? And did I say somewhere that the reason I created men and women was to live in America and have all the things that make them comfortable in this world? I mean, did I say somewhere that I wanted everybody to be well? healthy? Did I say somewhere that everyone would experience a pain-free, trouble-free, bliss-filled existence where you would always get ahead in this world's terms? Or did I say, did I just want

every person to burn with passion for me and my purposes? And to trust me as their good, good father, to allow me to mold them into the person I want them to be, and to follow my voice, knowing that my ways are higher, my thoughts are higher, my view is much better. I told you that this life would sometimes be difficult, but my desire is that you would choose joy, no matter what your circumstances are in this sometimes tough and unfair, confusing life, to lean into my peace, to live grateful lives that are molded in the image of Jesus, and to make an eternal difference with your one and only life wherever I lead you. What I've learned from looking at the life of Joseph over and over is this principle. God is far more interested in my character than he is my comfort. God is far more

interested in my character than he is my comfort. And gang, until we start thinking that way, we're going to miss it because we have set the canvas of our dreams up before God and say, God, they have to look like this in order for them to be your master plan for me. And the life of Joseph says, no, it doesn't. God says, I'll use whatever this life throws at you, the shape you, and mold you, and chisel you and make you into the person I know you can be. And I will lead you where you need to be. You can trust in that. And in the process, You can trust me. You know, I have probably, I don't know, thousands of song lyrics

seared into my memory, whether it's Bohemian Rhapsody or Bye-bye Miss American Pye, friends in low places, or the rap from Don't Go Chasing Waterfalls. They're all stuck in my bald head, and they're not all that helpful. But this one is. These lyrics spoke to me during a very difficult time of my life. One of those seasons where I felt a little bit like Joseph saying, God, I just don't get this. The lyrics are this.

God is too wise to be mistaken. God is too good to be unkind. So when you don't understand, when you don't see his plan, when you can't trace his hand, trust his heart. Trust his heart. Gang, his heart is for you, with you, beating in you. Ephesians won forces long before he even laid down earth's foundations, he has settled on us as the focus of his love.

So trust his heart today. come back tomorrow and just see what he does and Joseph. I hope you have a great day to day. 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.