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Andy Stanley - Better Decisions, Fewer Regrets, Part 3_ The Legacy Question · Andy Stanley Sermons

0:00
Speaker 1: So, one thing I think we all have in common
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Speaker 1: is our love of story. Right, our love of story.
0:06
Speaker 1: We all love a good story, whether it's a book
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Speaker 1: or movie, maybe part of a comedy series, fiction, nonfiction.
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Speaker 1: I love historical fiction. Maybe it's something that happened to
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Speaker 1: a friend, maybe it's your most embarrassing moment. And we
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Speaker 1: all love to hear, and many of us enjoy telling stories.
0:23
Speaker 1: What's not a parent That should be is that each
0:26
Speaker 1: of us is actually creating a story, the story of
0:29
Speaker 1: our lives. It should be a parent because when someone
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Speaker 1: asks you about your past, you know where you're from,
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Speaker 1: how you met, where you went to school. What do
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Speaker 1: you do? You dip back into a chapter of your story,
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Speaker 1: the story of your life. Now, if you were like
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Speaker 1: me growing up, you were interested in your parents' stories, right.
0:47
Speaker 1: I love to ask my parents when I was growing up.
0:49
Speaker 1: I love to ask them about when they got in
0:51
Speaker 1: trouble as kids. For some reason, those were my favorite stories.
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Speaker 1: Maybe it just made me feel better about myself. I
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Speaker 1: don't know, But if your family's anything like mine, there
1:00
Speaker 1: may actually have been some legendary stories in your family, right,
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Speaker 1: stories that you enjoyed hearing over and over and over
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Speaker 1: and stories you ask your parents or maybe somebody else
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Speaker 1: in your family to tell over and over and over.
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Speaker 1: But here's the thing. While those events are happening in
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Speaker 1: the past, nobody is thinking in terms of story, right,
1:20
Speaker 1: what are they thinking? They're thinking in terms of current events.
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Speaker 1: I mean, it wasn't a story. It was something that
1:25
Speaker 1: was happening in the moment. And this sets us up
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Speaker 1: for where we're headed today. Every significant or unusual current
1:31
Speaker 1: event in your life, even a season of life, once
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Speaker 1: it's behind you, once it's behind us, what do we
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Speaker 1: do with it? We reclassify it as a story, a
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Speaker 1: story we tell, or a story we hope we never
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Speaker 1: have to tell. A story to embarrassing or painful to tell.
1:47
Speaker 1: And often the determining factor as to whether or not
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Speaker 1: we want that story to be told is the decisions
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Speaker 1: we made while the story was unfolding. Right. The truth is,
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Speaker 1: we write the story of our lives one decision at
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Speaker 1: a time, whether it's a thoughtful response or an emotionally
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Speaker 1: fueled reaction, we write the story of our lives, one
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Speaker 1: decision at a time. More on that in just a minute.
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Speaker 1: Today we're in part three of our series Better Decisions
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Speaker 1: fewer regrets, and the big idea, The big idea behind
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Speaker 1: this series is simply this. It's the often overlooked relationship
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Speaker 1: between good questions and good decisions. And as we've said,
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Speaker 1: good questions set us up for good decisions, and in fact,
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Speaker 1: in some way, our decisions are no better than the
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Speaker 1: questions we ask or the questions we don't think to ask.
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Speaker 1: And here's the promise of this series. If you will ask,
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Speaker 1: and if you will answer honestly, and then if you
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Speaker 1: will act on your honest answer to the five questions
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Speaker 1: that this series is built around, I promise you you
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Speaker 1: will make better decisions, and consequently you'll live with fewer regrets.
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Speaker 1: Your life will actually be better, and the people who
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Speaker 1: look to you, the people who depend on you, their
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Speaker 1: lives will be better as well, because, and you know this,
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Speaker 1: we aren't the only people. We aren't the only people
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Speaker 1: impacted by our decisions, and we are not the only
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Speaker 1: people impacted by our regrets either. Now, in Part one,
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Speaker 1: I suggested you memorize this saying, a saying from the
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Speaker 1: Book of Proverbs. And here's the saying. I hope some
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Speaker 1: of you have memorize this. The prudence see danger, the
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Speaker 1: prudence seed danger and they do something, they respond appropriately,
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Speaker 1: they take refuge, but the simple or the naive, they
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Speaker 1: just keep on going and they pay the penalty. And
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Speaker 1: the reason I want you to commit that saying to
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Speaker 1: memory is this. As simple and as straightforward as these
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Speaker 1: five questions are, they will bring you into conflict with
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Speaker 1: the sales associate that lives in your head, just as
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Speaker 1: they bring me into conflict with the sales associate that
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Speaker 1: lives in my head. Because it's a little sales associate
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Speaker 1: that lives in your head, and his or her voice
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Speaker 1: sounds a lot like your voice. Right. They want you
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Speaker 1: to act now, They want you to decide fast. They
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Speaker 1: want you to focus on the immediate rather than the ultimate.
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Speaker 1: And this verse is a reminder to look beyond the
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Speaker 1: moment and not to look away from the potential danger
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Speaker 1: associated with one of the options. You catch yourself selling
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Speaker 1: yourself on. These five questions will slow you down, and
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Speaker 1: they will create the perspective you need to see danger coming.
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Speaker 1: This verse will give you the perspective you need to
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Speaker 1: connect the dots between the options you're considering and a
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Speaker 1: future you may prefer or a future you would prefer
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Speaker 1: to avoid. Now, last time, we introduced the first of
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Speaker 1: our five questions number. The first question was the integrity question.
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Speaker 1: And the integrity question is am I being honest with myself?
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Speaker 1: Am I being honest with myself? Really? So? I hope
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Speaker 1: since last time we met, you have been being honest
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Speaker 1: with yourself really. And I hope you've been being honest
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Speaker 1: with yourself even if the truth about yourself made you
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Speaker 1: feel a little bad about yourself, Because, as we said
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Speaker 1: last time, acknowledging where we are is the first step
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Speaker 1: to getting where we ultimately want to be. So when
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Speaker 1: making a decision of any magnitude, ask yourself, am I
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Speaker 1: being on with myself? Really? Today? Is the second question,
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Speaker 1: and I call this the legacy question, the legacy question.
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Speaker 1: Anytime you're making a decision of any magnitude or of
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Speaker 1: any consequence, I want you to pause and ask the
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Speaker 1: legacy question, which is what story do I want to tell?
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Speaker 1: What story do I want to tell? Think about it
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Speaker 1: this way, when this decision, or maybe this entire season
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Speaker 1: of life, when this relationship, when this business transaction is
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Speaker 1: reduced to simply a story that you tell. What story
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Speaker 1: do you want to tell? What story do you want
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Speaker 1: to tell? Do you want to be the hero or
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Speaker 1: do you want to be the villain? Do you want
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Speaker 1: to be the good example or do you want to
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Speaker 1: be the bad example? Which option will make this a
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Speaker 1: story worth remembering as opposed to a story you hope
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Speaker 1: no one ever tells and no one ever finds out about.
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Speaker 1: Which option would make this a story you will be
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Speaker 1: proud to tell your children someday, maybe even your grandchildren.
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Speaker 1: Here's the good news. Here's the good news. You get
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Speaker 1: to decide, But you decide one decision at a time, because,
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Speaker 1: as far as it is up to you, you write
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Speaker 1: the story of your life one decision at a time,
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Speaker 1: And every decision you make, every decision you make, becomes
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Speaker 1: a permanent part of the story. The story of your life.
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Speaker 1: Every decision you make has an outcome, a consequence, a result,
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Speaker 1: maybe good or bad, desirable, undesirable, expected, unexpected, whatever the case,
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Speaker 1: that outcome becomes a permanent part of the story of
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Speaker 1: your life. Your boss comes along and he ask you
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Speaker 1: to lie to a client, and you choose to lie
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Speaker 1: to the client, and the client finds out and calls
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Speaker 1: you on it, and the boss lays the blame on you,
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Speaker 1: and you lose your job. Now part of your story
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Speaker 1: is that you lied and you lost your job because
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Speaker 1: you lied. It's not a good story. What about this story?
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Speaker 1: Your boss asks you to lie, and you choose not
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Speaker 1: to lie, and you lose your job because you wouldn't
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Speaker 1: do what your boss asks you to do. It's not
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Speaker 1: a great story. But that's a better story, right all? Right?
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Speaker 1: About this one? You met this guy, he was just
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Speaker 1: kind of okay, he was convenient. There wasn't anybody else
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Speaker 1: on the horizon. Something in you knew this really wasn't
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Speaker 1: something you should pursue, but you did anyway, and two
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Speaker 1: years later the whole thing just evaporated. It's pretty much
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Speaker 1: a story. You hope no one even asks you about
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Speaker 1: a story that no one finds out about. How about
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Speaker 1: this one? Your friends wanted you to go out, but
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Speaker 1: you had an exam to study for, and you said no.
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Speaker 1: You stayed in and you studied and you aced the exam.
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Speaker 1: And that was a decision you made over and over
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Speaker 1: and over, and now you have a degree to show
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Speaker 1: for it. That's a good story. The point is simply this,
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Speaker 1: Every decision and the outcome of that decision becomes part
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Speaker 1: of your story, which means decision by decision, you are
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Speaker 1: writing the story of your life. That's why, when you're
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Speaker 1: making a decision of any magnitude, you've got to pause,
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Speaker 1: look ahead, and think, when this is nothing more than
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Speaker 1: a story I tell? What story? What story do I
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Speaker 1: want to tell? The decision you are wrestling with right now,
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Speaker 1: right now is going to be nothing more than a
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Speaker 1: story you tell someday. What story do you want to
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Speaker 1: tell now? The challenge with all of this is this,
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Speaker 1: in the midst of current events, in the midst of circumstances,
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Speaker 1: we don't think of our lives in terms of story. Now.
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Speaker 1: It is a story, but we don't think that way.
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Speaker 1: For example, if you recently lost your job, surviving this
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Speaker 1: season without a job, well, one day, this is just
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Speaker 1: going to be a story that you tell. What story
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Speaker 1: do you want to tell? I lost my job, I
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Speaker 1: was embarrassed, I started drinking too much, I racked up
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Speaker 1: some unnecessary debt. I lost the respect of my friends
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Speaker 1: and my kids. That's not a great story. It's understandable.
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Speaker 1: I mean losing a job, I mean going for a
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Speaker 1: prolonged period of time without work is terrifying. It's terrifying.
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Speaker 1: But the decisions we make in the valleys eventually are
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Speaker 1: just stories we tell on the other side. Or maybe
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Speaker 1: back to the dating thing. You're dating someone and things
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Speaker 1: are going okay, but there's someone else in the picture,
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Speaker 1: and yeah, she's married or he's married. But you find
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Speaker 1: yourself gravitating in their direction, and they seem to be
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Speaker 1: gravitating in your direction as well, and you get the
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Speaker 1: sense that if you're willing, they're willing your decision. Your
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Speaker 1: decision will be a permanent part of your story and
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Speaker 1: hers or and his. What story do you want to tell?
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Speaker 1: I got involved with someone at work who was married.
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Speaker 1: I ended up busting up a marriage. Now their kids
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Speaker 1: ping pong between two homes on the weekends. Is that
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Speaker 1: the story you want to tell? I don't think so.
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Speaker 1: Now here's something that I think is true of all
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Speaker 1: of us. You'd like to be able to tell your
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Speaker 1: entire story without skipping any parts, without skipping any chapters
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Speaker 1: or having to lie about the details, right, I mean,
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Speaker 1: someday you'd like to be able to sit down with
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Speaker 1: your kids, or maybe even your grandkids, or maybe someone
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Speaker 1: you hope to spend the rest of your life with
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Speaker 1: and tell your entire story. And isn't it true? You'd
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Speaker 1: like to be the hero and your story. I mean,
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Speaker 1: I think we all want that, and I think going forward,
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Speaker 1: you can have that, but it will require you to
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Speaker 1: stop mid decision and ask what story do I want
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Speaker 1: to tell? Which of the available options do I want
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Speaker 1: as a permanent part of my story Now, I think
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Speaker 1: one of the reasons we don't think about story when
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Speaker 1: we're making decisions is we get distracted by the pressure
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Speaker 1: and the emotions of the moment, right, I mean, emotion
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Speaker 1: when it comes to decision making, emotion is like a fog.
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Speaker 1: It causes us to lose sight of the broader context,
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Speaker 1: which is our story. And you know how this works.
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Speaker 1: You're up against the deadline. You've got to decide. You've
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Speaker 1: got to decide soon. You know. If you won't marry me,
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Speaker 1: I'm leaving. Nobody wants to be left. If you don't
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Speaker 1: make your quota, you're fired. Nobody wants to be fired.
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Speaker 1: I mean, when you're forced to make a decision under pressure,
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Speaker 1: it is hard to think about tomorrow, much less your story, right,
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Speaker 1: because you've got to get through today. So, whether it's
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Speaker 1: love or fear or jealousy, the emotions associated with the
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Speaker 1: decision making process they always complicate the process by focusing
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Speaker 1: our attention on the immediate rather than the ultimate, and
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Speaker 1: consequently we're left thinking in terms of options, not our story.
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Speaker 1: And the challenge is, and you know this, there are
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Speaker 1: no emotionally neutral decision making environments, right, I mean, when
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Speaker 1: it comes to big decisions, it is almost impossible to
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Speaker 1: be objective because of the way we feel, because of
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Speaker 1: our emotions. This is why your worst decision. And I
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Speaker 1: know we've never met, so I'm taking a gamble here,
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Speaker 1: but my guess is your worst decision was fueled by
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Speaker 1: something with strong emotional appeal, right, maybe a first marriage
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Speaker 1: that was pretty much doomed from the start. That purchase,
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Speaker 1: that lease. I mean, it was so appealing, you bought it.
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Speaker 1: It was so appealing, you ate it, you smoked it.
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Speaker 1: It was so appealing you dated it, and you moved
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Speaker 1: in with it. Right. And if you're in retail sales,
11:43
Speaker 1: you know exactly how this works. You know about the
11:46
Speaker 1: worst thing that you can let a potential customer do
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Speaker 1: is leave the store or leave the showroom without making
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Speaker 1: the sale. Why. Well, you know why, because once they
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Speaker 1: walk out, what happens the emotional appeal of your product
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Speaker 1: begins to side, and they're far less likely to make
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Speaker 1: the purchase. We've all experienced that. Now psychologists actually have
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Speaker 1: a name for this dynamic. It explains why once our
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Speaker 1: appetites are engaged in the decision making process, we well
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Speaker 1: we to some degree, we kind of lose our minds
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Speaker 1: on This cognitive bias has been labeled focalism. Focalism because
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Speaker 1: the victims, and we've all been a victim of this,
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Speaker 1: the victims hyper focus on the one thing to the
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Speaker 1: neglect of pretty much everything else. If you've ever been
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Speaker 1: in love, and I hope you have, If you've ever
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Speaker 1: been in love, you were a victim, or maybe you
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Speaker 1: are currently a victim of focalism. It's wonderful. All you
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Speaker 1: can see is him, all you can see is her.
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Speaker 1: The point being this in emotionally in emotionally charged decision
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Speaker 1: making environments. Whenever there is an emotionally charged decision making environment,
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Speaker 1: we think in terms of our options, not our stories.
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Speaker 1: So here's a tip. When confronted, When confronted with anything
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Speaker 1: or anybody with strong emotional appeal, press pause, now I
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Speaker 1: play because strong emotional appeal. Strong emotional appeal should trigger
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Speaker 1: a red flag, not necessarily a green light. Instead of
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Speaker 1: leaning in, we should step back, not because and this
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Speaker 1: is important, not because he's not the one. He may
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Speaker 1: be the one. Not because it's not a great investment opportunity.
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Speaker 1: It may be a great investment opportunity. Not because it's
13:24
Speaker 1: not the perfect job. It may be the perfect job,
13:27
Speaker 1: but in spite of that, we should step back because
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Speaker 1: anything with strong emotional appeal, even the right thing, clouds
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Speaker 1: our judgment. So just hit pause, get your bearings, go
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Speaker 1: home and think about it, Call a friend, and for
13:40
Speaker 1: sure consider, consider, Consider your story, because when you consider
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Speaker 1: your story, it places it places the decision making process
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Speaker 1: within the broader context of our entire lives. Now, the
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Speaker 1: Old Testament story of Joseph, The Old Testament story of Joseph,
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Speaker 1: I think, is a great reminder of how powerful and
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Speaker 1: legacy preserving this question is. This is why I call
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Speaker 1: it the legacy question. Now, many of you are so
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Speaker 1: familiar with this story you could tell it yourself, So
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Speaker 1: I'll give you the condensed version. Around eighteen hundred BC,
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Speaker 1: a seventeen year old named Joseph, the eleventh of twelve sons,
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Speaker 1: finds himself in a no win situation that is not
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Speaker 1: of his own making. His father, Jacob, loved him more
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Speaker 1: than all the other boys because Joseph's mother was his
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Speaker 1: father's favorite wife, which fueled the fires of jealousy and
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Speaker 1: his ten older brothers. Eventually, as you probably know, their
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Speaker 1: jealousy gets the best of them, they decide to kill Joseph.
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Speaker 1: In the end, they lose their nerve and decide to
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Speaker 1: sell him instead, which is a bit more merciful and
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Speaker 1: way more profitable. And they sell him to slave traders.
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Speaker 1: And then they tell their dad that he was killed
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Speaker 1: by a wild animal. And now, and this is important. Now,
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Speaker 1: these ten young men think about this. These ten young
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Speaker 1: men have a secret that they are forced to live
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Speaker 1: with for the rest of their lives. I have a
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Speaker 1: chapter in their lives they will be embarrassed to tell.
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Speaker 1: I was so jealous of my younger brother that I,
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Speaker 1: along with my other nine brothers, beat him up and
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Speaker 1: sold him. There were ten of us, and one of
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Speaker 1: them who wants to tell that story. And then we
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Speaker 1: lied to my father and broke his heart and said
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Speaker 1: that his favorite son had been killed by a wild animal.
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Speaker 1: That's not a good story. And now, and now Joseph's
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Speaker 1: brothers are liars for life. Please don't decide anything that
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Speaker 1: makes you a liar for life. Here's why whatever you
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Speaker 1: gain in the moment will not be worth what you're
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Speaker 1: forced to carry into the moments that follow. Back to Joseph. So,
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Speaker 1: Joseph ends up on the auction block in Egypt, where
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Speaker 1: he's purchased by a military officer named Potiphar. And now
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Speaker 1: Joseph has a decision to make. Do I run, Do
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Speaker 1: I do what most slaves do as little as possible,
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Speaker 1: with as bad an attitude as I can get by with,
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Speaker 1: or do I throw myself into this whole slave thing
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Speaker 1: with everything I've got? Interesting dilemma for a rich kid
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Speaker 1: who grew up as his father's favorite son. And here's
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Speaker 1: what makes this story so relatable for many of us.
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Speaker 1: None of this, none of this is his fault. Somebody
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Speaker 1: else took control of his story, his story, like parts
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Speaker 1: of your story were hijacked, commandeered by evil people, selfish people.
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Speaker 1: So why try? You know? Why care? That's always the
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Speaker 1: temptation when someone else decides our story in a bad direction.
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Speaker 1: But somehow, in some way, Joseph overcomes, overcomes the negative inertia,
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Speaker 1: the temptation to just throw up his hands and give up.
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Speaker 1: He refuses to throw up his hands and let fate
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Speaker 1: have its way. Instead, he decides to serve Potiphar's household
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Speaker 1: as if it were his own, And eventually Potiphar notices,
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Speaker 1: and he gives Joseph even more responsibility, and he ends
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Speaker 1: up in charge of Potiphar's entire household. Then you know,
16:58
Speaker 1: if you think about it, that's kind of a story
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Speaker 1: worth telling, Right, I was kidnapped once, I was sold twice.
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Speaker 1: I was a victim, but I decided not to live
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Speaker 1: like a victim. That was the story that Joseph decided.
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Speaker 1: That was the story that Joseph was writing. But then
17:13
Speaker 1: the music change. Right, If you know this story, you
17:15
Speaker 1: know that his story intersected with somebody else's story, Potiphar's wife.
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Speaker 1: And he finds himself, once again, through no fault of
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Speaker 1: his own, in a no win situation because Potiphar's wife
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Speaker 1: insists that he become her lover, probably one of many lovers,
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Speaker 1: and Joseph has two options, neither of which would lead
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Speaker 1: to a good outcome. And it's important to understand in
17:37
Speaker 1: this culture, this was not primarily a moral issue. This
17:41
Speaker 1: was a life or death issue. More like death or death,
17:44
Speaker 1: because either way he decided he could lose his life.
17:48
Speaker 1: And just to point it out, he's about nineteen or
17:50
Speaker 1: maybe twenty years old when this part of his story
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Speaker 1: unfolds and once again he opts for the better story.
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Speaker 1: And it's at this juncture and history. It's one of
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Speaker 1: the reasons I wanted to rehearse this story with you,
18:02
Speaker 1: even though it's so familiar. It's at this juncture in
18:05
Speaker 1: Joseph's story that he employs a powerful, powerful technique, something
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Speaker 1: we should all employ. Here's what he does. Joseph actually
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Speaker 1: rehearses his story out loud as the context for his
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Speaker 1: response to Potiphar's wife. This is how we know he
18:21
Speaker 1: made this decision within the context of his life story.
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Speaker 1: So what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna kind of
18:26
Speaker 1: paraphrase the first part of his response, and then I'll
18:29
Speaker 1: read the second part straight from the text. Essentially, here's
18:32
Speaker 1: what he said, missus Potterphar. I came to this land
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Speaker 1: as a slave. I had no rights and no future.
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Speaker 1: Your husband purchased me, and I did my best to
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Speaker 1: serve him and you, and through my hard work and
18:47
Speaker 1: my diligence and through God's help. I've gained the trust
18:51
Speaker 1: of your husband. He's put me in charge of the
18:53
Speaker 1: entire household. In other words, my story is getting better
18:57
Speaker 1: all the time. And then he says this quote. With
19:01
Speaker 1: me in charge of the household, he told her, my
19:03
Speaker 1: master does not concern himself with anything in the house.
19:06
Speaker 1: Everything he owned he has entrusted to my care. No one,
19:11
Speaker 1: no one is greater in this house than I am.
19:14
Speaker 1: My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because
19:20
Speaker 1: you are his wife. Implication, that's your story, missus Potipher,
19:26
Speaker 1: You really need to think this through. Do you really
19:27
Speaker 1: want affair with a Hebrew slave? This part of your story?
19:33
Speaker 1: And then Joseph steps back into the broadest context of all.
19:37
Speaker 1: In light of all that's happened, in light of your
19:39
Speaker 1: husband's confidence in me, in light of God's mercy to me,
19:43
Speaker 1: he asked this question, how then, in light of all that,
19:46
Speaker 1: in light of the way my story is going, how
19:48
Speaker 1: then could I do such a wicked thing and sin
19:51
Speaker 1: against God? Why would I want? Why would I want
19:56
Speaker 1: to add adultery to what's turning out to be a
19:59
Speaker 1: pretty good story with it ending I never dreamed possible.
20:02
Speaker 1: In other words, which of these stories, Missus Potiphar, do
20:05
Speaker 1: I want to tell? I only have two options. Story
20:08
Speaker 1: number one, your husband gave me an opportunity I never
20:11
Speaker 1: dream would come my way. I was faithful to him
20:13
Speaker 1: and the God who's been watching over and looking out
20:16
Speaker 1: for me. That's a good story. Or story number two,
20:19
Speaker 1: your husband gave me an opportunity I never dreamed would
20:22
Speaker 1: come my way, so I took advantage of his trust
20:24
Speaker 1: and had an affair with his wife. Which story do
20:27
Speaker 1: I want to tell? Which story do you want to tell?
20:32
Speaker 1: When the decision you are in the middle of making
20:34
Speaker 1: right now is nothing more than a story you tell?
20:37
Speaker 1: What story do you want to tell? Now? As you
20:40
Speaker 1: probably know, Joseph decided to better those two stories. He
20:45
Speaker 1: did the right thing, but the right thing did not
20:49
Speaker 1: turn out for Joseph. Potiphar's wife accuses him of trying
20:52
Speaker 1: to rape her, and Joseph ends up in Pharaoh's dungeon.
20:56
Speaker 1: But Joseph's story wasn't over, and your story isn't over either. Now.
21:04
Speaker 1: It's true when we find ourselves in a long difficult
21:07
Speaker 1: season and a long difficult chapter of our story, it
21:10
Speaker 1: feels like this chapter is the entire story, But it
21:13
Speaker 1: doesn't have to be. Oftentimes, it's our responses, our decisions
21:17
Speaker 1: in those difficult chapters that make all the difference, that
21:20
Speaker 1: make all the difference between a story that ends bad
21:23
Speaker 1: and a story that ends well. Now, if you're familiar
21:27
Speaker 1: with Joseph's story, you know that while he was in prison,
21:30
Speaker 1: Joseph does the same thing he did in the dungeon
21:33
Speaker 1: as he did in Potiphar's household. He decides well, and
21:35
Speaker 1: over time he wins the favor of the prison ward. Now,
21:38
Speaker 1: nobody's life ambition is to win the favor of a
21:40
Speaker 1: prison ward. But you know what, he just decided to
21:43
Speaker 1: do what he could do with what he had to
21:44
Speaker 1: work with, and before long he's pretty much running the place.
21:48
Speaker 1: Several years later, and don't let that go by too quickly,
21:51
Speaker 1: several years later, he finds himself being ushered into Pharaoh's
21:56
Speaker 1: presence to interpret a dream because Pharaoh had a dream
21:59
Speaker 1: that he believed had significance for the nation of Egypt,
22:02
Speaker 1: and none of his magicians could interpret the dream. And then,
22:06
Speaker 1: in another surprising twist in Joseph's story, Joseph assures Pharaoh
22:11
Speaker 1: that he can't interpret the dream either. And I think
22:14
Speaker 1: there was a gasp in the throne room when he
22:16
Speaker 1: said that. And then he looks at Pharaoh and says,
22:19
Speaker 1: but God, God is in the Hebrew God, which is
22:23
Speaker 1: a dangerous thing to say to someone who can considers
22:25
Speaker 1: himself of God God, who the Hebrew God can interpret
22:28
Speaker 1: the dream for Pharaoh. Fortunately, that day, Pharaoh was more
22:32
Speaker 1: curious than furious, and he lets Joseph proceed with dream interpretation. So,
22:37
Speaker 1: according to Joseph, and according to the dream as he
22:40
Speaker 1: understood it, Egypt would experience seven years of record breaking
22:45
Speaker 1: grain harvest. Essentially, the Egyptians would be swimming in grain.
22:49
Speaker 1: And here's why that was a big deal. Bread was
22:51
Speaker 1: a staple for ancient people, all ancient people, so grain
22:55
Speaker 1: was the primary source for basically what constituted the dominant
22:58
Speaker 1: portion of the standard diet, which means if there's no grain,
23:02
Speaker 1: people literally starved. So this was great news. But that
23:06
Speaker 1: was just half of the dream. Egypt would experience seven
23:09
Speaker 1: years of record breaking grain harvest, followed by a famine
23:13
Speaker 1: so severe Joseph said that everybody's gonna forget all about
23:16
Speaker 1: the seven good years. Now. When Joseph finished interpreting the dream,
23:21
Speaker 1: everybody in the throne room assumed that Joseph was finished
23:24
Speaker 1: and he would be escorted out. But Joseph wasn't finished,
23:29
Speaker 1: and he does the unthinkable, and he gives Pharaoh unsolicited advice.
23:36
Speaker 1: Now nobody gave the Pharaoh unsolicited advice, especially a foreigner
23:41
Speaker 1: who still smelled a bit like the dungeon. But this
23:44
Speaker 1: was the advice he gave Pharaoh. He said, Oh, Pharaoh,
23:48
Speaker 1: somebody needs to wake up every single day focused on
23:51
Speaker 1: this problem. Somebody needs to wake up every single day
23:53
Speaker 1: focused on preparing Egypt for what's coming. So choose somebody
23:57
Speaker 1: you trust and put them in charge of grain storage.
24:02
Speaker 1: Silence in the throne room, as everybody waited to find
24:06
Speaker 1: out what unimaginable horror awaited this arrogant Hebrew who would
24:11
Speaker 1: dare to give Pharaoh advice? But Pharaoh smiles and he says,
24:17
Speaker 1: to the people standing around, can we find anyone like
24:21
Speaker 1: this man, one in whom is the spirit of God?
24:27
Speaker 1: And then Pharaoh said to Joseph, since God, Joseph's God,
24:33
Speaker 1: since God has made all this known to you, there
24:36
Speaker 1: is no one so discerning and wise as you. And then,
24:41
Speaker 1: to the shock and awe of everyone standing there, you
24:46
Speaker 1: shall be in charge of my palace, and all my
24:49
Speaker 1: people are to submit to your orders. Only with respect
24:53
Speaker 1: to the throne, will I be greater than you, And
24:58
Speaker 1: in this moment makes Joseph the prime Minister of Egypt.
25:05
Speaker 1: And once again Joseph did what Joseph did. He decided well,
25:10
Speaker 1: and he devotes himself to this unprecedented opportunity. Seven years later,
25:15
Speaker 1: as he predicted, a famine devastates that region of the world.
25:19
Speaker 1: Once everybody's personal grain cupboards are bare, Joseph opens the
25:23
Speaker 1: federal grain silos and feeds the nation, and before long,
25:27
Speaker 1: people from all over that part of the world are
25:29
Speaker 1: caravanning to Egypt to buy grain, including if you know
25:32
Speaker 1: this story, including Joseph's brothers. And when they arrived, he
25:38
Speaker 1: happened to be out that day and he recognized them immediately,
25:42
Speaker 1: But of course they did not recognize their thirty year
25:45
Speaker 1: old brother, whom they had not seen since he was
25:47
Speaker 1: about seventeen years old. Now, if you've never read this
25:52
Speaker 1: story in Genesis, you should. There are so many fascinating
25:55
Speaker 1: details we don't have time to explore today. But in
25:57
Speaker 1: the end, in the end, Joseph finally reveals his identity
26:01
Speaker 1: to his ten older brothers and they are speechless. Actually,
26:06
Speaker 1: they are terrified, and they beg for mercy they know
26:10
Speaker 1: they don't deserve and in all likelihood will not receive.
26:15
Speaker 1: And they were sure, they were so sure Joseph would
26:17
Speaker 1: do to them what they had done to him, because
26:19
Speaker 1: that's exactly what they would do to him if they
26:21
Speaker 1: were in Joseph's position. But and here's the point of
26:24
Speaker 1: the story, Joseph wasn't anything like his brothers. And do
26:29
Speaker 1: you know why, because throughout his life, Joseph refused to react,
26:35
Speaker 1: and in refusing to react, he avoided becoming like the
26:38
Speaker 1: people he didn't like. He decided, he decided against the
26:44
Speaker 1: gravitational pull of bitterness. So consequently, now that he's got
26:49
Speaker 1: the power, he is free, and he is free to
26:53
Speaker 1: write a better story. He decided his life in a
26:57
Speaker 1: different and a better direction. He decided a story worth telling.
27:03
Speaker 1: That's why we're telling his story. And in that moment,
27:08
Speaker 1: he made a big decision. He decided revenge would not
27:12
Speaker 1: be part of his story. So, in addition to rescuing
27:16
Speaker 1: Egypt from the famine, Joseph rescues his entire family and
27:20
Speaker 1: their families as well, and he moves them all to Egypt,
27:24
Speaker 1: now that is a story worth telling. A story. He
27:27
Speaker 1: decided one decision, one response at a time, which brings
27:32
Speaker 1: me back to us, which brings me back to you.
27:37
Speaker 1: What story? What story do you want to tell? What
27:43
Speaker 1: story do you want told about you? Like Joseph, like
27:47
Speaker 1: his brothers, you're writing the story of your life, one
27:49
Speaker 1: decision at a time. Don't do what his brothers did,
27:53
Speaker 1: never ever, ever, choose the option that makes you a
27:55
Speaker 1: liar for life. Listen, this is so important. Long after,
28:00
Speaker 1: long after whatever you gained is gone, you'll be left
28:03
Speaker 1: with your lie. You'll be left with a story you
28:06
Speaker 1: won't be proud to tell. Every relational, financial, professional, academic
28:12
Speaker 1: decision and the outcome of those decisions, they become a
28:14
Speaker 1: permanent part of your story. So write a good one.
28:18
Speaker 1: Decide a good one. And if you haven't decided a
28:20
Speaker 1: good one up to this point, remember this. Your current
28:23
Speaker 1: chapter is just that. It's a chapter. It's not the
28:25
Speaker 1: whole story. So as we wrap up, I want to
28:29
Speaker 1: challenge you to make a decision right now. I want
28:32
Speaker 1: to challenge you to make this decision. I'll decide a
28:35
Speaker 1: story I'll be proud to tell. I'll decide a story
28:39
Speaker 1: I will be proud to tell every time. Every time
28:43
Speaker 1: you're faced with a decision of any magnitude, ask when
28:46
Speaker 1: this is nothing more than a story I tell, what
28:48
Speaker 1: story do I want to tell? And then decide accordingly.
28:53
Speaker 1: Because you write the story of your life, one decision
28:57
Speaker 1: at a time, write a good one. Attatata