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Andy Stanley - Better For It Part 2 How to Respond to a Crisis · Andy Stanley Sermons

• 0:04
  Speaker 1: So today we're in part two of our series Better
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: for It, And the truth is we're all kind of
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: ready to get back to normal, or maybe some version
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: of normal, or a lot of people are referring to
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: it as the new normal. But I think we would
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: all agree that to get back to normal and not
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: to have gained anything from all this pain would really
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: be a shame. In fact, pain without gain is always
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: a shame. So if we're wise, we will pause long
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: enough to ask the question, what have we learned that
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: we want to carry forward or to the point of
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: our series, how can we be better for it? Specifically?
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: And we asked this question last time we were together,
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: what have we been doing? Think about this, what have
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: we been doing? Or let's personalize it, what have you
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: been doing? What have you been doing that almost led
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: to your undoing? Or perhaps what were you doing that
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: actually has led to your undoing that you need to
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: learn from and consequently make some better decisions in the future.
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: Second question, again we asked this last week, is what
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: should we begin doing that we should have been doing
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: all along? What should we begin doing that we should
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: have been doing all along? Because again, it would be
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: tragic to forget the lessons that we've learned, and it
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: would certainly be tragic to lose the perspective that so
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: many of us have gained. Now. Last time we were together,
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: we asked these questions in light of our finances. We
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: asked the question, how can we be better for this financially?
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: And I poked around a little bit ask you some
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: difficult questions. For some of you, it was a little
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: bit offensive because you're right in the middle of a
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: financial crisis and here I am asking, hey, what decisions
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: do you need to make to ensure this doesn't happen again?
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: Or what financial decisions can you make to ensure that
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: you're better for it next time? And it seems a
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: little bit early, but as we talked about last week,
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: it's not too early. Then we asked the question, how
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: can we be better for this relationally? Because quarantining has caused
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: some of us, or have allowed some of us to
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: learn some things about our family, our marriages, our friendships
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: that well we've just neglected over time. So we asked
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: the question, what have we learned relationally? How can we
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: be better relationally? What have we learn that we can
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: carry into the future. And then I ask how can
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: we be better for this personally? And we probed around
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: a little bit as it relates to your faith. What
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: are the questions you're asking, maybe for the first time,
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: or what are the questions that you're asking for the
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: first time in a long time. Now, today we're going
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: to go in a little bit different direction. Today, we're
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: going to do a little bit deeper dive because, and
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: you know this, simply wanting to be better for this,
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: simply intending to be better for this, means that nothing
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: may happen as a result, because simply wanting, intending, and
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: wishing doesn't require anything of us, and it won't bring
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: about any change. For there to be actual change, you
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: have to engage with the question and specifically to be
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: better for what we have just come through and to
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: be better for what you are currently going through, you
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: have to engage your superpower. That's right, your superpower. You
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: have a superpowered here's your superpower. It is that innate
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: ability that empowers you right now now to be better
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: for actually anything that comes your way or when you
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: think about your past, it empowers you to be better
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: for anything that has come your way or came your way.
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: Now you know this, we have no control over what
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: life throws at us. Right, think about it. Six months ago,
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: social distancing was for people like me introverts. Six months ago,
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: kids were throwing toilet paper into trees. Six months ago,
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: if your mama heard you'd miss church for eight or
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: nine weeks, she would be convinced that you are going
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: to hell. Right, so so much has changed. We didn't
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: choose this pandemic, right, We didn't choose this parentheses in time.
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: We didn't choose the pandemic. It actually chose us. But
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: and here's the point. It left us with choices. It
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: left us with choices. And this is where your superpower
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  Speaker 1: comes in. This is where your superpower comes in. Your
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  Speaker 1: superpower is we're going to discover. In fact, as we
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: begin talking about this, it's going to remind some of
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  Speaker 1: you of your own history. Your superpower actually empowers you
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: to turn bad things into good things. It empowers you
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  Speaker 1: to turn wrong things into right things, and it actually
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  Speaker 1: empowers you to thwart the evil intent of evil people.
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  Speaker 1: It has the power to reverse the course of your life.
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  Speaker 1: But your superpower and the ability that you have that
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  Speaker 1: we all have is easy, easy, easy to miss during
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  Speaker 1: times of crisis and if you lose sight of it,
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  Speaker 1: especially in times of crisis, and especially in times of adversity,
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  Speaker 1: you will become a victim. But if you engage your superpower,
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  Speaker 1: you will be better for it, and you will be
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  Speaker 1: better for it in every single major arena of life. Now,
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  Speaker 1: what is this superpower? It's so simple. Your superpower, My
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  Speaker 1: superpower is our ability to respond, Our respondability, our ability
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  Speaker 1: to choose a response rather than simply react to circumstances.
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  Speaker 1: Your ability to choose a response rather than have it
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  Speaker 1: dictated to you by circuit cumstances, rather than having it
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  Speaker 1: dictated to you because that's just what people do in
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  Speaker 1: those circumstances, rather than have it having it dictated to
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  Speaker 1: you because of what's been modeled for you. Reacting, You
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  Speaker 1: know this, reacting actually sets us up to become a reflection.
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  Speaker 1: Reacting to circumstances just sets us up to become a
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  Speaker 1: reflection of the things we despise. Reacting just sets us
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  Speaker 1: up to become a reflection of the people that we
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  Speaker 1: don't respect. And to react, And maybe this is the
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  Speaker 1: most difficult part, or maybe this is the most heartbreaking part.
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  Speaker 1: To simply react to circumstances causes us to relinquish our power,
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  Speaker 1: and to relinquish our destiny, and certainly to relinquish and
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  Speaker 1: give up on our legacy. But the right response, a
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  Speaker 1: thoughtful response, if you're a Christian, a faith filled response,
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  Speaker 1: has the power to redeem pain and suffering. As I
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: said earlier, it actually has the power we're going to
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  Speaker 1: see this in the story today, to actually reverse the
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  Speaker 1: course of a life. Your superpower, your superpower is why,
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  Speaker 1: your superpower is why you can be better for it,
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  Speaker 1: regardless of what it is. Now. I know that's a
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  Speaker 1: big promise. Now, not only is a big promise, the
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  Speaker 1: reason we miss the promise is because there's a little
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: bit of a catch. There's a reason we miss this,
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  Speaker 1: and here's why. The response that has the potential to
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  Speaker 1: reverse the natural course of things isn't natural. The response
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  Speaker 1: that has the potential to reverse the natural course of
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  Speaker 1: things isn't natural. The catalytic response, the response that has
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  Speaker 1: the power to turn things around in a life, or
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  Speaker 1: as we're going to see today, in a family or
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  Speaker 1: even a nation. The response that has the potential to
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  Speaker 1: turn things around is not the intuitive response. And this
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  Speaker 1: is why we miss it. And to be honest, this
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  Speaker 1: is why we were talking about it. But here's what
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  Speaker 1: I don't want you to miss. This is the life.
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  Speaker 1: This is the life that you have been invited into.
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  Speaker 1: This is the life you've been invited into, whether you're
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  Speaker 1: a person of faith or not. But if you are
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  Speaker 1: a person of faith, if you are a Jesus follower,
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  Speaker 1: this is certainly the life that you have been invited into,
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  Speaker 1: the life where you choose your response, as opposed to
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  Speaker 1: simply reacting to the circumstances around you, the way that
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  Speaker 1: everybody else acts, the way that your family reacts, and
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  Speaker 1: the way that you are expected to react. Now, think
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  Speaker 1: about this. The history of our faith, especially if you're
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  Speaker 1: a Christian, the history of our faith is actually populated
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  Speaker 1: by men and women who responded to hardship in the
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  Speaker 1: most unexpected, unnatural, really, to use that word again, catalytic ways.
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  Speaker 1: They made catalytic decisions. And think about this. At the
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  Speaker 1: epicenter of our faith, if you're a Christian, at the
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  Speaker 1: epicenter of our faith, stands a man who, think about it,
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  Speaker 1: who surrendered to his enemies, who chose not to defend
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  Speaker 1: himself at his trial, and chose not to save himself,
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  Speaker 1: and as a result, saved others. He saved you saved me.
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  Speaker 1: The point being this, never ever, ever, never ever underestimate,
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  Speaker 1: never underestimate the power of a measured response. Never underestimate
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  Speaker 1: the power of a measured response. Now, for the next
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  Speaker 1: couple of weeks, we're going to talk about one biblical
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  Speaker 1: character that modeled this in a remarkable way. And part
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: of what makes this story so remarkable is that he
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  Speaker 1: modeled this for over twenty years. In fact, the story
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  Speaker 1: spans about thirty years, and the conclusion of the story,
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  Speaker 1: the conclusion of the story, actually illustrates the sanity preserving,
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  Speaker 1: course reversing power of a measured response. And as soon
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  Speaker 1: as I read the end of the story, because we're
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: going to begin at the end, as soon as I
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  Speaker 1: read the end, most of you are going to know
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  Speaker 1: the entire story. So I want to ask you to
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: do me and to do you a favor as we
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  Speaker 1: jump into this story together. I want you to try,
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  Speaker 1: mentally and emotionally not to rush to the end of
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  Speaker 1: the story. Because this the story of this young man's life,
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: intersects with our lives in many ways, but there are
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  Speaker 1: two ways in particular, intersect with our lives. And I
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  Speaker 1: don't want us to miss it. And the problem with
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  Speaker 1: knowing the end of the story is that we kind
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  Speaker 1: of extract ourselves from the story and we missed the
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  Speaker 1: point of the story. So here's how this really epic
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  Speaker 1: story ends. It ends with the hero of the story
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  Speaker 1: making this statement. He says this, you intended to harm me.
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  Speaker 1: You intended to harm me and the you and the story,
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  Speaker 1: and especially if you know the story, the you and
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  Speaker 1: the story in that moment were the power brokers. The
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: odds were in their favor, They held all the cards.
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  Speaker 1: The cards were completely stacked against the hero and the story.
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  Speaker 1: They had evil in their hearts. In fact, as we
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: read the story together, or as you remember the story,
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: you'll remember they created circumstances, and perhaps you can relate
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  Speaker 1: to this. They created circumstances that generally transform victims into perpetrators.
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  Speaker 1: They created a set of circumstances that generally caused the
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  Speaker 1: innocent to take on the characteristics and the character of
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  Speaker 1: the guilty. But not this time. Not this time, the
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  Speaker 1: hero says, you intended to harm me. But God intended
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  Speaker 1: it for good. And God's intentions in this story became
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  Speaker 1: a reality through one young man's catalytic unexpected responses to
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  Speaker 1: circumstances we cannot even begin to imagine responses this is
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  Speaker 1: so important, none of which seemed to matter at the time,
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  Speaker 1: and no single response made any visible, noticeable practical difference
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  Speaker 1: at the time, But every single one of his responses,
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  Speaker 1: when taken together, were critical to the unfolding story of
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  Speaker 1: your faith in mind. Now you know the story, But
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: here's the backstory of one of the greatest stories ever told.
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: About two thousand BC, about two thousan BC, God wades
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  Speaker 1: into the mess of this sinful world by calling out
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  Speaker 1: a man named Abraham that we know is Abraham, and
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  Speaker 1: he says to Abraham, I want you to leave everything
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  Speaker 1: you know, because I'm going to start over, and you
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  Speaker 1: are going to become the father of many nations. And
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  Speaker 1: through one of those nations, I God am going to
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  Speaker 1: bless the entire world. And if you know the story,
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  Speaker 1: that eventually Abraham has a son. His name is Isaac,
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  Speaker 1: and Isaac has a son, and his name is Jacob.
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  Speaker 1: And Jacob has twelve sons, which would eventually become the
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  Speaker 1: twelve Tribes of Israel, the nation of Israel. But this
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  Speaker 1: entire enterprise would dangle by the thread this is amazing.
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  Speaker 1: This entire enterprise would dangle by the thread of a
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  Speaker 1: series of catalytic responses by one of Jacob's sons, And
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  Speaker 1: of course his name is Joseph, Joseph, who is Jacob's
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  Speaker 1: favorite son by Jacob's favorite wife, which is kind of
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  Speaker 1: a story in and of itself. But because he was
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  Speaker 1: the favorite son, and because he was the favored son,
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: his ten older brothers did not like Joseph now and
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: part of the reason was this. From time to time, well,
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  Speaker 1: Jacob sort of protected Joseph from the brothers, but from
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  Speaker 1: time to time he would send Joseph out to check
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  Speaker 1: on his brothers to see how they were doing, and
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  Speaker 1: from time to time he would come back with a
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  Speaker 1: not so favorable report. So on this particular occasion that
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  Speaker 1: sets up the story, Joseph is approaching his brothers. They're
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  Speaker 1: miles from home, they're tending sheep, and as they see
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  Speaker 1: him coming, they begin to talk about Joseph, and by
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  Speaker 1: the time Joseph gets to their campsite, they've decided they're done,
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  Speaker 1: so they take Joseph. They strip him of his clothes,
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  Speaker 1: they throw him into an empty cistern or well, and
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  Speaker 1: they're trying to decide, do we let him just die
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  Speaker 1: of natural causes in the well, or do we kill
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: him ourselves because we are done with our brother. And
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: then the story takes a strange twist, and we will
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  Speaker 1: pick up the story right here. Jennis the Book of
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  Speaker 1: Genesis says this. Judah said to his brothers, Judah was
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  Speaker 1: the leader. He wasn't the old brother, but he was
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: the leader. Judas said to his brothers, what will we gain?
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  Speaker 1: What will we gain if we just killed Joseph and
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  Speaker 1: cover up his blood. Let's profit on this. Come, let
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  Speaker 1: us sell him to the Ishmaelites, slave traders, and not
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: lay our hands on him. After all, And it's like
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  Speaker 1: there's just a little thread of mercy that sneaks into
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  Speaker 1: the story. After all, he is our brother, he is
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  Speaker 1: our own flesh and blood. So, as you know, they
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  Speaker 1: sell Joseph to slave traders. They lie to their father Jacob,
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  Speaker 1: They say Joseph was killed by a wild animal, and
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  Speaker 1: they break their father's heart. The story continues. Now, Joseph
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  Speaker 1: had been taken down to Egypt and Potiphar, an Egyptian
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: who is one of Pharaoh's officials, the captain of the guard,
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  Speaker 1: bought him from the Ishmaelites, the slave traders who had
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: taken him there. Now, here's where we need to pause,
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: because here's where Joseph's story perhaps begins to intersect with
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  Speaker 1: your story. Nobody is looking for Joseph. Nobody is looking
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  Speaker 1: for him, and worse, nobody is looking out for him.
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  Speaker 1: And perhaps that's how you feel right now. Nobody's looking
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  Speaker 1: for you. Nobody's looking out for you, or so it
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: would seem. And this is where Joseph's story takes a
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: hard right turn. Then the surprise, Now the Lord. The
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: text tells us the Lord was with Joseph. Again, we
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: need to pause because this creates a problem for some
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  Speaker 1: versions of faith. This creates a problem with some versions
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  Speaker 1: of Christianity. In fact, this may be the reason you
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: left faith. This may be the reason you left your
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: Christian faith, specifically because of suffering in the world, maybe
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: not even just suffering in the world, maybe suffering in
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: your family, maybe your own suffering, and you just could
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: not reconcile. And I get it, you could not reconcile
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: the idea of a good, loving God with pain and
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  Speaker 1: suffering in the world, or maybe pain and suffering in
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: world because the way that we think is simply this
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  Speaker 1: that if the Lord was with Joseph, Joseph would not
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  Speaker 1: have been sold into slavery. If the Lord was with Joseph,
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  Speaker 1: his brothers wouldn't have thrown him in a pit. If
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  Speaker 1: the Lord was actually with Joseph, the Lord would have
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  Speaker 1: protected him from his brothers and from the slave traders. Right,
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  Speaker 1: because that's how we think, because after all, this is
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  Speaker 1: the assumption when God is with you, right, When God
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: is with you, things work out for you. When God
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: is with you, things work out for you. Now, if
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: you were raised with this kind of view of God,
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: if you were raised in a faith tradition that supported
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: this idea, here's what you need to know. Christians have
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: never ever believed that if you left faith because you
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: could not reconcile a good God with evil in the world,
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: perhaps you abandoned faith or left faith unnecessarily, or I
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: could say it this way, if you quit believing in
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: a good God that never allowed bad things to happen
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  Speaker 1: to good people, congrat you quit believing in a God
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  Speaker 1: that does not exist. But that is not the God
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  Speaker 1: of the Christian scriptures. It is certainly not the God
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  Speaker 1: of the New Testament. Over and over again, we find
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  Speaker 1: men and women who face extraordinary adversity and discover that
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  Speaker 1: God was with them in it, and God was with
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  Speaker 1: them through it. So back to the story, the Lord
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  Speaker 1: is with Joseph, but luck is not with Joseph. Prosperity
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  Speaker 1: is not with Joseph, Justice is not with Joseph, and
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: fairness is certainly not with Joseph. But Joseph was like you,
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  Speaker 1: like me. He had a superpower. He had the ability
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  Speaker 1: to respond rather than react, and Joseph chose to respond
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  Speaker 1: as if God was in fact with him. The story continues,
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  Speaker 1: the Lord is with Joseph so that he prospered, But
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: don't read too much into this because he didn't prosper personally.
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  Speaker 1: When his master Potiphar saw that the Lord was with
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  Speaker 1: him and that the Lord gave him success in everything
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  Speaker 1: he did, which means Potiphar noticed that everything Joseph touch
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  Speaker 1: worked out, That everything Joseph touched, maybe an exaggeration, kind
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  Speaker 1: of turned to gold. And the reason the reason everything
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: Joseph touch worked out is because he did everything he could.
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  Speaker 1: He was responsible. He responded not as somebody who had
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  Speaker 1: been sold into slavery. He responded as if perhaps God
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  Speaker 1: was in fact with him, and Joseph found favor in
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  Speaker 1: his eyes and he became his attendant. So essentially, Joseph
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: becomes Potiphar's administrative assistant, and he's put in charges we're
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: going to see in a minute of just about everything.
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: And this sounds good, but here's what you need to understand.
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: In ancient times, in modern times as well, but in
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: ancient times, if you were born free, if you were
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: born not a slave, that was the greatest privilege you
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: could have. In ancient times. To be born rich and
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: to become poor, that would be bad. But to be
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: born free and to wake up one day in a
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: foreign land with a master, to be born free and
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: to wake up one day as a slave, you had
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: lost everything. You had lost the game of life, and
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: whatever god you had chosen, you had chosen the wrong god.
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: This was far worse than we can even begin to imagine.
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: In spite of the fact that Joseph found favor in
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: the eyes of his master, the story continues. So Potiphar,
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: because of Joseph's responsible responses, Potiphar put him in charge
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: of his household, and he entrusted to his care everything
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: he owned. But here's the gotcha, and the Lord blessed
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: not Joseph. The Lord blessed the household of the Egyptian
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: because of Joseph. To what you want to say, but
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: wait a minute, where's justice in this world? Right? Why
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: not bless Joseph? Why bless his master? Why not bless
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: the slave Joseph who has responded so well to all
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: these outrageous circumstances. But in spite of that, Joseph continued
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: to respond as if God was with him. In fact,
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: Joseph models for us something extraordinary. Joseph responded as if
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: God was with him when it looked as if God
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: had in fact abandoned him. And this is so amazing.
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: And here's why this is so amazing. Unlike us, Joseph
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: has no scripture. Joseph has no Bible. In fact, Joseph
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: has no religious literature. There are no miracles, there are
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: no voices, no angels appear at his bedside to say,
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: hang in there, Joseph, God is with you. You're going
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: to get through this. Joseph had none of the advantages
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: that we have when it comes to enduring faith. Joseph
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: just decided that he was going to live in light
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: of the stories Jacob, his father had told him about Isaac,
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: his grandfather, and his great grandfather Abraham. He decided to
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: respond as if God was with him, which brings me
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: to this, And we're going to come back to this
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: a couple of times today, and we're going to come
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: back to it next week as well. This is the
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: question I I hope this series will cause you to
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: wrestle to the ground because this is the life changing question.
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: How how would someone and your circumstances respond if they,
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: like Joseph, were confident that God was with them? How
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: would someone in your circumstances respond. I'm not asking you
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: to do anything. I'm not asking you to respond. I'm
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: just asking you to think about this question. How would
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: someone who is like you, who found themselves in circumstances
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: like your circumstances respond, if, like Joseph, they were absolutely
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: confident that God was with them. And when I say circumstances,
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: it may mean your entire life circumstance, or it may
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: be a particular area that you're going through right now
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: where there's adversity, maybe with family or finances, or a
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: job or a relationship. How would someone who is you
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: respond if they were absolutely confident that God was with them,
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: that God was up to something, that there was more
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: going on than meets the eye. And the reason this
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: is such an important question is that your answer to
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: this question, your answer to this question, is your invitation
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: to exercise your superpower. It's your invitation to respond rather
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: than react. Again, never underestimate, never underestimate the power of
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: a measured response. Again, you have no idea what hangs
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: in the balance of your decision to respond rather than
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: react to events and circumstances that you didn't choose. Now,
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: if you know this story, you'll remember what happens next.
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: It doesn't get better, it gets worse. And not only
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: does it get worse, it gets ridiculously more complicated. Because
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: what happens next Joseph finds himself in a no win
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: situation that regardless of which way he responds, there's no
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: way out. Here's what happened. You'll remember this now. Joseph
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: was well built and hand and this is when the
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: soundtrack changes. Right now, Joseph was well built and handsome,
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: and after a while his master, Potterphar's wife took notice
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: of Joseph and said, come to bed with me now, understand,
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: this was not seduction. This was an order. This was
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: not a request, This was a command. Joseph belongs to her,
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: He is her property. And now he's in a no
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: win situation. If he rejects the request of his master,
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: he'll be punished. If he says yes, and potter Ford
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: finds out, he'll be punished. All of this responding well,
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: all of this responding in such a way as to
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: set him up to be blessed by God, clearly was
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: a waste of time. It wasn't working. And now Joseph
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: certainly begins to feel the way we do when we've
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: done everything we know to do right and nothing seems
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: to work out right, and we begin to ask those questions,
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: why care right, why even try? In joseph case. In
• 22:53
  Speaker 1: Joseph's case, there is no potential for a happy ending.
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: Not only will he not be better for it, he
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: knows he will probably be dead for it. But in
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: spite of that, Joseph deploys his superpower, and the text
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: says that he refused. And here's what he told Potiphar's wife.
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: He said, with me in charge, my master does not
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: concern himself with anything in the house. Everything he owns
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: he has entrusted to my care. And then he shifts
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: gears just a little bit. No one, no one is
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: greater in this house than I am. My master has
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: withheld nothing from me except you, because, by the way,
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: you are his wife. But then the shocking unexpected who
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: does that part of his response? Listen to this and
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: he says, how could I do such a wicked thing
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: and sin against God? How could I do such a
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: wicked thing and sin again God? Wait? Wait, Joseph, we
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: talked about the same god, the god that's responsible for
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: your oh so impressive resume. Joseph, Let's just review your
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: resume real quick. Joseph Jacobson, kidnapped, once, sold twice. This
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: is the god. You're going to remain faithful to the
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: God who hasn't done anything good for you lately. That God.
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: Potiphar's wife is relentless. She comes back to him time
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: after time. Finally, not only does he resist, he refuses
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: to even be in the room with her, And eventually
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: she's offended, and eventually she's shamed, and she accuses Joseph
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: of doing the very thing he refused to do. She
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: accuses him of trying to rape her. When Potterphar finds out,
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: he has no choice but to throw Joseph in prison.
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: Here's what the text says. Joseph's master, Potiphar took him
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: after his wife's accusation and put him in prison, the
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: place where the King's prisoners were confined. To think about this.
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: I know your circumstances are tough, or maybe you're facing
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: some really tough circumstances, but let me just put Joseph's
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: circumstances in context for a minute. Now, Joseph will pay
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: for the crime he avoided because he avoided it. Think
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: about that. Now he's going to pay for the very
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: crime he avoided. And why is he paying for it?
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: Because he did the right thing, because he avoided it.
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: And now he has to update his resume and it
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: looks like this Joseph Jacobsen kidnapped, once, sold, twice, framed
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: in prison. The point being that bad things have been
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: happening to good people for a very long time, even
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: people that God is with. Now we're going to pick
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: up the storyline right there next time, so please don't
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: miss next time. But in the meantime, here's what I
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: want you to do. In fact, here's what I want
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: all of us to do. I want us to all
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: wrestle with this question. On the surface, it's a bit
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: of a terrifying question, but ultimately it's a liberating question.
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: And our question is the question I've already asked. How
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: would someone in my circumstances respond? I know how other
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: people react to these circumstances. I know what's modeled for me,
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: I know what's expected from me of me. But how
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: would someone like Joseph? How would someone respond in my
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: circumstances respond if they were confident, if they were sure
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: that God was with them, that God is up to something,
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: that there's something that God is up to. That hinges
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: on my response. That hinges on my decision not to react,
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: but to respond as if God is with me. Again,
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: Your answer to this question is an invitation. Your answer
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: to this question is your invitation to exercise in that
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: area of life, your superpower, your respond ability. And I'm
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: confident of this, even though I don't know your story.
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: Your willingness to respond rather than react is your best play.
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: It is your best way forward. It is the way
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: that lays the groundwork for God to do something unusual
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: in your life, in your current circumstances. And if you'll
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: act on this question, you will emerge better for it,
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: and you will not emerge bitter for it. Again, never underestimate,
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: no matter what you're going through, never underestimate the power
• 27:20
  Speaker 1: of a measured, faith filled response. You know this. We're
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: no better than our responses, but Joseph's story illustrates the
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: fact that we can be better because of our responses.
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: So when it comes to the current circumstances that we're
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: all facing, or when it comes to the circumstances that
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: are individual for you, let's not simply get through this.
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: Let's be better for it. Let's respond in a way
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: that makes it better for it and answer the question how,
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: how would someone in your circumstances respond if they were
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: confident that God was with them? That there's more to
• 27:54
  Speaker 1: your story than meets the eye. That your circumstances, your circumstances,
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: your current circumstances are a chap in your story, they're
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: not the entire story. How would someone in your circumstances
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: respond if the like Joseph, they were confident that God
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: was with them. So bottom line is this, you have
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: a superpower, use it, and if you do you'll be
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: better for it, the people around you will be better
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: for it, and who knows, perhaps the world will be
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: better for it as well. Again, we'll pick up the
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: storyline right there. Don't miss part three of Better for It.