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God Is Working for You- Minister Max Lucado · Max Lucado Daily Sermons

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  Speaker 1: Hi friends, I'm Max Licato. Welcome to Fresh Hope. I
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  Speaker 1: am so glad you joined me. Today we continue our
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  Speaker 1: series based on my book, You'll Get Through This. We're
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  Speaker 1: studying Joseph, whose incredible story is recorded in the book,
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  Speaker 1: of Genesis. I mean, if this guy didn't have bad luck,
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  Speaker 1: he'd have no luck at all. Thrown into a pit,
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  Speaker 1: sold into slavery, wrongfully imprisoned, and he must have wondered
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  Speaker 1: if his suffering would ever end. But you know, the
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  Speaker 1: remarkable thing about Joseph is that he never took his
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  Speaker 1: eye off his God, and in turn, God never let
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  Speaker 1: go of him. We can learn a lot from the
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  Speaker 1: story of Joseph. Some time ago, I found myself in
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  Speaker 1: the waiting room at my doctor's office. I looked around.
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  Speaker 1: A mother was holding a sleeping baby. A fellow dressed
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  Speaker 1: in a suit thumbed through a magazine. A woman looked
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  Speaker 1: at her phone and sighed. The task of the hour?
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  Speaker 2: Waiting.
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  Speaker 1: We don't like to wait. We're the giddy-up generation. We
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  Speaker 1: weave through traffic. We frown at the person with too
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  Speaker 1: many items in the express checkout lane. We drum our
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  Speaker 1: fingers while the song downloads or the microwave heats our coffee.
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  Speaker 1: And we don't like to wait. Not on the doctor,
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  Speaker 1: the traffic, or the pizza. Not on God. Take a
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  Speaker 1: moment and look around you. Do you realize where we sit?
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  Speaker 1: This planet is God's waiting room. The young couple in
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  Speaker 1: the corner, waiting to get pregnant. The fellow with the briefcase,
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  Speaker 1: he has resumes all over the country, waiting on work.
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  Speaker 1: The elderly woman with the cane, a widow, been waiting
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  Speaker 1: for a year for one tearless day, waiting on God
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  Speaker 1: to come to help, to heal. You know, if anyone
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  Speaker 1: knew the furniture of God's waiting room, Joseph did. We
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  Speaker 1: can read the Genesis account of Joseph's life from start
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  Speaker 1: to finish in less than an hour, which gives the
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  Speaker 1: impression that all these challenges took place before breakfast one morning.
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  Speaker 1: But we'd be wiser to pace our reading over a
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  Speaker 1: couple of decades. Take chapter 37 into a dry cistern
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  Speaker 1: and sit there for a couple of hours while the
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  Speaker 1: sun beats down Recite the first verse of chapter 39
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  Speaker 1: over and over for a couple of months. Now Joseph
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  Speaker 1: had been taken down to Egypt. Joseph needed at least
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  Speaker 1: this much time to make the 750-mile journey to Egypt.
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  Speaker 1: Then there were days on the auction block, a decade
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  Speaker 1: in Potiphar's house supervising the servants. Tick-tock, tick-tock. You know,
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  Speaker 1: time moves slowly in a foreign land. And time stands
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  Speaker 1: still in a prison where Joseph had been thrown, wrongfully
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  Speaker 1: accused of assaulting Potiphar's wife. In prison, Joseph had an
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  Speaker 1: encounter with Pharaoh's butler. The butler was disturbed by a
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  Speaker 1: dream he had had. Joseph interpreted it and then asked
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  Speaker 1: him for a favor. Reading from Genesis 40 and verse 14,
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  Speaker 1: Joseph hurried back to his cell and no doubt collected
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  Speaker 1: his belongings. He wanted to be ready when the call
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  Speaker 1: came that he was to be freed. A day passed,
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  Speaker 1: then a week, then a month. As it turned out,
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  Speaker 1: according to verse 23, Pharaoh's cupbearer promptly forgot all about Joseph.
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  Speaker 1: On the page of your Bible, the space between that
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  Speaker 1: verse and the next is scarcely wider than a hair ribbon.
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  Speaker 1: It takes your eyes a split second to see it.
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  Speaker 1: Yet chapter 41 starts like this. Two years passed and
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  Speaker 1: Pharaoh had a dream. Two years. 24 months of silence.
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  Speaker 1: 104 weeks of waiting. 730 days of wondering. Plenty of
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  Speaker 1: time to grow bitter. Folks have given up on God
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  Speaker 1: in shorter time, but not Joseph. And on a day
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  Speaker 1: that began like any other, he heard a stirring at
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  Speaker 1: the dungeon entrance. We're here for the Hebrew. Pharaoh wants
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  Speaker 1: the Hebrew. And so Joseph and Pharaoh met. for the
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  Speaker 1: first time. The king hadn't slept well. Dreams troubled his rest.
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  Speaker 1: His counselors had no answers for what the dreams meant. Finally,
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  Speaker 1: the butler remembered Joseph, the man who had interpreted his
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  Speaker 1: dream in prison, and he told Pharaoh about Joseph's skill.
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  Speaker 1: Joseph's encounters with Mrs. Potiphar and the butler hadn't ended
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  Speaker 1: so well. In both cases, Joseph had mentioned the name
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  Speaker 1: of God. Perhaps he should keep his faith under wraps.
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  Speaker 1: But he didn't. He says in chapter 41 and verse 16,
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  Speaker 1: Not I, but God. God will set Pharaoh's mind at ease.
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  Speaker 1: Jail time didn't devastate Joseph's faith. It deepened it.
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  Speaker 3: And you?
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  Speaker 1: Well, you aren't imprisoned. But you may be infertile or
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  Speaker 1: in limbo or in between jobs or in search of health, help,
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  Speaker 1: a house or a spouse. Then again, you may be
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  Speaker 1: in prison. Are you in God's waiting room? If so,
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  Speaker 1: here's what you need to know. While you wait, God works.
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  Speaker 1: Jesus said in John 5, 17, My Father is always
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  Speaker 1: at His work. He never stops. And just because you
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  Speaker 1: are idle, don't assume God is. Joseph's story appeared to
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  Speaker 1: stall out in chapter 40. Our hero was in shackles.
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  Speaker 1: But while Joseph was waiting, God was working. He assembled
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  Speaker 1: the characters. God placed the butler in Joseph's care. He
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  Speaker 1: stirred the sleep of the king with odd dreams. He
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  Speaker 1: confused Pharaoh's counselors. And at just the right time, God
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  Speaker 1: called Joseph to duty. He's been working for you as well.
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  Speaker 1: Be still and know that I am God, reads the
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  Speaker 1: sign on God's waiting room wall. You can rest because
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  Speaker 1: God is busy. Remember God's word through Moses to the Israelites,
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  Speaker 1: Exodus 14, 14. The Lord will fight for you and
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  Speaker 1: you shall hold your peace. The Israelites saw the Red
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  Speaker 1: Sea ahead of them and heard the Egyptians behind them,
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  Speaker 1: but what the former slaves could not see was God
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  Speaker 1: creating a path, His breath from heaven separating the waters.
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  Speaker 1: God was working for them. To wait, biblically speaking, is
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  Speaker 1: not to assume the worst, fret, or take control, nor
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  Speaker 1: is waiting inactivity. Waiting is a sustained effort to stay
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  Speaker 1: focused on God. To wait is to do what the
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  Speaker 1: psalmist said in chapter 37 and verse 7. Rest in
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  Speaker 1: the Lord and wait patiently for him. Nehemiah shows us
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  Speaker 1: how to do this. While serving the king of Persia,
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  Speaker 1: he got word that hostile forces had flattened the walls
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  Speaker 1: of Jerusalem. The few remaining Jews were in great trouble,
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  Speaker 1: Nehemiah 1.3. Nehemiah responded with prayer. In chapter 1 and
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  Speaker 1: verse 11, O Lord, let your ear be attentive to
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  Speaker 1: the prayer of your servant and give success to your
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  Speaker 1: servant today. Nehemiah could not leave his post and go
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  Speaker 1: to Jerusalem. Even if he could, he had no resources
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  Speaker 1: with which to rebuild the walls. So he waited on
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  Speaker 1: the Lord in prayer. Four months later, Nehemiah was appointed
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  Speaker 1: to a spot on the king's Jerusalem commission. And Nehemiah's
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  Speaker 1: request was immediate. Give your servant success today. God answered
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  Speaker 1: the request four months later. Waiting is easier said than done.
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  Speaker 1: Doesn't come easily for me. I've been in a hurry
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  Speaker 1: my whole life. I used to put my wristwatch on
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  Speaker 1: the inside of my arm so I wouldn't lose the
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  Speaker 1: millisecond it took to turn my wrist. I really wonder
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  Speaker 1: if I could have obeyed God's ancient command to keep
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  Speaker 1: the Sabbath. The Sabbath was created for frantic souls like me,
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  Speaker 1: people who need this reminder, the world will not stop
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  Speaker 1: if you do. And what of this command in Exodus 34?
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  Speaker 1: Three times a year, all your men are to appear
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  Speaker 1: before the sovereign Lord, the God of Israel. I will
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  Speaker 1: drive out the nations before you and enlarge your territory,
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  Speaker 1: and no one will covet your land when you go
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  Speaker 1: up there three times each year to appear before the
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  Speaker 1: Lord your God. That's verses 23 and 24. God instructed
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  Speaker 1: the promised land settlers to stop their work three times
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  Speaker 1: a year and gather for worship. All commerce, government, and
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  Speaker 1: industry gathered came to a halt. Can you imagine this
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  Speaker 1: happening today? Our country would be utterly defenseless. Yet God
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  Speaker 1: promised to protect the territory. No one will covet your land.
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  Speaker 1: God used the pilgrimage to teach this principle. If you
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  Speaker 1: wait in worship, I will work for you. Daniel did this.
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  Speaker 1: His people had been oppressed for almost 70 years. Daniel
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  Speaker 1: entered into a time of prayer on their behalf, and
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  Speaker 1: for 21 days, no response. Then, on the 22nd day,
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  Speaker 1: an angel of God appeared, and he explained the delay.
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  Speaker 1: Daniel's prayer was heard on the first day. The angel
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  Speaker 1: was dispatched with a response. Daniel 10, 12-13 says, records
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  Speaker 1: the words of the angel, that very day I was
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  Speaker 1: sent here to meet you, but for 21 days the
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  Speaker 1: mighty evil spirit blocked my way. Then Michael, one of
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  Speaker 1: the top officers of the heavenly army, came to help
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  Speaker 1: me so that I was able to break through the
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  Speaker 1: spirit rulers. From an earthly perspective, nothing was happening. From
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  Speaker 1: a heavenly perspective, a battle was raging. Now, what if
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  Speaker 1: Daniel had given up? What if you give up?
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  Speaker 2: Don't.
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  Speaker 1: For heaven's sake, don't. All of heaven is warring on
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  Speaker 1: your behalf. In the days leading up to the war
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  Speaker 1: with Germany, the British government commissioned a series of posters
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  Speaker 1: to be printed. The idea was to capture encouraging slogans
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  Speaker 1: on paper and distribute them about the country. Capital letters
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  Speaker 1: in bold typeface were used, and a simple two-color format
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  Speaker 1: was selected. The only graphic was the crown of King
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  Speaker 1: George VI. The first poster was printed in September of 1939.
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  Speaker 1: Your courage, your cheerfulness, your resolution will bring us victory.
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  Speaker 1: Soon thereafter, a second poster was produced. Freedom is in peril.
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  Speaker 1: Defend it with all your might. These two posters appeared
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  Speaker 1: up and down the British countryside in pubs, stores, restaurants,
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  Speaker 1: railroad platforms. They were everywhere. A third poster was printed,
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  Speaker 1: yet never distributed. Over 2.5 million copies were made, yet
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  Speaker 1: never seen until 60 years later when a bookstore owner
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  Speaker 1: in northeast England discovered one in a box of old
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  Speaker 1: books he had purchased himself. At an auction, it read,
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  Speaker 1: keep calm and carry on. The poster bore the same
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  Speaker 1: crown and style and colors of the first two posters.
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  Speaker 1: And for whatever reason, it was never released to the public.
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  Speaker 1: The bookstore owner framed and hung it on the wall,
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  Speaker 1: and it became so popular that the bookstore began producing
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  Speaker 1: identical images of the original design on coffee mugs, postcards,
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  Speaker 1: and posters. Everyone, it seemed, appreciated the reminder from another
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  Speaker 1: generation to keep calm and carry on. Isaiah 40 and
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  Speaker 1: verse 31 says, Those who wait on the Lord shall
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  Speaker 1: renew their strength. And they shall mount up with wings
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  Speaker 1: like eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They
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  Speaker 1: shall walk and not faint. Friend, you'll get through this
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  Speaker 1: waiting room season. And as you wait, you're not alone.
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  Speaker 1: The doctor will step out of his office and take
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  Speaker 1: a seat next to yours just to keep you company.
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  Speaker 1: Not every physician will do that, but ours will. Our
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  Speaker 1: great physician will. You will get through this.
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  Speaker 2: You don't have to stay close.
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  Speaker 4: As long as you're somewhere out there, that's enough for me.
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  Speaker 5: I don't need to hold you near me Don't need
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  Speaker 5: promises to keep Just the thought that you are breathing
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  Speaker 5: Somewhere in this world I see Even if I'm not
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  Speaker 5: beside you Even if you never know.
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  Speaker 4: There's a quiet kind of comfort just in knowing you
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  Speaker 4: still glow I don't need forever I just need you
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  Speaker 4: to exist.
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  Speaker 6: You don't have to stay with me. You don't have
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  Speaker 6: to feel the same.
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  Speaker 3: Just as long as.
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  Speaker 6: You're still out there calling softly through my days. You
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  Speaker 6: don't have to look my way.
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  Speaker 4: You don't have to be my home.
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  Speaker 6: It's enough to know you're living in a world I'm
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  Speaker 6: not alone. I won't chase you through the distance. Won't
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  Speaker 6: disturb your chosen life. I'll just keep you in my
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  Speaker 6: silence like a star that shines at night. Through the
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  Speaker 6: dark and through the blue. I still think of you.
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  Speaker 6: me you don't have to feel the same just as
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  Speaker 6: long as you're still out there calling softly through my
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  Speaker 6: days you don't have to look my way you don't
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  Speaker 6: have to be my home it's.
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  Speaker 2: Enough to know.
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  Speaker 6: You're living in a world i'm not alone.
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  Speaker 4: I don't need to be your light I don't need
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  Speaker 4: to cross your mind All I need is just the
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  Speaker 4: truth That you're somewhere Still alive You don't have.
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  Speaker 3: To stay with me You don't have to feel the
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  Speaker 3: same Just as long as you're still out there Calling
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  Speaker 3: softly through my days You don't have to look my
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  Speaker 3: way You don't have to be my home It's enough
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  Speaker 3: to know you're living
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  Speaker 4: In a world I'm not alone