Latest / Max Lucado Daily Sermons / Minister Max Lucado – Trust God, Truly Trust Him Even When Life Gets Hard

Transcript

Minister Max Lucado – Trust God, Truly Trust Him Even When Life Gets Hard · Max Lucado Daily Sermons

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Well, good morning, everybody, and a special greeting to all
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: of you who are watching online from around the world.
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: We're so grateful that you tuned in. We've been studying
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: through the life of Joseph, and actually today is the
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: last of 17 messages.
• 0:16
  Speaker 2: On the life of Joseph.
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: It's one of those series, however, that I wish we
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: could go back and start all over again and just
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: cover the material that we had to skip. His life
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: is so full, so layered with lessons and hope. But
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: we have to bring it to a close at some point.
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  Speaker 1: And so today we'll do just that. If you happen
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: to be upon this series or this worship service as
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: the first time, we're going to do a little summary
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: in just a moment so that you'll be able to
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: review the life of Joseph with us. We're going to
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: look at a passage in Genesis chapter 50, verse 20.
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: No outline today. We're just focusing on that one singular passage.
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: We'll be looking at it in just a moment. Two
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: or three announcements before I begin. You know, preaching is
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: more of an art than it is a science. And
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: so we're always looking, how can we improve our sermon series?
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: I know that's Randy's heart, the messages that come from
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: our campus ministers, and then my messages as well. We're wondering,
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: what is the best way to present sermon series? At
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: the end of this particular sermon series, we thought it'd
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: be good for you, if you don't mind, to give
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: us your feedback. And so if you would notice on
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: your handout, at the bottom of the handout, there is
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: a link that you, when you get home, you can
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: get online and you can follow that link. And that
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: will take you to a place where you can sign
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: up and receive a special email that will have a survey.
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: And you'll receive that later in the week. I'd love
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: your feedback if you don't mind. Just tell us what
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: you thought of this sermon series. Give us your feedback.
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: Fill out that survey and you'll be shown how to
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: return it to the church. Also, or if it's easier
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: for you, you can just go to the Oak Hills
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: Church Facebook page, and there you can sign up for
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: the email list to receive the survey. Next week you'll
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: receive it, and appreciate your willingness, if you don't mind,
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: to take a few minutes and fill that out. If
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: you've been here during the series, you notice that we
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: took all the junk off the stage. Since January, we've
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: had this place just full of junk, symbolic of a
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  Speaker 1: lot of the junk we find ourselves in. But it
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: is appropriate... as we wrap this up, to say God
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  Speaker 1: will clean that out.
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  Speaker 2: He does.
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  Speaker 1: That's his job. He comes in and he cleans out
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: the mess of our lives. So it's good to have
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: a clean stage. And also, thanks for all the feedback
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: about last week's country song. You'll be glad to know
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: we've had 5,000 hits. Not songs, but hits of YouTube
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  Speaker 1: on that song from 61 different countries. So we're going
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: to be loading up this bus and we're taking off
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: here pretty soon. Far from that. This series has had
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  Speaker 1: a statement of faith with it. We'd like to invite
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  Speaker 1: you now to fill your lungs with air and your
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  Speaker 1: hearts with hope. Let's state it one more time together,
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  Speaker 1: shall we? By God's power, I'll get through this. it's
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  Speaker 1: your help we need father and so we turn to
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  Speaker 1: you now and ask your blessings to please be upon
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  Speaker 1: each and every heart that hears these words may the
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  Speaker 1: speaker soon be forgotten but may your message be remembered
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  Speaker 1: forever Forgive the sins of the one who speaks. Grant
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  Speaker 1: that we can see Jesus, please. Through him we pray.
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: And all God's people said. If a father of the
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: century award exists, I'd like to nominate Patrick John Hughes.
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  Speaker 1: Patrick John Hughes is the old man in the Louisville
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  Speaker 1: Cardinal Marching Band. You can't miss him. Everyone else is
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  Speaker 1: college age. He's middle-aged. Everyone else wears a band uniform.
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  Speaker 1: He wears a windbreaker and a toboggan. Everyone else plays
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  Speaker 1: an instrument, but Patrick John Hughes pushes a wheelchair. The
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  Speaker 1: wheelchair contains his son, Patrick Henry Hughes, a blind, handicapped,
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  Speaker 1: Musical genius. Young Patrick was born on March the 10th, 1988.
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  Speaker 1: The moment he entered the world, the good news became bad.
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  Speaker 1: The doctors quickly realized that his arms and his legs
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  Speaker 1: would not straighten and his eyes.
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  Speaker 2: Well, he was.
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  Speaker 1: Born without them. The older Patrick was shell-shocked. He had
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  Speaker 1: these dreams of raising a son. He had already envisioned
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  Speaker 1: turning his backyard into a baseball diamond. He had it
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  Speaker 1: all mapped out and he could see how he and
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  Speaker 1: his son were going to spend all those summers playing catch,
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  Speaker 1: hitting pop flies. But now, young Patrick later wrote these words.
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  Speaker 1: He said, on the day I was born, you might
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  Speaker 1: say I arrived carrying a bag of lemons I think
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  Speaker 1: my family would have preferred oranges but you can't turn
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  Speaker 1: lemons into oranges no matter how hard you try but
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  Speaker 1: mom and dad have taught me you have to hang
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  Speaker 1: in there and once you do you discover that lemons
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  Speaker 1: are pretty cool they hung in there all right the
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  Speaker 1: father noticed that he could calm his infant son By
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  Speaker 1: placing him on top of the piano as he played,
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  Speaker 1: there was something about the music that soothed the soul
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  Speaker 1: of his boy. By nine months, young Patrick was tapping
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  Speaker 1: the keys. By two years of age, he was taking requests.
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  Speaker 1: In elementary school, he played concerts. In high school, he
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  Speaker 1: was all-state band and chorus player. And he graduated with
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  Speaker 1: a 3.0.
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  Speaker 2: By the time he.
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  Speaker 1: Arrived at the University of Louisville, his music and trumpeting.
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  Speaker 2: Skills were well known.
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  Speaker 1: The band director invited him to join the marching band.
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  Speaker 1: A wheelchair and a marching band? How would that work? Well,
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  Speaker 1: they came up with a plan. They outfitted the wheelchair
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  Speaker 1: with extra wide wheels. And they recruited the dad to
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  Speaker 1: be the wheelchair pusher. They gave it a go one
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  Speaker 1: summer at summer camp. They spent long summer days, 12
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  Speaker 1: hours a day, practicing with a marching band, ducking the
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  Speaker 1: tubas and dashing to.
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  Speaker 2: The right spot before they would wipe out the entire
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  Speaker 2: wind section.
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  Speaker 1: He hasn't dumped me yet, young Patrick smiled. And it
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  Speaker 1: appears he never will. Every school day, the father pushes
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  Speaker 1: the son to class and sits near him during the lectures.
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  Speaker 1: And he whispers anything that's written on the blackboard. And
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  Speaker 1: then while the rest of the family goes to bed,
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  Speaker 1: the father goes to work the graveyard shift. And then
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  Speaker 1: he comes home at 5 a.m., he sleeps a few hours,
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  Speaker 1: and then he gets up and starts it all over again.
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  Speaker 1: But you won't find this father complaining anymore.
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  Speaker 2: Why us? He says.
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  Speaker 1: We still say that. Only now we say, why us?
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  Speaker 1: How did we get to be so lucky? Father of
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  Speaker 1: the century. Now, if their story sounds familiar, it should.
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  Speaker 1: Because you see, that's you and me in that wheelchair.
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  Speaker 1: That's you and me. We're struggling with our limitations. That's
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  Speaker 1: you and me in the dark. We're unable to see
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  Speaker 1: into the future. That's you and me born into the world.
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  Speaker 1: With less than our heavenly father intended. Yet that force
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  Speaker 1: we feel behind us. That guiding hand. That directing strength.
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  Speaker 1: That's our heavenly father. Our own personal version of Patrick
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  Speaker 1: Henry Hughes. He shoves us. He pulls us. He guides us.
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  Speaker 1: He pushes us. He's even been known to turn on
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  Speaker 1: a dime and pop a wheelie or two. Sometimes we
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  Speaker 1: feel like we're going to get dumped out, but he
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  Speaker 1: hasn't dumped us out yet.
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  Speaker 2: He leads with a sure hand.
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  Speaker 1: This is the reoccurring and reassuring message of the story
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  Speaker 1: of Joseph. And that is that we may not know
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  Speaker 1: where we're going. We know someone does, and he has
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  Speaker 1: his hand on us. The classic story of Joseph is
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  Speaker 1: the story of a boy who started off his story
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  Speaker 1: in a pit, but he ended up in a palace
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  Speaker 1: because he learned to trust the guiding hand of God.
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  Speaker 1: If you don't know the story, I've got a wonderful
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  Speaker 1: way to summarize it for you. One of our families
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  Speaker 1: here at Oak Hills, Kevin and Sarah Thompson, have four sons.
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  Speaker 1: And during the presentations of the Joseph sermons, they decided
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  Speaker 1: they would create a family version of the Joseph story.
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  Speaker 1: And rather than call it Joseph in the coat of
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  Speaker 1: many colors, they named it Cooper and the Crocs of
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  Speaker 1: many colors a contemporary rendition of the Joseph story and
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  Speaker 1: it reads like this Cooper's dad loved Cooper very much
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  Speaker 1: one day he gave him a pair of colorful Crocs
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  Speaker 1: Cooper's brothers did not like Cooper or his Crocs very much.
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  Speaker 1: They took his Crocs and pushed him down a trap
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  Speaker 1: door and sent him to do chores at a neighbor's house.
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  Speaker 1: The brothers showed the Crocs to their father. They said,
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  Speaker 1: we found these, but we can't find Cooper. Cooper's father
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  Speaker 1: was distraught. Cooper worked hard at the neighbor's house. God
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  Speaker 1: was with him. One of Cooper's job was to organize
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  Speaker 1: the pantry. He knew where all the food went. Cooper's
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  Speaker 1: brothers became hungry, but they had no food. Their father
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  Speaker 1: sent them to the neighbors to ask for food. Cooper
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  Speaker 1: recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him. Cooper
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  Speaker 1: asked them if they had another brother. Cooper told them
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  Speaker 1: to go get him. The brothers asked their dad if
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  Speaker 1: their little brother could go to the neighbor's house. At
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  Speaker 1: first he said no, but then he said yes. The
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  Speaker 1: brothers brought their little brother to Cooper. Cooper was overcome
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  Speaker 1: with joy. He told them who he was. He gave
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  Speaker 1: them all big hugs. And he said, you intended to
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  Speaker 1: harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish
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  Speaker 1: what is now being done, the saving of many lives.
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  Speaker 2: Good job.
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  Speaker 1: That's a creative version of the story, isn't it? I
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  Speaker 1: don't think Joseph had Crocs, though, did he? But he
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  Speaker 1: did speak those words. In fact, some of the final
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  Speaker 1: words recorded of Joseph are those in which he spoke
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  Speaker 1: to his brothers.
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  Speaker 2: Genesis 3.
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  Speaker 1: 50 and verse 15 says that when Joseph's brothers saw
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  Speaker 1: that their father was dead, they said, what if Joseph
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  Speaker 1: holds a grudge against us and pays us back for
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  Speaker 1: all the wrongs we did to him? Now remember, it's
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  Speaker 1: been 40 years.
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  Speaker 2: Since they sold him into slavery. 40 years.
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  Speaker 1: They've been in Egypt now under Joseph's care for 17 years.
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  Speaker 1: And during this time, they've not missed a single meal.
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  Speaker 1: They've not experienced a single mistreatment. Joseph has quarantined and
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  Speaker 1: protect them in the land of Goshen where their families
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  Speaker 1: have grown and developed. Finally, at the age of 147, Jacob,
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  Speaker 1: the patriarch, died.
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  Speaker 2: And after the.
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  Speaker 1: Funeral of Jacob the brothers begin to panic and they
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  Speaker 1: decided we need to talk to Joseph because what if
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  Speaker 1: he's only taking care of us because of Jacob and
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  Speaker 1: so they come and they they say dad told you
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  Speaker 1: to forgive us remember you have to forgive us they're
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  Speaker 1: panicked they're paranoid I imagine that Joseph just let out
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  Speaker 1: a sigh as if to say when are you guys
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  Speaker 1: gonna get it and then he said to them these
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  Speaker 1: words You meant evil against me. But God used it
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  Speaker 1: for good. Now you probably already have that verse underlined
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  Speaker 1: in your Bible. But can I encourage you to go
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  Speaker 1: back and highlight it again. It's one of those passages.
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  Speaker 1: I would put it on the short list. Of the
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  Speaker 1: most important verses in the Bible. You meant evil against me.
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  Speaker 1: But God meant it for good. I'm highlighting there the
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  Speaker 1: three key words. Evil.
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  Speaker 2: God, good.
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  Speaker 1: Lining those three words up shows us not just the
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  Speaker 1: story of Joseph, but folks, it's really the story of
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  Speaker 1: the whole Bible. Evil comes, but God intervenes and good results.
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  Speaker 1: Evil enters, but God counters and good happens. Yes, there
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  Speaker 1: is evil, but it can turn into good when God
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  Speaker 1: gets in the middle. And that's what happened in Joseph's life.
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  Speaker 1: But that's what happened every time you turn the page
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  Speaker 1: in the Bible. Evil came into the Garden of Eden.
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  Speaker 1: The snake whispered to Eve. Adam and Eve listened. They
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  Speaker 1: chose to listen to the snake. And God let them choose.
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  Speaker 1: Divine love must let choice happen. else it is not
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  Speaker 1: divine love. So he let them choose even knowing what
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  Speaker 1: their choice would be. So evil came, but God intervened.
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  Speaker 1: And we see the hand of God in punishing them
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  Speaker 1: because justice must punish sin, but in loving them because
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  Speaker 1: love must protect the children. And so even Adam and
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  Speaker 1: Eve's expulsion from the garden becomes a picture of God's
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  Speaker 1: plan of redemption. He punishes the sin, but he loves
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  Speaker 1: the sinner. And he protected them and they survived. Evil came,
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  Speaker 1: God intervened, and good resulted. The oldest story in the Bible,
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: the story of Job. Evil came, evil tempted, evil tested Job.
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  Speaker 1: But Job struggled at first. Yet when God talked to
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  Speaker 1: him through sovereignty... Job trusted God and the result is
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  Speaker 1: the oldest book in the Bible is a book on
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  Speaker 1: suffering turned good. Moses, since the presence of evil, he
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  Speaker 1: murdered an Egyptian guard and he resolved to liberate the
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  Speaker 1: Hebrew people out of anger. But that wasn't the way
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  Speaker 1: God intended, so God intervened. And you might say God
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  Speaker 1: placed Moses in a 40-year cool-down period. He took him
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  Speaker 1: out into the wilderness. And then Moses came back a
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  Speaker 1: different man and he liberated the children of Israel with
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  Speaker 1: the heart of a shepherd rather than the anger of
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  Speaker 1: a soldier. This happens over and over in Scripture, doesn't it?
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  Speaker 1: Evil came to David. He committed adultery. Evil came to Daniel.
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  Speaker 1: He was dragged into Babylonian captivity. Evil came to Nehemiah.
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  Speaker 1: He discovered that the walls of the city of Jerusalem
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  Speaker 1: had collapsed. Evil came. But God intervened in every case.
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  Speaker 1: And because God intervened, David wrote songs of grace. Daniel
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  Speaker 1: became a leader in a foreign land. And Jeremiah rebuilt
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  Speaker 1: the walls of Jerusalem with Babylonian money. What Satan intended
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  Speaker 1: for evil, God used for good.
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  Speaker 2: And in the.
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  Speaker 1: Classic case of evil coming into the world, we can
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  Speaker 1: hear the stakes as they're being nailed into the hands
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  Speaker 1: of Jesus Christ as he stretched out on the cross.
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  Speaker 1: Evil has come into the world. And it seems like
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  Speaker 1: evil is going to win this time. We hear the
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  Speaker 1: jeering of the crowd. We see the tears of Mary.
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  Speaker 1: We see the blood beginning to seep down the timber.
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  Speaker 1: And we see Jesus Christ, the Son of God, take
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  Speaker 1: a final breath on the cross. And Jesus, the Son
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  Speaker 1: of God, is lowered to the ground as the sun sets.
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  Speaker 1: And he is placed into a tomb and the rock
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  Speaker 1: is sealed. This time, Satan is saying, this time I'm
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  Speaker 1: going to win.
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  Speaker 2: For just a moment, it appears he will.
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  Speaker 1: But then the rock is rolled away and Jesus walks
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  Speaker 1: out on that bright Easter morning into the sunrise. And
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  Speaker 1: if you look over the shoulder of Christ, you can
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  Speaker 1: see Satan in his little tail tucked between his legs
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  Speaker 1: as he runs and scampers out of the cemetery asking.
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  Speaker 2: Himself, am I ever going to win? And the answer
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  Speaker 2: is no.
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  Speaker 3: No.
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  Speaker 2: Evil will come. But evil will not win. God is
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  Speaker 2: forever the better chess player.
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  Speaker 1: And every act of evil plays into the ultimate good
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  Speaker 1: of God. The ultimate act of evil. Christ on the
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  Speaker 1: cross has become the ultimate act of good for humanity.
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  Speaker 1: What Satan intended for evil.
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  Speaker 2: God used for good. But we have to trust.
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  Speaker 1: There's evil in your world. No passage in the Bible
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  Speaker 1: denies the presence of evil in our society. Evil has
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  Speaker 1: come into your life. Maybe through somebody who is supposed
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  Speaker 1: to love you. Maybe through somebody who promised to take
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  Speaker 1: care of you. Maybe even through a disease or a
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  Speaker 1: calamity or a difficulty. Evil has come. But evil does
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  Speaker 1: not have to win. God will take that evil and
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  Speaker 1: he will reweave it. He will recycle it. And he
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  Speaker 1: will use it for the advancement of his cause. And
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  Speaker 1: the development of your character. Your job and mine is
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  Speaker 1: to trust. You see if Patrick John Hughes. is our
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  Speaker 1: father pushing the chair, we are Patrick Henry Hughes doing
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  Speaker 1: our best to play music in the dark.
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  Speaker 2: It's not easy.
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  Speaker 1: We feel pushed this way, yanked this way, shoved this way,
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  Speaker 1: pulled back. We're not sure what's coming up next. And
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: every so often, we yell, slow down, slow down. Or
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  Speaker 1: tell me where we're going. And our Heavenly Father is
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  Speaker 1: kind enough to hear our prayers. And sometimes He slows
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  Speaker 1: it down. Sometimes He reveals where we're going.
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  Speaker 2: But don't you think most of the time He just says, well,
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  Speaker 2: just trust me. I'll get you through this. That's what
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  Speaker 2: Sam Brown did.
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  Speaker 1: Sam was on his first tour of duty in Afghanistan
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  Speaker 1: two years out of West Point when an improvised explosive
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  Speaker 1: device turned his Humvee into a torch and left him
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  Speaker 1: ablaze in the sands of the desert. He does not
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  Speaker 1: remember how he got out of the truck, but he
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  Speaker 1: does remember taking handfuls of dust and dirt and throwing
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  Speaker 1: it into his face, trying to put the flames out.
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  Speaker 1: He remembers finally dropping to his knees and lifting flaming
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  Speaker 1: arms into the air and crying out, Jesus, save me.
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  Speaker 1: That was more than just an empty prayer. He believed
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  Speaker 1: and believes in Jesus and was asking Jesus to save him.
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  Speaker 1: Sam really believed he would die that day, but death
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  Speaker 1: did not come. His gunner came, helped Sam reach cover
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  Speaker 1: with bullets flying around them, Crouching behind a wall, Sam
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  Speaker 1: realized that bits of his glove were being fused into
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  Speaker 1: his skin because of the burning. He ordered the private
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  Speaker 1: to rip his gloves off the burning flesh. The soldier
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  Speaker 1: hesitated but then pulled and with the glove came off
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  Speaker 1: pieces of his hand. And that moment was just the
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  Speaker 1: first of what would be thousands of moments of pain
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  Speaker 1: that Sam would have to endure again.
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  Speaker 2: Over the next few years. He was rescued.
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  Speaker 1: Another platoon reached them and they loaded the wounded soldier
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  Speaker 1: into the truck. And Sam remembers looking into the side
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: mirror out of the truck at his face. And just
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: before he passed out, he saw what the fire had done.
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: He said he did not even recognize himself. Face covered
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: with soot, nostrils blackened. That was September 2008. By the
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: time we at Oak Hills met him three years later,
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: he had undergone dozens of agonizing surgeries over and over
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: in which the dead skin had been excised and healthy
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: skin had been harvested and grafted. Sam says that the
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: pain chart didn't have a number high enough to register
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: the agony that he felt.
• 22:52
  Speaker 2: Why would God allow something like that?
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: Well, part of the answer walked into the hospital room
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: in the form of a dietician, a young lady named
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: Amy Larson. Sam's mouth had been reduced to the size
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: of a nickel, so Amy, a dietician, was assigned to
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: his case to monitor his nutrition intake. He still remembers
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: the first time he saw her. Dark hair, brown eyes,
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: nervously cute. More importantly, she did not wince at the
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: sight of him. After a few months, he gathered enough
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: courage to ask her out. They went to the San
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: Antonio Rodeo. The following weekend, they went to his friend's
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: wedding in Houston. And during the three-hour drive, Amy told
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: Sam how she had noticed him months earlier in ICU,
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: covered with bandages, sedated with morphine, and hooked to a
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: breathing machine. When he regained consciousness, she slipped into the
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: room to introduce herself, but there was family and friends,
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: and so she decided not to. The two continued to
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: see each other. Soon into their relationship, Sam asked her
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: if she knew his best friend, Jesus Christ.
• 24:19
  Speaker 2: She did not. So he began to tell her.
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: And she found the story of Jesus as inspiring as
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: the story of Sam Brown. And so she gave her
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: heart to Christ. And Sam gave his heart to her.
• 24:39
  Speaker 1: Soon thereafter, the two were married. Today, they are parents
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: of a seven-month-old baby boy named Roman. And Sam directs
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: a program to aid wounded soldiers. Many of you know
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: them from their time at Journey Fellowship or at the
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: North Central Campus. Now no words can capture the horror
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: of a man afire in the Afghani desert. And who
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: can imagine the torture of repeated surgery and rehab? And
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: yet Sam and Amy have come to discover the curious
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: math of God. The math of common sense says war
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: plus near death plus agonizing rehab equals tragedy. But the
• 25:32
  Speaker 1: mathematics of God says war plus near death plus agonizing
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: rehab equals a saved soul, a wonderful family, and a
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: bright future. That God took that which was intended for evil,
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: But he turned it into something of eternal good. But
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: what if Sam had given up on God? What if
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: he had turned his back on God? What if he
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: had let his heart grow hard? What if Joseph had
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: given up on God? Oh, Lord knows how many opportunities
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: he could have along the way. Thrown into the pit
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: by his brothers. Left in Potiphar's house as a slave.
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: Lied about by Potiphar's wife. Left to languish in the prison.
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: Left in charge of a worldwide famine relief effort. Having
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: to forgive his brothers and reconcile with his family. At
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: any point in the story, Joseph could have said, no.
• 26:36
  Speaker 2: More, no more, I'm out.
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: And some of you right now are trying to make
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: that decision. You're somewhere between the pit and the palace,
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: aren't you? And let me tell you something. Everything in
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: the story of Joseph says this. God sees a Joseph
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: in you. God sees a Joseph in you. And as
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: you trust God, he will take what was intended as
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: evil and he will turn it into something that will
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: exceed your fondest imaginations. And there will come a time
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: both on this earth and in the life to come
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: in which you look.
• 27:19
  Speaker 2: Back and say, oh, now I see what he was doing.
• 27:23
  Speaker 2: Wasn't easy. Wasn't quick.
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: But God used that mess for something good. Let me
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: tell you something, friend. Your family needs a Joseph. Your
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: family needs a Joseph. Because Joseph was faithful, his entire family,
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: 70 members were saved. Your generation needs a Joseph. It's
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: a famine we're in. A famine of hope, a famine
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: of morality, a famine of future, a famine of spirituality.
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: Your generation needs a Joseph. Your descendants need a Joseph.
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: Because Joseph was faithful, his grandchildren and great-grandchildren, all the
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: way through until the return of Christ. That lineage is
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: going to look back and say, Joseph was the hinge
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: that kept the door of faith from falling off. Your
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: descendants needed Joseph.
• 28:28
  Speaker 2: Will you be one? Will you be one? May you
• 28:33
  Speaker 2: be the Joseph in your family, in your generation. In
• 28:38
  Speaker 2: your ancestry.
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: May you do what young Patrick Henry Hughes does. May
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: you just trust your father. He wrote these words. I've
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: known from an early age that I was dealt a
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: hand in life. Different from the cards others got. But
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: that's okay. Because I also learned God would help me
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: play that hand. If I was willing to accept what
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: I was missing. And just be thankful for what I
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: can do.
• 29:05
  Speaker 2: Trusting. Trust God. Trust God. He'll get you through this. Easy, quick.
• 29:10
  Speaker 2: I hope so. But usually it's not.
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: But he always takes the mess and he turns it
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: into something good.
• 29:18
  Speaker 2: So don't be foolish. Don't be naive.
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: But don't despair either. God has done this a zillion times.
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: And he'll do it again with you. Your job is
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: just to sit still.
• 29:30
  Speaker 2: Trust him. And play the music. Amen.
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: Heavenly Father, we thank you for your words and how
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: empowering they are.
• 29:40
  Speaker 2: In our lives. May we just.
• 29:42
  Speaker 1: Trust what you have taught us. Through Jesus we pray
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: and all God's people said.
• 30:04
  Speaker 4: So Thank you.
• 30:51
  Speaker 3: We'll be right back.
• 31:31
  Speaker 2: So so.
• 32:03
  Speaker 3: So so.
• 32:33
  Speaker 1: So so Thank you.
• 33:22
  Speaker 3: Thank you.
• 33:40
  Speaker 1: So so We'll be right back.
• 34:37
  Speaker 3: You don't have to be known.
• 34:43
  Speaker 2: You don't have to stay close As long as you're somewhere.
• 34:50
  Speaker 4: Out there That's enough for me.
• 34:55
  Speaker 3: I don't need to hold you near me.
• 35:02
  Speaker 4: Don't need promises to keep Just the thought that you
• 35:07
  Speaker 4: are breathing Somewhere in this world I see Even if
• 35:13
  Speaker 4: I'm not beside you Even if you never know There's
• 35:19
  Speaker 4: a quiet kind of comfort Just in knowing you still
• 35:24
  Speaker 4: blow I don't need forever I just need you to
• 35:35
  Speaker 4: exist You don't have to.
• 35:38
  Speaker 3: Stay with me.
• 35:41
  Speaker 4: You don't have to feel the same. Just as long
• 35:45
  Speaker 4: as you're still out there calling softly through my days.
• 35:51
  Speaker 3: You don't have to look my way.
• 35:54
  Speaker 4: You don't have to be my home. It's enough to
• 35:59
  Speaker 4: know you're living in a world I'm not alone. I
• 36:08
  Speaker 4: won't chase you through the distance. Won't disturb your chosen life.
• 36:15
  Speaker 4: I'll just keep you in my silence like a star
• 36:18
  Speaker 4: that shines at night. Through the dark and through the blue.
• 36:29
  Speaker 4: I still think of you. You don't have to be
• 36:38
  Speaker 4: my home. It's enough to know you're living in a world.
• 36:44
  Speaker 4: I'm not alone. I don't need to be your light
• 37:19
  Speaker 4: I don't need to cross your mind All I need
• 37:22
  Speaker 4: is just the truth That you're somewhere Still alive.
• 37:31
  Speaker 3: You don't have to stay with me You don't have
• 37:35
  Speaker 3: to feel the same Just as long as you're still
• 37:40
  Speaker 3: out there Calling softly through my days You don't have
• 37:45
  Speaker 3: to look my way You don't have to be my
• 37:50
  Speaker 3: home It's enough to know you're living
• 37:57
  Speaker 4: In a world I'm not alone.