Latest / Reach Church Podcast / At The Movies Pt 3 - Dont Waste Your Pit | Dave Snyder

Transcript

At The Movies Pt 3 - Dont Waste Your Pit | Dave Snyder · Reach Church Podcast

• 0:04
  Speaker 1: Hey everyone, welcome to the Reach Church podcast. This is
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: Dave Snyder, pastor here at Reach Church. Each week we
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: share messages from our Sunday gatherings to help you discover
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: the love of God, be empowered for purpose, and impact
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: your world. We pray this message encourages you and helps
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: you grow in your walk with Jesus. Let's get into
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: today's message. He faced a lot of challenges, he faced
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: a lot of problems, and And I mean, I think
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: he went into slavery. He was put in some kind
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: of prison. They tried to kill him, all these different things.
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: And I don't know if you can relate to some
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: of that. Maybe you've had some problems. You faced some
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: problems in your life. In fact, maybe you became a Christian.
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: You said, I think life's gonna be great now that
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: I'm a Christian. And you found out sometimes there's problems
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: in life, even for Christians. Does anybody know what I'm
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: talking about, okay? And maybe you got a dream that,
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: Like Willy Wonka, you had a dream that God was
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: going to do something in your life, but instead you
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: found yourself down in the pits. But here's what I
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: want you to hear this morning. In your pit, God
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: is producing something in your life. In every situation you face,
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: it may not be the greatest situation, but in every
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: situation you face, God's producing something in you. Right? Jesus
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: didn't promise... a problem-free life. He didn't promise there wouldn't
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: be pits, but what he said is, I'll be with you.
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: In this world, you'll have trouble, but take heart, I've
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: overcome the world. I'll never leave you. I'll never forsake you.
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: So God's with you even in your problems, but God
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: wants to use those things to produce something in your life.
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: And so here's the question today, because again, we're looking
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: at the word of God to answer these questions from
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: these films. The question is, what's my pit producing in me?
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: What does God want to do in my life through
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: this situation. And today, as we look at this story,
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: there's a story in the Bible that I think of
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: when I think of problems and I think of the
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: problems producing something and maybe you already guessed where we're going.
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: We're going to the book of Genesis. We're gonna look
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: at the story of Joseph, right? Joseph was a guy
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: who had a dream. Bigger dreams than Willy Wonka, right?
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: In fact, his dream was so big It made his
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: family angry. He dreamed everybody was going to bow down
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: to him. He was going to be an important person.
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: God was going to do something in his life. And
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: his brothers were jealous. And so I want to look
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: at the story here. If you've got your Bibles, go
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: to Genesis 37. And after Joseph has had these dreams
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: and his brothers already hated him, right? Because he was
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: his father's favorite son. And anybody the favorite son in here? No, okay,
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: because we don't do that. That's not polite, is it?
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: We don't tell, no, you're not my, we all have favorites,
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: we just don't tell them, right? No, we don't, no.
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: My kids are in the room. They're like, what? No,
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: we don't do that. But listen to what it says
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: in Genesis 37. His brothers see him coming. They say,
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: here comes the dreamer. Come on, let's kill him. He
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: thought you had a dysfunctional family, right? Let's kill him.
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: and we'll throw him into one of these cisterns, one
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: of these pits, and we can tell our father a
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: wild animal has eaten him, and then we'll see what
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: becomes of his dreams. We'll drop down to verse 25.
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: Then as they were sitting down to eat, so they
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: threw him into one of the pits, and then they
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: said to have lunch. This is messed up, right? Let's
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: sit down and have our sandwiches with our brother in
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: the pit. Maybe we'll kill him later. It's pretty disturbing, right?
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: So they're sitting down. They looked up and saw a
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: caravan of camels in the distance. And it was a
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: group of Ishmaelite traders taking a load of different things
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: down to Egypt. Judah said to his brothers, what will
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: we gain if we kill our brother? We'd have to
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: cover up the crime. It's going to be a lot
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: of work. We've got to hide the body. Instead of
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: hurting him, let's sell him to those Ishmaelite traders. After all,
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: he's our brother, our own flesh and blood. And his
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: brothers agreed. So when the Ishmaelites, who were Midianite traders,
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: came by, Joseph's brothers pulled him out of the cistern,
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: sold him for 20 pieces of silver, and they took
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: him to Egypt. And I want you just to think
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: about this story for a second and what it must
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: have been like to be Joseph, right? He had everything
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: taken from him. Now think about his background. He was
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: the grandson, right, great-grandson of Abraham. He was related to Abraham. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph,
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: whatever that makes him. Great-grandfather.
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: That's an important person. And he's the favorite son of.
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: His father. He's an important person and respected and had
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: everything going for him. And he had it all. And
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: in a moment, he finds himself in the pit. And
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: he didn't have a choice in the matter. They didn't
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: ask him and take a vote, right? And he's sold
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: as a slave and every step he finds himself getting
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: farther and farther from home. And I don't know what
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: that must have felt like to experience that level of betrayal,
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: that level of agony to be separated from your family,
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: to not know where you're going. You don't know the
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: language where you're going, all these problems. He didn't deserve
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: any of that. And I don't know if you know
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: today what it's like to find yourself in the pits, right?
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: Maybe you didn't do anything to deserve it, but life
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: came and hit you pretty hard and you find yourself
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: in a pit. You find yourself in a problem, in
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: some kind of situation, and it just feels so agonizing, right?
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: You can relate to what Joseph was going through. Maybe
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: the enemy came after you and it just feels like
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: you're in the pit. And I think from Joseph's perspective
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: in this moment, life is pretty hopeless. Wouldn't you agree?
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: Life seems pretty hopeless right now. You've been sold as
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: a slave. You had all these dreams. You had everything
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: going for you. It's all taken away. You don't know
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: if you'll ever see your family again. And Joseph didn't
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: know it, but his situation, his problem, his pit, it
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: was the road to fulfillment of what God had spoken
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: to him. But here's what I want you to think about,
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: because that whole process, God is working in his life,
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: isn't he? That whole process, because we can look back
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: and read the end of the story. Joseph didn't have
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: that luxury. He didn't know how this was going to
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: turn out. He just knows he had a dream. And
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: he could have been bitter and I think he'd be right.
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: We'd say he was right. He could be bitter. He
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: could have gotten angry. But we don't see that coming
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: out of Joseph's life. We see something different. See, God's
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: putting him through a process, even in his problem. And
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: I want you to understand something today. I'm not saying
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: God wants you in problems. I'm not saying God wants
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: you in the pit or God threw you in there.
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: But sometimes, how many of you know life happens? Even
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: for Christians, I've had some stuff happen in my life
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: that I did not want. But I recognize that even
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: in my problems, God's working. Even in my problems. But
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: you know what I have to do? I have to.
• 7:58
  Speaker 2: Maintain the right attitude in my problem.
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: Because if I'm not careful, I get into a problem
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: and I'm going to get angry. God, why did this happen?
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: I can't believe you'd let this happen to me. And
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: some people turn their backs on God in their problem.
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: Some people get so angry, they get into unforgiveness towards
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: people that hurt them. You know, we have to, what
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: we have to do is in our problems, in our
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: situations that we face in our lives, we have to
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: keep the right attitude because God wants to do something
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: in you. I believe he brings you out of pits.
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: I don't believe he leaves you in the pit. He
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: takes you out of the miry clay and puts your
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: feet on a rock. That's his desire for you. But
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: in your, even in the pit, God can work it
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: together for your good and he can do something in you,
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: but you got to keep the right attitude in the pit.
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: And so I want to talk to you about your
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: pit today. And again, maybe you find yourself in some
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: kind of problem. You find yourself in some kind of pit.
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: Maybe you've been there for a long time. Maybe someone
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: did something to you and it hurts you. And it
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: feels like every day you wake up in this pit
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: of depression or a pit of Anxiety because you feel
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: like the world's against you and no one cares. Maybe
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: you've had things taken away from you like Joseph did.
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: Something was taken and you just feel so hopeless. Pits
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: can feel hopeless. But I want you to know something.
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: God can turn it around in your life. But what
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: we have to do is keep the right attitude. Here's
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: what I want you to think about. You can keep
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: your finger in Genesis, but go to Romans chapter 5.
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: And you can put that up on the screen. I
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: didn't give you verse two. Let me read the last
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: part of verse two, Romans five, verse two. He says,
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. that's
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: a beautiful statement we rejoice in hope of the glory
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: of God how many of you are excited about the
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: hope of the glory of God God gives you hope
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: for a future there is hope you're not going to
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: stay in your pit There's hope that God's going to
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: redeem you, that he's going to bring you out with
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: a strong arm and a mighty right hand. You've got
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: hope today, right? But then he goes into verse 3.
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: But not only that, we can rejoice too when we
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: run into problems.
• 10:31
  Speaker 2: That sounds counterintuitive, right?
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: I don't usually rejoice because I'm in the middle of
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: a problem. If I'm in a problem in a trial,
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: we can rejoice, right? But see, he wants you to
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: recognize something. It's your attitude. He's talking about your attitude.
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: You can get joyful in your problem. You can stand
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: up in the middle of a problem and sing, God,
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: I'm just grateful for you. I survived and I'm here
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: to testify. I'm grateful for you. See, listen, maybe you
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: haven't survived yet. Maybe you're wondering, am I going to survive?
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: But here's the thing. You can look back and see, God,
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: I've survived so far. I'm still here today. And so, God,
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: I'm grateful. God, I can rejoice today even though I'm
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: in the middle of a problem, even though I'm in
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: the middle of a situation that maybe I didn't deserve. Hey,
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: maybe I did deserve it. Maybe I did something and
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: I'm in the middle of a problem. But even in
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: my problem, God, I can still rejoice. I can still
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: have the right attitude. Listen to what he says. For
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: we know that they help us develop endurance. I'm going
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: to talk to you today about what the pit produces
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: in you. It produces endurance. And then he says in
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: verse 4, the goal isn't endurance. The goal is that
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: endurance will develop something called strength of character. And that character...
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: isn't the goal. The goal of developing the character is
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: that you'll come back to hope. It's a full circle.
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: The hope of salvation. He goes on to say in
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: verse five, this hope will not lead to disappointment. See,
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: we believe and we trust that God's able. Are you
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: still with me this morning? So he says, we rejoice
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: when we face problems. That's not usually what we want
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: to do. But here's the thing. We're not rejoicing because
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: of the problem, but in the problem, in the middle
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: of the situation, I can still rejoice. That means rejoice
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: means I can get happy. Rejoice means I can give
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: God some praise. Rejoice means I don't have to stay
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: down in depression. I'm giving God glory even in the
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: middle of my problem and my disappointment or whatever I'm facing. See,
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: God will use your pit to produce something, but you've
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: got to keep the right attitude. And he can take
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: even the hardest moments and make something good. Anybody know
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: what I'm talking about? Romans chapter 8, he makes all
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: things work together for your good. That's even your problems.
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: Even your problems can go to work for you and
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: produce good. And part of that good is what he's
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: making in you. See, God wants to change you from
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: the inside out. He might not have caused the problem
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: in your life. Let's get clear about it. I don't
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: believe God causes all the problems in your life. We
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: have an enemy that comes and brings problems, but God's
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: so powerful. He can take even the thing the enemy
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: meant for evil and flip it and turn it for
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: your good to produce something good in your life. And
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: I can look back at the times where I went
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: gone through some stuff. Now, I didn't want to go
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: through it, but I can look at it and say,
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: God's developed something in the inside of me, even through
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: those things. That's how good he is. So God can
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: take what the enemy meant for evil and use it
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: for good. And part of that good, it starts with
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: that word endurance. God wants to build endurance in you.
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: What does endurance mean? I'll give you an example. I
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: don't like running. You can look at me and tell that.
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: I don't look like I move very fast, and you're right.
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: I don't like running, and one day I said, I'm
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: going to get on the treadmill. This will be easy,
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: and I'll just run for a few minutes. I need
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: a little exercise. I'll run for a few minutes, and
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: you know it was hard, and I thought I'd run
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: for a little while, and after just a couple minutes,
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: I had to quit because I couldn't breathe anymore. Right?
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: Because I haven't built the endurance to keep going. So
• 14:58
  Speaker 1: you know what I had to do? I had to
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: get on there the next day and do it again.
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: And then I had to do it again. And I'm
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: still not very good, but I can run for a
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: little while without passing out. And I think that was
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: my goal. But here's the point. Endurance is only gained
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: under pressure. It's only gained with the pain. You know,
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: what do they say? No pain, no gain. It's the
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: same in our lives. We do everything we can to
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: avoid pain, but sometimes pain comes in the pain is
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: where the endurance is built. Because you've learned how to endure.
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: You've learned, let's say it this way, your faith needs endurance.
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: If you never have a chance to put your faith
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: to the test, how do I know if my faith
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: is going to last?
• 15:49
  Speaker 2: See, I've got to.
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: Start using it. It's got to be developed under pressure. See,
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: endurance is like getting up and continuing to pray when
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: you would rather quit. When your mind tells you, why
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: are you still doing that? When your mind tells you,
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: it hasn't worked. What are you doing?
• 16:10
  Speaker 2: This is crazy. They're going to call you crazy. What
• 16:13
  Speaker 2: was that that we sang?
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: I don't care if they say I'm out of my mind. God,
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: I'm grateful. You have to get to a place where
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: you keep going even though people think you're crazy. People
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: will think you're crazy when you start believing the word
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: of God. People will think you're crazy when you say, no,
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: I'm still believing. What are you still believing? Job's wife said,
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: just curse God and die. What's wrong with you? He said, no,
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: I'm not going to do it. He learned something. He
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: learned how to endure. But see, in the church, we're
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: looking for the easy way out. We're looking for the
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: escape pod, the escape hatch. And God's saying, no, you
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: got to learn how to stand and keep standing. Because
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: if you don't learn how to stand, you're going to
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: fall the next time something comes. So you've got to
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: learn to stand in this trial so you can make
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: it next time. And next time it's going to be
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: easier because you've already put in the work. Is anybody
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: with me this morning? I know this isn't one of
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: those messages that you're going to get up and shout because, yay,
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: I got problems. No, but what I want you to
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: catch is God wants to do something in your life.
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: Don't waste your pit. Don't waste your pit. And I
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: think the hard part of the pit is you don't
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: know how long it's going to last. You know, sometimes
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: stuff happens and you're like, if I knew this would
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: be over tomorrow, it would be a lot easier, but
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: I don't know. I don't know when I'm getting out.
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: I don't know how I'm getting out, but in the
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: middle of it, I'm not going to waste it because
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: I know God's working something in my life called endurance.
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: Endurance is like faith that keeps going. You can put
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: that slide up. Endurance means your faith keeps going. It
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: doesn't quit. So Joseph went through the pits for a
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: long time, right? His pit He went from the pit
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: to slavery. His slavery became his pit. And then he
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: went to prison. That became another pit. And here's the danger.
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: Your pit can become a prison. And Joseph was free
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: in the prison. I don't mean he got to go
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: out free while he was in there. That came later.
• 18:20
  Speaker 2: But in the prison, he was free. He wasn't bound
• 18:26
  Speaker 2: by the anger.
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: He wasn't bound by the bitterness and the depression and
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: the things that we let just overwhelm us. He was free.
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: But see, the enemy wants to keep you trapped in
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: a pit in your mind, in your heart, in your attitude.
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: He wants to keep you in the pit so much
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: so that even when you get free.
• 18:46
  Speaker 2: You still live like you're in the pit.
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: You know, there's people that have been set free from
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: their problems, but they still live like they're in the pit.
• 18:54
  Speaker 2: They're still angry. They still refuse to forgive.
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: They don't want to let anybody near them because maybe
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: that person will hurt them like they were hurt before.
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: And so they live like they're in the pit, even
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: though they're free. See, what they're doing, they're wasting their pit.
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: God wanted to produce something in you so you come
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: out a different person.
• 19:11
  Speaker 2: He didn't want you to stay bitter.
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: He didn't want you to stay angry, but you wasted
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: your pit. Don't waste your pit, church. So Joseph didn't
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: let the pressure of slavery make him bitter. Look what
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: it says here. In Genesis 39, it says in verse 3,
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: when his master saw the Lord was with him and
• 19:33
  Speaker 1: the Lord made everything he did successful, he found favor
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: with his master and became his personal attendant. And Potiphar
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: also put him in charge of his house and placed
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: everything under his authority. That's not someone who's bitter. That's
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: not someone who's angry. You don't put an angry person
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: in charge of your house. It's somebody who's proven they
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: can be trusted. It's somebody who is letting God work
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: in their lives. See, he might not have liked his situation,
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: but he recognized something. God's hand is on my life.
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: And when you recognize God's hand is on your life,
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: it doesn't matter if you're in a pit. It doesn't
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: matter if you're a slave. It doesn't matter if you're
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: in prison. When his hand is on your life, it's
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: going to work. Because it's not about your situation. It's
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: about him. And that's the place we have to get
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: to as Christian people. We have to recognize it's not
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: about my position in this world. It's about my position
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: with him. It's about who he's made me to be.
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: It's about who I am in Christ Jesus. It's about
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: his hand being on my life, not about where I am.
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: Not about my problem. It's not about the fact that
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: I'm going through a difficulty and all these different things.
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: I've got to recognize something that God's for me, not
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: against me. So he's able to take what the enemy
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: meant for evil and use it for good. But you
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: have to let him work. See, when Joseph was in prison,
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: later he doesn't, he's still not bitter. He's put in
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: charge of the whole prison. And then there's these two
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: men that come in. You remember the story? There's these
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: two men that come in that are both put in
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: prison with him. The one guy he gives, they both
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: have a dream. The one guy, he gives him the
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: interpretation of his dream and he says, you're going to die.
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: In three days, you're going to be executed. And the
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: other guy, he says, He says the king, Pharaoh, is
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: going to replace or put you back in your position
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: in the palace. And when you're back, he says, don't
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: forget about me. Right? And the interpretation comes true. The
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: one man is executed. The other man is elevated. But
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: he forgets about Joseph. Have you ever felt forgotten? God,
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: I thought you gave me a way out here. I
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: thought this was going to work this time. But here
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: I am still stuck in my problem. And it's just
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: every turn, there's so many temptations to get bitter. And
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: I think this is kind of the point of today.
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: Don't let your problems make you bitter. Don't let your
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: situation make you bitter. See, he could have felt like
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: God forgot him. But he didn't waste his pit. And
• 22:23
  Speaker 1: at the appointed time, God brought him out. Yes. God
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: brought him out at just the right time because if
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: he had come out early, he couldn't have helped and
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: been elevated to his position.
• 22:34
  Speaker 2: So God brought him out at just the right time.
• 22:36
  Speaker 2: I want you to hear this today.
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: God's got an appointed time for you. God's got a
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: time for you. He's going to bring you out. If
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: you say, I've been in a problem, I've been in
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: this situation, and it feels like it just keeps going, listen,
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: he's got an appointed time for your life. He's going
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: to bring you out. So when God brought Joseph out,
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: it wasn't the same Joseph that went in, right? God
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: brought Joseph out and when he came out, it's not
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: the same little boy. It's not some angry young man.
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: He brings Joseph out and he's a different person. God
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: developed something in him. Put verse four of Romans chapter
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: five back up there because he says endurance develops character.
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: Endurance develops character. And here's the thing. The character here
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: is not your personality. Right? That's not what it means.
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: It doesn't mean you become this interesting personality. No, God's
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: developing the strength of your character. Character is what the
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: pit leaves behind in you. The positive things it leaves
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: behind in you. The strength of character.
• 23:53
  Speaker 2: Character is something that's proven.
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: Right? Right?
• 23:56
  Speaker 2: It's something that's stronger. It's a stronger faith.
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: It's boldness. See, God's working something in your life. He
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: wants to bring those things out, but it only comes
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: through pressure. Don't waste your pit. So the question is,
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: what's the pit producing in you? Listen, you can be bitter.
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: You can be unforgiving. You can be all these different things.
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: You can be angry. You can be vengeful. But Joseph's
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: trial formed something in him. God brought him out of
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: the pit. He brought him out of the prison and
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: he put him in the palace and he made him
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: in charge of Egypt, right? But the palace isn't what
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: formed Joseph the pit was. The prison was. It formed
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: something in him. God was working something in his life.
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: His strength of character was made in the pit. It
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: was made in slavery. It was made in prison.
• 24:51
  Speaker 2: God was forming him before he gave him his position.
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: See, has there been times in our lives where we
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: haven't let the pit develop us? Where we haven't let
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: God work in our lives, in our problems, we've just
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: looked for a quick way out, and because of that,
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: we've bypassed what God wanted to do. See, God wants
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: to develop something in your life. And the real test
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: of Joseph's character came later, right? When he had the power,
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: he had the authority, to do something and his brothers
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: are standing right in front of him. And you know
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: the story. His brothers came to Egypt, came to get
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: food because there's a famine and Joseph has been put
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: in charge of Egypt and he's got all the food.
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: And everybody who wants food has to come to Joseph
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: and Joseph sees his brothers, the scoundrels, these evil men
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: who threw him into a pit and sold him into slavery.
• 25:47
  Speaker 2: They wanted to kill him.
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: He sees them standing in front of him and he
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: has the power right now things are reversed before he
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: had no power they had all the power and they
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: did what they wanted now it's reversed he's got all
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: the power and he could punish them he could say
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: now you're going to know what it feels like right
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: i'm gonna put you guys in prison you're gonna suffer
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: for what you did he could have done all that
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: couldn't he but instead what does he do he embraces
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: them He weeps with them. His pit wasn't wasted. So
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: here's what I want you to catch this morning. Listen,
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: don't waste your problem. Don't miss what God wants to
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: do in your life. Don't just try to survive but
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: be bitter. Who am I talking to? Don't try to
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: just survive and end up bitter and unforgiving and angry.
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: Let God Work in your life. Let him work in
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: your problem. See, God doesn't want to just bring you
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: out of the pit. He wants to change you in it.
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: He wants to change. That's what Romans 5 is saying.
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: God wants to show you can rejoice when there's some
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: bad stuff that happens in your life. I can rejoice
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: in the middle of those things because God means God's
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: got an opportunity to work in my life. We don't
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: like to hear that, but he wants to work in
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: you even in the hard times.
• 27:21
  Speaker 2: It doesn't mean you live in the hard times.
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: It means while you're there, he's going to work in
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: you because he uses everything in your life.
• 27:29
  Speaker 2: That sounds like a good place to stop, but I'm
• 27:31
  Speaker 2: not stopping yet.
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: Even if you don't have to get excited, but I'm
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: going to keep going because God wants to do something
• 27:38
  Speaker 1: in you.
• 27:39
  Speaker 2: And look what he says in verse 4 again.
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: Character strengthens our confident hope of salvation.
• 27:49
  Speaker 2: Character strengthens hope.
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: So as I start developing what God wants to develop
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: in my life, it produces more hope in me. It
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: produces hope. See, we got to understand, I know I've
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: explained this before. Let me say it again. Here's what
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: Bible hope is. Bible hope is not, I hope I
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: win the lottery, right? That's not Bible hope. That's not
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: what hope means. That's how we use the word hope,
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: but that's not accurate. What Bible hope means is expectation
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: of good. So if I have hope in God, that
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: means I expect he's going to do good. I like
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: the word expectation better. You know, I've got an expectation
• 28:30
  Speaker 1: that God is going to do something in my life.
• 28:34
  Speaker 1: So hope is not pretending everything's okay. Because sometimes we
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: act like that's what faith is. Faith is pretending everything
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: is okay when it's not. No, it's not.
• 28:43
  Speaker 2: That's not faith and that's not hope.
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: What hope is, is it says, even though things aren't okay,
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: I believe they're going to be because I put my
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: trust in God. I trust in him and what he's
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: doing in my life. I know he's faithful because I've
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: seen him be faithful. And so because I've seen him
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: be faithful and he brought me out of this pit
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: and it built endurance and character in my life. And
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: because I can see what he did, I've got hope
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: he can do it again. But see, if you've never
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: been through that stuff, you don't know. You've not developed
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: the hope yet. You've not developed the endurance and the
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: strength of character, but God wants to do some things
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: in your life so you start hoping. But see, I'm
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: telling you this, church, because I've seen too many people
• 29:24
  Speaker 1: get upset when they face a problem and walk away
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: from God. I've seen too many people get upset when
• 29:29
  Speaker 1: they face a problem. They said, I thought the Bible
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: said life was supposed to be good from now on
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: and problem free. And where's God? Where's God, preacher? I
• 29:39
  Speaker 1: thought life was supposed to be good. No, life's not
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: supposed to be good. Jesus said there'll be trouble, but
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: he's overcome. You can overcome too. You just got to
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: learn how to keep standing. You got to learn how
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: to not quit in your problem. Learn how to not
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: give up so God can build endurance in you.
• 29:57
  Speaker 2: And once you've seen it before, you know he'll do
• 29:59
  Speaker 2: it again.
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: That's right. So hope gives you God's perspective. It gives
• 30:05
  Speaker 1: you God's perspective on things. And I think that's what
• 30:08
  Speaker 1: Joseph has at the end of the story. Right? His brothers,
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: at the very end of the story, their fathers die.
• 30:15
  Speaker 1: The brothers are worried. We're in trouble now. He was
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: only protecting us because of dad. Now he's going to
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: kill us. Right? And they're worried. They come to him
• 30:25
  Speaker 1: kind of begging for for forgiveness, and Joseph, but Joseph
• 30:30
  Speaker 1: has a different perspective, doesn't he? And look what it
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: says in Genesis 50, verse 20. He says, you planned
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: evil against me, but God planned it for good to
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: bring about this present result, the survival of many people. See,
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: he has hope in God, and his hope has let
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: him understand God's perspective. Now, he couldn't have said that
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: from the pit. He couldn't have shouted from the pit,
• 31:01
  Speaker 1: it's okay, guys. I think God's got a plan here
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: and he's gonna use this pit. He didn't know that.
• 31:10
  Speaker 1: But he could look back after the pit. He could
• 31:13
  Speaker 1: look back after the slavery, after the prison and say, no,
• 31:16
  Speaker 1: God had a plan. And he had to move me
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: where he wanted me. He had to work in my life.
• 31:21
  Speaker 1: He had to do something in me because I wasn't
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: ready for all this, but God trained me in my pit.
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: So I could be prepared for the job he's got
• 31:30
  Speaker 1: for me. Don't waste your pit. Now you might be
• 31:34
  Speaker 1: saying good for Joseph, right? Good for him. But I'm
• 31:38
  Speaker 1: still here. I'm still in my problem. I can't see
• 31:41
  Speaker 1: the end yet. I don't know when the end is coming.
• 31:45
  Speaker 1: But here's the thing. You may not be at your
• 31:46
  Speaker 1: Genesis 50 yet. You might still be back in Genesis 39.
• 31:52
  Speaker 1: You don't know how it's going to work out. You
• 31:55
  Speaker 1: don't know what's going to happen, right? You're still waiting,
• 31:57
  Speaker 1: you're still praying, you're still believing, you're still standing, but
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: you say, I don't know what's gonna happen. You're in
• 32:03
  Speaker 1: the part of the story that doesn't make sense. You
• 32:06
  Speaker 1: might feel like God's forgotten you, right? Or you're alone
• 32:10
  Speaker 1: in the pit, but I want you to know he's
• 32:12
  Speaker 1: bringing you through. God will bring you out and he
• 32:17
  Speaker 1: wants to shape you so you're a different person when
• 32:20
  Speaker 1: you come out. Let me close with this verse in
• 32:23
  Speaker 1: Romans chapter eight. Verse 24, he says, hope that is
• 32:29
  Speaker 1: seen is not hope. Right? You can't hope for what
• 32:35
  Speaker 1: you see. If I have it, I can't hope for it,
• 32:39
  Speaker 1: I have it. Hope is used for something you can't see.
• 32:43
  Speaker 1: So if you hope for something you can't see, he
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: says in verse 25, then we eagerly wait for it
• 32:54
  Speaker 1: with patience. Here's what I want you to catch today.
• 32:57
  Speaker 1: Faith says, I trust God now. You can put that
• 33:01
  Speaker 1: next slide up. Faith says, I trust God now. Hope says,
• 33:05
  Speaker 1: I can trust him with what comes next. Right? I
• 33:10
  Speaker 1: can trust God with what's coming. I don't know what's coming,
• 33:14
  Speaker 1: but I know I can trust him with it. I
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: know who holds tomorrow. And I know he holds my hand.
• 33:21
  Speaker 1: Somebody write that down. That would be a good song,
• 33:23
  Speaker 1: wouldn't it? The enemy wants you to come out of
• 33:26
  Speaker 1: the pit, but he wants you to come out hopeless.
• 33:29
  Speaker 1: I don't know if you caught it. The enemy wants
• 33:32
  Speaker 1: you to come out of the pit hopeless. The enemy
• 33:36
  Speaker 1: wants you to come out of your pit bitter and angry.
• 33:42
  Speaker 1: He wants you to believe nothing good could ever happen
• 33:46
  Speaker 1: to you again. That's what the enemy wants for your life.
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: But don't waste your pit Because God can use your
• 33:55
  Speaker 1: pit to show you his faithfulness. He can use your
• 33:59
  Speaker 1: pit to build endurance in your life.
• 34:03
  Speaker 2: To build strength of character.
• 34:05
  Speaker 1: So you can have hope. We started the sermon with
• 34:09
  Speaker 1: that movie Wonka.
• 34:12
  Speaker 2: And he had a dream. His dream was the easy part.
• 34:15
  Speaker 2: It's wonderful to have a dream. That's easy.
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: Everybody loves having a dream. I could preach up here
• 34:20
  Speaker 1: this morning about God wants to give you a dream.
• 34:22
  Speaker 1: And every one of you would have been so excited.
• 34:25
  Speaker 1: But here I am telling you how God will work
• 34:27
  Speaker 1: in your problems. But this is the truth you have
• 34:30
  Speaker 1: to understand. The dreams are easy. What do you do
• 34:35
  Speaker 1: when the problems come? How do you stand when trouble
• 34:39
  Speaker 1: comes in this world? And I think about that story,
• 34:44
  Speaker 1: that movie. And he faced disappointment. Would disappointment make him quit?
• 34:50
  Speaker 1: You know, and I think the same question is... Valid
• 34:53
  Speaker 1: for us. Will the disappointment in your life make you quit?
• 34:57
  Speaker 1: You know, he faced betrayal. Would it make him angry?
• 35:00
  Speaker 1: What about for you? When someone talks bad about you,
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: someone mistreats you, betrays your trust, will it make you angry?
• 35:09
  Speaker 1: Would people in the movie that were dishonest make him
• 35:12
  Speaker 1: a dishonest person? What about us? Would people who were
• 35:17
  Speaker 1: cruel make him cruel? And I think the question of
• 35:20
  Speaker 1: the movie is, is what do you do with your problems?
• 35:24
  Speaker 1: What do you do with your pit? And that's what
• 35:27
  Speaker 1: Joseph had to answer. What's the pit producing in him?
• 35:31
  Speaker 1: So I want you to see God wants to use
• 35:33
  Speaker 1: everything in your life to bring about your good. Would
• 35:36
  Speaker 1: you stand with me this morning? And we're gonna close
• 35:39
  Speaker 1: this time. I want you just to bow your heads
• 35:45
  Speaker 1: for a moment. And it's kind of a, it's kind
• 35:49
  Speaker 1: of a, Different sort of message because on one hand
• 35:53
  Speaker 1: it's a fun movie thing. On the other hand, it's
• 35:56
  Speaker 1: a serious question. What do I do with the problems
• 35:59
  Speaker 1: in my life? What do I do with the situations
• 36:02
  Speaker 1: I'm facing? You know, Joseph didn't waste his pit. God
• 36:08
  Speaker 1: used it and developed something in him. But maybe you're
• 36:10
  Speaker 1: here today and you say, I'm in the pit. And
• 36:14
  Speaker 1: I'm just waiting on God. I'm praying. I'm trying to stand,
• 36:17
  Speaker 1: but I don't know what's going to happen. I'm going
• 36:20
  Speaker 1: to pray for you in just a moment. Because the
• 36:22
  Speaker 1: pit is not the end of your story. Your problem
• 36:26
  Speaker 1: that you're in today is not where your story ends.
• 36:31
  Speaker 1: But it's going to be a testimony of the faithfulness
• 36:33
  Speaker 1: of God in your life. But let me say this
• 36:36
  Speaker 1: before we go any further. Maybe you're here today and
• 36:42
  Speaker 1: you've been going through life on your own. You know
• 36:46
  Speaker 1: about God but you've never really given your life to Him.
• 36:51
  Speaker 1: Maybe you've walked away from God. The greatest hope we
• 36:56
  Speaker 1: have in this world is Jesus Christ. He died for us.
• 37:02
  Speaker 1: He loves us so much. He doesn't want to leave
• 37:04
  Speaker 1: us the way we are. He wants to change our lives.
• 37:07
  Speaker 1: Thanks so much for listening to today's message from Reach Church.
• 37:12
  Speaker 1: If this encouraged you, we'd love for you to share
• 37:15
  Speaker 1: this podcast and leave a review. It helps more people
• 37:18
  Speaker 1: hear the good news. For more information about Reach Church,
• 37:22
  Speaker 1: our ministries, or how to get involved, visit us at reachchurch.world.
• 37:28
  Speaker 1: We love you, we're praying for you, and we'll see
• 37:30
  Speaker 1: you next time right here on the Reach Church podcast.