We can find the favor of God even when we've been forsaken and framed and forgotten.
It is possible that the hurt you have received from the hands of others – what seems like a set back to you – God is going to use as a stepping stone for your ultimate good?
I’ve been to some churches where the overall message goes like this: “Live your life right. Be godly. Have faith. And good things will happen to you.” Well, that message would sound really lame to Joseph.
He’s living a good life. He resists temptation. He doesn’t want to sin against God. He resists the advances of a powerful woman. He’s doing things well. But he’s sold into slavery and thrown into prison.
Surely that means that he doesn’t have the favor of God on his life, right? Wrong! The whole time, he has the favor of God on his life. The whole time, God is working in his life to prepare him for something – for a job, a ministry – that he can’t yet see.
And the patriarchs, jealous of Joseph, sold him into Egypt; but God was with him and rescued him out of all his afflictions and gave him favor... Acts 7:9-10 (ESV)
The presence of trouble doesn’t mean the absence of favor. And the flip side is true, too. The absence of trouble doesn’t mean the presence of favor.
Yes, you’ve been hurt. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t still experience God’s favor. In fact, God often wants to display his favor through the hurts of His people.
If Joseph went to some churches today, some people might say, “Joseph, you must be out of the will of God. Nobody goes through what you’ve been through unless God is ticked at you. You don’t have enough faith. You must be disobedient. You’re not really walking with God. You don’t have the favor of God.” But God sees not as man sees.
Some of us might appear to be very successful. You say, "My life is working out just fine overall. Sure. There are some glitches along the way. But overall, things are OK. I have an OK job, an OK family, an OK house, OK health, OK friends." But deep down inside, you wonder, "Do I have the favor of God?" You know you really don’t. You’re forfeiting a future.
Last week I wrote a sentence that I want to really believe. “I would rather have earthly trouble with the favor of God than worldly success without the favor of God.” Do I believe that? I want to believe that. I want to live that way.
As we are going to see in this story, the favor of God demonstrated in Joseph’s life elevated him to a strategic position far beyond his wildest dreams.
Don’t sabotage your own future by losing the favor of God.
Do you have the favor of God on your life?
It is possible that the hurt you have received from the hands of others – what seems like a set back to you – God is going to use as a stepping stone for your ultimate good?
I’ve been to some churches where the overall message goes like this: “Live your life right. Be godly. Have faith. And good things will happen to you.” Well, that message would sound really lame to Joseph.
He’s living a good life. He resists temptation. He doesn’t want to sin against God. He resists the advances of a powerful woman. He’s doing things well. But he’s sold into slavery and thrown into prison.
Surely that means that he doesn’t have the favor of God on his life, right? Wrong! The whole time, he has the favor of God on his life. The whole time, God is working in his life to prepare him for something – for a job, a ministry – that he can’t yet see.
And the patriarchs, jealous of Joseph, sold him into Egypt; but God was with him and rescued him out of all his afflictions and gave him favor... Acts 7:9-10 (ESV)
The presence of trouble doesn’t mean the absence of favor. And the flip side is true, too. The absence of trouble doesn’t mean the presence of favor.
Yes, you’ve been hurt. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t still experience God’s favor. In fact, God often wants to display his favor through the hurts of His people.
If Joseph went to some churches today, some people might say, “Joseph, you must be out of the will of God. Nobody goes through what you’ve been through unless God is ticked at you. You don’t have enough faith. You must be disobedient. You’re not really walking with God. You don’t have the favor of God.” But God sees not as man sees.
Some of us might appear to be very successful. You say, "My life is working out just fine overall. Sure. There are some glitches along the way. But overall, things are OK. I have an OK job, an OK family, an OK house, OK health, OK friends." But deep down inside, you wonder, "Do I have the favor of God?" You know you really don’t. You’re forfeiting a future.
Last week I wrote a sentence that I want to really believe. “I would rather have earthly trouble with the favor of God than worldly success without the favor of God.” Do I believe that? I want to believe that. I want to live that way.
As we are going to see in this story, the favor of God demonstrated in Joseph’s life elevated him to a strategic position far beyond his wildest dreams.
Don’t sabotage your own future by losing the favor of God.
Do you have the favor of God on your life?
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