What If God Was Working in the Dark?

Welcome. Man, it's so good to have y'all here. Look at y'all already queued up. Already cued up into the chat. Welcome, welcome, welcome to Sunday. Miss Sharon, always a pleasure. Mr. John, always a pleasure. Robbie. All of y'all, all of y'all. Such a pleasure. Miss Linda and Miss Susan. Love you. Um, my brother, my brother, uh Joe over there. Uh, good to see you. And uh DSG61. Um, not 100% positive who that is, but you're listening on uh on the YouTube channel. Love it. Thank you, Robbie. I appreciate it. Let me know if the if the uh accompaniment is too loud. Good to see y'all. Man, oh man, lots going on. I'm excited about this episode, and I'm super excited about uh tomorrow morning's episode. That is uh 7 a.m. Eastern Standard Time. And um we we get ready to rock and roll. We are ready to go. So I just want y'all to know that I I'm a I'm beyond appreciative of you being here. Means the world to me, absolutely. And um I just pray that you all will be blessed. Heavenly Father, we thank you so much. What a blessing and an honor it is to come before you, to approach you. Even if, even if you never did another thing for us, you've redeemed us from what I was to what I am. I'm no good now, but believe me, believe me, I appreciate what you brought me from. And I thank you for it. Your redemption, your going to the cross. I I can't even imagine. And I can't thank you enough for it. I thank you so much for your word that you've given us, the holy Bible scriptures, and all the blood that was spilled to bring it to us, Father. I pray that I would do it justice tonight. This is about you and not me. And I ask that you anoint this message and anoint this time. May those who are listening, either live or on playback, may they experience you in a way that they have never experienced before. We welcome you in the house tonight. We pray this in Yeshua your son's name. Amen. And all God's people said amen. Okay, so Lord, we have a complicated week. Hello, Miss Tammy. So good to see you. God bless you. Complicated. So I mean, this is a reasonable question, I think. What part of your life? What part of your life? Your life? I can't speak for you. What part of your life here's a better question. I didn't even finish asking the question, I started to ask, but I changed my mind right in the middle. What if the part of your life that feels most confusing isn't the part where God lost control? Come on, anybody. Anybody. What if the pit the exposure? The temptation. Oh my. Come on, somebody. The prison. The delay. And the waiting. What if they aren't random pieces scattered across the floor? What if what if what if God has been working through a story you couldn't yet interpret? So we take a deep breath on that one. This week in Genesis. We didn't watch clean people move through easy chapters. No, we didn't. We watched a family fracture. We watched hidden sin get exposed. We watched Joseph resist temptation and still suffer. We watched him serve faithfully and he still was forgotten. And then after years in the dark, we watched him stand before Pharaoh with wisdom that could preserve life. This isn't a shallow story. This isn't a shallow story. This this isn't a children's Bible cartoon. This isn't. Look, look, that's not a motivational poster about dreams coming true. This is the story of God forming covenant purpose through broken families, hidden sin, unjust suffering, faithful obedience, long delay, and wisdom shaped in the dark and the hard question is this. Can you trust God when the chapter you are living in doesn't explain itself? Well, as you might imagine, I have a little bit to say about that, and uh the scripture has a lot to say about it. I guess I should introduce myself for those who don't know. I am Dr. Sean. This is the true word faith for life with Dr. Sean YouTube and Rumble channel, wherever you're listening, live or on playback. Now we're on every if you prefer audio only because you can't stand to look at this face, I don't blame you, neither can I. But if if you uh like audio only, that's your thing, or you maybe want to listen on playback on that, feel free. We have a player on TrueWordfaithforlife.com. It's an excellent player. Um, we don't take any of your information there unless you want to give it. And but we're on every everyone. iTunes, um Apple, uh, you know, iTunes, whatever it's called. And um, and and on top of that, we're on Amazon and uh iHeartRadio. We're on 27 of them. So save doing the list, that's 27 of them. And um, by the way, my book. This one here, true word, faith for life. True word, faith for life. See if you can't, maybe um maybe, maybe you can remember that. I don't know, it's a tricky title. True Word, Faith for Life. It's in True Word FaithforLife.com in the store. It was written to help you stop surviving on religious fragments is whatever scatters about. It was written to help you start walking in the truth of God's word with courage, clarity, and faith for real life. Now, here's a hard question for your heart today. Where have you mistaken God's hidden work for God's absence? That matters. That question matters because Genesis 37 through 41 teaches us something many of us only learn through tears. Oh, God whispers to us in our pleasure and he shouts to us in our pain. God isn't only present in the clear places, he's all pro look, you can you can think that the only place he is is the place where you easily see him or feel his presence. Things are going great. Oh, God is here. God isn't only present in the clear places, he's also present in the hidden ones. Thank you all for answering that question. I love, I love that. I absolutely love that that you all did that. God bless you. God bless you. Here it is again in the event that you you might have missed it. That's so awesome. Thank you for being vulnerable and answering that. What a beautiful thing. What a beautiful audience you all are. I swear I have. Beautiful. Praise God. Praise God, David Golden Eagle. Amen. Welcome, welcome, welcome. It's such an honor and pleasure to have you. This week the story of Genesis turned toward Joseph and Judah. We need to remember where we are in the larger story. God made covenant promises to Abraham. Remember, land, seed, blessing, a family through whom all the families of the earth would be blessed. That promise continued through Isaac and then through Jacob. Welcome, welcome. Listening all the way from the Philippines. What time of day or night is it in the Philippines, David Golden Eagle 61? What an what an absolute delight to have you. Don't know how you found us. Listening on the YouTube channel, True Word Faith for Life with Dr. Sean. Means the world to me that you would take the time to listen. It's a blessing. People saying hi to each other. David Golden Eagle. Uh what a I think you win for farthest away. I don't know. We have some folks listening in the UK and and in Germany. Good afternoon, Sean B. spelled correctly, 1989. God bless you. God bless you. So listen, all these blessings. Oh, it's Monday already. Monday in the Philippines. Awesome. Well, I can't thank you enough. So the story of Genesis, it did. It turned, it turned toward Joseph and Judah, and we we cannot forget this. We have to remember where we are in the larger story here. God made those covenant promises. Who did he make them to? He made them to Abraham. Remember, remember, land, seed, blessing, a family through whom all of the families of earth would be blessed. And remember, that promise, that promise continued through Isaac, then through Jacob. Oh, now Jacob's family is becoming the twelve tribes of Israel. But that family isn't whole, it's not clean, it's not mature, it's not peaceful, it is not shalom. Genesis won't let us romanticize the covenant family. This is not a polished family portrait. He didn't lie. Paladin Morningstar, always they want to come on here. Amen. God changed my life 20 years ago, David Golden Eagle 61. Praise the Lord. Oh, paladin Morningstar, you will absolutely find out that you are worshiping the wrong God. And I pray that you experience God before then, and you acknowledge him. It's tragic. So many choose. So many choose. That was once us. Look, that was me. Lost. Thank God, thank God, thank God. So God won't let us, he won't let us romanticize the covenant family. They aren't clean. They don't have everything down. This is a household marked by favoritism, rivalry, deception, grief, sexual brokenness, hypocrisy, injustice, and silence. And in the ancient world, household failure was never merely private. Family, land, seed, inheritance, honor, shame, survival, and covenant future, they were all tied together. What happens in Jacob's house doesn't stay in Jacob's house. It moves through generations. That's why these chapters matter so deeply. Genesis isn't giving us a modern success story. It's showing us covenant providence in an ancient household. It's in an ancient household world. Where God's promise keeps moving through real people, real sin. Real, look, real people like you and me. Real wounds like you and I suffer, and real consequence like we've experienced. Sin matters, it wounds, it travels, it creates damage, but sin doesn't become sovereign just because it's painful. That is one of the deepest theological truths in these chapters. Human beings make real choices. And those choices matter. Joseph's brothers are responsible for what they do. They are. Joseph's brothers are absolutely responsible for the evil and awful that they did. Judah is responsible for what he did and what he does. Potiphar's wife, we don't think about her much further than her, like, mmm, getting all, trying to get all up on a brother. She's responsible for what she does, the cupbearer. And the promise to remember and forgot. They're responsible, the cupbearer is responsible for forgetting Joseph. And the Bible doesn't erase human guilt by saying God is working. It doesn't. But it also doesn't give human evil the final word. Come on, somebody, say amen and thank God. That's where many people get confused. They think either people are responsible or God is sovereign. One or the other. Genesis shows us something so much deeper. People are responsible and God is sovereign. Sean, you're so welcome. Says, thank you for your videos. I listen every morning as I'm starting work and they bring peace to the start of my day. Glory be to God. If you don't mind me asking, you don't have to answer this at all. Feel free to let us know where you're listening from. Not exact, but just general area. That'd be awesome. Look, we're responsible for what we do. People in the Bible, people next door, people that you work with, people in your house, you and I. We're responsible, but God is sovereign. Sin is real, and providence is also real. The wound is absolutely real. But did you know God's purpose is also real? The pit is real. Joseph was in a real pit and it wasn't good. The pit was real. Tampa, Florida. Love it. What my favorite, uh, one of my favorite steak restaurants there, I think it's in uh South Tampa Bay, right almost right on the water. It's a famous steakhouse. I only went there one time and uh went there because somebody else was paying because I can't afford that kind of place. But it was amazing. Northern Mindanael, Philippines. Well, awesome. Still, you still win. You still win. David Gold and Eagle 61, he wins for furthest away. And he's listening tomorrow. So there's that. Listen, the pit is real. I don't, I don't, you know, I don't know how many rough places you've been in in your life. But there have been times where I've fallen in a pit, and boy, oh boy, was the pit real. But here's the thing: the covenant story is also real. It's still moving, it's still playing out. Well, what do we experience this week? Day 40 began in Genesis 37 with Joseph and his brothers. Can you imagine? The wound was family betrayal. Jacob favored Joseph. I asked several weeks ago because I knew this day was coming. I said, Hey, who here has more than one child? And and you have one, don't say who it is. Now don't say you do this, but but you have a favor. You favor one. One's easier, one's sweeter, kinder. One obeys you come on, you know it's true. You know it's true. We all have it. Do you have it? My mother did have favorites. I'm the youngest of five. I know somebody's listening right now, is the youngest of eight, another one's listening, youngest of nine, and I know for a fact she was the favorite. I know for a fact. She told me. She didn't really, but she kind of smiled. But this isn't that kind of deal. Come on, everybody. This isn't that kind of deal. Jacob favored Joseph, and his brothers hated him. They couldn't they couldn't even speak shalom to him. Joseph dreamed and the hatred deepened. Then his brothers saw him from a distance, conspired against him, stripped him, threw him into a pit, sold him, and deceived their father with blood on the robe. Oh, they went far. They were going to kill him. One said, hey, let's kill him. No one said, mm-mm, no. Let's throw him in a pit. That chapter didn't end with reconciliation, folks, as often it is. It ended with Joseph in Egypt, Jacob grieving, and the brothers carrying guilt. Hello, Faith Gordon. God bless you. These brothers were carrying guilt, even though at some point or another, I don't know that they felt all of it yet, but they would. That matters. Not every chapter gives you resolution. Sometimes the wound is still open. Sometimes the grief is still fresh. Some of you listening have just lost a child. God bless you. My heart, my heart absolutely and utterly aches for you. Some of you have lost your father. I know someone listening right now, you lost your dear father. You adore your father more than anything else in the world. Sometimes the grief is fresh. We wish it would just go away. But it doesn't. Sometimes the grief is so fresh. You open your eyes and you look. You look and you see the person and you say, Oh, there they are. And you realize that they're not there. You pick up the phone to call them. And you realize. Sometimes grief is still fresh. Sometimes faithfulness means living honestly in the unresolved place while refusing to believe God has abandoned the story. Oh, it's not easy. Day 41 took us into Genesis 38, and the Bible interrupted Joseph's story to show us. Judah. Oh my goodness. That interruption, it is not random. Judah had helped to sell Joseph, his brother, into slavery. Then he went down from his brothers. He drifted from the covenant family. Remember what happened to Judah. Tamar was wrong. That's taking, that's saying it lightly. I don't want to go into all the business that he did. Tamar was wronged. Judah broke his word, and his hidden sin was exposed through the very woman he had failed to protect. When Tamar said his, sent his signet, his cord, and his staff, Judah had to face the truth. Oh, that's something Judah didn't ever want to see. But he knew immediately, and he spoke it. She is more righteous than I. Scriptures tell us. He said, She is more righteous than I. You know what? She is more righteous than I. That sentence wasn't perfection, but it was a turn. We have to admit from where it was to where it is now, that's a turn. That's progress. Truth entered the hidden room, and through Tamar's son, Pettus, the line would move toward David and eventually toward Messiah. Somebody, somebody, praise the Lord for provision. Oh, God's perfect Lamb. Did you hear that through Judah? Through that line. Came David and eventually Messiah. Listen, this isn't because God blesses sin. It doesn't. That's not it. He doesn't, he doesn't bless sin. It's because God's mercy is greater than the mess people make. Take a deep breath, here we go. Isn't going to get any easier. Day 42 brought us back to Joseph in Genesis 39. Joseph was sold into Potiphar's house. Sold. The text kept saying, Adonai was with him. Adonai was with him. Not Joseph was comfortable. Not Joseph understood. Not Joseph was immediately rescued. It says Adonai was with him. Adonai was with him. Adonai was with Joseph. Then temptation came. Potiphar's wife pressed him day after day. Joseph refused because he knew this would be sin against God. Not because he was afraid of what would happen to him if he got caught by Potiphar. By Pharaoh. By the neighbor next door, by the people at work. No, no, no. He refused because he knew this would be sin against God. How many of us have moved forward through we knew we shouldn't do something? We knew it grieved the heart of God, but we were more concerned over what people would think. He knew this would be sin against God and my friends. That's holiness. It's not fear of getting caught. It's not reputation management. Holiness lives before the face of God. Joseph fled, leaving his garment behind. He did the right thing, yet he was falsely accused. This woman said, Oh no, yeah, yeah, he came after me. He got all up on me. When he did no such a thing, he fled so quickly, he left his garment behind. Then he was falsely accused. He was thrown into prison. He did the right thing, and his life got even harder. And that's the look, look, say what you want. This is where shallow faith breaks. Come on, somebody, somebody has been there. Somebody's there right now. Shallow faith. Shallow faith. I don't know. I don't know if you've experienced it. I don't know if this is something that you have experienced. Maybe you have, maybe you haven't. I don't know. I have. And this is when life gets like that, shallow faith shows. But Genesis tells the truth. It doesn't make something up. Tells the truth. Obedience doesn't always bring immediate vindication. Sometimes obedience leads right on through suffering before anyone else sees what was true. Sometimes you got to go through it. Sometimes you gotta go through it. Day 43 brought us into Genesis 40. Joseph is in prison, but he he was still attentive. He noticed the troubled faces of the cupbearer and the baker, and he asked the simple question: Why are your faces downcast today? He's in prison. He's in prison. He is in prison. He's in prison. How many of us would have noticed? How many of us would have cared? Who cares what those other people are going through? Who cares what they're going through? Doesn't matter, right? How does this matter? How does this matter? I I'm in prison. But he asked them, the cupbearer and the baker, why are your faces down? Why are you sad today? That is ministry in a prison place. How many of you have been in a prison place? And somebody ministered to you. And they were in the prison place too. Joseph served while he was still hurting. Listen, I'm going to say something that I wasn't going to say. I said to myself, self, because that's when I call me when it's just me. I said, Self, don't talk about this. People will say people in prison are worthless. They're not. They're not. They're worth something to God. And there are many in prison that turn their lives over to Christ. They turn their lives over to Christ. And they minister to others. And they begin to preach and sing and lead and counsel. Prisoners helping prisoners. Joseph served while he was still hurting. He interpreted the dreams truthfully, and the cupbearer was restored. But the baker was judged, and then the chapter ended with pain. The cupbearer forgot. Joseph. Oh yeah. I'm in the struggle with you. I'm down with the struggle. Joseph asked one thing. One thing. Remember me. But when the cupbearer got freed and he didn't look backwards. How many have had that happen to them? Robbie says he's been there. Look, that kind of wound is quiet, but many of us know it. You helped someone, you served someone, you told the truth. You gave what God gave you. They moved forward and you stayed behind. Human memory failed. Human gratitude faded. But God didn't forget Joseph. Oh no, he didn't. The door still hadn't opened yet, but the story hadn't stopped. And Genesis 41, day 44. Last week, day 44. That's when you look, you know, tomorrow we start day 45. I hope you're in. I hope you're in with us all in. Day 45. All the episodes are free. They're all free. They're all cataloged. There's there's, by the way, there's an intense blog post and and study guide on um on TruewordfaithforLife.com. Click on the blog at the top and then read the blog and then scroll down. You'll see the study guides intense. I did it, you know, I do the Turibian footnotes and and um the bibliography as though I were writing a doctoral paper, but it's all real, but so you say, well, where'd you get all this? That's where you can find it there. By the way, somebody wanted me to show this Bible again. Mooseworks, uh, Melissa, Mooseworks Bible on Etsy, ETS Y. Mooseworks. Yeah, it actually is that Mooseworks Bible. Isn't this the wildest thing you've ever seen? Look how beautiful that is. She is utterly amazing. She's an artisan. I hope you got to see it. I hope you're listening at the time. Uh, the one that asked me to show that one because a lot of times I'll show the other ones and I don't show that one. There's only one reason why I don't show it. The only reason I don't show it is I'm not strong on my left side. So when I lift it, I'm afraid I'll drop it. So the other ones are a little bit lighter. Well, a lot lighter. That one's twice as heavy. So that's that's the only reason. Beautiful work. I cannot encourage you more. She's she's an she's an absolute artist. And they'll last. They'll last forever. You treat them well, they'll last forever. If your Bible matters to you, by the way, it's also a great gift. It's a tremendous gift to do that for somebody. And you know, you don't have to send somebody's Bible. You can, let's say you want to give somebody a Bible, but you want it to be extra special. You go buy a nice Bible, buy a nice one, buy one that's smythe-bound. People say smith bound, that's smythe. S-M-Y-T-H bound. It's it's better than glue because glue eventually will dry rot. It just dries out and it comes out and the pages start coming out. You want smythe bound. I'll I'll explain that later. I gotta keep going. So day 44 brought us into Genesis 41. Nothing easy about that. No. Nope. After two full years, Pharaoh dreamed. Two full years. Then the cup bearer remembered. Then, hang on one second. I had to do that because I think I'm gonna raise my voice here shortly. And I don't want to blow your eardrums out. After two full years, he's in jail two years, two years of his life. That cupbearer, if that cupbearer would have said, if he would have said at the time, when he promised, if he would have kept his promise two years of his life, he'd have it back. Joseph rotted away in that prison for two full years because he didn't remember. The cupbearer didn't remember him. Oh, he remembered him. He's too busy thinking of himself. Have you ever been in that place? Somebody helped you out, and boy, you sure did forget about it. How about the Lord praying to God? God, God, if you get me out of this, please, if you get me out of this, oh man, I will never forget you. I'll do the right thing. I'll I'll serve you. I'll blah blah blah. I'll turn away and blah, blah, blah. If you get me out of this. And then he saves you. And you forget. Two full years. Two full years. Miss Sharon, that is like a gray. I don't know if it's bison. All the leathers are all special. I can't wait to see the one she's doing now for me. She's she's awesome. Plus, she's just a sweet person. She's so good at what she does, though. So good. I don't know. To me, it seems kind of. Miss Colleen, can you chime in? I don't know what color it is. Gray? I don't know for sure. Y'all, take a vote. What color do y'all think that is? I don't know. It's like really worn, like a really well-worn saddle, but I don't know. I don't know what color it is. I would say brownish gray. I don't know. That's probably wrong. Not the best with colors. Maybe Miss Colleen can. She's actually held it. And um, yeah. We'll get it to you. We'll show you. So, Joseph was brought from the prison, cleans up, he shaves, he changes clothes, and then he stands before Pharaoh. Tan. Sean B. 1989 says tan. I was gonna say tan, but then I thought, well, I think, I don't know if that's right. Looks brown. Okay, Joe is in for a vote if looks brown. Okay. Yeah, I don't know. Not the best with colors. So this sudden moment, this had been, this had been prepared through the slow years. Joseph didn't steal God's glory. He said, It's not in me. God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer. It's not in me. God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer. He didn't take the credit, he gave all glory to God. That sentence, it reveals formation. The pit hadn't wasted him. The pit hadn't wasted him. Potiphar's house hadn't wasted him, the temptation hadn't wasted him, the false accusation hadn't wasted him. The prison hadn't wasted him, the forgotten years hadn't wasted him. God had been forming wisdom, humility, endurance, administration, discernment, and dependence. When the appointed moment came, Joseph had more than a gift. He had wisdom to preserve life. Oh, and where does this come for us? This is where the whole week comes for us, right here. Many people want God to explain the story while they're still in the middle of the story. We want the meaning before the obedience. We want the map before the next step. We want the ending before the formation. But God often gives enough light for faithfulness before he gives enough explanation for comfort. Oh, that's difficult. Take a deep breath on that one. That's difficult because the modern heart, it doesn't like waiting. We want instant clarity, instant gratification, instant vindication, instant closure, instant promotion, instant healing, instant explanation. We want to know before we we want to know why. We want to know why before we obey what. It makes us sit with Judah in exposure and it makes us feel Jacob's grief. It makes us see that God's covenant story isn't shallow, hurried, or fragile. Some of you are in Genesis 37 right now. Right now, you are right there. You're still holding on to the wound like that's your identity. The betrayal is fresh and it's raw, and the rope, the robe is torn. You don't have an explanation yet, let alone any explanation. Some of you are in Genesis 38. Some of you are in Genesis 38 for sure, for sure, for sure. God's bringing truth into a hidden room. You're being invited to stop managing sin and start telling the truth. Some of you are in Genesis 39. You are being tempted in a place where nobody else sees but you. The alluring tempter. And God. Nobody else sees but you. And the one that's tempting you. And God. You have to decide whether the presence of God matters more than the pleasure of the moment. And some of you, you are in Genesis 40. You served, you helped, you prayed, you encouraged, you gave all of what God gave you, and you still got forgotten. And you're asking whether anyone remembers your name at all. Some of you are in Genesis 41. The door is opening. Now the question isn't whether God prepared you. The question is whether you'll carry responsibility with humility and wisdom. But here's the deep thread weaving through all of it. God is forming covenant people. Not just rescuing them from pain. He's forming us. Not just giving us better circumstances. These people in Scripture in Genesis, he's not just, hey, let me fix that for you. He's not just moving them from prison to palace. He is forming people who can carry his purpose without being destroyed by bitterness, hidden sin, temptation, delay, or pride. Come on. Somebody's right there right now. One of those things is grabbing at you. Now listen, the theology of this, we have to grasp this carefully and accurately. God didn't call Joseph's brother's betrayal good. No, he did not. God didn't call Judah's sin good. God didn't call false accusation good. God didn't call prison good. The Bible doesn't ask us to rename evil as good in order to protect God's sovereignty. It doesn't ask us for that. That's not biblical faith. Biblical faith says evil is evil and God is greater. Sin is sin, and yet mercy is deeper. Injustice is absolutely injustice, and God is not absence. He is not absent. Waiting hurts. Waiting hurts, and God still works. Delay is real. Information can be real at the same time. This matters because many wounded people have been harmed by shallow religious language taught in the postmodern Western Evangelical Church, some of them. My dear friend Pastor Russell Wright in Virginia Creek Ministries in Surf City, North Carolina. He's been in ministry almost as long as I've been alive. He's is he 80 yet or is he almost 80? He and Miss Kathy, they've been toiling away, serving so many people. And this man could easily rest on his laurels, not study anymore, not try to learn deeper. But he's always checking himself. He's always checking. I have to hand it to the man. In addition to loving him for who he is and who Miss Kathy is. Imagine how much hurt you see in 50 years of ministry. How much hurt you see in 50 years of ministry, how many wounded people. Ah, it's a shallow religious language taught. He's not one of them. Listen, some people said, hey, I've been betrayed. But other people said, well, God meant it for good. You know, the postmodern Western evangelical church. Hey, I've been hurt, I've been betrayed. Well, God meant it for good before they even had time to grieve. Someone was abused and people rushed to some sort of clippy, stupid bumper sticker spiritual slogan. Someone was falsely accused, and people told them, why don't you just move on? Someone waited for years, and people acted like their pain and their lack was because they lacked faith. They didn't even know their story. Maybe you've been on the receiving end of that. So much church hurt happens because not because people aren't perfect in church. I think human beings know that. We're not perfect. I don't care where you find us, we're not perfect. The reason why is because people run at uh run at us when we're hurt. And they don't really care, they're just barking some sort of bumper sticker. Has that been you? Have you been on the receiving end? Have you been on the receiving end? Let me say one thing about uh Mooseworks Bible. First of all, my wife says it's it is brown, honey. Now, I think she's calling me honey. I don't think that's a color. I'm gonna imagine that she's calling me honey and that it's brown. Um, but I will tell you, uh, if you go to the show description or you go to true wordfaithforlife.com, uh, you will see in the drop down, there is, you'll go down to the blog and you'll see down there, you'll see pictures of the Bibles, uh, real close-ups, and you'll see the link there. But if you look her up on Etsy, if you're familiar with Etsy, um ETS Y, uh Mooseworks, Moose Works, all one word, Bible. If you type that in, you'll find her. I know she'd love to hear from you. And let her know how you heard from her, heard about her. That always is helpful to people. Someone waited for years. Has that someone ever been you? Have people in the church acted? They acted. Like the reason you were in lack, the reason you were struggling, the reason you were in pain was because you lack faith. My friends, Genesis doesn't do that. Genesis lets the pain be pain. Oh, folks, the pit is still a pit. The pit is still a pit. The betrayal is still betrayal, the exposure is still painful, the temptation is still dangerous. The false accusation is still unjust. The forgetting is still cruel. But through all of it, God's covenant purpose keeps moving. Friends, that's that's stronger than any slogan. That right there is the theology of the God who can work in history without excusing the evil in history. That is the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah, Tamar, Joseph, and ultimately Yeshua. He doesn't need sanitize people to keep his promise. But he does call real people into truth, repentance, obedience, endurance, wisdom, and shalom. Listen, folks, think about that. I want you to think about this. Of the twelve disciples he originally called, Yeshua, of the twelve, only one was a married man. Most were fishermen, most were rough around the edges. Hey, Kepha or Peter, he he he was show ready to cut somebody. Paul held the coats while he was egging on the stoning and murder of Stephen, our first martyr, after Yeshua, his first sermon, Stephen's first sermon, and he was murdered, and the apostle Paul or Shaol was the one that egged everybody on. And then Paul went on to write most of the New Testament. God calls real people into truth, repentance, obedience, endurance, wisdom, and shalom. And that matters for the whole biblical story. The covenant promise isn't floating like fairy tale above real life that moves through bodies, through families, through pregnancies, betrayals, hunger, dreams, prisons, decisions, repentance, responsibility, and accountability, consequences. Land, seed, blessing, and the future of Israel are being carried through people whose lives are every bit as complicated as yours are. And that should humble us. It should also give us hope. God's faithfulness isn't fragile. Your mess is real, but it isn't stronger than his mercy. Your wound is absolutely oh, come on, I'm not going to minimize your wound for a moment. Your wound is so real, but it is not stronger than God's covenant purpose for your life. Your delay absolutely is real. You spend time in a harder place than you ever wanted to. That's real, absolutely real. But it isn't stronger than the God who works in the dark. So, what do we do with this week? What do we do? What do we do with it? Can't just hear it and let it go. We're not taking boxes with through the Bible in a year, walking the story of God. We're not doing that. Don't leave this as just information that went in one ear and out the other. Bring it into your actual life today, right now. If you are carrying family betrayal, name the wound honestly before God. Stop pretending it didn't hurt, but do not let that wound become your identity. Set the boundary you need to set. Tell the truth without cruelty. Get wise counsel, refuse bitterness, bring the torn robe to God. If your hiding sin hurts habits and hangups, stop trying to manage it. Confess it today. Bring it into wise accountability. Tell the truth before you're forced to tell it. Return what isn't yours. If you took something, return it. End the compromise. Apologize without turning confession into some speechation about your stress. Let God bring light into the room. And listen, if you're being tempted, stop negotiating with what God told you to flee. Move the device. Move it. Block the number. Listen, folks, I'm going to say this, and you're going to think I'm crazy, and it's okay if you do. I understand we're addicted to these things. We're addicted to them. Stop negotiating with what God told you to flee. If something or someone on that is the problem, move the device. Get on one of those little flip phones with the buttons. Don't get the texting except for emergency. Block that number. Take them out of your phone. Cancel that secret private meeting. Change that route. You know you were going by a certain way. Going to a certain coffee shop because you hope you'd bump into that person. Leave that garment behind just like Joseph if you have to. And don't go back. Your integrity is worth more than a moment of pleasure. Listen, if you feel forgotten, keep your heart soft. Don't make it hard. Serve the person in front of you. Ask for help where help is appropriate. Tell God plainly, Father, this hurts. Don't let being overlooked by people convince you that you're unseen by God. Oh, he sees you. But stand up for yourself. If God is opening a door, listen, I'm just going to say this right now, dealing with this in our family. And we wanted a door to open. We wanted a specific door to open because we're selfish. We wanted a certain thing to happen. That may not be the door that God wants to open. But if God is opening a door, no matter where it is, walk through it humbly. Don't make the gift about you. Say with Joseph, it is not in me. Use responsibility to preserve life. Use wisdom to serve others. Store grain in seasons of plenty. Don't wait for famine to start. Listen, hear this, please. Don't wait for famine to start obeying God. Don't wait for famine to start saving back food. Don't wait for famine. Listen, you better get to planting. If you want to eat during the tough times, you better get to planting. Now, we absolutely must see how this movement points us toward Yeshua. And we have to see this without flattening the original story. Joseph isn't Jesus. Joseph is not Yeshua. Judah is not Yeshua. He's not Jesus. Tamar is not a prop in someone else's sermon. These are real people in the covenant story, but the story of God is moving somewhere. It's moving toward the one who fulfills the covenant promises with perfect faithfulness. Amen. Amen. Joseph, he's the beloved son, rejected by his brothers, sent down into suffering, and later raised to preserve life. Judah is the compromised son, through whose line will still carry the promise. Timar is the wronged, egregiously, horrifically wronged woman, through whom God preserves the line leading toward David. The prison, the pit, the famine, the authority, and the preservation of life all begin to train our eyes for the greater redemption to come. Yeshua is the greater beloved Son. He came to his own, and his own did not receive him. He was betrayed, he was falsely accused, he was stripped, and he was handed over and he went down into death. And he was raised not merely to preserve one family through famine, but to give eternal life to sinners like you and I. Sinners from every nation. Yeshua himself, Yeshua gives himself as the bread of life. And points Pharaoh toward God. Yeshua says he does what he sees the Father doing. Joseph is raised to second under Pharaoh. Yeshua is raised to the right hand of the Father. Joseph preserves physical life. Yeshua gives eternal resurrection life. That means your story isn't ultimately held together by your ability to interpret everything. It's held together by the faithfulness of God revealed fully in Messiah. You may not understand the pit yet, and I get it. Understandable. The pit is crazy. It's hard. It's painful. You may not understand the delay yet. Come on, Lord. I need you to act. I'm on a timeline. You may not under not yet. You may not understand the pit yet. You may not understand the delay yet. You may not understand why the cupbearer forgot yet. But you can know this. The God who raised Yeshua from the dead can be trusted with what still feels buried in you today. I have for you today a challenge and a choice. Stop asking God to explain every chapter before you obey in the chapter you're in. Name where you are. Name where you are. Betrayal, exposure, temptation, false accusation, forgotten faithfulness, preparation, responsibility. Then ask, what does faithfulness look like here? Not later? Not when everything makes sense? Here. Today. Now here are the choices for this week. For the end of this week, we've been through. Right? We've been through. We've gone through day 40 to 44. We've been through. There wasn't anything easy about this week. And trust me, this coming week, wow. I can't wait to deliver it. We're walking the story of God. So here are your choices. Will you demand that God explain everything before you obey anything? Are you going to demand that of God? Are you going to demand that of God? Come on, somebody. Somebody, you are in that spot right now. You are in that spot right now, and you're demanding. God, explain this to me. Make everything clear. The whole way, the whole path. Show me all the turns. Show me all the emotions before I get there. Take all the pain away. Take the pit away. Take the betrayal away. Or, and listen, you may be the person who throws who's been throwing people in pits. You may be the betrayer. You say, God, take it away and don't make me suffer any consequences. Don't make me have to apologize to anybody that I've wronged. Nope. Are you going to demand that God make all of that easy for you before you obey a thing? Or are you going to become faithful right where you are? Right where you are? I have more questions for you. Will you let betrayal make you bitter? Will you let hidden sin keep poisoning your soul? Will you let temptation redefine your identity? Will you let false accusations silence your obedience? Will you let delay convince you that God has forgotten you? He hasn't. Will you let promotion become pride? Or will you say, God, I don't understand it all right here, right now? I don't understand it all, but I obey you. I'm going to obey you right here. I'll tell you the truth right here. I will flee sin right here. I'll serve faithfully right here. I'll prepare wisely right here, right here. I won't worship the pit anymore. I won't worship the palace. I will worship you and only you. If you don't do another thing for me, I worship you because you have said you will redeem me. If I acknowledge you, if I acknowledge Yeshua Jesus Christ, our Messiah as Redeemer and King, if I acknowledge that He died and was buried and was raised up from the dead, and that if I place my sins, my hurt, my habit, and my hang-up at the feet of the cross, oh my, oh my, you've redeemed me, and if you did nothing else for me, I know where I came from. I know where I came from. Thank you, Father. My friends, that's the way of shalom. Not comfort first, not control first, not clarity first. God first. Is that you? Is that where you are? Is that where you are?

Are you finally there where you're ready for shalom, you're ready for peace, the peace that surpasses all understanding.

You don't know, you don't understand it all. And you aren't completely comfortable, you're not, you you are certainly not in control, and you you I clean my glasses. All the time because I have a brain injury. And so I they have to be perfectly clean, and they're not. But the fact is, clarity matters to us all the time. What if you can't see clearly? God first, truth first, obedience first, wisdom first, mercy first, and then a life reordered under the rule and goodness of God. Your concrete step today is simple. Identify which chapter you're living in right now. Genesis chapter 37, betrayal. Genesis 38, exposure. Genesis 39, temptation and false accusation. Genesis 40, forgotten faithfulness. Genesis 41, preparation and responsibility. Name it. Name it. Even if it's you that you name it, I did it. It's me, I did it. I was wrong. I lied. Then ask God. Ask God. What does faithfulness, what does faithfulness look like right here? Right where I am. Not somewhere else. Not sometime else. Here. Today. Today. Right now. Then be faithful.

Be faithful.

Don't wait.

You've waited long enough. It's time. Take the next step.

Make the call. Tell the truth. Set the boundary. Confess the sin. Flee the temptation once and for all. And don't look back. Maybe serve the person that has need right in front of you. Ask for help. Store some grain. Prepare. And give God the glory. That's how the word becomes flesh in your actual life. That's how doctrine becomes discipleship. That's how hearing becomes doing obedience. That's how your life starts moving towards shalom. Oh, my friends, prayer is not asking for an easy journey. It's asking for a strong back. I want you to pray with me, Father. We bring you this whole movement this week. We bring it to you. We bring you the betrayal. We bring you the betrayal, not our friends, not the people around us. We bring you the hidden sin, the temptation, the false accusation, the forgotten service, the long delay and the responsibility that comes when doors finally do open. Teach us to trust you in the unfinished places. Teach us not to call evil good, but also not to call evil sovereign. Teach us to grieve honestly, repent quickly, flee wisely, serve faithfully, wait patiently, prepare diligently, and give you glory humbly. Make us make us people of shalom. We want to be people of shalom. We need to be people of shalom. We must be. We must be. We're so lost if we don't, if we keep living this life and we're so anxious and tied up. It is pointless. It is utterly pointless. If we're so spun out all the time. If we're so twitter pated by everything and anything around us. You say I believe, but I got so much, but I, but this, but that. You're gonna be people of shalom. That's what you gotta do. We must be people ordered under your truth, Father. Father, make us people of shalom. We serve under you, under your truth. We don't have our truth, we have truth, and it comes from you, Father. We ask that we be you strengthen us under your mercy. We we thank you so much for everything that you've done for us. We thank you that you can form us by your word. If we study your word, we thank you we can be centered in Yeshua. We thank you that we can be faithful right where we are. In Yeshua's name. Amen. Now, if today you realize that the deepest issue that you have isn't simply that life has wounded you, but that you need to be made right with God. This is where you come home. Maybe you have been betrayed, maybe you've also betrayed, maybe you have hidden sin. Maybe you've tried to survive on your own wisdom, your own strength, your own control, and your own image, but salvation begins when we stop pretending and we come into the light. Yeshua came for sinners. He died for us, was buried, and he rose again. He is the bread of life. He is the risen king, he is the one who remembers the forgotten, he forgives the repentant, he restores the broken, and he gives life to the dead. Oh, if you're ready to trust him, finally trust him, and you're ready to turn from your sin.