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Series: Lessons for Life 2

Title: Don’t Step Back- Step Forward

Reading: Genesis 50

Date: 15:4:07am

Good morning how are we all?

This morning we will be looking at the life of Joseph as we continue in our series Lessons for Life…

Today we have reached Part 7 and our title is Don’t Step Back- Step Forward

Joseph’s story is told in the book of Genesis… in fact the bible gives 20 chapters to Joseph… quite a lot when we think about it… [it would be a good discipline for us this coming week to read his story… this morning… I can only scratch the surface of what God can reveal to us through this man…]

As a youngster… Joseph was a little overconfident… his natural self-assurance… increased by being Jacobs favourite son… and his knowledge of Gods plan for his life… seemed to irritate his brothers…

So much so… they conspired against him…
But… Joseph survived and prospered many hardships where many of us may have failed... in fact… he won the hearts of whoever came across his path…

Perhaps we can identify with one or more of these hardships that Joseph experienced… [1] He was betrayed and deserted by his family… [2] He was exposed to Sexual temptation… [3] He was punished for doing what was right… [4] He endured a long imprisonment… [5] He was forgotten by those whom he helped…

As we read his story… we can note that he always responded positively… and his response always transformed each setback…

And as our title suggests where he could have stepped back… he stepped forward…

Each of his experiences… each of his setbacks… were transformed into steps forwards… He didn’t spend time asking why?... his approach was.. What shall I do now…?

We can learn from Joseph a simple truth… there is nothing like the presence of God to shed new light onto a dark situation…

Genesis 41:38 says…Can we find such a one as this… a man in whom is the Spirit of God…

Please turn with me to Genesis 50… our reading is taken from the end of Joseph’s story… [Jacob is now dead and Joseph’s brothers fear that Joseph may well pay them back for what had been done by them… but… Joseph reassures his brothers]

Read Genesis 50:15-21…

Let me read again verse 20… You intended to Harm me… but… God intended it for Good to accomplish what is now being done… the saving of many lives…

Let’s Pray…

Situations… circumstances can come in life that seek to get us to step back… they can come to stop us going forward… stop us fulfilling all that God has got for us…

I’ve read of stories that during the war years many trains were derailed through sabotage… the enemy was trying to stop the fulfilment of purpose… trying to stop there enemy from going forward… trying to get them to step back…

And as our text suggests… there may well be times in our lives when situations come… situations that might well get us to step back…. But… we have to understand that we can’t see the whole picture… but… our God can… He is in control of our lives…

‘I am confident of this very thing that he who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ…’

And the book of Romans tells us… ‘And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him who have been called according to his purpose…

Setbacks only put our dreams… God plan… on hold as we allow God to guide us through them… can we see this…

Joseph was a wonderful example to us of this truth…

He allowed his faith and trust in God to guide and direct him… even in the midst of setbacks (he was put into a pit… sold to slave traders… he was on the camel going further away from his dream… he ended up in prison… )

When the circumstances of his life seemed to be going away from the dream not towards it… he still trusted… still had faith in his God…

Can I say… the very things that have happened… and are happening in our lives… will be used by God for the Good that we might fulfil his plan and purpose for our lives...

The enemy might mean it for our harm… but Praise God… he will use it for our Good…

God has a plan and purpose for our lives… here and now…
For such a time as this… for such a place as this

God’s intentions are only for the good in our live… so whatever setback comes… God will have the last word…

Joseph’s setbacks… his negative circumstances… could not force him out of the Plan of God for his life… his response dictated his destiny…

Which leads me into our first lesson for life this morning…

36: Circumstances matter less than our Response to Them

The worldly view might be… Dead End… you’ve failed… what now… you’re going nowhere … God would say… Stand firm and see the Deliverance of the Lord

Joseph when he was in the Pit… when he was on the Camel… or when he was in the Prison… he could well have responded like that… but he didn’t…

When those who placed Jesus on the Cross… they could well have thought… they could have said… Dead end… where are you going to go now…

Joseph stood firm… Jesus stood firm… and we have seen the deliverance of the Lord…
That which was intended to stop God’s plan actually worked to the Good... The very things that intended Harm… God intended and shaped it for Good…

The Children of Israel as they approached the Red sea could well have seen a dead end... an opportunity to step back… (Enemy behind them…mass of water in front of them)

If you or I were to walk up to the river Dearne in full flow we might think… where do I go from here it’s a Dead End… I’ve got to step back…

My dreams lie on the other side… but there’s no way through…

Let me say… God say’s… Stand firm and see the deliverance of the Lord…. Your response to the water matters more than the water…

The very thing that would seem to have stopped them parted… parted as they trusted God… and they walked through the obstacle set before them… God’s detour will sometimes lead you to the bridge that will take you over…

The Enemy behind intended Harm to them… but Praise God… his intention was for Good… to accomplish good and the saving of Many lives…

And… in all of our lives… when the world and circumstances say… Dead End… failure… forgotten one…

Remember Joseph… the children of Israel… remember Jesus on the Cross… he and they stood firm… stood firm and responded well… they saw the Deliverance of the Lord…

God has not placed us on a road that leads to or into a dead end... that’s not his way… it might be our ours if we respond wrongly to circumstances…

Jesus through the work of the Cross… has given us an endless road of blessing to walk along… but… we need to walk it by faith and not by sight…. We have to respond and respond well…

When things don’t go just as we would like or think… we can’t let our heads go down and give up… We can say and speak in agreement with Joseph…

Situation….

"You intended to Harm me… but God intended it for Good to accomplish what is now being done… the saving of many lives"

Our mandate from the Lord has never changed …… Go into all the World and Preach…… Go into all the World and Teach. Why? ………

So that God can accomplish what is now being done… The saving of many lives…

That’s what it’s about… setbacks in our life are there to stop us… stop me and you sharing the Love of our God and letting others know about the truth of the Gospel…

Setbacks are there to switch our focus… switch our focus from the solution [God and Jesus] to the problem… [the circumstance] when we respond that way… the problem [the circumstance] becomes bigger than the solution… [God] can we see this…


Don’t listen to the Dead End mentality… stand firm and see the deliverance of the Lord…

Don’t worry about setbacks… respond well… and walk along God’s road in your life… Joseph did…

Next Lesson for Life…

37: Don’t Step Back - Step Forward… With God all thing are Possible to those who Believe

Joseph standing in a pit… sitting or lying in a pit… sitting on a camel and walking in a prison… may well have thought… It’s Impossible...

Those Dreams have gone… they’ve been derailed… setback after setback… wherever I sit… walk or stand… it’s just not going to happen!


He didn’t… did he… he stood firm… he knew that whatever the intentions around him… God’s intentions where for the Good...

If our circumstances… our situations… are saying to us… it’s impossible…

We need to stand firm… believe… and Trust... we need to Step Forward… don’t be tempted to step back…

In my own life… I can look back to when I was lost in my addiction… wasting away my life… it’s impossible… I can’t get out of this...

The plans and purposes for my life were derailed… yes!... I had setbacks… But… God was in control and where I find myself today is part of the impossible being made possible through Jesus in my life …

And many of us this morning could say the same… I want to say… if he’s done it once… if he’s done it before… he can do it again… Don’t step back in your Life… Step forward…

Joseph’s life bears witness to that… Pit… Slavery… Prison… all setbacks in the outworking of God’s plan…

The Apostle Paul dreamed of going to Spain to preach the Gospel... But instead he ended up in a filthy Roman dungeon… chained to Roman guards…. What did Paul do? He evangelised those Guards around him. He stepped forward…

After all… when your chained to someone for 8 hours a day… you probably get tired of talking about the weather or football… eventually you have to talk about something important… so Paul talked about Jesus!…

And the guards couldn’t get away until their shift was over…

We can feel out of it at work sometimes… we can feel chained… but… even though we feel chained… it’s an opportunity to share about Jesus … it’s not a time to step back… it is a time to step forward… and live our Lives for Jesus…

Paul and Silas thrown into Prison… setback or opportunity… it was only another God detour…
The enemy thought it was a great setback… but God had other intentions…

In Acts 16 Paul and Silas sang and worshiped God in their Prison cell…. in their impossible situation… but God intended it for Good … The Philippian Jailer and all his family were saved and found God…

Wherever we find ourselves… Our Dreams are in his hands… Joseph believed the impossible… he came… he saw… he believed… and he conquered…

Jesus opened up the way for us… he came… he conquered… he overcame the one who intended to Harm us… he made all things possible for us if we will truly believe…. If we truly love him…

If you can !!! Jesus said to the Man with a boy possessed of an Evil Spirit… Everything is possible for him who believes.

Don’t step Back… step forward… don’t listen to the Word… Impossible…

Joseph never took a backward step… He stepped up to the plate and faced every situation… faced every situation with a forward looking attitude…
He didn’t allow his circumstance to drive him back… he responded the way God would have him to respond…

Final and closing Lesson…

38: With God’s Help any situation can be used for the Good

With Gods Help… there lies the key… don’t try and face things on your own… we serve a God who is well able…

Joseph wasn’t a quitter… quitters step back…
Joseph was a man full of God’s Spirit… Spirit filled people Step Forward…

Joseph never doubted God’s way… it took him on some exciting and challenging Detours… but… he never thought there’s no way… because with God there’s always a way…

God’s detours took Joseph on a camel ride… into prison… into the house of an official… and finally into the palace…

Jesus is the only way for us to go as we seek to fulfil and outwork the dreams that God has placed before us.

God’s way may sometimes be different than we would think it or like it to be… but… we need to understand that God is in control…

The maze of the world may well get us to think that there’s no way my dream… my vision… our vision… will ever happen…

That Job you’re going for… that test you’re about to take… that event you’re about to organize … the situation you are faced with… there’s no way…

Can I say… there is a way… and that way is putting all our trust and faith in Jesus…

How we respond matters most… God wants us to step forward and not backward…

Jesus Christ the same yesterday… today and forever…

Jesus paved the way forward 2000 years ago… he was the way to salvation… provision and healing…
He is the way forward to salvation… provision and healing
And he always will be the way forward to salvation… provision and Healing…

Don’t listen to words that try and get you to step back…

If you need anything this morning… Step Forward… and we’ll pray together… Don’t step back…

OK Mike…