Cross City Church - North
We all experience setbacks and disappointments in life. Sometimes those setbacks become entire seasons of life. Businesses fail, relationships falter, discouragement and doubts set in, and circumstances overwhelm us. Join us in our new series "God's Not Done With You," as we highlight the use of nine amazing "comeback stories" from the Bible to show God's continued provision for everything needed to get through challenging setbacks.
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A defining moment is a point at which the essential nature or character of a person, group, etc., is revealed or identified.
1. God is always working things out for His glory and your good.
Genesis 50:18-21...
18 His brothers also came and fell down before him and said, “Behold, we are your servants.” 19 But Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? 20 As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. 21 So do not fear; I will provide for you and your little ones.” Thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.
“Only God can do that. In this physical world, evil can only give birth to more evil. Evil can’t turn itself around and become good. Good can’t turn itself into evil. The supernatural ability that God has is the only good power that can turn something evil into something good.”
Romans 8:28...
And we know that for those who love God ALL things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose.”
2. Jealousy and rivalry are fast-tracks to bitterness and rejection.
Genesis 37:2-4...
2...And Joseph brought a bad report of them to their father. 3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his sons, because he was the son of his old age. And he made him a robe of many colors. 4 But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peacefully to him.
Genesis 37:11...
...And his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the saying in mind.
Genesis 37:23-24...
23 So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, the robe of many colors that he wore. 24 And they took him and threw him into a pit. The pit was empty; there was no water in it.
Genesis 37:26-28...
26 Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? 27 Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.” And his brothers listened to him. 28 Then Midianite traders passed by. And they drew Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. They took Joseph to Egypt.
“Doom and demise are easy disguises when God’s making room for all of His surprises."
3. Your RESCUE begins with REMEMBERING.
- When others reject you, God does not. Remember who He is.
Genesis 39:1-4...
1 Now Joseph had been brought down to Egypt, and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, had bought him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him down there. 2 The Lord was with Joseph, and he became a successful man, and he was in the house of his Egyptian master. 3 His master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord caused all that he did to succeed in his hands. 4 So Joseph found favor in his sight and attended him, and he made him overseer of his house and put him in charge of all that he had.
Genesis 39:12-15...
12 She caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me.” But he left his garment in her hand and fled and got out of the house. 13 And as soon as she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled out of the house, 14 she called to the men of her household and said to them, “See, he has brought among us a Hebrew to laugh at us. He came in to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice. 15 And as soon as he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried out, he left his garment beside me and fled and got out of the house.”
“When it seems you are completely forgotten, God knows and remembers.”
“Pharoah has taken a rejected, solitary foreigner in Egypt, who has been previously imprisoned for supposedly assaulting an official’s wife, and he has installed him as second-in-command of Egypt! No doubt he’s been impressed by the wisdom and favor God has given Joseph, but it’s still a stunning choice!”
4. Hindsight is always 20/20 but in God’s hands – 50/20 is so much better.
What does hindsight mean?
Looking back on something it’s obvious now – one can evaluate past choices more clearly than at the time of their decisions.
Genesis 45:4...In come his brothers...
4 So Joseph said to his brothers, “Come near to me, please.” And they came near. And he said, “I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. 5 And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. 6 For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are yet five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. 7 And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. 8 So it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt.
"The 50/20 factor is a simple reminder that regardless of what our life looks like as we move forward, we will one day look back and see how God has used it in a meaningful way. It’s not 20/20 vision; it’s 50/20. What others mean for evil, God can use for good.”