SERMON RECAP WEEK 2: THE HOLE IN THE STORY
In our new series ‘Joseph – The Promotable Life’, we learn about Joseph’s character and what made him promotable by God. This week we looked at some embellished holes in both our and Joseph’s stories.
Joseph’s story starts off with him being a dreamer filled with the promise of a palace, being used by God to save a nation. However, in-between God’s promise and the palace, Joseph’s dream and his destiny, there were some unpleasant ‘holes’ that could have hijacked his promotion.
In Genesis 37 and 39 we see Joseph being thrown into a hole (pit) by his brothers, then later thrown into the dark hole of prison by Potiphar. This narrative reminds us that sometimes God allows delays and detours along the journey to our destiny.
When we consider our own lives, there are some holes that hijack us from being promotable, as well as the cures that God offers us to step over these pitfalls to freedom and promotion:
| Hijacker | Cure |
| Disappointment causes offenses that deceive you, deaden you and even demonize you. It defers your hope and if undealt with will lead to bitterness. |
Forgiveness is done through faith, not feeling. When we forgive, we remove the snare or hook of becoming the bait of Satan. Praise breaks off the chains of disappointments and offenses. (Isaiah 51) |
|
Darkness prevents us from seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. This can cause you to find yourself in a valley season or a dark pit of depression, where your situation seems bleak. |
Believing in the power of putting on our robes of righteousness, that Jesus died to give us, allows us to see our true identity and better trust in God’s Promises |
| Doubting in God’s provision, favour or promises blocks us from reconciling our dream to our destiny. | God is sovereign and His providence and promises are that He is Lord OVER us and is Lord WITH us. |
Jesus doesn’t see the deep, sinful and dark holes in our story – He sees our WHOLE story, for He died for us whilst we were still sinners. Our futures are not defined by the holes of our sin and shame, but by God’s grace that has gone before us.
As believers, we need to stop confusing ease with blessing and comfort with God’s favour, as that is just not Biblical. God forewarns us in His Word that in this world we will have trouble, but like He was with Joseph, He will be with us through every hole, ready to redeem us to wholeness. Right beliefs lead us to the right behaviours, where we can rid ourselves of these hi-jacking holes that come so easily to trap us.
Psalms 40:2 promises us that God will lift us out of the pit of despair, out of the dark and dirty holes we find ourselves in. He will set our feet on solid ground and steady us to walk on the path that He has planned for us.