In this sermon, the preacher shares the story of Joseph from the Bible as an example of how God can use difficult circumstances to shape and prepare us for His purposes. Joseph, who was initially thrown into jail, eventually became second in command of Egypt and played a crucial role in saving his family and the world from famine. The preacher emphasizes that God knows what He is doing and will never leave or forsake us, even in the midst of crisis. The sermon also highlights the transformative power of God's grace, using the example of a man named Steve who went from a life of desperation and crime to a life of purpose and grace. The preacher encourages listeners to trust in God's plan and to seek Him in both the good and bad times.

It's the 2012 Summer of Sermons with Steve Mays. Is the Lord with you right now? Is the Lord with you in that relationship? Is the Lord going to be with us when things happen in our life? Yes, God will never leave you, nor will He ever forsake you. Today, Pastor Steve Mays invites us to see what can happen when we live in the presence of God. God is watching over you, and He has a calling on your life. You are called to be used by God. Let me ask you something. Is the Lord present in your life? Though we may know the Lord and love the Lord, many of us stop short of acknowledging Him in our daily lives. Today, on Light of the Word, Pastor Steve reminds us that the Lord is with us and has a plan for us each and every day. But it's up to us to live out that plan. Using the example of Joseph, Pastor Steve invites us to see what can happen when we live in the presence of God. Here's Pastor Steve now to begin today's lesson. Turn with me to Genesis 39. And we want to take a look at, if you're taking notes, and the Lord was with Joseph. A little background before we dive into this whole thing. You remember, Joseph was the 11th born of Jacob, and Jacob was the father, of course. Joseph and Benjamin were the two that Jacob showed tremendous favoritism with. He was not a great dad. In fact, he was probably pretty much of a bad dad in many ways. He was not very strong. He allowed idol worship to go on in his house for some 30 years. He did not really follow all the ways of the Lord. He had four different women. He had two wives and two concubines. And so, those four caused him all kinds of problems. And the kids caused him all kinds of problems. And he was pretty disobedient most of his life. He went back and forth between Jacob and Israel. There are moments of some 13 years that God did not speak to him because he was disobedient. And moments where God told him to go back to Bethel, but he didn't. He went to Shechem. There he bought a house he was not supposed to. He bought land he was not supposed to. He was to be a pilgrim. And there his daughter was raped. And then finally the two sons, Levite and Simeon, went in and murdered the men of that city because of that crime. Reuben, his oldest, went and had sex with one of his concubines. And because of that he lost the ability to be the first child and the rights and so on of the inheritance. And it just gets worse and worse. And finally we come to this one boy that he's just showing favoritism with. And he makes him a great coat and it causes all kinds of anger with the other ten. They're angry. Absolutely angry. And then Joseph comes and says, I had a dream. And I dreamed that, you know, the sun, the moon, and all these sheeps bowed down to me. And Jacob said, you mean I and your mother and your brothers are going to bow down to you? And that really made him mad. So the brothers went off, began to raise the sheep back by Shechem. He was pulling them back into Shechem again. And so Jacob said, Joseph, go down to Shechem and see how your brothers are doing. And as he was going out to Shechem, all of a sudden the ten brothers looked and said, here he comes, the dreamer. Let's kill him. And so they take him, they throw him in a pit. And this is where we pick up the story. He now is in a pit. He'll get out of the pit and end up in Potiphar's house. He'll go from Potiphar's house into a prison and then from a prison into a palace. And so between the pit and the palace, there are some wonderful things that begin to happen. But one of the great things about this character is that he was able to see God and he believed in the providence of God. And he believed that behind him was a weaver weaving the purposes of God in his life. And he did not question what God did. He was not bitter and did not hold any resentment. And no matter where they put him, he served with everything he had. It did not jeopardize who he was. And so every place he went, the hand of God was upon him. And because of that, every single place was blessed with his leadership. God had to teach him quite a few things. God had to take and put iron inside his soul. And so God fastened iron fetters around his ankles. And he was there in that horrible prison. Not with windows like we would think, but absolutely dead deep inside the earth. No toilets, no bathrooms, no showers. Just a bunch of mean, angry men. But when Joseph got done, they were disciplined. He was training them. He was counseling them. And he was giving them the word of God. Finally, one day, Pharaoh found out, called him up. He stood before the most powerful man of the earth. And once again, Joseph said, it is God. And I believe today that where we are as a nation, as a country, there is an absolute fear. And I don't know if there's any way around it, but it's just there. People are so afraid of losing their jobs. Or what happens if the church goes under? Or what happens if we have to get out of our house? Those are all possibilities. We just don't know. But those are things that we are not to worry about. Because God is going to direct us. And God is going to help us one way or the other. And if I see God, not only in the times of great prosperity, but in the times of great poverty, that's what he wants. It was Job, you remember, who was doing nothing but just loving his family and ministering to his kids. And one day, when the sons of God came together, Satan showed up. And God said to Satan, what do you think about my servant Job? And Satan came right back at God with no fear whatsoever and said, you put a hedge around him. If you bring that hedge down, he will curse you. And God looked at Satan and said, go, do what you have to do. Just don't kill him. His family died. His houses were destroyed. Everything he owned was gone. And he said, blessed be the name of the Lord. I came into the world naked and I go out naked. And when his wife said, curse God and die, he said, honey, don't you understand that good and evil come from God? Blessed be the name of the Lord. And all these things he did not falsely accuse God. It is possible, and I believe it's really what God wants, that he is going to take us through interesting times. And maybe you are there. Maybe you are in that pit right now. And I want you to know that God will get you out and God will let you see the glory of God. Or maybe you're in that house of Potiphar. You're married to some guy and you feel trapped. Well, God will work through your life, but you have to continue serving and loving and being cheerful before God. And God will turn him around in Jesus' name. Or maybe you're in that area where all of a sudden you're in a prison and you feel trapped. But once again, maybe God is doing a work deep within your heart. But you can once again minister to the people around you. It doesn't make a difference where we are, what we have. We are called at this moment in our life to be stronger than we've ever been strong before. And so it has to be the Lord, our God. And when God says to Joseph, I'm going to be with you, I'm always with you, and the Lord was with him. I can say to you that God will never leave you and God will never forsake you. And no matter how tough it gets, he wants you to know that he has allowed this thing to happen. And if it's in a pit, then God's going to use it to get you to Egypt. If it's in Potiphar's house, then God's going to use it to raise you up. And if you are thrown in the prison and you are absolutely innocent, then God is going to turn you around and use you. But here is what you cannot do. You cannot gripe and complain and murmur and quit. If there's ever a time in your life that you have to go on and believe and believe that God is in charge, it's right now. And you are going to shine and you are going to bring hope to the family and to those around you. And so he says in Genesis 39, verse 1, And Joseph was brought down to Egypt. And Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him of the hands of the Ishmaelites, which had brought him down thither. Now you remember when he was thrown into the pit, they were going to kill him. But Reuben said, the firstborn, no, don't kill him. We don't want his blood on our hands. And so they threw him in the pit. And it was a terrible thing. There was no water. It was desolate. And by the way, the ten boys up above were eating and celebrating. Why, here is Joseph weeping and crying and crying out for help. And they ignored it. And then the brothers looked up and saw these men on their way to Egypt. And they thought, we will sell him for 20 shekels of silver. And we will sell him to these people of Egypt. So here's a young boy that's timid, grew up inside his father's house, loved by his mother, not really part of these other boys, but now being taken into the pit, out of the pit, down to Egypt, no idea what's going on, and he's handcuffed. And then he ends up on the stocks to be bought by Potiphar. He's at Potiphar's house, not knowing what's going on, been accused of his brothers, lost everything. And yet at the very end of his life, he looks at his brothers and he says, you meant to do me evil, but God meant to do me good. Now, when you tell me we are that type of people that we believe that nothing can touch us unless it goes through God's hands. And no matter how bad things get, we believe that God's allowed them to happen. Then we will be forgiving and godly people and able to see through a situation. And that's exactly what God wants. We're not bitter, but we are able to forgive. We're not quitting, we're still serving. And we're not giving up, we're making things better. And most of all, we're not murmuring and complaining, but we are building and we are encouraging other people. And so he says here, he bought them. And notice verse 2 and underline, and the Lord was with Joseph. Underline that, that is our verse for this time in our life. And the Lord is with you. The Lord's with you at work, he's with you at home. And he was prosperous man. How can you prosper? How in the world can you say he prospered when he was a slave? He was in his father's tent just a few days before, and now he's in a slave area and serving in a country he doesn't even know. He served everything bad about Egypt. Everything that's ever had anything bad about his family happened in Egypt. Abraham was taken out in Egypt. Isaac, taken out in Egypt. Jacob, messed up in Egypt. And now he's living in Egypt. How can this be right? And not only that, he's living in another man's house he doesn't even know. And he's there. And all of a sudden, the Lord's with him. He goes on to say in verse 2, and he was prosperous. And he was in the house of the master of the Egyptian. And his master Saul, the Lord was with him. And that the Lord made all things that he did prosper in his hand. So when the master looked at him, he didn't see a boy over in the corner. He saw a boy pushing a broom. He saw a boy raking. He saw a boy wiping windows. He saw a boy busy doing what he had to do. Because this is where God put him. So somehow, some reason, he was able to understand that every place and every situation was exactly where God wanted him to be. And he was going to make the best of it. He was not going to look around and blame his parents or blame this or blame that or blame his brothers. He was going to say, God, this is where you brought me. So help me to be the very best I can. And what he didn't understand is from the very beginning of time, God ordained that this boy would save a nation. And this boy had to grow up. And between the pit and the palace, God was going to lead him down a very difficult road. And he was going to have to pass every single test. He was going to have to pass the test of being rejected by your family. He was going to have to pass the test of once again being in that moment of adultery, where this woman wanted him to go to bed and saying, take off your clothes, let's go to bed. And he said to her, how can I sin against my master? And how can I sin against God? And then he had to be tested, being absolutely innocent, being blamed for everything, thrown in prison. He had to rise above that. And then he had to stand before the most powerful man, Pharaoh, and say, listen, it's not me, but it's God. When you can do that, all of a sudden you begin to realize there's something backing your life and God's with you. And verse four, and Joseph found grace in his sight and he served him. And that's so cool. He served him and made him overseers over the house and all that he had and put him into his hands. So if you have a terrible situation at home, serve. If you're having a hard time with the kids, serve. In other words, it should not alter who you are. It shouldn't make you so depressed that you cannot be the man or the woman that God's called you to be. Yes, he might be a ding-a-ling. Yes, he might not be treating you right. Yes, she might be going through that difficult time of life, but you are still to serve God and you are to serve God alone. Not serving people nor the country nor anything else, but God. And then we serve everyone else. But our loyalties to God. So because of that, I can serve, I can love, I can forgive because I answer to a higher calling. And verse 5, it came to pass for the time that he had made him overseers in his house and over all that he had. And the Lord blessed the Egyptians house for Jacob's sake. Isn't that interesting? He's blessed the church because we hired you on staff. And the blessing of the Lord was upon all that he had in his house and in the field. Now, isn't that interesting? The cows begin to grow and the stock begin to grow and the grass begin to grow. Everything he touched grew. I mean, it just exploded. And notice verse 6, and he left all that he had in Joseph's hand and he knew not. He didn't know what he had anymore. He was so wealthy. Here's a boy that was a slave, absolutely destroyed. And yet he could turn around and make this man a very wealthy man because he did a couple things right. He put his eyes on God. He served, had a right attitude and gave God the very best. And because of that, it gave his master more than he ever had. And the only thing the master knew is how much he had to eat every single day. And it says here, and he saved the bread which he did eat. And Joseph was goodly, person, and well favored. And so the Lord was with him here. This one phrase needs to be engraved in our life. Is the Lord with you right now at work? Is the Lord with you in that relationship? Is the Lord with us during this crisis in our life? Is the Lord going to be with us when things happen in our life? Yes. God will never leave you, nor will he ever forsake you. In other words, he's watching over you. And he has a calling on your life. He has predestined you. There's a reason why you were born. And there's a reason why you're alive at this time, at this moment, in this situation. And that reason is because you are called to be used by God. And because of your trust in God, he can save a family. He can save a city. He can save a business. In other words, God can do wonderful things through our life. But this is what God cannot do. He cannot take us when we're absolutely discouraged and quitting and giving up. And though his love and grace pours in and through us, if we will not trust him, then we are going to be over here in a corner, and we're going to see our family fall apart. Now, God will raise up another. But we have the opportunity to be used by God. And what happens is that God had to deal with this boy. He was a timid boy, and God had to make him a ruler of a world. How do you do that? How do you take a boy that's really young and make him a ruler and able to be a great administrator? He wasn't an administrator. He was a shepherd. So how do you take a shepherd and make him so brilliant that he's able to save the world and put all these things together? You know how you do that? You throw him in jail. And they give him the responsibility of organizing a jail. If you can organize a jail, you can organize a world. But we don't see that. What we see is, why are you doing this to me? Why am I in this prison? Why am I in this pit? What's the purpose of this? I don't see what this is proving. And God is just sitting there wanting us to say, I see you, God, and I want to give you thanks. Paul and Silas were in prison, being beaten. And they begin to worship God and sing, and God shook the prison. So Elvis didn't write that song, the jailhouse rock. It was the Holy Spirit that rocked that way back then. Boom, open doors. I mean, it just rode everything open. In other words, you cannot put one up on God. When God opens that tomb, you're out. When God opens that prison, you're out. When God brings you out of the pit, you're ready to serve. When I see God and really believe God, then things really begin to happen. My attitude changes, and my heart changes, and God's presence and power is all over my life. And that's what I covet more than anything else. You know, it's one thing to really see God when you're going through it. But in prosperity, all of a sudden, there in Potiphar's house, he understood it was God. It didn't go to his head. And when he stood before Pharaoh, he wasn't afraid of Pharaoh. He looked him in the eyes and said, it's God. And when he was at Potiphar's house, he wasn't complaining, this isn't fair. He was serving. And when he was in the pit, he was crying out, but he was trusting God all the way. Here was a boy that had a destiny in his life, and God was committed to him. And I believe that same God has that same calling upon our life. In other words, if it isn't true, I want to get out of this. But if it is true, then it's the thing that pushes me and pushes me beyond myself that I believe that there's a reason for this. And it's not to get weird, it's to grow. To be the better father, to be the better husband, to be a better pastor, to be a better shepherd. In other words, God, where you put me, I need to blossom. And yes, there's going to be bad times. I was sitting next to a guy who had chemo, and just God spoke to my heart. And I began to pray with him and minister to him and just have a love for this guy. But there are people around us dying, but we're going through it. There are families being lost, but we can't seem to get it together. And so the world falls apart, and we fall apart, and we have now God's heart in our minds, and God has our full attention. God, what do you want? Stephen, I want you to see me in the good and the bad. And I want you to understand that nothing is going to come through my life or your heart unless I let it. And if it does come to you, this is what you need, son. And I think about this deeply. When they put the shackles on that boy in that prison, it was for one reason not to shackle his legs. But listen to me very carefully. God wanted the iron to go through the shackle into his veins, into his heart, into his soul, into his spirit. God had to make a man, a man who would stand before a nation and not be afraid, and a woman that would stand and not be afraid to tell her husband what the truth is. When you look at our founding fathers, those are some of the most incredible men and women that ever stood. My wife is reading a book right now on the women who stood behind the founders of those who wrote the Constitution. These women were giants. They would tell their husbands, get out of this depression. You can do it. And they were away from each other for six years, some of them, because they were fighting for a country. Their kids grew up without their dad. Yes, there were problems, but they sacrificed their life for the freedom that we have. It's called working through our obstacles. It's called believing that God's going to get us something better. It's called that we're going to learn how to be what we are with what we have. And we're going to serve, and we're going to trust God, and we want people to see that God's all over our lives. And we want people to hire us because we're going to bless this company. And they're going to see God, and they're going to trust us, and they're going to put us in a position that we'll be able to change the course until the Lord comes. That's what he means, to occupy. It's not to sit over here and woe is me, and I can't believe what's going on. It's going to be that way. Things are going to be difficult. Things are going to be hard. Cars are going to break, but it doesn't mean that God hates you. Marriages are going to go through. It doesn't mean that God wants you to quit. Children are going to try you. It doesn't mean that you have to lose your joy and be depressed. It means that we have to rise and see God, and that's what he did. God was working in and through his life, shining, and he was graceful, and he was tender, and he was gentle. And so we read, he was despised. He was thrown into a pit. Turn with me, if you would, to Genesis 37, verse 21. And they stripped Joseph out of his coat, and a coat of many colors that was upon him. And they took him and cast him into the pit. And the pit was empty. Now, notice the Holy Spirit. It was empty, and there was no water. I mean, let's talk about desolation. I am barren. I'm empty. I don't feel the Holy Spirit. I don't feel God, and I've just been rejected by everybody I know. Truly, God hates me. Really? Or could it be that God had put you in that place for you to look to God, and for God to show you that he's bigger than your family, and bigger than your friends, and bigger than the pit, and bigger than the barrenness? And by the way, every woman that was ever barren, they brought forth the most incredible children. You remember, Samson was absolutely unbelievable, and Isaac, and Jacob. Everything happened, but it came from barrenness, because it was a supernatural work of the Holy Spirit. And when God can all of a sudden take my spirit out of this pit and put me here, I know God did it, and it's a miracle. And then I begin to share. You know something? I was here, and I was despondent, and I was depressed, but God put the Spirit of God in my heart, and he changed my life. He can do it for you right now, and that's what it's about. And so it goes on to say, verse 24, they took him, cast him into the pit. It was empty, and no water. And, you know, he's going to die in two days. No water in the desert. And they sat down and did eat. So they mocked him. They made fun of him. And there are people right now are mocking you and making fun of you. There are people that you have no relationships with, and strained relationships, and people and relatives that have hurt you and said things about you, and you don't even want to have dinner with them or have anything to do with them. Not Joseph. He was bigger than that. He could have Christmas dinner, even though they were kind of weird. That's okay. Talk about dysfunctional. Jesus had a dysfunctional home. You had brothers who did not know Christ, and you had the Messiah. You know, his home was not altogether good. So that kind of blesses my heart. But all of a sudden, I'm not going to go there. I'm not going to do it. Well, who is going to go there? In other words, who is going to shine? And when they see that they can talk about you, and you can rise above it, they're going to all of a sudden realize that when they're in trouble, they're going to call you. So, yes. Sometimes horrible things happen to great people. And sometimes things happen that we don't understand. A car accident. Or a child is taken. Or something happens and we go bankrupt. And it doesn't seem right, and it doesn't seem fair. And you're absolutely right. It doesn't. But God's in it. And God didn't do it, but he allowed it. And he allowed it for one purpose, to get you somewhere you're not. And to bring steel and iron inside your soul. And when you've closed the business, and when you've gone through a divorce, and you've gone through children running away, and all of a sudden God's redeemed it all back, then all of a sudden you stand here and you realize, something's down deep in my heart. And it's stronger than anything else. And no government, no society is going to take it away. Jesus Christ is the Lord to the glory of all. And we will serve and we will love our country, but we belong to God. And because we belong to God, then our children will have to always be ministered to. And our spouses will always have to be ministered to. It might just be the calling of God upon your life and your strength to keep him in check. Don't give up. Don't quit. Don't give up on your children. Bow your knee and ask God. Let your children know that God's with you. Let the church know that God's with your family. Let your business know that God is with everything you do, and you can be trusted because of great integrity. But it wasn't always so. God had to work in and through his life, and then we realized he was a victim. And there are so many victims. We're all victims. But you can only use that excuse so long. You have to become victorious. Like myself being molested, you have to get over it and realize that it happened, and thank God in my life it happened so I can share it and I can minister to it. But I'm not ashamed of it. Well, why aren't you ashamed of it? Because I was a kid. I was taken advantage of. That was the darkest day of my life. But right now, I have absolute joy in my heart because I don't see it, but God lead me down that way. Did God do it? No. Did God use it? You bet your life. But to be a victim, that's crazy. You can't be up here and be a victim. You have to get victorious sometime in your life, and you can't be a parent and be a victim, and you can't be a great boss and be a victim. You have to rise and live with victory in your heart, and God will give it to you. And though things might not be right, and never perfect on this earth, what happens if all of a sudden God says, I need 70 years of your life to train you and let you go through some hard times, because in heaven, you're going to have a palace to rule, and you're going to shine in heaven, but not here on earth. Would that be okay? If you knew that you could shine for eternity in heaven, and God would use you in heaven to minister, would 70 years here of suffering be okay? Absolutely. But see, we don't think that way. Here's how we think. I can't believe this. We're going through it again. I can't believe what's happening. I can't believe we wrecked our car. I can't believe we lost our job. Well, time out. Joseph was taken out of his tent, thrown into a pit, and laughed at as brothers. Did nothing wrong. Joseph was bought and sold into Potiphar's house. Had a broom in his hand, and a rake, and servant, doing something, washing windows, and Potiphar saw it, gave it all to him. Woman came and said, let's go to bed. He said, no. And the innocence of his heart, the purity of his life, thrown in jail to a wicked, fearful hole in the wall that never sees light, shackled, never been chained before. And somehow this boy becomes a man. He organizes that place and takes it over and they give him everything. And that jail was blessed. And then when he had to walk up the steps to the palace, he was ready. He was ready to look the king right in the eye and say, this is what you have to do. Seven years, get it together. Seven years of famine. Look for a man who can do this. And Pharaoh said, who else has the wisdom of God and the insight but you? You are now second in command of the world. This is the boy that couldn't get out of the tent, that couldn't hang out with his brothers, that now is ruling the world. Is it worth it? Sure. But not during the time. And I'll end very simply by saying, God begins to work in our lives like a potter. He spins the wheel and what are you doing, God? Faster and faster. You're getting dizzy. He puts his hand in the water and begins to shape it. And you don't like what he's doing, you know? His fingers become the circumstances of God and this finger takes out a child and this one takes away a home and this one takes away a job and you're screaming. And the potter says, why are you talking to me? How can the clay tell the potter what to do? I know. It's my heart, my vision. I control the speed. My hands control the clay. You know, I know what I'm going to do. He dips his hand in water and makes you a pancake. How you doing? Why am I a pancake? You know, you won't listen to me. And he shapes you and you start being quiet and God begins to work and things happen and there's more but he can work. And one day it's all done. Oh man, praise God, I'm out of here. And then he walks over to an oven and sticks you in it. And shuts the door and sticks it at 750 degrees. And waves to you. Hi, how you doing? What are you doing? And you're sweating and things are popping out all over and you're screaming at God. What is this all about? And then he hops inside like Shrek makes Shrek. And Abednego, he says, how you doing? Terrible. What is this? This is all part of it. You see, I have to squeeze and get everything outside. I have to make you really, really, really, really hard. And then I'm going to paint you. And then you end up in a museum. And all the world looks at you. Do you tell them what you've been through? No. You just smile. Because they're looking at something a master has made. God knows what he's doing. He'll never leave you. He'll never forsake you. And every moment of your life, in every crisis, you can say, and the Lord is with me. Pastor Steve Mays, reminding us that God has a plan for every one of us. One of his most requested messages of last year. You know, every now and then we hear Steve share bits and pieces from his testimony. Contrasting his hoodlum past to the man we know now here on Light of the Word. Now, if you've ever been curious to hear the whole story, let us invite you to request the autobiographical book by Steve called A Heartbeat from Hell. Desperate, hopeless, and literally sleeping in gutters is where Steve was at one point in his life. He'd been shot and was wanted by the authorities. Then one day, something amazing happened. His whole life changed. The Lord took Steve from the gutter to grace. A Heartbeat from Hell is an inspiring example of how God can use us to the fullest, even when we're weak and disabled. It's a reminder that God has a wonderful plan and purpose for all who choose life in Jesus. This incredible account is one you won't be able to put down. The book's also been published in Spanish, by the way. So if Spanish would be more enjoyable for you or better translation to give to a friend or a family member, ask for Un Latino del Infierno. Get your copy today at lightoftheword.org. That's lightoftheword.org. Or give us a call at 1-800-339-WISE. That's 1-800-339-WISE. Next time, Steve shares, while life is sometimes difficult, our witness needs to show that God is always good. Hope you'll be along for this good encouragement as we continue SOS 2012. Light of the world, light of the world. Hope shines in darkness, so follow the light of the world.