Wait, There's a Part Coming UP

Introduction

This sermon is to bring encouragement to “fix your hope on the Living God” 1 Tim 4:13

Paul says to the Romans in Rom 15:4 “For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”

Our Text

[Recap] 1-3 Sin has broken what God has established, but God is not turned off by the broken - This sets the tone for what we see in Genesis, the Torah, The OT and the NT!

Immediate Context 37

Gen 45:4-11 “Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Please come closer to me.” And they came closer. And he said, “I am your brother Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. [Recap from Gen. 1 to Gen. 44]“Now do not be grieved or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. “For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are still five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. “God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant in the earth, and to keep you alive by a great deliverance. “Now, therefore, it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh and lord of all his household and ruler over all the land of Egypt. “Hurry and go up to my father, and say to him, ‘Thus says your son Joseph, “God has made me lord of all Egypt; come down to me, do not delay. “You shall live in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your children’s children and your flocks and your herds and all that you have…”

Who is this lesson for?

The one is struggling with:

Grief/Addiction/Faithfulness/Difficult Problems

If you wait, God can turn your mess in to a message

If you wait, God can turn what you are into what you used to be

If you wait, there’s a part that’s coming up

Look at the text

Waiting helps me develop “spiritual eyes”

Joseph said “you sold me. . .God sent me” (vs. 5; 8)

This simply means I view my situation in according to:

God’s word

God’s will

God’s character

This means that I must maintain perspective

Joseph could’ve seen this situation in many ways, but he was certain that this was God’s work and he was a part of it.

The NT teaches this:

1 Pet 4:12 “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you;”

2 Cor 4:17 “For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison,”

2 Cor 12:9 “And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.”

Application: How do you interpret your circumstance?

Look at the text

Waiting could mean that something bigger is at play

“to keep you alive by a great deliverance. . .” (vs. 7)

God was going to use Joseph’s position

Application: this one is tricky because all we have is hindsight.

Takeaway

We don’t know long the “waiting” will be or how it will play out

The waiting is sometimes hard esp. when you’re doing right and suffering for it - Maintain your integrity while you wait

God’s character never changes

God will fulfill His promise

Waiting brings a joy to the heart to those who endure

The ultimate “part” is Heaven

Wait, because that part is coming up!!!