Light Service Sermons for the Month

Getting to Know the God Who Loves You
Getting to Know the God who Guides You
DATE: March 8, 1998
TEXT: Genesis 37:1-11

Many years ago, my family and I were checking out of a Paris hotel. Our car was literally locked up in the hotel garage next door. To get your car, you had to have a special pass from the hotel desk that you took to the garage attendant. You would show him the pass, whereupon he would phone the front desk to verify the authenticity of the pass. Next, you passed through a steel cage turn-style, followed by a huge set of steel doors to get your car.

I left Linda and the kids in the lobby with the luggage. I told them I would pick them up in a few minutes. The exit to the garage was, after all, just around the corner. However, it led onto a one way street. The hotel was to the left but the one-way street was to the right. So I had to turn right. Now it has been my experience that if you keep making right hand turns you eventually end up around the block where you started. Kind of like navigating Faith Church. If you go down the halls to the left out these double doors and keep turning right, eventually you get right back here. Not so in Paris.

Every right turn I made in Paris that day took me further and further away from the hotel. It was almost an hour later that I finally arrived back at the front door of the hotel to my chagrin and my children's consternation.

Many people today, perhaps some of us here feel a little like I felt that day in Paris. No matter how hard we go, no matter how fast we feel like we're moving, we wonder if we are really getting anywhere. Even though our life moves at a fast pace, we wonder if we're moving in the direction we need to move. And so our lives get filled with anxiety. We lose the joy that God intended.

Today as we continue our series "Getting to Know the God Who Love You," we're going to focus on "Getting to Know the God Who Guides you." We're going to look at the story of Joseph and see how through that story God guided him.

But before we talk about that, let's pray together.

Dear God, you sent us your son to show us the way to the truth, to life. There are so many twists and turns in life, it's easy to take the wrong turn, end up in a blind alley or get lost. Help us to keep our eye only on Him as he walks with us to the place of his kingdom. AMEN

One day, Joseph had a dream. It's a crazy dream. Joseph dreamed that as he and his brothers were gathering bundles of wheat, his bundle stood up and the other bundles of his brothers bowed down to his.

Joseph had another dream that the stars, the moon, and the sun bowed down to him. A crazy dream. But a dream that would eventually save the life of his family, save a nation and spared the people of God.

How does God guide us? First, God guides us through dreams. God plants dreams in our hearts.

Before this world existed, there was chaos, formlessness; it was void. But God had a dream. He dreamed of plants and animals, trees and flowers. He dreamed of people that he could love. God said, "Let there be light…Let there be land and animals…and plants and people." Out of nothingness God spoke something into being. And as people created by God, you and I are also given that special ability to dream. To consider what is not there yet. To imagine what hasn't been, what might be.

In Acts 2, Peter quotes from the prophet Joel and speaks about the last day; the days in which we live right now. He said, "In those last days I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. And their sons and their daughters will prophesy. And your young people will see visions and your old people will dream dreams.

Any of you here today consider yourselves young people? (I have edged over that category, I'm afraid.) You will see visions! Any of you today consider yourselves old people? (Most of you are right in the middle, right?) You will dream dreams! God says it.

Now by God's visions and dreams—I don't think God is talking about a multi-color movie production in our mind. Nor a dream that we would have while asleep. By visions and dreams, I believe the Lord means that God will plant in our minds and our heart ideas, imaginations, concepts that aren't yet there, that are new, that we haven't considered before. Think how much better this world is because people have dreamed God's dreams.

Mother Theresa as she saw the poorest of the poor strewn out on the streets of Calcutta, as she saw the destitute and the dying: God gave her a dream. God gave her a dream to pick these people up. To bring hope and healing to their lives. And through that dream she has touched millions of people around the world. That's a dream from God.

Walt Kallestad of Community Lutheran Church of Joy, Bill Hybels of Willowcreek, Michael Foss of Prince of Peace Lutheran all had dreams of a church for people whom didn't like church. God gave them a dream to help develop churches that welcomed people that didn't like church. All of them now have congregations numbering in the thousands. Look at what God has done. That's a God-given dream.

It is important to remember, though, that there is a difference between a dream and a scheme. A schemer plans and devises opportunities for himself or herself. It is for their own gain, often at the expense of another person. Hitler was one of the greatest schemers that ever lived.

But a dream, on the other hand, is something that God gives us. It's a picture, an idea, an imagination that can help other people. And ultimately to bring glory to God. It's wonderful to dream. God wants us to dream more and more in these days. We need to be dreamers.

God wants so desperately to bring his dreams to your heart. To give you ideas and imaginations that you haven't considered before. Perhaps you're facing a roadblock. Perhaps you're facing a problem or a challenge and you need to make a decision. Take time to dream. Step back out of the intensity of that decision. Give the Lord your thoughts and ideas. And God will give you his dreams.

Secondly, God walks with us into our dreams.

When Joseph shared his dream with his brothers, his struggles only began. He did start out on the wrong foot. As the story says, Joseph was obviously his father's favorite son. As the Smothers Brothers used to say, "Mom always like you best." That's what Joseph's brothers said to him. And it was true. In fact to show his favor, Joseph's father gave him a beautiful multi-colored coat.

His brothers were jealous, envious. They despised Joseph, and he became the family snitch. If his brothers did something wrong, he was the first to tell his father. Not the kind of sibling you'd like to have, is it?

To make matters worse, Joseph received the dreams and he shared them with his brothers. That turned their jealousy and envy into rage and hatred for him. At the first opportunity they bound him with rope and threw him into a well. But, instead of killing him, they sold him as a slave. They took that multicolored coat and dipped it into animal's blood then went to their father and said, "Joseph has been killed."

But that was just the beginning of Joseph's problems. Joseph ended up as a slave for Potiphar, one of the most powerful leaders in Egypt. Then Potiphar's wife made advances toward him and tried to seduce him. He ran. Potiphar's wife yelled, "Rape!" Immediately Joseph was thrown into prison and the door slammed shut and the key thrown away.

Now if you were Joseph, if you were in that situation, wouldn't you wonder, "Lord, if this is your dream for me, I don't want it!" Haven't you felt that way? You're walking in the way that you thought God was leading you. It's not going very well so you ask, "Lord, what's happening here! Where are you?"

In Chapter 39, at least in two places it reads, "The Lord was with Joseph." In verse 3, "The master saw that the Lord was with him." In other words, in the middle of these problems, in the middle of that jail cell, Joseph sensed that the Lord was with him, walking with him every moment. And the Lord is with you. Even in those times when you don't sense his presence, the Lord is with you.

Joseph, instead of turning sour and bitter towards God, used his talents. Eventually the warden put him in charge of all the prisons. He was given a responsibility there he could serve.

There's a true story about a missionary trying to find a village in Africa. On this journey he became lost. He couldn't find his way. Eventually a village found him. And said, "Sir, come with me. I know the path to the village." And so the missionary trusted him and followed behind. The villager with a machete cut through the vegetation. He cut and they walked and they walked and he cut. Eventually, the missionary grew frustrated and said, "Sir, I'm sorry, but I thought you told me you knew the path to get to the village." The man turned and said, "Sir, I am the path. Follow me."

Jesus says the same to you and to me, "I am the path." Oh, it would be nice if each of us had simple blueprints for our life. If we just followed all these principles then everything would be find. But Jesus says to us, "I am the way. I am the truth. I am the life. Follow me." Jesus invites us into a special relationship with him, a friendship whereby we can know him. We can follow him. He can guide us through each and every troubled path we face.

God guides us through his word. It says in the Bible, "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path." God takes us each step of the way.

Proverbs says, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart." Trust in him! "Do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your paths."

Third, God guides us through his word and through prayer. A man really wanted to go on a diet. Before this diet he would every day bring a box of chocolate chip cookies to the office for his co-workers and his staff. But as part of this diet, he decided to completely forget that and to never go into that special bakery again.

Well, this plan worked pretty well until one day he walked into the office with this huge box of delicious looking cookies. And the co-workers asked, "What's the problem here? I thought you have up going to that bakery and getting chocolate chip cookies."

And the pastor, er huh, the man said, "You'd never believe what happened! As I was driving by that bakery today, I could smell the fragrance. I could see in the window the delicious cookies. And I said a prayer. I said, 'Lord, if you want me to get a box of those cookies, then open up right in front of this bakery a parking spot for me.'" And he said, "Would you believe! A parking spot did open up. And I only had to drive around the block eight times for that to happen!"

Well, prayer is more than playing games with God and twisting God's arm to get our way. Prayer is listening to god. Listening for those dreams. Listening for God to speak to us throughout the day. As we face challenges and decisions we need guidance. God will speak to us through prayer.

So God promises to not only plant dreams in our hearts but to walk with us in the midst of the dreams on a day-to-day basis. Which leads to my final point.

God turns nightmares into dreams come true. That's exactly what happened to Joseph. After Joseph sat in prison for many years, the Pharaoh, the greatest leader of Egypt had a dream that he could not interpret. Someone remembered that Joseph could interpret dreams and so Pharaoh called Joseph and Joseph interpreted the dream that there would be seven years of feast followed by seven years of famine. He advised the government to prepare for the famine. Pharaoh was so impressed that he put Joseph in charge of this whole project. Joseph became second in command to Pharaoh. Think of it. A Jew in Egypt. If you understand the culture, that's pretty amazing. He was in charge of it all.

They gathered the crops and people lived well even through the famine. And during that famine some men came from Joseph's old country that happened to be his brothers. As they came before Joseph they bowed down to him.

The dream…..

Joseph knew who they were. They came back again, they bowed down again and then Joseph broke into the deepest sobs imaginable. He cried and cried. His brothers then saw who he was. They were deeply afraid. They thought he'd kill them. But then he made this amazing statement. Hang on to this, friends. He said, "What you intended for evil, God turned for good."

How often when someone seeks to hurt us or we feel caught in a nightmare do I hear people say, "Well, god must have a reason for this." Or "God, if you won't allow me to face more than I can handle, you must think I can handle a lot." In these comments, I hear people thinking that everything that happens to them is what God's trying to do. "Maybe God's trying to teach me a lesson. Maybe God want to hurt me or punish me for something I've done."

The fact is, friends, not everything that happens in this world is what God wants. There is evil in this world. We live in a broken world. Bad things do happen to good people. But what the brothers intended for evil, God turned for good.

Romans 8:28 says, "In all things God works for good for those who love him." It doesn't mean that he causes those things. But in those things God can turn something terrible—a nightmare—into a dream come true.

And so, friends, the Cavs didn't win last week because God wanted them to lose. Contrary to what some sports commentators believe that its because we are the forgotten boys of the media and God's angry. It just happens.

Or when a friend of yours finds out that he or she has cancer, that's not God trying to hurt that person or teach them a lesson. We live in a broken world. God aches about situations like this as much as we do. And so without breaking faith with us or the freedom in which we were created, God turns even that terrible situation into something good.

We see this ultimately through the cross. Think about it. Jesus came to be loved. He came to be followed. He came to be listened to. What did we do? We killed him! We put him on a cross. Now in human concepts, that's the most tragic thing that could ever happen. But God turned that around into something wonderful. He raised Jesus from the dead and through the cross and resurrection we now have forgiveness. Through this cross there is power to heal us. Through the cross and the resurrection we have eternal life. The most wonderful thing imaginable! If God can do that, God can turn your nightmare into a dream come true.

At the age of 75, Thelma's husband passed away. Her children suggested that she move to a "senior living community." Thelma decided to do so.

Shortly after moving in, Thelma decided to become a self-appointed activities director, coordinating all sorts of things for the people in the community to do and quickly became very popular and made many friends.

When Thelma turned 80, her newfound friends showed their appreciation by throwing a surprise birthday party for her. When Thelma entered the dining room for dinner that night, she was greeted by a standing ovation. The night was filled with laughter and entertainment, but throughout the evening. Thelma could not take her eyes off a gentleman sitting at the other end of the table.

When the festivities ended, Thelma quickly rose from her seat and rushed over to the man. "Pardon me," Thelma said. "Please forgive me if I made you feel uncomfortable by staring at you all night. I just couldn't help myself from looking your way. You see, you look just like my fifth husband."

"Your fifth husband!" replied the gentleman. "Forgive me for asking, but just how many times have you been married?"

With that a smile came across Thelma's face as she responded, "Four." They were married shortly after. Now there is a dream come true.

I invite us to do the same. Because God loves you so deeply, he will guide you. He'll give you his Word as direction. He'll plant dreams in your heart. Maybe you need a dream today. Maybe it's time to slow-down and listen and let God plant dreams in your heart.

Maybe you are walking in your dream and it's not going so well. You're wondering, "Lord, where are you?" You can trust today that the Lord is with you. He will never leave you. He will never forsake you.

Or maybe you feel like you're living in a nightmare. Watch how God is going to turn that nightmare into a dream come true.

Ultimately, nothing can defeat us. We are all on a winning team. On God's team we cannot lose. God will guide you.

AMEN

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