As a Candidate for Advancement
Tom Shrader continues his study of Joseph's life, focusing on Joseph's interpretation of Pharaoh's dreams and his promotion to second in command of Egypt. Through Joseph's example, Tom demonstrates how consistency of character through life's cycles—both good and difficult seasons—prepares us for the opportunities God has planned. He emphasizes that our greatest asset in any situation is our relationship with God, and shows how Joseph's faithfulness during years of imprisonment positioned him to serve at the highest levels of government.
“Consistency is not based on where you are, but who you are.”
— Tom Shrader
Series: Survival Through the Cycles of Life (2005)
Recorded: 2005
Duration: 44 min
Themes: faithfulness, character, advancement, leadership, integrity, perseverance, opportunity, service, facing career setbacks, enduring false accusations, awaiting promotion, young professional, workplace leader, experiencing injustice, seeking advancement, building reputation
Scripture: Genesis 40:7, Genesis 40:14, Genesis 40:23, Genesis 41:1, Genesis 41:2, Genesis 41:25, Genesis 41:32, Genesis 41:37, Genesis 41:44, Acts 17, Isaiah 53, Romans 13, Philippians 4, 1 Peter 5
Theological Themes: providence, divine sovereignty, character formation, spiritual maturity, biblical leadership, servant leadership, sanctification, godly character
Full Transcript
This is session 4 of our 6-session series titled "The Survival Through the Cycles of Life." We have just a magnificent role model for this study. His name is Joseph. I said at the beginning of this year, it's going to be a great year because we're going to start it with Daniel and end it with Joseph. I love this study. There is so much in here that's so rich and so practical and so many points along the way. This is just great stuff.
Let me remind you just a little bit about Joseph. When you talk about cycles, he truly has them. He had an extraordinary time, especially as a young man, 17. He was his dad's favorite kid. The brothers knew that. They sell him into slavery. He goes into slavery, then they sell him to a guy by the name of Potiphar, who is the head of the Egyptian secret service. He serves there faithfully. One day, Potiphar's wife accuses Joseph, falsely obviously, of raping her or attempting to. He is then thrown into the dungeon.
When he gets to the dungeon, he would have every right to be very bitter and very angry, and he doesn't. In fact, the chief jailer in the dungeon sees him exactly as Potiphar had seen him. Potiphar put him in charge of Potiphar Enterprises, everything there was, and now the chief jailer puts him in charge of all of these things. There, in that moment, is what we looked at last week.
The Cupbearer and Baker
There's two guys, two key guys. In a way, kind of the Scooter Libby and Karl Rove of the pharaoh's life. There's the cupbearer and the baker. The cupbearer and the baker do something. Scripture doesn't tell us what. They do something. They really agitate Pharaoh. Pharaoh throws him in the dungeon.
As he puts them in there, and this is a magnificent night, here are these points. Potiphar is the one who's responsible for these two guys. So you got two political hot potatoes. Potiphar's responsible for them. He's to oversee their care. So he wants to make sure we don't mess this up. He gets the safest, securest, sharpest, most reliable guy he can find, and it's Joseph, the very guy that he put in there. So Joseph's watching. Remember the story? The cupbearer and the baker, he's overseeing them.
He comes in one day. Let's take a look at this. He comes in one day, and he says, Genesis chapter 40, verse 7, he said, "Why are your faces so sad today?" The point we made was this: As Christians, we have to go beyond our job description at the workplace. It was not Joseph's job to make sure the cupbearer and the baker were happy. So if you're one of these bosses, or you're an employee, and you're walking around saying, "Don't bring your private life in here," that's not an option for you. Joseph sees their faces sad. Now, he can ignore that. As I said, way beyond his job description. Not my job, man. But he doesn't. Why are your faces sad?
Going Beyond Job Descriptions
I had a situation I mentioned last week. I had a situation again yesterday. I'm walking through my office, and I'm looking at one of our gals, and either she's allergic to work because her eyes are red, or something's wrong. I said, "Hey, you're doing all right." She said, "No, not at all." I said, "Is there anything I can do?" She said, "No." I said, "I want you to know, I'll be thinking about you and praying for you all day today."
I saw her at the end of the day, and she said, "Thanks for noticing this morning, and thanks for leaving me alone." She said, "All I needed was that. I just was having a little pity party for myself, and I just needed you to just gently point that out, that it was clear to everybody." I said, "All right. Well, we were going to fire you, but now we'll keep you. So it worked out all right. I'm glad you got over it. Don't let it happen again. Don't bring it up." No, obviously, we wouldn't say anything like that. But do you see that? That's just really important.
So the cupbearer and the baker say, "We're so sad because we had dreams. We don't know what they mean." The cupbearer says, "Here was my dream." Remember the cupbearer? He's the guy that would be right there with Pharaoh, tasting all his food. Very important position. "I had this dream." He tells him the dream. Joseph said, "Here's the interpretation. In three days, your head will be lifted up. You'll be restored to your position."
The Dream Interpretations
Well, the baker sees this and says, "Oh, this is cool. I had a dream, too. What's my dream mean?" Joseph's interpretation is almost the same, except for one word. He said, "Your head will be lifted off." That's not good news. You want your head lifted up, not off.
So here he is, and now exactly this comes true. Well, here's what Joseph said. Look at chapter 40, verse 14. Joseph's speaking to the cupbearer, and he said, "Keep me in mind when all goes well for you. Mention me to Pharaoh. For I was, in fact, kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews. And even now, I've done nothing that I should be put in his dungeon."
Joseph was saying, "Listen, I didn't do anything." Now, there's no indication—in fact, to me, all the empirical data that we have here would say just the opposite—that his attitude is positive, that this hasn't dripped over into the way that he works. But he's saying, "I hate this. I don't want to be here."
The Forgotten Promise
Well, three days later, the baker's head is severed, and he's hung on a tree. The cupbearer's restored. Here's where we left off last week. Chapter 40, verse 23, cupbearer's back in his position, exactly as Joseph said. "And yet the cupbearer did not remember Joseph. He forgot him."
So there's Joseph. The word spreads all through the dungeon. "Hey, Joseph, what you said is true. The cupbearer's been back." Joseph is going, "I know he's going to mention me. I know he's going to get me out of here." He's packing his little bag. He's cleaning up the cell. He's getting everything ready to go. Leaving on a jet plane. He's out of this joint. And the cupbearer forgets him. Same ordeal here. It sounds like a movie we've seen now.
When two full years had passed, Pharaoh had a dream. Two full years. This is magnificent. It's not like there's a little blip on the screen and a week or two. Two full years had passed, and yet in the midst of this, we see a constancy.
Remember what we said? Survival through the cycles of life. We can't take this out of your life. There's going to be great times. There's going to be bad times. There's going to be times when things are going well in terms of a macro view, but your micro life isn't. Unemployment rate at an all-time low. But if you're unemployed, here it's 100%. It doesn't matter.
What my observation has been is we run on several currents. We rarely have everything down or everything up. I'll see guys and life will be awful. My marriage is falling apart. Whatever it is, I'll say, how's business? They'll say, it's never been better. Or I'll see guys and they'll say, my business is unbelievable. I'll say, how's everything else? My kids are in the toilet. I got all sorts of problems.
Here's what we're saying. We can't take this out. That is life. That's the way it is. When we met with that doctor November 22nd last year and he said, "Listen, you got cancer. It's inflammatory. Survival rate 10 years ago, 1%. This isn't good." That's a downer. You're going to have the downs. You're going to have the ups. The objective here is not to eliminate those. It's to provide a steadiness in the midst of that. And that's what we see in Joseph.
Consistency Built on Identity, Not Circumstances
This is really important. Consistency is not based on where you are, but who you are. It's not based on where you are. There's a sense in which I should not be able to tell by looking at you whether things are really good or really bad. There's a constancy there.
Here's the term that we would use. It's a biblical term. Joy. Not happiness. Happiness is circumstantial. Joy is based on a relationship. I understand God. I understand who He is. I understand who I am. I don't have to try to figure life out anymore. I don't have to go to another seminar. I don't have to listen to another one of these tapes about finding meaning, purpose, blah, blah, blah. Here it is right here. This is it. This is all I need to give me a roadmap through life right here.
So Joseph understands exactly that his future is uncertain, but he knows God holds the future. He knows that God loves him and cares for him.
Pharaoh's Troubling Dreams
So Pharaoh has a dream. This is great stuff. Pharaoh has a dream. There it is. Chapter 41, verse 2. We'll read through it one time, then we'll make reference to it a couple times today. "Lo, from the Nile there came seven cows, sleek and fat, and they grazed on the marshland. Then, behold, seven other cows came up from the Nile, ugly and gaunt. They stood by the other cows on the bank of the Nile. The ugly, gaunt cows ate up the seven sleek cows. Then Pharaoh woke up."
"Then he fell asleep and dreamed a second time. And, behold, seven ears of grain came up on a single stalk, plump and good. Then, behold, seven ears, thin and scorched by the east wind, sprouted up after them. The thin ears swallowed up the seven plump ears. Then Pharaoh awoke, and, behold, it was a dream."
"It came about in the morning that his spirit was troubled. And he sent and called for the magicians of Egypt and the wise men. And Pharaoh told them his dreams, but there was no one who could interpret them."
When the Experts Come Up Short
Here's what's happened. Pharaoh has this dream. He calls the magicians. This isn't David Copperfield. These are his astrologers. These would be his religious advisors. This is his cabinet. These are the best and brightest in the land. And part of what they did was listen to these dreams and interpret these dreams.
So, in fact, that's exactly what happens. He said, "Here's the dream. Can you interpret?" They say, "No clue. Haven't got a clue. Don't know what it's about."
The Cupbearer's V8 Moment
At that moment, the ever-present cupbearer has a V8 moment. Here's what he said. "The cupbearer spoke to Pharaoh and said, 'I would make mention today of my own offenses. Pharaoh was furious with his servants, and he confined me to the prison in the house of the captain of the bodyguard. And, behold, both me and the baker. And we had dreams the same night, he and I, and each of us dreamed according to the interpretation of his own dreams.'"
He said, "You know what? I had an experience just like that." Remember, I was in the dungeon. He kind of slides it in there. The dungeon where you put me. The dungeon you sentenced me to. I had this dream, and I didn't know what it was.
Verse 12, "Now a Hebrew youth was there, a servant of the bodyguard. We related our dreams to him, and they interpreted to each one according to the interpretation his own dreams came true. I was restored to my office."
Being Known by What You Do
Here's what he said. "There was a guy. I don't remember his name. I've lost his card. I can't remember the guy's name, but I remember what he did." This is really cool. He has an intimate contact with Joseph. I'm saying to you, you're going to have people that you come in contact with all the time. I don't care whether they remember my name or not. He was the short, fat guy who should have been wearing a winter shirt, okay? That's who he was. I don't care that they remember that.
Here's what I want to know. But here's what he said. Here's what he did. That's what happens to Joseph here. "There was this little Hebrew boy. I've got no idea who he was. All I do is I can tell you what he did. I don't remember his name. I remember what he did."
Here's my application to you. Is that to describe your world? Do the people around you say, "Don't really remember him? He was almost insignificant to the equation. It's just, here's what he did. Here's what she did. Here's what she said." And I'm telling you something. It doesn't have to be some huge, great thing.
Someone once told me that you never know when God is going to use you to help somebody. It doesn't have to be a big deal. We always think in terms of these great, big events. It doesn't need to be that. Sometimes it's as simple as noticing, what we talked about earlier, that somebody's hurting and saying, "I care. If you need me, I'm here." Some of the most profound impact that people have had on you have almost been, oftentimes, in a very casual way.
In fact, if you said to them, "You really had an impact on me," they would say, "Really? I don't remember I even did anything." Oh, but when I really needed it, there you were. So he says, "Listen, Pharaoh, there's this little Hebrew boy. He was working for the captain of your bodyguard." That's Potiphar. And it may be that he's still in prison. I don't know if he'd be out. All I can tell you this is, I'm going to give him a referral.
Your business oftentimes survives on referrals. He's saying, "Here's the referral. This guy did a job well done."
Joseph's Cross-Cultural Preparation
Verse 14: "Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and he was quickly brought out of the dungeon when he had shaved and changed his clothes. He came before Pharaoh." Stop the presses. We want to spend a second here.
As you read that through, what are you thinking? Well, you're thinking he's been in this dungeon now for 15 years. He's probably, personal hygiene, probably not a top priority in the dungeon. And he probably just needs to clean himself up a little bit. He needs a shave and a haircut. But that's not what's going on.
The Hebrews were sheep herders. The Egyptians were cattlemen. Always opposition. The Egyptians were polytheists—lots of gods, lots of stuff. Monotheists for the Hebrews. The Hebrews were kind of rugged, Marlboro men. The Egyptians clean-shaven.
I think what he's responding to here is not just a personal hygiene issue. He's about to have a cross-cultural experience. And he understands the rules of engagement. And he wants to take anything that's going to be an obstacle and get it out of the way.
The Biblical Principle of Cultural Sensitivity
Now, doesn't that sound an awful lot like what the Apostle Paul says that you and I are to be about? "To the Jews, I'm a Jew. To the Greek, I'm a Greek." I'm getting rid of all these obstacles. I'm sensitive to the culture.
I had a friend years ago who was having his first business contact with some Japanese businessmen. So the guys had said, "Can I have your business card?" And he said, "Sure." And just kind of did what you and I would do. Just passed it on. And afterwards, they said, "Oh, you've really offended these people."
He said, "Really? What'd I do?" He said, "When they ask for a business card, this is a big honor. This is a great honor. So you take the card. You put it face up. You put it so it faces them. You hold it with both hands. You bring it and you present it to them. There's a presentation that takes place with this. You've offended them with what you did."
He said, "Well, I didn't even know it." And he said, "Well, I understand that. But from now on, you need to understand this. It's the culture you live in."
The Balance Between Relevance and Truth
I'm probably hypersensitive to this because in the business that I'm in, in the church business and the Bible study business, there's a whole war going on about whether we should be culturally relevant or not relevant. We had a couple who left our church about two months ago because they were concerned that we were trying to be relevant. They said, "You're trying to be relevant."
And I said, "Okay, the other option, as close as I can tell, is irrelevant." I can't imagine saying, "Come to our church. We're irrelevant. Selling t-shirts, bumper stickers, hats. We're irrelevant. We have no idea what's going on in the world. Come and join us. You'll be happy here."
Now, what they're saying is this: "I don't want you to be relevant at the expense of a message, of the truth." I was talking to a guy the other day who used to work at a church and they were having problems with the church, kind of heading in a liberal theological mode. And at Easter, the pastor refused to use the word sin because it might offend the guests that were there that day. Okay, that's way over the line. That's a problem.
We're not going to take all the things that are core to our message and remove them from the church. But we do want to present them in a way that they make sense, right?
Paul's Example in Athens
I'm not going to have you turn there. We mention this passage frequently, which should tell you that you better own it and understand it. But it's Acts chapter 17. Paul is hanging in Athens waiting for Silas and Timothy to come to him. And as he's waiting, he speaks to the Jews.
When he speaks to the Jews, what does he do? He quotes the Scripture. He'll say, "Hey, remember that Isaiah guy? Remember Isaiah 53? Remember when Isaiah was talking about there'd be a Messiah? Well, that Messiah was Jesus. I want to talk to you about Jesus. Jesus was the Messiah. Here are these prophecies. Here's Jesus."
He then gets an opportunity to speak to the Greeks, to the aristocratic Greeks, to the leadership. Here's what He says. He doesn't say to them, "Remember Isaiah 53?" Because they'd go, "We don't have a clue. What position was He? Was He a linebacker? Isaiah 53? Who was He? We don't know. We never heard it. It doesn't make any sense to us."
When He's with them, what does He say? "Well, I'm walking through your town and I see you're really religious people. You've got statues to all these gods." And then He says, this is absolutely brilliant. This is relevant teaching. He said, "I saw a statue to an unknown god. So what you've worshipped in ignorance, I'm here to talk to you about." That's brilliant. That's culturally relevant. That's understanding the world that you live in. It's not accommodating. There's a level of savviness there.
I became a Christian just in 1980. And I had no background with Christian stuff. I'd been around a large denomination, but I didn't have any of this Christian stuff. And all of a sudden, God saves me and I start reading. And I'm hanging with
These Christian people. And I'm realizing, you've got to have a dictionary to talk to them. I don't understand anything they're saying. Sanctify this and justify this and sanitize this and all these other things. I don't have a clue what they're talking about.
And here's what bothered me. They didn't seem concerned that I didn't get it. Here's what they did. Oh, the responsibility is on you. You learn this. No, the responsibility is on you to communicate it. The whole point in teaching is not to stand up here.
I just met yesterday, a great meeting yesterday, with about a dozen guys that are trying to start churches. And I don't know how we ended up, but they came and they were talking to me. I said, look, here's the deal, guys. Your job in teaching is not to just have a dump and come in there and dump on people everything you know. No one cares. No one cares that you know the Greek. No one cares you know the Hebrew. No one cares about all that history in and of itself. They care about it in the context of you communicating. Communicating is to take this message and communicate it in a way that you can comprehend it. That's the whole job.
Understanding Your Audience
Susan and I are walking through Barnes and Noble the other day. And I'm saying, look how sharp this is. Now, the Chronicles of Narnia and Lion, Witch, and Wardrobe, whatever, I don't get it. I don't understand it. I don't know what it's about. But a lot of people do. A lot of Christians seem to love it. And the movie's coming out, Disney movie. And that'll be interesting because I think it's Disney. And these are the same people that now we were boycotting. Now we're going to go to their movie. It's a dilemma for the Baptists. So we're going to have to figure this out. We got issues now. Can we go, not go? Well, we'll watch it on video when it comes out. That'll be their solution.
So, in the midst of this whole process, I'm walking through Barnes and Noble and there is Chronicles of Narnia stuff everywhere. There's tables and books. Nothing new. All the old stuff out. Well, man, they understand the market. That's pretty sharp. You need to be that sharp also.
Joseph understands that if he comes marching in there and he looks in a way that's offensive to this guy, he isn't going to get a hearing. It's not about compromise. This is not about compromise. This is about presenting the message. Look. The Gospel's offensive. You don't need to be. The Gospel will alienate people. You don't need to do it first. So he goes. But that's a little bit of a sidetrack.
Joseph Before Pharaoh
Verse 17. Okay, so here's what happens. He calls for Joseph. Pharaoh said, I have a dream. No one can interpret it. I heard that it is said about you that when you hear a dream, you can interpret it. And Joseph said to Pharaoh, it's not me. God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer.
I stop there and I'm going. There's another thing that makes me different from Joseph. If I'm in that setting, and Pharaoh said, I think you understand dreams, interpret dreams, I think I would have said, that's correct. I am a dream interpreter. You're a very lucky Pharaoh. Because I'm here to save you.
Look at what he says. It's the whole key. What's the key to Joseph's success? The Lord is with Him. And this is no different. I can't interpret the dream, but God will interpret the dream. God will give you the answer.
The Dream Interpreted
And then Pharaoh says, alright, here's this dream. I've had this dream. And it's the same dream we looked at. Seven cows, swallow this. Grains, swallow this.
And then Joseph said to Pharaoh, verse 25, Pharaoh's dreams are one and the same. Two visions communicating the same thing to you. And God has told Pharaoh what He's about to do. This is urgent here. Seven good cows are seven years. Seven bad cows, seven bad years. Here's what's happening. You're going to have seven years of unprecedented wealth. Then you're going to have famine. You're going to have 1980 to 1987. You're going to have 1987 to 1994. You've got issues coming, Pharaoh. You better understand that this is on the way.
And the reason that this was given to you twice, he says in verse 32, is because God's decided He's going to do it. God's decided this is what's going to happen.
Joseph's Wisdom in Crisis Management
So Pharaoh says, verse 33, he says we better find somebody. We better find a wise man, a discerning man, and put him in charge of the land. And this is Joseph now speaking to Pharaoh. You need to find a wise man, a discerning man. Let Pharaoh appoint commissioners over the land, take a fifth of the harvest. I'm a little against this because it's a taxation really. Take a fifth of the harvest of Egypt during the seven years of abundance, okay? And that they should collect this food and store it for the good years that are coming so that you will not be ruined.
Here's what he says. Terminology we need to understand. Pharaoh, you need a grain czar. You need to get somebody who you can put in charge of this whole thing. Somebody with wisdom. Somebody you can trust. Somebody that understands the situation.
The Spirit of God Sets Joseph Apart
Verse 37, Pharaoh says, that seems good to me. And it seemed good to all of his servants. So, Pharaoh asked them. Who's the them? The servants, the magicians, his advisors, his consultants. Can we find anyone like this man?
So, he said to them, these guys. Can we find anybody like that guy, Joseph? What is it that makes Joseph unique? Right there. One in whom is the Spirit of God.
Look, Pharaoh's not converting. Pharaoh's not responding. He's not saying, oh, I've been an Egyptian, I'm wrong, I want to be a Jew. He's not saying that at all. He's saying, look, I want a guy like that because I see the fingerprints of God all over him.
He, Pharaoh, is a beautiful picture here of the world. Here's what he says. I want all the benefits of God, but I don't want any of the responsibilities of the relationship. I want all these things. I want all this stuff. I want the love and the joy and the peace, all the fruit of the Spirit. I want love and joy and peace,
patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, self-control. I want all those things that result from an intimate relationship with God, but I don't want any of the hassle of the relationship. God, I want all Your blessings, but I don't want any of the responsibilities that are associated with it.
Let me stop again. This is about the third or fourth application at this point today. Do you see the number one asset in Joseph's life? God's with him. When you leave here, the number one advantage you have in the marketplace is your relationship with Christ.
I know for some of you, you don't buy that. I'm okay with that. I know you don't buy it. You're wrong, but I know you don't buy it. Oh, no, no, no. My faith gets in the way. If I could lie and steal and cheat and screw people like everybody else, I'd make a lot of money.
Your Greatest Asset
No, the number one asset you have in your entire life, you pick the area. I don't care. The number one asset that you have in your work, in your relationship at home, I said yesterday, in your golf game, I think the peace that comes from being able to stand and understand and look at the game, every area, friendship, every area, the number one asset you have is the relationship with the Creator God of the universe. It's the number one asset you have. It doesn't get in the way of work. It makes work function correctly for you.
I have it all the time. People come in, two people, they got a problem in their marriage. You know, this stinks, this stinks, we're living for him, they're selfish, we're this, we're that. Here's the problem. The problem is he's having an affair. Well, the problem with her is she's just a witch and she just can't cook and she can't do anything else and she's an awful life. Problem, problem.
The problem is you both are sinners, alienated from the Creator God of the universe and if you loved Him, you would start to love each other. I would never love her, she's unlovable. That's one of the signs of a Christian. You'll start to love the unlovable. You may not like her, but you'll love her. All of a sudden, this marriage that's falling apart, God begins to put back together. Not because you said, I'm going to work on the marriage. Forget the marriage. Work on who you are in relationship with Him and now God begins to change your life. Everything.
Joseph's Elevation to Power
So he says, here's what, let's find a guy like Joseph. And Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Since God has made all this known to you, there's no one as discerning and wise as you, you should be put in charge of my palace and all the people will submit to your orders. Only with respect to the throne will I be greater than you." Verse 41, so Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I hereby put you in charge of the whole land of Egypt." And he took a signet ring from his finger and put it on Joseph's finger and he dressed him in robes of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck.
Here's what he did. He said, here you go, Joseph. Here's the keys to the palace. Here's the American Express card with no limits. Here's the power of attorney. Here are all the resources you need to run this whole thing. The only thing bigger than you in the whole land of Egypt, ultimately the land of the world, the only thing bigger than the whole thing is me. You get the tone here, though it's not said explicitly, but even then, I'm really yielding to you because you're calling the shots here. Because apparently we've got some serious issues. We don't even know what they are. We don't even know how to interpret them. And now you've given us this answer. You're the man.
And he says, how is this? And he made Joseph ride in a chariot as his second in command. And men shouted, "Make way." Thus he put him in charge of the whole land of Egypt. Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I'm Pharaoh," verse 44, "but without your word, no one will lift a hand or a foot in all of Egypt."
The Dramatic Transformation
That's a pretty big change from being in the dungeon a couple hours ago. You're running the show. That's been a pretty big change in a couple of hours and a radical change over a period of years. From age 17 to, we'll ballpark it here, early 30s now. From a little Jewish boy sold into slavery to now arguably the most powerful man in the world.
Do you see what prepared him for this moment? His education? No. His breeding? No. Clawing his way up the corporate ladder? No. What prepared him for this moment was what we saw from the very beginning. What was the secret to his success? God was with him.
You will be successful, I guarantee it. Maybe not in the world's eyes. I'm not going to guarantee you health and wealth and all that stuff. But you will be successful in God's eyes because He wants one thing from you. Obedience. He says it, you do it. He says avoid it, you avoid it. He says be that, you be it.
Five Tips for Waiting
Well, maybe you're in one of these situations right now where you're like Joseph at the beginning of this story. You're waiting for your ship to come in. You're waiting for things to happen. What do you do along the way? Five tips.
Number one, be patient and wait for the right timing. Number one, be patient and wait for the right timing. I'm not a real patient person. I have, since December 11th of 1997, I've essentially been McDonald's free. I would eat a lot of McDonald's. I love McDonald's. I've been there maybe a time or two in the last however many years, that is, eight years. But I realized, you know, it's not good for me and all this.
But when I go to McDonald's, I love Quarter Pounders with cheese. I think Quarter Pounders with cheese are one of the greatest things ever made. I love Quarter Pounders with cheese. There's a McDonald's, I don't know if it still does it, but there's a McDonald's down in Tucson on the way into town that at night it's an all-you-can-eat McDonald's. I've never seen one of them before. So I love Quarter Pounders with cheese. When I go into McDonald's, what do you think I order? No, I don't. I
love them, but I will go to the register and I would say, I want, here, get out of the way, I want a blue one and a yellow one. I want whatever is made. And they'll say, all right, that's a cheeseburger. Whoa, whoa, whoa, don't ring it up. Go get it and put it in the bag. Because if you ring it up and somebody else takes it, I've got to sit and wait.
Because here's what McDonald's is all about. You've got it, don't you? Fast food. Let me say it the way I do it. Fast food. I'm not going to McDonald's for a dining experience. I'm going to McDonald's for fast food.
I left over here and went down. I had nothing to do one Thursday, very rare. So I went down to AJ's and I thought, I'll get a bagel and something to drink. So I get in there and I pull a number and it's like 73. And there's no number posted. I said to the guy next to me, I said, what number are you? He said, 63. I said, 63? I'm 73. Well, I'm not waiting for this. I put it down and I'm driving in my car and I'm thinking, I don't have anywhere to go. I don't have anything to do. I'm going to go somewhere else and stand in line. I'm going to go to Einstein's.
Aren't you like that a little bit? I want it. I want it. I want it now. Now get to the big things. Not a quarter pounder, not a bagel, but now to the big things in life. I want them fixed. I want them now.
God's Timing vs. Our Impatience
Here's the key. You want them in God's timing. You see that in Joseph's story. God, I want out of this place. But no one other than Him really understands that. When was Jesus born? At just the right time. What does Peter say? Peter says, humble yourself before the Lord and He will exalt you at just the right time. Be anxious for nothing, but pray for everything, Paul writes in Philippians 4. Be patient. Relax. Slow down.
It was really cool yesterday talking to these young bucks who were starting these churches to just listen to them. And I said to them, guys, you're wearing me out listening to you. Man, I'm tired. I'm going to have to go home and take a nap. You're trying to do like about 20 years worth of stuff here in the next day and a half. It doesn't work that way.
Having Satisfied People in Your Past
Here's the second thing. Have satisfied people in your past. To your weight, but there was the cupbearer and in the final analysis, here's what he could say. Ooh, ooh, there was that little Hebrew boy. Yeah, I remember now. I've forgotten along the way. I mean, literally, what people experience when they talk about it. What's their experience with you? How do they summarize it? How do they see it? If they see God in you, all of a sudden there's this desire on their part to be a comrade, co-laborer. Here you go, a friend.
Compromise on Non-Essentials
Number three, and this is huge. Be a compromiser on the non-essentials. We hear that word compromise and we go, oh, I don't want to be a compromiser. Well, then your life is just going to be hell. If you're not going to compromise, your life is going to be one struggle after another, after another, after another.
We finished our building. We were building a building. We moved in in 1997. Sitting at my desk one day, we're in the town of Gilbert. We are Gilbillies. And I get a call one day, I'm sitting at my office, and one of our civil servants, who's on the Code Enforcement Committee, whatever that means, is sitting a quarter of a mile away at an intersection and can see the top of our air conditioning system on our roof and wants us to now raise the wall around this and the parapets to raise these several feet to conceal this from a quarter mile away.
I said, that sounds like an awful lot of money to me and that sounds like a hassle, but let me see what this is because we're not about to do this, I don't think. So I called the contractor and the contractor came out and he said, Tom, get this person on the phone. So I get him on the phone. This guy was an ex-Marine. He was just like a really cool guy.
So he says, ma'am, I understand what you're asking here, but there's great expense involved in this. But beyond all the expense, these people have documents signed. But there's no way that you can come back in here. Now, I know these people. They're church people. They're good people. It's Romans 13. They will submit to you. But they will also take advantage of every step along the way to come before you and ultimately the city council to make this appeal.
And then he said this, ma'am, this is no hill to die on. I thought, man, that scared me. I don't know if it scared her, but it scared me. I wouldn't do it.
Dying on the Wrong Hills
Some of you, and some of you are dying on all sorts of hills that aren't, they're anthills. And here's my personal experience and observation. And part of the reason we have a tendency to do that is because, especially when we've got life kind of out of control, is we find an area where we have control and then try to die on that hill there. Try to take this non-essential. It's non-essential. It doesn't matter.
I guess I speak about church a lot because I'm involved in it and meet so many people from other churches. But take the Scripture you have in front of you, the Word of God, and in yellow, mark the absolutes that are presented there that the church must do. Mark those. And you're going to find there's very few marks. Take the 50 things you're doing at your church and mark in yellow the biblical absolutes and in blue the things that are preferential. It's almost all preferential. And you're dying on this hill?
We've done a bunch of radical things at our church in the last six months. We've taken nothing away, we've just added. It is amazing to me, even in that instance, and I think we're a fairly well-adjusted church, it's amazing how difficult it is. I don't like that noise. I don't like all that music. It's so loud. It's so loud. Here you go. Here's a tip. Don't go. Go in the morning. Here's the deal. I don't care whether you like it. Can't
You rejoice when you see what God's doing in this? I don't understand it. I honestly don't. And they're usually people that are so super spiritual. It's always a spiritual thing. It's not honoring to God. What's not honoring to God is your moaning and whining. That's what's not honoring to God.
Character Over Accomplishment
Number four: Be aware of the importance of character over accomplishment. I mean, if I sing... Here you go. All I've got to do... Jimmy Swagger. That's all I've got to do. All I've got to do is say a name. When you blow it, can you be forgiven? Sure. But when you lose your character, it's pretty hard to get it back.
Focus on Others' Needs
Here's the last point and then we'll let you go. Focus on meeting other people's needs instead of your own.
There's a guy I was watching Seinfeld the other night. There's a great Seinfeld. It's like every... George always has a problem. But George has a problem and he's got Elaine and Jerry there and he's talking about his situation. And then they start talking to each other about something they have. And he's going, "Wait a minute, wait a minute. What about me? What about my problem? Let's solve my problem. Let's talk about my problem." And what a great picture of life. "What about me? I know you've got problems, but what about me? What's in it for me?"
Even think... Give me two extra minutes here. Even think a couple of things. If the cupbearer would have, the day he got back to the palace, said, "Hey Pharaoh, there's a guy named Joseph down there," Joseph would have never been around two years later for this interpretation.
Even if Joseph would have come in and said... And let's say he was really gutsy. Let's say he would have come in and said, "Here's the deal, Pharaoh. I'll give you the interpretation, but I want this." There's no way that he would have ever dreamt to ask to be the second most powerful man in the world. It would have never occurred to him. "Here's what I want. I want either my freedom, or I want a cleaner cell, or I want something. I'll do this, but here, Pharaoh, you do that."
No, that's not what Joseph did. Joseph said, "God will do this," and let the chips fall where they may.
God's Extraordinary Plans
I honestly mean, and I believe it, you sometimes are putting such restrictions on God that He's got these great big things for Him, and you're saying, "But I just want this little dinky thing over here." God will do extraordinary things. Amazing things. If you just do what He's called you to do.
Don't be comparing yourself to everybody else, and "what about this," and "what about this," but "look at them." Who cares? You're not them. God wants from you obedience. Good times, bad times. There's a constancy, and the steadiness in your life doesn't depend on where you are, but who you are.
Now Joseph's in a key spot. Now, he's ready to do. In fact, here's what, there's a chance. What do you do when you want to get even with somebody? And sometimes it's just a dream. "Oh, if I could, I would." What do you do when you want to get even with somebody, and you've got the power to execute that? Those are the things we're going to head toward in these next two weeks.
Father, help us see this truth. Let it affect the way we think, and the way we live. God, just like Your Son Jesus, we come not to be served, but to serve. Use us in a way that will blow our minds, because it's beyond anything that we could ever dream. Father, we pray it to You in Jesus' name, amen. Have a great week. We'll see you in two weeks.