WHEN YOU RE DOWN TO NOTHING, GOD IS UP TO SOMETHING

Transcription

1 WHEN YOU RE DOWN TO NOTHING, GOD IS UP G 1 Genesis 37:12-36 (KJV) 12 And his brethren went to feed their father's flock in Shechem. 13 And Israel said unto Joseph, Do not thy brethren feed the flock in Shechem? come, and I will send thee unto them. And he said to him, Here am I. 14 And he said to him, Go, I pray thee, see whether it be well with thy brethren, and well with the flocks; and bring me word again. So he sent him out of the vale of Hebron, and he came to Shechem. 15 And a certain man found him, and, behold, he was wandering in the field: and the man asked him, saying, What seekest thou? 16 And he said, I seek my brethren: tell me, I pray thee, where they feed their flocks. 17 And the man said, They are departed hence; for I heard them say, Let us go to Dothan. And Joseph went after his brethren, and found them in Dothan. 18 And when they saw him afar off, even before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him. 19 And they said one to another, Behold, this dreamer cometh. 20 Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will say, Some evil beast hath devoured him: and we shall see what will become of his dreams. 21 And Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands; and said, Let us not kill him. 22 And Reuben said unto them, Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit that is in the wilderness, and lay no hand upon him; that he might rid him out of their hands, to deliver him to his father again. 23 And it came to pass, when Joseph was come unto his brethren, that they stript Joseph out of his coat, his coat of many colours that was on him; 24 And they took him, and cast him into a pit: and the pit was empty, there was no water in it. 25 And they sat down to eat bread: and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and, behold, a company of Ishmeelites came from Gilead with their camels bearing spicery and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt. 26 And Judah said unto his brethren, What profit is it if we slay our brother, and conceal

2 his blood? 27 Come, and let us sell him to the Ishmeelites, and let not our hand be upon him; for he is our brother and our flesh. And his brethren were content. 28 Then there passed by Midianites merchantmen; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmeelites for twenty pieces of silver: and they brought Joseph into Egypt. 29 And Reuben returned unto the pit; and, behold, Joseph was not in the pit; and he rent his clothes. 30 And he returned unto his brethren, and said, The child is not; and I, whither shall I go? 31 And they took Joseph's coat, and killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the coat in the blood; 32 And they sent the coat of many colours, and they brought it to their father; and said, This have we found: know now whether it be thy son's coat or no. 33 And he knew it, and said, It is my son's coat; an evil beast hath devoured him; Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces. 34 And Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days. 35 And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and he said, For I will go down into the grave unto my son mourning. Thus his father wept for him. 36 And the Midianites sold him into Egypt unto Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh's, and captain of the guard. 2 INTRO: How many of us have ever run out of gas? How many of us have prayed that you would be able to make it to the next gas station? We all know what it means to be out of gas, to be out of our own resources & be down to nothing. How many of us have experienced God s divine provision at just the right time in just the right way?

3 -You got to do your part - in times of trouble it s always a good idea to pray & get other people to pray w/you. -It s also important to read God s word & have faith that God will intervene. -Then it is important to hear God s Word & do what it says 3 -When your heart is anchored to the heart of God you will w/stand all the storms of life, & there will be storms! -Because WHEN YOU RE DOWN TO NOTHIN, GOD IS UP! -Joseph was down to nothing - He lost his freedom & was sold into slavery - wrongfully accused of rape & thrown into jail. -He was at the bottom of the barrel -innocent, yet in jail in a foreign country. -Yet God was up to something in Joseph s life. He blessed Joseph even in prison so that whatever he did prospered then they put Joseph in charge of the prison.

4 -God gave Joseph the gift of dream interpretation & he interpreted the dreams of the Baker & the Cupbearer & when the Pharod needed an interpretation They called Joseph Then the Pharod promoted him to the 2nd highest position in the land to manage Egypt s vast agricultural resources. -Joseph stored grain & allocated it in such a way as to prepare for survival during a 7 yr famine Meanwhile... -Jacob (Joseph s father) was down to nothing. Jacob s other sons lied to him & told him that Joseph (the son he loved the most) was dead & a few yrs later, a famine threatened to starve & kill the rest of his family. -Now when Jacob was down to nothing, God was up to something. Genesis 45:4-7 (KJV) 4 And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt. 5 Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life. 6 For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest. 7 And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to 5 save your lives by a great deliverance. Genesis 45:5 (NIV) And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. 7 But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. (NIV) 4

5 WHEN YOU RE DOWN TO NOTHING, GOD IS UP G -Job - lost everything - his livestock, his wealth, his children - he lost everything but his wife. He was down to nothing, sitting on a dung heap w/ oozing sores all over his body But, God was up to something. -God s faith in Job & Job s faith in God -The result? defeated Satan in a classic spiritual battle. God restored double-fold what Job lost. Job 42: 10 the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before. Job 42: 10 After Job had interceded for his friends, GOD restored his fortune and then doubled it! (MSG) 5 WHEN YOU RE DOWN TO NOTHING, GOD IS UP G -Gideon was down to nothing - he had lost his confidence. The Midianite horde had ravished the land like locusts. Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress - hiding from the Midianites. -He had reached the bottom of the barrel - he was down to nothing. It was at this point that God met him & directed him to deliver Israel.

6 6 -With only 300 men he defeated the Midianites he freed the land of the Midianite pestilence. -David was down to nothing - He lost his rights when King Saul branded him an outlaw - he had to flee the country & live among the Philistines. -He was a fugitive, at the bottom of the barrel. But God was up to something. -King Saul was killed in a battle & David was established as king of Israel. -Hezekiah King of Judah was down to nothing when he found himself surrounded by the army Assyria. - Sennachherib demanded surrender -& reminded King Hezekiah that he had already sacked many cities killing the leaders & everyone else, slavery. The gods of these cities couldn t save them, -Hezekiah tore his clothes & put on sackcloth. He was at the bottom of the barrel, but God was up to somethin.

7 7 The prophet Isaiah prophesied Sennacherib s doom -2 Kings 4 we find a prophet s widow down to nothin. A widow, in debt. The woman came to Elisha & told him the creditors was coming to take her two boys to sell into slavery to satisfy the debt. -She was in despair, she was at the bottom of the barrel, she was a mom horrified at the thought of losing her boys. -But God was up to somethin. Elisha asked her, What do you have in your house? nothing but a little oil.. - Shadrach, Meshack & Abednego were down to nothin King Nebuchadnezzar condemned them to death in the fiery furnace.. Daniel 3:30 the Bible says that King Nebuchadnezzar promoted them in the province of Babylon.

8 8 NT Peter was down to nothin after he denied Christ 3 times. He was a miserable failure. He was at the bottom of the barrel. But God was up to somethin. Jesus met Peter on the shoreline of Lake Galilee & restored Peter s confidence, restored Peter s faith & restored Peter s position in the Kingdom. -The result, on the Day of Pentecost Peter got up & delivered a powerful sermon That day 3,000 new believers were baptized in water! Paul and Silas were flogged & thrown into prison for casting out a demonic spirit from a girl. -Earthquake then then As a result, the jailer and all his household became believers and were baptized. WHEN YOU RE DOWN TO NOTHIN, GOD IS UP

9 The Apostle John was down to nothing He was an old man confined to the prison island of Patmos in Greece. He was a political prisoner, exiled for practicing his faith He was effectively stopped from teaching and preaching. -This is a difficult spot for a preacher to be in. John was at the bottom of the barrel. But, God was up to somethin. It was on the Lord s day when John was in the spirit. The result? The fabulous book of Revelation. 9 Does God still do these kind of miracles for His people? YES! God is for you 100%! Windy Testamonies

10 10 Needs: Job Attain new job skills Healing Relationship Restoring confidence Restoring motivation Restored to faith Healing of Body Healing of past wrongs to your person Restore your dreams of achievement