I want to ask a little bit of a I don't even know how that how that you would answer this, but in the past three weeks, um how many of you have had some kind of just moment of that was for me, everybody else could just go home type of a moment. Me too. Yeah. Well, this morning is gonna be one of those as well, and and really I don't have a specific verse. We're gonna look at a couple different verses, but I'm gonna be in Genesis chapter 37 through 49, and we'll hit a few verses because I want to just tell the story, and it's it's it's our final secret door of this series, and uh to kind of lead into it. I don't know how many of you, and I've I've shared this as comedy before, but it's one of my favorites. That growing up, I heard the phrase, you can be anything you want to be. Have you heard that? What a crock that turned out to be. I wanted to play in the NBA, and I would spend hours in the driveway shooting, you know, dribbling and making that last-minute shot, and and it turns out I'm short, I'm slow, and I can't jump. And not a really good resume for the NBA. My best friend in middle school, they said that. He's like, dude, I'm gonna be a model. And I'm like, dude, you're ugly. You know, so I mean, you can't be whatever you want to be. And here's the trick, though, here's the amazing part is that we can be what we were meant to be. And there's a huge difference. So, from that standpoint, I guess growing up, a lot of you, um, I don't know what the female versions are. Guys, you know, how many of you at any point growing up, gentlemen, you thought, man, I want to be a professional athlete. Any sport, any sport, I want to be a professional athlete. Yeah. Uh, I think this also, a lot of guys also growing up, I thought the uniforms were cool and all. How many of you ever, gentlemen, wanted to be a uh fireman or policeman? Any of you, okay. Uh any of you guys ever on Halloween uh wear a superhero costume? Any, okay. Not this past one, but yeah, okay. There's just this desire in us to be something more. And what I want us to take a glimpse at today is that God really does create us for that something more, that purpose, that dream. But the truth is, is as we get to it, a lot of times we just are just it doesn't work out the way we thought it was gonna work out. And we either let go of that dream or we just kind of miss it all together. And and I want to be attentive to that, and I'm so thankful that you were honest and saying, you know what, um, um God really has spoken to my heart. And I hope for some, today is that day where you think, you know what, I've got some resolution there. I this past week I was at a student conference up in uh Lee University in Cleveland, Tennessee. Me and 750 middle school students, which, yeah, that's the way I thought first too, but it was tiring, but it was unbelievable how moldable their hearts were. And during one of the last nights at the free time, I had several of these students, middle school students, coming up and asking us stunningly in-depth questions of just, well, how can I know that I have eternal life? And you said this, and and what do I do with this? And when I get home, I know I'm gonna face this circumstance. What do I do with that? And I was praying, and and and these are just coming up. This is why everybody's having fun, just running around, and they're so heavy of heart, they're coming up and asking me these questions. And I'll not forget this one girl, and and I've I'm just walking, I'm trying to get to the gym where some stuff's going on, and these kids keep coming up one at a time. I'm just like, Lord, thank you for these moments and the clarity to pause. And I get in a little lobby there. This one girl comes up and she goes, Hi, um uh, can I ask you a question? And and I just come from a string. I'm like, absolutely. And she seemed a little bit hesitant. So I did the normal thing. I said, Well, tell me your name, where are you from? I'm Ken. And and I said, and she told me her church, and she seemed a little bit like, why do you want to know that? And why do you want to need to know my name? And and I said, Did you okay, what kind of question did you have? And she said, Um, do you know where the bathroom is? And I was like, Oh, yes, yes, I do. It's right down over there. And sometimes when we get in the midst of really looking at the big picture, we miss the simple steps. And sometimes those simple steps are simple. And yet we don't see the validity of how important those simple steps are. And I say that to just kind of intro the idea of where are we going. One of my favorite people in all of Scripture is Joseph, because I can relate to Joseph. And let me just give you a quick background. If you're in Genesis, I want to just encourage you. If you don't have a book you're in the middle of right now reading for entertainment, read Genesis 37 through 49. And it is just entertaining on a multitude of levels and helpful. Let me give you a quick background. Joseph's background, he comes from a family. If you think you know dysfunction, you do not. I mean, this story is one Jerry Springer would go, no, that's too weird. We can't put that on. So you can imagine his brothers hated him. And it says that as you read it, and you'll go, wow, no lie. They hate him. And then God gives him a dream. God gives Joseph a vision. And one of the pieces we can take as an aside, put it in the margin there. Be careful who you share your vision and dream with. Make sure it's somebody who's on your side. And make sure that we ask ourselves the question, how does it affect them? And we need to share those dreams and visions with a uh a community mindset. Because Joseph goes to his brothers and he goes, dudes, I had a dream. Let me share it with you. I'm gonna be up here and you're all gonna bow down to me. Isn't that awesome? And they're just looking like, seriously? Do you do you want us to kill you now or later? Really? And he has another vision, and there's another one, he goes, I had another one, and this isn't this great. And he goes to his dad and he goes, Dad, this is so great, because here's the deal of the interpretation. Not only are all my brothers, I'm gonna be up here, and I'm this, and you're and you and mom, and all the other moms, and all the other kids, and the sister wives, you're all gonna bow down to me. Isn't that awesome? His dad's like, okay, um I I'm I'm gonna bow down to you. Do you know okay? You're you're a kid, you're 17, you don't understand how this works, but uh yeah, you you need to you need to just kind of tone that one down there, Chief. So that's where we pick it up, and and he has this vision. And I share that to realize two pieces. One, the realization that there's a good chance that none of us at this stage are that foolish. Yet God uses some extremes to teach us through his truth. And I share that also with you, those of you, and today's really about me in a confessional mode of just going, God, I really believe you had a vision, and I really did share it with a close group of friends, and I've spent literally years trying to hash out and figure out, God, what does this look like? And I can relate to Joseph huge. So if if you're sitting here today and you've had that, I felt God laid this on my heart, I felt God called me to this or that or the other. I sense that God has done this, yet it just hasn't worked out. It's a secret part of my heart that I just don't talk about because I don't like speaking from failure. Today is for you. Because in that area, if we were so bold, we can see that first we have some realizations about this, and I hope by the time we get to the end of today, these realizations will cultivate and stir that dream again. Because God does give dreams, he does give passions, he does give vision to our hearts, and they're individual and they're intimate. And I hope that these realizations will help you like they are helping me in the process. First, we have to realize we have to faithfully serve wherever we are. Wherever I am today, faithfully serve right there. If you have your Bible open, Genesis chapter 39, verses 1 through 5, Joseph goes and shares with his brothers, hey, his dad said, Go check on him. He's already told them about the visions, they hate him greatly, they think dad's not here, we'll kill him. And they rip off his coat and they throw him into a pit and go, that was good. Wait a minute. If we just kill, if we just leave him for the animals, we don't get anything for him. So they rip him out of the pit in the ground and they said, Hey, we'll sell him as a slave. And they see some traders going by and go, hey, we got this young guy, he's like, shut up. They put duct tape on his mouth and they said, Hey, he's a slave. We've got no idea. We don't want him anymore, you can have him. They sell him as a slave. And then here's what happens. Joseph, and I don't know what point, it doesn't specifically say it, loses the dream. I don't know what point he just goes, Wow, I must have missed that. But now he's sold into slavery. But look what happens in the midst of that. He is committed to doing and serving faithfully wherever he is. I'll look at the three different stages. Verses one through five. Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt. Potiphar, an Egyptian who was one of Pharaoh's officers, the captain of the guard, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him there. And the Lord was with Joseph. And he proped, and he lived in the house, prospered, and he lived in the house of the Egyptian Egyptian master. When his master saw that the Lord was with him, and that the Lord gave him success in everything he did, Joseph found favor in the eye in his eyes, and became his attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of his household and entrusted to his care everything he owned. He was sold as a slave, and yet I'm going to serve faithfully where I am. Well, fast forward, we'll go into details in a few minutes, but we're going to see that Joseph is faithful, and the only thing he's not allowed to do is mess with Potiphar's wife, and yet Potiphar's wife messes with him. And he does what's right, and yet he's falsely accused, and he's thrown into prison. In verses 21 and 22, he's in prison, and just before that, but Joseph was there in prison. The Lord was with him. He showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden. So the warden put Joseph in charge of all those held in the prison, and he was made responsible for all there was done there. He now rises to position there. He's faithful wherever he is. And then finally, in chapter 40, verse 8, he's in prison and he does what's right, and he sees these two, and he's got no hope at this point, and that these two guys come to him and he is serving faithfully. In verse 8 of chapter 40, these two gentlemen that used to be in the king's service, Pharaoh's service, we both had dreams, they answered, but there is no one to interpret him. Joseph says faithfully, do not interpretations belong to God. Tell me your dreams. He is serving no matter where he is, and he's faithfully serving wherever he is, and deciding, you know what? I'm going to be faithful here. The second realization we have to come to in the midst of these dreams is to realize that circumstances do not determine progress. In God's economy, look at Joseph real quick. He has a dream of God and he shares it, so he's beaten up by his brothers. Oh, I didn't expect that. And then he's sold into slavery. And as a slave, he does everything right till he raises to the top of Pharaoh's house. And he's like, Man, I'm in charge of everything. He's kept nothing from me except for his wife, and I'm going to be faithful here. And he's faithful. And what happens? He is falsely accused of rape. And he's thrown into prison. And I don't know where you are today, but could it be that maybe some here have done everything we know to do that's right, and yet we get the opposite circumstance. That's the way God refines at times. To say if we're doing what's right, and then he goes and he even does and honors God. There's two people, a cupbearer, and the gentleman who prepared the food and the chef, and he says, We both had dreams, and he says, God alone gives dreams. And I gotta think, he's sitting there thinking, this is the shot, this is it. God has brought him here. I'm gonna give him credit, and these guys I'm gonna interpret their dreams, and one of them is gonna be raised back up, and then, then, then I'm gonna get out of this situation, and what happens? He's forgotten and left in prison. Circumstances do not determine the outcome. It doesn't determine progress. And if nothing else, I hope today that some of you who have had that dream and that calling and circumstances, every time you take a step, it seems like it's not working out. I my hope is that you and I would realize, you know what? I cannot look with human eyes. I can't look at human eyes, and I can't look with what I understand. I have to stop and go, okay, God, this is the process where I totally trust you. When I look like a fool and nothing's working out. I've been through that phase. I've been there. What I do need to do is continue to be excellent in whatever I am right now. He was excellent at every stage. To realize I am going to be excellent. I am convinced in an audience's size, some of you right now are working far underemployed with the way our economy is. And you have been disheartened, and you're thinking, What did I do wrong? All I did was be faithful and do my job well, and now I'm working here in a place I never thought I would work again. My encouragement to you is that of Joseph, be excellent wherever it is. One of the highest compliments I've ever been paid, and I've shared a little bit of the story in the past few weeks, was when I started out on this, I left the corporate world and I went, I was doing, man, you think of any menial job you can do. I mentioned one last week, some of the other ones I had was I refurbed computers, I operated and helped manage a gym, I just did all kinds of stuff, and I just thought, Lord, why here? And I thought at that point, okay, God, I'm gonna be excellent no matter where I am. I'm gonna give my best, even though this seems because of where I've been, it is beneath where I've been. But I'm gonna be excellent. And I started to catch some breaks and started to turn some corners. And I was working landscaping at the time. I still love to do my yard. And I got a lot of experience at landscaping from there. And you haven't lived till you do landscaping. There's something about getting up before the sun, going home after it sets, and by the time you're done, you are covered in goop, sweat, and dirt, and and we had a walk behind at the time, which is this huge mower, and it just vibrates. And you know that after 12, 13, 14 hours of that, I mean, literally, you're on the your hands are on the steering wheel just going like this because you've been doing that all day. And I get home and I had enough energy to shower off and fall into bed. And I did that job because it was flexible enough to give me weekends off to pursue what I'm doing now. But I will never forget, I'd kind of turn the corner, starting to turn that corner to be able to do this on a full-time basis. And I told some of the guys, I said, Guys, I'm gonna record my first ever comedy video, and I'd love for you guys to come. And they're like, What? And I didn't realize I'd never told them what I was really trying to do, and they're like, You're you're a comedian? And I'm like, Well, yeah, and they're like, Man, we want to come to that. And I and so I got them tickets, and two or three days later, the night before the show, one of the guys came to me, and I this is one of the highest compliments I've ever been paid. He said, Man, I I hope you do well. And he said, Let me just tell you, if you're half as good at comedy as you are at landscaping, you're gonna be incredible. Because you're a great landscaper. And this is from a guy making, yeah, you can clap at that, that's awesome. But the but the pain in that process, don't miss this part. It was at least, by the time he's in prison, it's been at least seven or eight years with no hope. And I can tell you, there were multiple times in that process. For me, it was two years and eight months from the time I left to the time I was able to squeak out a living. Two years and eight months, and I remember multiple times thinking, well, it's okay to go through this, but there's no hope that it's gonna work out. But I have to realize I'm gonna be excellent, and I'm determined that the circumstances do not determine the progress. My job in 1 Peter 5 6, and this came to my life over and over, and it's revisiting me greatly now, is to humble myself, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift me up in due time. It's his job to lift up and it's his job to prepare. Mine is to humbly come with my best every day. And then I have to realize, and this is probably one of the most painful ones, God-sized dreams most often take time. They're not instantaneous. I wish they were, they're not. But I do know this God's timing is perfect, and we need to mature in it so we can realize why he made this for me. If you look at Genesis 37, 2, in Genesis 37, 2, we see his age. Is that account, Jason? Joseph was a young man of 17. 17 years old. 17 years old when he gets this vision and this dream. And then if we look over at 41.46, we see what happens by the time he's there. Joseph was 30 years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh and the king of Egypt. Thirteen years. Thirteen years. And before he entered that service, he had gone down the ladder of success. Son of someone, slave, prisoner. Circumstances didn't determine it. Thirteen years later, he's sitting in prison, and I just wonder, I wonder almost out loud, thinking, you know what? What is he thinking? After he's interpreted the dreams for the cupbearer. Finally, this is it. He's been restored to the king, and and this is it. This is gonna be it. How long in that two-year span do you think it was before he just gave up hope? Here it is again. I've been faithful, and now I'm forgotten. How long was that? I don't know. I'm thinking weeks, maybe months. But I love the way, and one of my favorite people to listen to is a gentleman by the name of Ravi Zacharias. Ravi said, we've got to stop looking for God in circumstances, and we have to start looking from God's view of circumstances to realize that God has got a plan. In God's economy, there is never pain without a purpose. God's got purpose in it all. And if we realize that God has a purpose in the midst of this, one that I'm not going to be able to see, if I could put it to you this way, I love this idea that God really does have it under control. Realize that God's dream is to use me in something bigger than I can comprehend. For those of you who haven't been here in a while, I've mentioned that I love to coach basketball. And I had some of the parents come up after this last spring season. We played up a level. So we're playing against kids bigger, stronger, faster, more talented. And as a coach, I had several parents go, Why are you pressing? Why are you pressing? That's crazy. I'm like, I know. And they're like, Well, why are you doing it? I mean, they're bigger, they're faster, they're stronger. Why are you pressing? We're not stealing the ball. I'm like, oh wow, you're right. You know what? If that was the point, it's an utter failure. But that's not why I press. I said, have you noticed the other team? Like, what do you mean? Yeah, they're they're huge. I'm like, exactly. Their entire purpose is to put their two guys who are supposedly in middle school that have children and drive to games. The whole purpose of those two huge guys, they love to dribble down the floor, put those guys under the basket, they throw it into them, they turn around and they make a layup. I said, I press so that they don't get into their offense. I don't need to steal the ball. I don't need to make any great layup or make great statements to get them out. I said, because look, next time, watch, when we press, we're their big Guys go, they come up to the other end of the floor and they run in the middle and they catch the ball. And then what do we do? We back off. We let that big guy who's never dribbled, dribble down the floor. And we let him dribble. And he thinks, wow, I'm really good at this. And then he never gets to the place he's supposed to be. And I said, our hope, they're bigger, they're stronger, they're faster, they're more talented. Our hope is getting them out of what they do best. That's my mindset. And I love when Paris says, Well, I guess that might work. Yeah, yeah, it might. But it might not. But I've got to try something. And see, God's got this big picture view of going, you know what? Even on the floor, I know that my guys don't fully understand. And they'll start catching a glimpse of it as they do it. But I tell them, guys, I'm going to tell you something to do right now. You've got to trust me. And here's what we're going to do. We're going to be up in a full press and they're going to throw it in. And here's what's going to happen. Their big lumbery guy is going to come up in the middle on the wrong end of the floor, and he's going to catch the ball. At that point, move away. Let him dribble. They're like, what? I'm like, trust me. And then they do, but they don't understand it at the beginning. And I can tell you this: there's going to be times as we go through our dreams that we don't understand why. Be obedient. We don't understand the circumstances we're in. Be excellent. Because God has a plan, and he will in due time lift us up to the fulfillment of what he made and meant for us to be, if we'll trust him. In Matthew 6, 33, 34, it says simply this in every situation, seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Let's be faithful today. Today. And then probably the one of the greatest, but the last realization I want us to really grasp, and I'm just getting there. After four decades of living, I'm finally getting to this point. Joseph started out as a 17-year-old thinking, whoo, look at me, I'm gonna be on top. But he didn't ask why. Why does God give dreams? Why does God lift people up? You can look throughout scripture, it was never for that person to be lifted up and glorified. It was always to provide for others. He lifted Joseph up to save Israel. He lifted him up because a drought was coming. And he knew that he had to take him through these circumstances down to put him in a position to take care of everyone. The question for you and I is: are we willing to take that downward spiral? Are we willing to ultimately sacrifice our life to serve all? Because that's what's most important. A friend of mine and I were talking about this over lunch, and I love what he said. I wrote it down. He says, the breakthrough came when Joseph realized that holding on to God was more important than holding on to his dream. I had this dream, but I'm gonna hold on to God. I'm gonna hold on to God, and I'm not gonna take shortcuts. He had the opportunity to, and there's a temptation in the middle of this process to where we can say, I've done enough. No, I haven't had the pain, complete pain, of complete failure, but I'll never forget in the middle of this time. I'm thinking, Lord, here I am circumstantially, nothing's working out. And I don't know if it ever will work out. And I met this young lady, I'm like, she is sharp. I I'm gonna date her. And I remember vividly, nothing wrong with her. She's a sweet girl, Christian girl. But I remember vividly God just checking in my spirit, going, This is not the one, it is not the time. And I'm like, well, I've been through enough. I deserve a little something. And you know what? All I'm gonna tell you is one of the biggest train wrecks of my life. And one of the biggest regrets. I'm just like, Lord, forgive me. And he goes, already have. And I still have a plan. I'm still moving forward. Joseph responded a different way. He's at the top of Potiphar's house, and Potiphar's wife says, I want you, arranges everybody to be gone. That compromise will happen. It will come, and when we realize it will come in the midst of when we feel worst about ourselves, and start thinking, I deserve a little something. That is the choice. That is oftentimes the midway point of the preparation to go, I will humble myself before the Lord, that in due time he will lift me up. He did the right thing. Potiphar's wife grabs him and he goes, You are the only piece of property that I am not allowed, and he runs out, and then she lies about him and he's thrown into prison, and he did what was right. Run away from compromise and shortcuts. Seek first his kingdom. Today I want to just wrap up this series with an opportunity. We have the elements one more time. In the corners of this room, if you haven't been here before, there's tables with little sheets of paper and pens and stick pins. This morning I want to challenge and encourage you to do what I've already done today. And that is, I sat down with that little piece of paper and I said, Lord, I don't want my dreams anymore. I want yours. And Lord, I'm I realize that you have a bigger picture. So I just put my dreams end. I don't know what yours is, or maybe it's Lord, I still trust you in this, whatever it is, or maybe it's a specific vision God gave you, write it on there. And then walk it to one of these four crosses and go, God, what I'm humbling myself because it's going to happen your way or no way, and put that on there. There's also the candles. I love this. We talked about God's forgiveness and that God is a light to our path, a lamp unto our feet. And maybe it's you just want to say, Lord, I want to pray, show me a step. I've given up. I haven't told anybody about it. I've given up on this. Show me a step to take. Or maybe it's like I did today, and just say, God, continue to refine me. If I need to go down that ladder to be ready for whatever it is you have, so be it. But Lord, I'm gonna just, I'm gonna be excellent today at whatever it is you have. So, Lord, refine me. Or maybe it's guide me. And the Holy Spirit is oftentimes shown as a flame. Just say, God, fill me afresh and new, whatever that is. Take that opportunity. Take that opportunity with these elements wherever you are. I'm gonna pray, and then we're just gonna play instrumentally while we have time to tangibly connect with God this morning and those realizations. If you would go ahead and stand up with me. And Ben's gonna play it for just a few minutes and then we'll close in a song. But Father, I thank you so much for this incredible story. And Lord, I've seen part of it in my life. I've seen so many of these pieces, and I've seen where I fall short so many times, and yet you never give up on me. So, Father, I pray for every single individual here today that maybe had a dream or a vision and really sensed that was from you, Lord, and maybe it was something that we did to mess it up, or maybe it just never happened. Lord, that we would give that to you, that we would come to a cross and say, Lord, the best I can say is if you still have that, if you still have a purpose for me, then I I trust you. Or maybe it's lighting that candle and just saying, Lord, refine me. Light that fire, fill me with your spirit, guide my path, whatever it is, Lord, I pray that this time would just be one where we can connect with you and you can individually stir our hearts once again. And it is only through the precious gift of Jesus and the power of your spirit we ask to fall here now. Move as you see fit in Christ's precious name, amen.