June 30, 2026 • 50 mins
Half of Americans struggle to fall asleep at night—and the culprit usually isn't caffeine or screens. It's worry.
In this episode, Greg Laurie opens up the Bible's answer to anxious thoughts that keep you awake. You'll learn why prayer is your secret weapon, how to cast your cares the way Scripture actually means it, and what Romans 8:28 is really saying (and what it isn't).
What we cover:
• Why becoming a Christian doesn't end your problems—but gives you a new way to face them
• King Jehoshaphat's honest prayer when he was outnumbered and out of options
• The conditioned reflex of "Don't panic, pray. Don't worry, worship."
• Why God's timing isn't indifference—it's wisdom
• The story of Joseph and how good can come despite genuinely bad things
• What can actually block your prayers
Greg also shares personal stories—praying years for his mother's salvation, losing his son Christopher, and trusting God when life doesn't tie up neatly.
If worry has been stealing your sleep, this conversation is for you.
Subscribe for new episodes every week.
Timestamps
00:35 Why half of Americans can't sleep
02:18 Christianity isn't the end of problems
03:24 Jehoshaphat's hopeless army
04:32 What "cast your cares" really means
07:13 Don't panic, pray — the conditioned reflex
09:18 Listen to sermons as you fall asleep
11:00 Worship before you petition
14:38 God's timing vs. your timing
15:39 Praying years for my mom's salvation
18:36 The persistent widow and the unjust judge
20:33 Romans 8:28 — what it does NOT mean
24:05 Losing my son Christopher
26:24 Joseph: bad thing, good thing, repeat
31:00 "You meant it for harm, God meant it for good"
33:43 The girl with the Volkswagen van
36:34 What blocks your prayers
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:08):
Life audio.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Prayer is not informing God of something he doesn't know.
Prayer is inviting God into something you can't handle. God
doesn't need your update. He already knows.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
Question.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Do you have a hard time getting to sleep at night?
Want you to know you're not alone? Did you know
that over half of all Americans have a hard time
getting to sleep at night? And by the way, that's
not due to coffee or even screens. You know what
causes it? Worry Studies consistently point to worry about finances,
(00:54):
family concerns, health worries, work, stress, and the list goes on.
Many even worry about the state of the world. A
recent survey found forty seven percent of America can describe
themselves as being in a constant state of worry, with
young adults reporting even higher levels. So listen, I think
(01:15):
I can help you with this. And the answer to
your worries are worries is found in a book that's
thousands of years old. If you know what, you probably
have a copy of this book somewhere in your house.
Can you guess what book it is? Of course, I'm
talking about the Bible. The Bible is the autobiography of God.
(01:37):
The Bible is well the user's manual of life. Everything
you need to know about life is found in the Bible.
Everything that you need to know about God is found
in the Bible. And everything you need to know about
combating your worry and anxiety is also found in the Bible.
(01:58):
So let's just start with them. Talk about prayer. Prayer
is communicating with God, and that's where it all begins,
because in prayer, I can trade my worry for worship,
and I can trade my panic for praise. Now, after
we talk about that for a few moments, I want
to land on one of the most quoted, and I
(02:20):
would argue most misunderstood versus and all of the Bible.
It's Romans eight twenty eight. In case you don't know it,
Romans A twenty eight says, and we know that all
things work together for good to those that love God
another call according to his purpose. So before we dive
into that verse, let's talk about something that's just foundational,
(02:42):
back to the topic of prayer and what God says.
These two topics, prayer and Romans A twenty eight are
closely tied together in the Bible. What I'm about to
share with you is something the devil doesn't want you
to know. Don't you want to know what the devil
doesn't want you to know? Here's what Satan does want
(03:06):
you to be aware of. He doesn't want you to
know about the power of prayer. Why because prayer is
a Christian's secret weapon. Prayer can change circumstances, prayer can
change other people. Prayer, most importantly, can change you. This
might come as a surprise to you, but becoming a
(03:26):
Christian does not mean the end of your problems. The
Christian life is not a playground. It's actually a battleground.
I know sometimes we may think that once we become Christians,
all of our problems are gone, but that is not
what the Bible teaches.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
Well.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
Becoming a Christian means is that you now have a
powerful asset in dealing with your problems, and that asset
is called prayer.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
Think about it this way.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
Many of us are carrying burdens. God never intended for
us to carry worry, fear, anxiety, guilt, shame, regret, and
prayer is God's personal invitation to trend for those burdens
from our shoulders to his. Now, I want to tell
you a story from the Bible that illustrates us about
(04:13):
a king. And his name was Jojoseph Fat. By the way,
he started using those impagants, changes name briefly to Jojoseph Thin,
but that's another story anyway. Jehoseph Fat was the King
of Judah. He was facing a crisis that, by any
military calculation, was completely hopeless. A massive army, actually a
(04:34):
coalition of armies, was marching against him. Poor King Jojoseph
Fat was outnumbered, out gunned, and out of options.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
So what did he do?
Speaker 2 (04:44):
He pulled out the Christian secret weapon. King Jojoseph Fat
prayed because he believed deeply that God cared about what
he was facing. And that is the foundation of any
meaningful prayer life. Understand this, God cares about what you
are dealing with right now. I mean that makes all
(05:04):
the difference of the world. God cares, Jesus has compassion
on you and what you're facing at this moment. And
the apostle Peter tells us to do with our anxieties
and our cares. He says in one Peter five seven,
cast all your cares upon him, for he cares for you.
Now that word cast is important, So let me unpack
(05:27):
it for a moment, because it's not just a casual
cast has in tossing something like throwing a piece of
traction to garbage can as you walk by. The actual
Greek word that Peter uses here, for cast, describes a definite,
intentional act of the will. In other words, it's the
kind of word you'd use to describe throwing something with purpose,
(05:49):
deliberately throwing something with the full intention of letting it
go and not picking it up again. Okay, So applying
it to worry and anxiety, it means stop worrying about
whatever you're facing, Stop precursing it in your mind at
two o'clock in the morning, stop trying to manage it yourself,
(06:11):
stop trying to assume the weight of it, and cast
it on Jesus. And the verse continues on casting all
your care upon Him, for he cares for you. In
the original language, the word us there for care means
that God is.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
Mindful of you.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
He actively is attentive to what you're facing, what is
your concern. So, in other words, if it matters to you,
it matters to him. My friend Max Locato put it
this way, and I quote, God is not a harried
supervisor who gives you thirty seconds of his attention that
moves on. You are the only person in the universe
(06:52):
he is thinking about right now, end quote. Right now
God is concerned with what you're facing. He's listening to
what you are saying to him in prayer. God is
thinking about you.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
You know.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
I love that verse Jeremiah twenty nine eleven where God says,
I know the thoughts that I think towards you, says
the Lord. You know, if that first said God speaking,
I know the singular thought I had for a fleeting
moment about you, says the Lord, that would be enough
for me. But that's not what it says. I know
the thoughts that I think toward you. Notice it's personal,
(07:28):
not toward all y'all, but toward you. I know the
thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts
of peace and out of evil, to give you a
future and a hope. The thoughts of God are not
divided among seven billion people. His attention is fully, completely
and personally on you. So listen to this.
Speaker 1 (07:51):
When you pray.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
You're not interrupting God, You're not pulling them away from
something more important. You're not one number in a long line.
His attention is fully on you. So the apostle Paul
amplifies this and this very familiar statement from Philippians three.
Don't worry about anything, Pray about everything, and the peace
(08:14):
of God that passes all human understanding, will guard your
heart and mind.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
In Christ Jesus.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
Think of this as a conditioned reflex and contrast it
to a natural reflex. If you touch a hot stuff,
even if you're a small child, you'll pull your hand back.
That is a natural reflex. A condition reflex is when
you teach yourself to do something. As an example, remember
when you first started driving and you had to consciously
(08:43):
think about everything. If you at a standard transmission, putting
the clutch in, putting the car into gear, or oh no,
I have to turn my signal on, or I have
to look over my shoulder because I'm changing lengths. You
thought about it, but then after you drive for a while,
it's no longer conditioned reflex. They become natural reflexes you
do without thinking about it. Or like when we sing
(09:05):
the national anthem, we stand, we put our hand over
our heart. These are condition reflexes we've taught ourselves to
do it. So when worrying anxiety comes, you develop this
reflex don't panic, pray, don't worry. Worship again, don't worry
about anything, Pray about everything. And then this promise and
(09:27):
the peace of God that passes all human understanding will
guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus. The word
that Paul uses there for God is interesting. It's a
describing a Roman sentry, a Roman guard standing at the
door of your heart and not letting anxiety and worry in. Sergeant,
(09:48):
Peace is guarding you because you've turned your anxiety into prayer.
Then remind yourself of this simple fact. God is in
control in your life as a Christian. God is sovereign
right someone O three vers nineteen says God has established
his throne in heaven and his kingdom rules overall. So look,
(10:12):
whatever is happening to you right now, God has either
allowed it or he's done it. Think about that, for
a moment he's allowed it or done it. He may
have outright done it for some purpose you don't know
about yet that will be revealed in time where He's
allowed it for some purpose. So you're not facing something
that God is unaware of. But come back to this
(10:34):
God cares about what you're going through, and he isn't
going to take you beyond your breaking point. First Corinthian
Instant thirteen, one of my favorite verses, says, there is
no temptation or testing that you're facing that is not
common to man. But God, who is faithful, will not
allow you to be tested above but you are able.
(10:55):
But will with that temptation or test make a way
of escape that you may be able to bear it.
You might feel right now, I can't go on another day.
This is too much for me. It's going to destroy me.
Listen to this. God's aware of what you can handle.
God's aware of how long you can go with this
challenge you're facing. So just keep praying about it. So
(11:16):
back to going to sleep at night, when you lay
your kid on the pillow, remind yourself the things that
you need to remember. Remind yourself. God is in control
of my life. God loves me. God is going to
work all things together for good because I love him.
Another helpful tip is you might just listen to some
(11:38):
great podcasts as you're drifting off to sleep. Instead of
looking at the television set, listen to a message from
Chuck Smith or Chuck swynd Dollar or Charles Stanley, all
guys with the name of Charles. Maybe there's something to that.
Or listen to yours truly if you like. But you
know you listen to a podcast. Well, a word of
(11:59):
God is being taught and it just sort of readjust
your thinking and put your mind on the scripture. That's
what it means, as Colachians three tells us to set
our mind on things above. So let's go back to
old King Jojoseph Fat in his dilemma and actually look
at the prayer that he prayed. Remember, he's facing a
(12:21):
huge group of armies set out to destroy him. So
Jojoseph Fat gathers all of Juda together, he tells everyone
to fast, and he prays one of the most honest
prayers in the entire Bible. This is what King Jojoseph
Fat prayed. Oh Lord, we're powerless against this mighty army
that's about to attack us. We don't know what to do,
(12:43):
but our eyes are upon you. Don't you love that?
He actually says, Lord, we don't know what to do,
but our eyes are upon you. There's no false confidence,
there's no trying to impress God. With a big theological vocabulary.
It's just raw, honest desperation pointed in the right direction.
(13:04):
Sometimes the most powerful prayer you can pray is the
simplest one.
Speaker 1 (13:08):
God.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
I don't know what I'm gonna do, but I'm looking
to you God. If you don't come through for me,
I'm dead in the water. That's effectively what King Jejoseph
fat pray. Then the Lord directed a prophet to the
king who said, don't be afraid. The Lord says, this
battle is mine, not yours. And the next morning, when
the army of Judah went up to face their enemies,
(13:31):
they found the enemies had turned onto each other in
the night and destroyed themselves. Jojosepha and his men didn't
have to fight a single battle. They just had to
show up and collect the spoils. Now, let's be honest,
not every situation has resolved like that. There are times
we pray about something and seemingly nothing happens. So God
(13:52):
is always at work, perhaps behind the scenes, but there
are times when God will just intervene in a direct
overt way. The Bible does say you have not because
you asked not, So keep praying about whatever you're facing.
But I can't guarantee your problem will be resolved immediately.
But I can tell you this God is aware of
your problem. He cares about your problem. He's not indifferent,
(14:15):
and he is capable of doing what you cannot do
for yourself. You know what Jehoseph had prayed. He didn't
just lay out his problem. He spent time reminding himself
and the people that were joining him in prayer of
who they were talking to. Look at how he opens
this prayer. He says, O, Lord, God of our ancestors,
(14:37):
you alone are the God who is in heaven. You
are the ruler of all the kingdoms of the earth.
You are powerful and mighty. No one can stand against you.
That second Chronicles twenty verse six. Do you see what
he's doing there. He's not just informing God of this situation,
because God's.
Speaker 1 (14:56):
Already aware of it. He's reorienting his own heart.
Speaker 2 (14:59):
He's reminding himself of the size of his God before
he focuses on the the size of his problem. This
is one of the most important things I can tell
you about in prayer. Before you lay out your problem
or your petition before the Lord, if you have the
ability to do so, spend time worshiping God. Remind yourself
(15:23):
of who he is. Remind yourself of his power, of
his faithfulness, remind yourself of his track record, and of
his character. Because here's the thing. When you stare at
your problem long enough, it starts to look enormous, it
can fill your whole field of vision. But when you
spend time in worship first, your problem gets smaller. Now
(15:44):
not technically, but your comprehension of that problem get smaller
because your God has gotten bigger. Not that he's grown larger,
but you're seeing him for who he is. That is
why the Summer says, magnify the Lord with me, let
us exalt his name together a big God. You will
(16:06):
then have a relatively small problem. But if you have
a big problem, my question to you is, as you
God too small or the way you see him. This
is modeled in what we call the Lord's prayer, which
isn't just a prayer to pray, it's a template for
all prayer. It's what prayer should look like. You know,
if you've ever bought a home, you know that they'll
(16:27):
have model homes you can look at and you walk
through them. And these are like examples of it. Your home,
which probably is just dirt right now, will look like
one day. And they have pictures of people that don't
exist and furniture, and it's a model. It's an example.
This is what your home can look like. And so
the Lord's prayer is a model. This is what your
(16:47):
prayer should look like. So it's okay to pray the
Lord's prayer, repeat him, but it's also a great thing
to realize that it's a model for all prayers. So
what does Jesus teach us in the Lord's Prayer? He says,
after this manner, therefore you should pray, who are in heaven,
Hallow would be your name, your kingdom. Come, Your will
(17:10):
be done on earth as it is in heaven. And
then the petition comes, give us this stay our daily bread.
There's absolutely nothing wrong with asking God to give you
your daily bread. But notice that it begins with our
father word in heaven. Hollow would be your name, your kingdom. Come,
your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
In other words, God, you're awesome, You're powerful. I want
(17:33):
your rule and ren in my life. Now let me
come to my personal needs. That's a good way to
begin your prayers, because prayer is not informing God of
something he doesn't know. Prayer is inviting God into something
you can't handle. Let me repeat that again for emphasis.
Prayer is not informing God of something he doesn't know.
(17:56):
Prayer is inviting God into something you can't handle. God
doesn't need your update. He already knows this design. Prayer
is the mechanism, if you will, by which we bring
Him into our situation.
Speaker 1 (18:11):
Not for his sake, but for ours.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
There's something amazing that happens when we pray, something that
shifts in our heart, burdens suddenly, lift, perspective returns. Peace
comes as well. Again, the Bible calls it the peace
that passes all human understanding. Scripture reminds us you will
(18:35):
keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on
you because.
Speaker 1 (18:39):
He trusts in you.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
See, this piece does not necessarily come because your circumstances
have changed, but it comes because you place your problems
of someone who is bigger than you. That's what we
call it, the peace that passes all understanding. Then there's
a matter of timing in prayer. God does not always
(19:02):
move as quickly as we would like him to. In fact,
most of the time. We wanted the answer yesterday. We
want the healing now, we want the relationship restored this week,
we want the financial pressure to lift immediately. And God says, hey,
I make all things beautiful in my time, not your time,
(19:23):
not my time.
Speaker 1 (19:25):
His time.
Speaker 2 (19:26):
And honestly, this takes time to learn. There are things
that I prayed about for years, even decades, and then
the Lord finally answered that prayer. As an example, my
mother's salvation. My mom was raised in a very strong
Christian home, and if you saw the Jesus Revolution movie,
you saw that she was away from God, and she
(19:48):
was an alcoholic and was married in divorced seven times,
and on it went. And so after I became a Christian,
I wanted to reach my mom, and she didn't seem
all that thrilled about me coming to Christ. Quite honestly,
she did not raise me in a Christian home. But
in a funny way, my mother engaged in her form
of pre evangelism. Let me explain, by living her life
(20:13):
and by me, as a young person, seeing the emptiness
of her life, I knew I did not want that
life for myself. So where a lot of times you
see people raising Christians homes, rebelling against it and walking
away from God. I was raised in the opposite of
a Christian home, and I rebelled against it, and I
went searching for God. Don't get me wrong, I'm not
(20:34):
encouraging you to raise kids in a horrible, dysfunctional, alcoholic
homb What I'm saying is God can work despite what
hand we're dealt in life, if you will. But I
prayed for her for years and years, and I said,
is my mom ever going to come to the Lord?
So now she's reached the age of seventy. Sadly, her
(20:55):
lifestyle had taken its toll on her. She was once
an incredibly beautiful woman, but drinking and smoking every single
day aged chur and all. Also, it caused her a
lot of medical issues. She was getting dialysis three times
a week. And then I kept praying for my mom
to come to Christ. And one day I was driving
(21:15):
the church and the Lord spoke to me as clear
as day. He said, go talk to your mother. Understand
this was an awkward situation because whenever I would talk
with her about spiritual things, she immediately changed the subject
and her go to line.
Speaker 1 (21:29):
Was I don't want to talk about it. I don't
want to talk about it.
Speaker 2 (21:33):
So the Lord directs me to go to her home
in the middle of the afternoon, and she's sitting there
at her kitchen table. She says, Greg, what are you
doing here. I want to talk to you.
Speaker 1 (21:42):
Mom.
Speaker 2 (21:43):
What what do you want to talk about? I said,
I want to talk to you about your soul. She said,
I don't want to talk about it. And I said, today,
we're going to talk about it. And we did. And
the result of that conversation was my mother made a
commitment to Christ, but it took forever. So what I'm
telling you is, don't give up on your loved ones
that you're praying for. Don't give up in that prodigal
(22:06):
son or daughter, or that prodigal mother or father. Don't
give up praying for that healing. Don't give up praying
for that door of ministry to open. Don't give up
on whatever it is you're praying about. Jesus said, asking
it shall be given, seeking he shall find.
Speaker 1 (22:23):
Knocking, the door shall be open.
Speaker 2 (22:25):
And in the original language, there's an ascending intensity in
those verbs, so it's like ask, seek knock. So first
I'm asking, maybe politely, then I'm seeking desperately. Now I'm knocking,
I'm pounding on the door.
Speaker 1 (22:40):
Lord. I'm not going to take no for an answer.
Speaker 2 (22:42):
Now, of course, God can answer your prayers as he chooses.
But I believe when you're praying for the salvation of someone,
you're praying for something that God wants to do. Because
the Bible says God is not willing that any should perish,
but that all should come.
Speaker 1 (22:59):
To repent it.
Speaker 2 (22:59):
So keep praying and be patient on the timing of
the Lord. Isaiah forty thirty one says, they that wait
upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount
up with wings as eagles. They shall run and up
be wary. They shall walk and not faint. So keep
waiting on the Lord. By the way, his timing is
not a sign of his indifference. His timing is a
(23:23):
sign of his wisdom. And my job is to keep
trusting well, like keep waiting. So Jesus told an interesting
story Luke chapter eighteen. And the reason he told this
story he is stated up front. The Bible says he
told his story to show his disciples that we should
always pray and never give up. So here's the story.
(23:43):
There's a judge in a certain city. This judge was
a corrupt guy. In fact, Luke's Gospel describes him as
he neither feared God nor cared about people. In fact,
the judge himself later said, I don't fear God and
I don't care about people. So he was owning that.
So here's this corrupt, indifferent judge. No, in contrast to
(24:04):
him is a widow who has a need. And by
the way, in the ancient world, a widow was among
the most vulnerable people in society. She had no husband
to advocate for her, no one was standing in the
court for her. She did not have an attorney, she
didn't have any money, she didn't have any political connections.
She just had a need and a cause that was just.
(24:27):
And she kept coming to this corrupt judge day after day, saying,
give me justice against my adversary. And this judge is
kept refusing her, blowing her off, didn't answer her. But
she wouldn't give up. She was relentless, she was persistent.
Finally she wore the judge down. The judge literally said, look,
(24:49):
I don't care about people and I don't care about justice,
but this woman is driving me crazy. And in the
original language, it can be translated she's leaving me black
and blue. Now, I don't know if that is speaking
symbolically that she was verbally houstling him, or if it
means she literally I don't know. It was kind of
shaking him a little bit, but she was freaking him
(25:09):
out a little bit. In fact, her nymu's Karen, you
may not know that.
Speaker 1 (25:12):
No, kidding, not really.
Speaker 2 (25:13):
But anyway, finally this judge just gave in. Okay, fine,
I'm tired of you bothering me. I'll give you what
you asked for. Now we're thinking, wait, what kind of
an illustration is that? Is God like a corrupt judge
that is indifferent toward us and we need to just
berate him until he finally capitulates and gives us what
(25:34):
we pray for. No, it's the opposite of that. God
is not like the unjust judge who doesn't care about people.
God is the just judge. God is the loving judge
who cares about you. So the point is God is
not like this corrupt judge, but he's your loving, heavenly
(25:55):
father who will respond to you when you call out
to him. So the lesson of this parable is simple,
but it's profound don't give up, don't stop praying. Don't
let a silence seemingly from heaven convince you that Heaven
isn't listening. Keep praying, keep asking, keep seeking, keep knocking. Okay, now,
(26:17):
let's talk about that first that I referenced earlier, that
beautiful verse, that powerful verse, Romans eight twenty eight. Let
me say it again, and by the way, every Christian
should commit this verse to memory.
Speaker 1 (26:32):
Here it is, and.
Speaker 2 (26:33):
We know that all things work together for good to
those who love God, to those who are the called
according to His purpose. Now, before we go any further
on this verse, let me address what the verse is
not saying, because I often heard Romans eight twenty eight
misquoted and misapplied people. You know, we have all these
(26:55):
scenes that we use to motivate people, or maybe in
our minds, to encourage them. We'll say things like, you know,
when life gives you lemons, make lemons, give me a break.
Who came up with that? That's not Romans eight twenty eight.
That's just a trite saying. Or someone might say, well,
everything happens for a reason. Well that's not entirely true either.
(27:18):
Bad things happen that honestly are completely inexplicable. There isn't
always a tidy reason behind every tragedy. Or another might say, well,
when the going gets tough, the tough get going, brother,
give me a break. Here's my favorite. Well, there's always
someone worself than you. Is that supposed to comfort me?
(27:39):
There's also a lot of people that are a lot
better off than me. So what does Romans eight twenty
eight mean? Does Romans eight twenty eight mean that whatever
happens in your life, if it's a bad thing, God
will turn it into a good thing. The answer to
that is no, that's not what it's saying again, Romans
a twenty eight, and we know that all things work
(28:02):
together for good to those that love God another call
according to his purpose. This is not saying that all
things are good. It's not saying that bad things won't.
Speaker 1 (28:13):
Happen to you. Here's what it's saying that.
Speaker 2 (28:15):
God, the sovereign, all knowing, all powerful, loving creator of
the universe, is at work in all things, and he's
working him toward a good end. It's for those who
love Him, who are the called according to his purpose.
In other words, Romans eight twenty eight isn't for everyone
(28:35):
it's for the believer. Again, we know that all things
work together for good to those who love God. Now,
the called according to His purpose Romans eight twenty eight
is not some kind of a cosmic guarantee that the
universe is friendly and everything will work out eventually. No,
it's a specific personal promise from God to his children. Now,
(28:57):
Notice how the verse begins. The apostle Paul says, we know.
He doesn't start with well, we hope, or we suppose,
or we wish. No, we know, But how can we
know that? Look ad verse thirty two. That obviously follows
verse twenty eight, which says he who did not spare
his own son, but gave him up for us all,
(29:20):
how will he not also, along with him, freely give
us all things. The argument goes as follow us, If
God was willing to give up his own son for you,
for me, for us, the most costly gift imaginable, the
greatest sacrifice possible, do you really think He's going to
(29:40):
hold out on you in some lesser matter? If he
gave you the greatest thing, can't you trust him with
everything else? When I begin to doubt the love of God,
In other words, when circumstances are hard. I find myself
wondering if things really are working for good. I take
a long look at the cross, and I see Jesus
(30:00):
Christ hanging there bearing my sin, dying for me. That
vantage point I can say with Paul, we know you
know there are certain things we all know. Heard a
story about a woman who walked into a pet store
to buy food for her cat, and there was a
parrot perched in the front of the store, and as
she walked in, the parrot said to her, you know
(30:23):
you are the ugliest woman I've ever seen. She was outraged,
so offended she demanded that the owner of the shop
come out, and he came from his back room. She said,
that bird insulted me. No under said, what did he say?
He said to me, you know you are the ugliest
woman he's ever seen. The man said, let me take
care of it. He took the bird in the back room,
(30:45):
slapped her around a little bit, feathers slain everywhere, told
the bird to never say that to the woman again.
He put the bird back on its perch in the
front of the store, and as she was leaving the
store with her cat food, the parrot called out hey, you,
And she turned in. She said what, and he said,
you know there are things we know. We know that
(31:06):
all things work together for good to those who love God.
Now here's something important. This verse does not say that
all things are inherently good.
Speaker 1 (31:16):
It does not even.
Speaker 2 (31:17):
Say that bad things will necessarily become good things in
and of themselves, because, frankly, there are some things in
this world that are bad, horribly bad, and they'll never
stop being bad. Like when a marriage falls apart, that's bad.
When a diagnosis comes back, can you find out you
have cancer?
Speaker 1 (31:37):
That is bad?
Speaker 2 (31:39):
When a child dies that is unimaginably bad, and it
will never be good ever. But what the versus saying
is that God is able to bring good despite those things.
Not necessarily that he'll make a bad thing a good thing,
though he does do that in certain occasions, but rather
(32:00):
despite the bad thing that will always remain a bad thing,
God can then bring a good thing. Why because God
is more powerful than any evil that touches our lives.
Someone in nineteen ninety one says, all things are your servants.
Back to that statement, we know that all things work
(32:20):
together for good, all things, not some things, not just
the pleasant things all things, even the painful things, are
ultimately in service to God, if you will. Ephesians one
to eleven says that all things are done according to
God's plan and decision. So here's what we need to know.
Speaker 1 (32:39):
There are no.
Speaker 2 (32:40):
Accidents in the life of a Christian. As Christians, we
don't believe in dumb luck. We believe in God's guidance.
We don't believe in mere coincidence. We believe in providence.
Let me illustrate now. Our son Christopher went to be
with the Lord in a tragic automobile accident eighteen years ago.
(33:03):
He was only thirty three years old. When I heard
the news, it was the worst moment of my life.
I was devastated. That was an unimaginably bad thing, and
there is nothing that has happened since then that will
ever make it a good thing. So I have to
see that it's just a bad thing in my life.
But despite that really bad thing, have I seen good
(33:27):
things happen in my life?
Speaker 1 (33:29):
Yes? I have.
Speaker 2 (33:30):
Have I changed as a result of it? I certainly
have have I grown more homesick for Heaven? Absolutely? Did
it cause me to want to redouble my efforts to
preach the gospel without question. Did it cause me to
want to take some bold steps of faith and do
things I would have never even considered previously. The answer
(33:53):
to that is yes as well. So my point is,
despite a really bad thing, God has brought some good
things as well. Why because we know that all things
work together for good loved God. Now they called according
to his purpose. Let me illustrate. I want to show
you how disappointment can become an appointment from God. So
(34:15):
I read the story. But a man who was out
swimming in the ocean and he was attacked by a
great white shark. So he was rushed to the hospital,
and during the examination and surgery, doctors discovered that this
man had cancer. In fact, he had a tumor that
had not yet spread, but because they caught it early,
(34:37):
they were able to remove it completely. And the men
later said he was, believe it or not, thankful this
shark attacked him, because otherwise his cancer might have never
been discovered. Now, they wanted to give the shark an
a word, but he was unavailable. He was out looking
for other people to bite. That's another story. So I'm
(34:57):
not saying the shark attack was a good thing. That's
a horrible thing. But I'm saying, despite this bad thing,
a good thing came, a really good thing. Why because
we know that all things can work together for good.
So here's the ultimate illustration of this verse, and it's
found in the Old Testament story of Joseph. You know,
(35:18):
it's interesting to note that the Bible says virtually nothing
critical about Joseph. I mean, look, if he did anything wrong,
maybe he was guilty of, you know, rotting out his brothers,
and maybe he shouldn't have, you know, trotted around in
his beautiful robe that his father made for him in
front of his brothers. Of those other worst things he did,
(35:39):
they're pretty minor. But nothing really negative is said about Joseph.
Speaker 1 (35:43):
But here's what we know.
Speaker 2 (35:45):
He was the favorite son of Jacob, and as I mentioned,
he was given a special coad. So Joseph had these
god given dreams about his future. So maybe he was
a little overly enthusiastic in telling his brothers about those dreams,
which basically presented him as a man of great power
(36:05):
and now he had submission to him. Probably should have
not said that. Sometimes it's best to keep your dreams
to yourself and see.
Speaker 1 (36:13):
If they're from the lord.
Speaker 2 (36:14):
They'll really happen, of course, But whatever it was, his
brothers grew very angry with him. They grew resentful of him.
They were so jealous of the attention the father showed
toward their brother. So one day they decided to kill him.
A little extreme, I would say, yeah, let's just kill him.
But then they noticed some slave traders are passing by
(36:36):
on their way to Egypt, and one brother said, well,
why don't we just sell him to the slave traders instead.
That's what they did. They sold their brother to slave traders,
and then torrip is beautiful robe of many colors, covered
in in animal blood, and said, hey, Dad, sorry, your
beloved son got killed, and it broke Jacob's heart. Meanwhile,
(36:58):
here's Joseph. He's a slave, and he sold to a
man named Potiphar. Now Potiphar was basically the head of
Pharaoh's security forces. He ran the secret service detail for
the Pharaoh, if you will, and so he put Joseph
to work. And Joseph was so diligent, so honest, so
(37:18):
hard working, that before you knew it, he was running
Potiphar's estate. So we might say, okay, now this isn't
so bad. He's sold by his brothers to slave tratters.
That's a bad thing. But now he's in charge of
this guys, this date and living a fairly good life.
That's a good thing. But the story is not over.
Potiphar had a wife. Her name was Missus Robinson. No
(37:41):
wrong story, that's the Graduate. But she was like Missus
Robinson in The Graduate. If you saw the movie, which
is the story of an older woman seducing a younger man.
This older woman Missus Cougar. No, she's not Missus Couger,
she's Missus Potiphar comes to Joseph and basically says to him,
(38:01):
I want you to have sex with me. He refuses her,
comes again, says it again. And the fact is she
was probably a very attractive woman. So one day she
has all of the servants leave, she's alone with Joseph
and she pulls him down on the bed, saying, have
sexual relations with me. And he did what any clear thinking,
(38:23):
red blooded young man should do under such circumstances.
Speaker 1 (38:27):
He ran like crazy.
Speaker 2 (38:29):
Then she falsely accused him of rape and he was
arrested and sent to prison. Okay, now wait a second,
So the bad thing is he's sold by his brothers
into slavery. The good thing is he's running Potiph's or state.
The bad thing is a Potiphar's wife tries to tempt him.
The good thing is he resists her temptation, but then
(38:49):
she accuses him of rape and he's sent to prison.
So here he is now sitting in a jail cell
for doing the right thing, not the wrong thing. He
could have given in to her temptation, but he did not.
He said, how can I do this thing and sin
against God? And he sat in that prison cell for
eleven years.
Speaker 1 (39:10):
That's a long time.
Speaker 2 (39:11):
Eleven years of injustice, eleven years of being forgotten, eleven
years of having done nothing wrong, in suffering everything wrong.
But Joseph did not turn against God. Joseph trusted God.
Joseph prayed, and Joseph waited and then literally overnight, literally overnight,
(39:32):
he went from a prison cell to the second most
powerful position on earth. So what happened is the pharaoh
has this dream. No one can interpret his dream. Well, Joseph,
by the grace of God, has amazing dreams that he
can interpret. So he summoned to the palace. Let me
explain to the people that work for the king were
sent to prison, and we're in the cell with Joseph.
(39:53):
And he said to them, if you ever get out
of here, don't forget your old buddy Joseph, because they
too had dreams that he interpreted. So now the pharaoh
has a dream that he can't figure out. And someone says,
does anyone know what this dream means? And the guy
who was in the prisons of what Joseph said, Hey,
your majesty, I remember this dude I met in a
(40:14):
prison cell and he can interpret dreams. And pharaoh said,
bring him up here. So enter Joseph. He probably had
long a long beard and long hair, and he was
all scruffy. So they clean him up. They shaved his hair,
they put on that little Egyptian eyeliner so he could
walk like an Egyptian. And he goes into the court pharaoh.
(40:34):
The pharaoh tells him his dream. Joseph says, yea, I
know what that dream means, because God gave him the interpretation.
And Joseph interpreted the dream of the pharaoh and was
made the second most powerful man in the entire nation. Okay,
let's put it all together. So good thing. He's favored
by his father. Bad thing, resented by his brothers and
(40:56):
sold into slavery. Good thing, hired by Potterphard to run
his estate.
Speaker 1 (41:01):
Bad thing. Potiphar's wife is hitting on him.
Speaker 2 (41:04):
Good thing. He resists her advance. This bad thing he
sent to prison for eleven years. Good Thing. In prison,
he meets someone that works of the Pharaoh. That gets
him into the Pharaoh's court and he interprets the dream
and now he is in a position of power. Now
let's see how this all comes together. This is the
best part of the story. So the brothers of Joseph
(41:27):
show up. This is years after they sold him into slavery.
For all they knew he was dead. And so they're
brought into this room and they're standing before their brother Joseph.
They didn't recognize him, and a femine had hit the
land because Joseph had predicted, I inspired by God, the
famine was coming to Egypt, and they had stored up
(41:49):
a grain supply to prepare for the lean years, and
he was in charge of running it. So here are
the brothers of Joseph in front of them. And this
could have been the ultimate payback move. This could have
been the greatest revenge movie you've ever seen. He could
have pulled off a full Liam Nissen moment, Remember the
(42:09):
movie Taken, and somebody kidnaps his daughter and he calls
him up and he says, I have a very particular
set of skills, skills I've acquired over a very long career,
skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. Yeah,
Joseph could have said that to his brothers had them
all put to death, but that's not what he did.
(42:30):
In fact, what he did illustrates Romans eight twenty eight
so perfectly. The first thing that happened is Joseph looked
at his brothers and he.
Speaker 1 (42:38):
Began to weep. They're probably thinking, what on earth is
going on?
Speaker 2 (42:41):
Who is this guy? Why is he crying? Does this
mean we're in trouble? Then he revealed himself. He said,
I am Joseph, whom you betray. Can you imagine that
I am Joseph. That must have reverberated I am Joseph something.
They thought, we are dead, dead, dead dead.
Speaker 1 (43:01):
But here's what he said.
Speaker 2 (43:03):
You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good,
to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of
many lives. There it is Romans eight twenty eight. You
meant to harmony. God intended it for good. Joseph lived
Romans eight twenty eight before it was written, because the
God of Romans eight twenty eight is the same God
(43:25):
who was with Joseph in the pit, in the slave market,
and pot of our house in the prison cell, and
then on the throne, and thousands, maybe even millions of
people lived because Joseph endured eleven years of suffering and
trusted God through all of it. So listen, I don't
know what you're going through right now, but your story
(43:46):
is not over. Whatever pict're in right now, God knows
where you are, and He has.
Speaker 1 (43:51):
Not forgotten about you.
Speaker 2 (43:54):
Now, let's pull the camera back and look at Romans
eight twenty eight, and then what follows. We know that
all things work together for good to those who love
God another called according to his purpose. Then verse twenty nine,
for whom he did for no, he also did predestined
to be conformed into the image of his own dear son.
Speaker 1 (44:14):
So here's a big picture.
Speaker 2 (44:16):
We think that whatever happens in life should always have
a tidy, little ending. All the loose ends are tied up,
everything works out and sometimes, honestly, things.
Speaker 1 (44:27):
Do work that way.
Speaker 2 (44:28):
There are things that maybe God said no to that
you prayed about early in life, and then later in
life you look back and you say, Lord, thank you
for not answering that prayer. In the affirmative, there was
a girl that I don't know if I fell in
love with her, but she was a very sweet Christian
girl and a very godly woman, and she had a
Volkswagen van and she let me borrow it. When I
(44:50):
was starting my ministry, I had this beat up old
corvet Corvette Corvert. That's the car that had the engine
in the back and was made out of aluminum foil.
Speaker 1 (45:00):
Not literally, but it seemed like it. Anyway.
Speaker 2 (45:02):
This Corvet was always breaking down as a driving from
Orange County to Riverside, where our church was beginning, And
so I asked this girl, could I borrow your van?
And she let me borrow it, and I thought the
school's amazing. So one day I said, Hey, would you
like to go out to dinner with me? Sometimes she
said no, Oh, well maybe some other thing we can
(45:23):
do together.
Speaker 1 (45:24):
No.
Speaker 2 (45:24):
Wow, So she wasn't interested in me at all. And
then I had the audacity to say, can I still
borrow your van. She said, yes, what an amazing girl.
So I borrowed her van a few more times. And
here's the point I'm making. If I thought that was
a girl I was supposed to end up marrying, God
said no to that. But that's because he had the
girl picked out for me that was going to marry
(45:46):
me named Kathy.
Speaker 1 (45:47):
See.
Speaker 2 (45:48):
So sometimes God says no, he closes a door, but
he's going to open another. Okay, let's come back to
Romans eight twenty nine. The big picture of your life
is that you become more like Jesus. Heaven is a
prepared place for prepared people. Remember, Jesus says, I go
to prepare a place for you.
Speaker 1 (46:09):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (46:10):
Romans eight twenty eight. God causes all things that work
together for good to those who love God. Now they
called according to us purpose for whom He for you.
He also did protestint to be conformed into the image
of his.
Speaker 1 (46:21):
Own dear son. Here's the ont in lying.
Speaker 2 (46:24):
God's endgame for you and his endgame for me is
to make us more like Jesus, to be conformed into
the image of his own dear son again, to prepare
us for heaven. So there are things that happen to
us in life that are inexplicable, things that never make sense.
But I believe one day, when we get to heaven,
(46:47):
all of those questions will be answered and we'll see
God's ultimate plan. But I do also think there are
things in your life that are bad at the moment
that will in time become good. And I also think
there are things that are bad that will always be bad.
But despite those really bad things, God will bring about good.
(47:07):
Here's the bottom line. God's aware of what you're going through.
God's in control of your life. Listen to this. The
word oops is not in God's vocabulary. Let me close
with this thought. These beautiful promises we've been talking about
together are only for the child of God. If you're
not a believer in Jesus Christ. In other words, if
(47:28):
you haven't asked God to forgive you of your sin,
and if you've not put your faith in Christ, you
cannot say, oh, well, this will work together for good, because.
Speaker 1 (47:37):
Good chance it won't at all.
Speaker 2 (47:39):
God is not directing your life because you have not
asked him to, but he wants to you. See, God
loves you and as a plan for your life, and
he wants to show you that plan when you ask
him to come into your life. And I want to
ask you, have you done that yet? Have you prayed
and asked Jesus Christ to come into your life to
(48:01):
be your savior and Lord. If not, you should do
that so you can enter into this relationship with God.
So you can go through life not alone, but with
the Lord working in you and through you and guiding you,
and best of all, knowing that when this life ends,
and yes it will end, will go immediately into the
(48:22):
presence of God because we put our faith in Christ.
That's the ultimate good that comes in life, because we've
put our faith in Him and we're ready to meet Him. So,
if you've never actually asked Christ to come into your life,
I'd like to close this podcast with a prayer, a
(48:42):
prayer that you can pray after me, A prayer that
we sometimes call the sinner's prayer, which is just an
admission of our sinfulness and our need of Jesus that
I've led people in all around the world.
Speaker 1 (48:55):
Ayer.
Speaker 2 (48:55):
There's no magic in this prayer, but what the prayer
is saying can bring about the greatest change imaginable because
the Bible says whoever will call upon the name of
Life the Lord will be saved.
Speaker 1 (49:07):
So listen.
Speaker 2 (49:07):
If you want your sin forgiven, if you want to
know you'll go to heaven when you die, if you
want to enter into this relationship with God and start
discovering his plan for your life, just pray this prayer
with me. You could pray it out loud if you like,
but pray this prayer. Pray, Lord Jesus. I know I
am a sinner, but I know that you're this savior
(49:31):
who died on the cross for my sin and rose
again from the dead. I repent of my sin, and
I choose to follow you from this moment forward. Thank
you for hearing this prayer and answering this prayer. In Jesus' name,
I pray, Amen. If you just pray that prayer minute,
(49:53):
I want you to know, in the authority of Scripture,
God has heard that prayer. The Bible says, whoever will
call upon the name of the Lord will be saved.
Save from your sin, save from future. You just prayed
that prayer. Christ turned it, and He's coming to your life.
I have something I'd like to send you at no charge.
It's called the New Believer's Bible. This is a special
(50:16):
edition of the New Testament and what is called the
New Living Translation, which means it's just very understandable, and
it has thousands of notes that I wrote that will
encourage you in this commitment you've just made to follow Christ.
I will send you the New Believer's Bible, New Testament
Edition and no charge to help you get started on
(50:39):
the right foot. Get your copy of the New Believer's Bible,
and God bless you. You've made the right decision. And
remember God is in control of your life and whatever
you're going through, He's going to get you through it
and you're going to see ultimate good, so keep trusting him.
Speaker 1 (50:56):
God bless you.
Life audio.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Prayer is not informing God of something he doesn't know.
Prayer is inviting God into something you can't handle. God
doesn't need your update. He already knows.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
Question.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Do you have a hard time getting to sleep at night?
Want you to know you're not alone? Did you know
that over half of all Americans have a hard time
getting to sleep at night? And by the way, that's
not due to coffee or even screens. You know what
causes it? Worry Studies consistently point to worry about finances,
(00:54):
family concerns, health worries, work, stress, and the list goes on.
Many even worry about the state of the world. A
recent survey found forty seven percent of America can describe
themselves as being in a constant state of worry, with
young adults reporting even higher levels. So listen, I think
(01:15):
I can help you with this. And the answer to
your worries are worries is found in a book that's
thousands of years old. If you know what, you probably
have a copy of this book somewhere in your house.
Can you guess what book it is? Of course, I'm
talking about the Bible. The Bible is the autobiography of God.
(01:37):
The Bible is well the user's manual of life. Everything
you need to know about life is found in the Bible.
Everything that you need to know about God is found
in the Bible. And everything you need to know about
combating your worry and anxiety is also found in the Bible.
(01:58):
So let's just start with them. Talk about prayer. Prayer
is communicating with God, and that's where it all begins,
because in prayer, I can trade my worry for worship,
and I can trade my panic for praise. Now, after
we talk about that for a few moments, I want
to land on one of the most quoted, and I
(02:20):
would argue most misunderstood versus and all of the Bible.
It's Romans eight twenty eight. In case you don't know it,
Romans A twenty eight says, and we know that all
things work together for good to those that love God
another call according to his purpose. So before we dive
into that verse, let's talk about something that's just foundational,
(02:42):
back to the topic of prayer and what God says.
These two topics, prayer and Romans A twenty eight are
closely tied together in the Bible. What I'm about to
share with you is something the devil doesn't want you
to know. Don't you want to know what the devil
doesn't want you to know? Here's what Satan does want
(03:06):
you to be aware of. He doesn't want you to
know about the power of prayer. Why because prayer is
a Christian's secret weapon. Prayer can change circumstances, prayer can
change other people. Prayer, most importantly, can change you. This
might come as a surprise to you, but becoming a
(03:26):
Christian does not mean the end of your problems. The
Christian life is not a playground. It's actually a battleground.
I know sometimes we may think that once we become Christians,
all of our problems are gone, but that is not
what the Bible teaches.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
Well.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
Becoming a Christian means is that you now have a
powerful asset in dealing with your problems, and that asset
is called prayer.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
Think about it this way.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
Many of us are carrying burdens. God never intended for
us to carry worry, fear, anxiety, guilt, shame, regret, and
prayer is God's personal invitation to trend for those burdens
from our shoulders to his. Now, I want to tell
you a story from the Bible that illustrates us about
(04:13):
a king. And his name was Jojoseph Fat. By the way,
he started using those impagants, changes name briefly to Jojoseph Thin,
but that's another story anyway. Jehoseph Fat was the King
of Judah. He was facing a crisis that, by any
military calculation, was completely hopeless. A massive army, actually a
(04:34):
coalition of armies, was marching against him. Poor King Jojoseph
Fat was outnumbered, out gunned, and out of options.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
So what did he do?
Speaker 2 (04:44):
He pulled out the Christian secret weapon. King Jojoseph Fat
prayed because he believed deeply that God cared about what
he was facing. And that is the foundation of any
meaningful prayer life. Understand this, God cares about what you
are dealing with right now. I mean that makes all
(05:04):
the difference of the world. God cares, Jesus has compassion
on you and what you're facing at this moment. And
the apostle Peter tells us to do with our anxieties
and our cares. He says in one Peter five seven,
cast all your cares upon him, for he cares for you.
Now that word cast is important, So let me unpack
(05:27):
it for a moment, because it's not just a casual
cast has in tossing something like throwing a piece of
traction to garbage can as you walk by. The actual
Greek word that Peter uses here, for cast, describes a definite,
intentional act of the will. In other words, it's the
kind of word you'd use to describe throwing something with purpose,
(05:49):
deliberately throwing something with the full intention of letting it
go and not picking it up again. Okay, So applying
it to worry and anxiety, it means stop worrying about
whatever you're facing, Stop precursing it in your mind at
two o'clock in the morning, stop trying to manage it yourself,
(06:11):
stop trying to assume the weight of it, and cast
it on Jesus. And the verse continues on casting all
your care upon Him, for he cares for you. In
the original language, the word us there for care means
that God is.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
Mindful of you.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
He actively is attentive to what you're facing, what is
your concern. So, in other words, if it matters to you,
it matters to him. My friend Max Locato put it
this way, and I quote, God is not a harried
supervisor who gives you thirty seconds of his attention that
moves on. You are the only person in the universe
(06:52):
he is thinking about right now, end quote. Right now
God is concerned with what you're facing. He's listening to
what you are saying to him in prayer. God is
thinking about you.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
You know.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
I love that verse Jeremiah twenty nine eleven where God says,
I know the thoughts that I think towards you, says
the Lord. You know, if that first said God speaking,
I know the singular thought I had for a fleeting
moment about you, says the Lord, that would be enough
for me. But that's not what it says. I know
the thoughts that I think toward you. Notice it's personal,
(07:28):
not toward all y'all, but toward you. I know the
thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts
of peace and out of evil, to give you a
future and a hope. The thoughts of God are not
divided among seven billion people. His attention is fully, completely
and personally on you. So listen to this.
Speaker 1 (07:51):
When you pray.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
You're not interrupting God, You're not pulling them away from
something more important. You're not one number in a long line.
His attention is fully on you. So the apostle Paul
amplifies this and this very familiar statement from Philippians three.
Don't worry about anything, Pray about everything, and the peace
(08:14):
of God that passes all human understanding, will guard your
heart and mind.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
In Christ Jesus.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
Think of this as a conditioned reflex and contrast it
to a natural reflex. If you touch a hot stuff,
even if you're a small child, you'll pull your hand back.
That is a natural reflex. A condition reflex is when
you teach yourself to do something. As an example, remember
when you first started driving and you had to consciously
(08:43):
think about everything. If you at a standard transmission, putting
the clutch in, putting the car into gear, or oh no,
I have to turn my signal on, or I have
to look over my shoulder because I'm changing lengths. You
thought about it, but then after you drive for a while,
it's no longer conditioned reflex. They become natural reflexes you
do without thinking about it. Or like when we sing
(09:05):
the national anthem, we stand, we put our hand over
our heart. These are condition reflexes we've taught ourselves to
do it. So when worrying anxiety comes, you develop this
reflex don't panic, pray, don't worry. Worship again, don't worry
about anything, Pray about everything. And then this promise and
(09:27):
the peace of God that passes all human understanding will
guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus. The word
that Paul uses there for God is interesting. It's a
describing a Roman sentry, a Roman guard standing at the
door of your heart and not letting anxiety and worry in. Sergeant,
(09:48):
Peace is guarding you because you've turned your anxiety into prayer.
Then remind yourself of this simple fact. God is in
control in your life as a Christian. God is sovereign
right someone O three vers nineteen says God has established
his throne in heaven and his kingdom rules overall. So look,
(10:12):
whatever is happening to you right now, God has either
allowed it or he's done it. Think about that, for
a moment he's allowed it or done it. He may
have outright done it for some purpose you don't know
about yet that will be revealed in time where He's
allowed it for some purpose. So you're not facing something
that God is unaware of. But come back to this
(10:34):
God cares about what you're going through, and he isn't
going to take you beyond your breaking point. First Corinthian
Instant thirteen, one of my favorite verses, says, there is
no temptation or testing that you're facing that is not
common to man. But God, who is faithful, will not
allow you to be tested above but you are able.
(10:55):
But will with that temptation or test make a way
of escape that you may be able to bear it.
You might feel right now, I can't go on another day.
This is too much for me. It's going to destroy me.
Listen to this. God's aware of what you can handle.
God's aware of how long you can go with this
challenge you're facing. So just keep praying about it. So
(11:16):
back to going to sleep at night, when you lay
your kid on the pillow, remind yourself the things that
you need to remember. Remind yourself. God is in control
of my life. God loves me. God is going to
work all things together for good because I love him.
Another helpful tip is you might just listen to some
(11:38):
great podcasts as you're drifting off to sleep. Instead of
looking at the television set, listen to a message from
Chuck Smith or Chuck swynd Dollar or Charles Stanley, all
guys with the name of Charles. Maybe there's something to that.
Or listen to yours truly if you like. But you
know you listen to a podcast. Well, a word of
(11:59):
God is being taught and it just sort of readjust
your thinking and put your mind on the scripture. That's
what it means, as Colachians three tells us to set
our mind on things above. So let's go back to
old King Jojoseph Fat in his dilemma and actually look
at the prayer that he prayed. Remember, he's facing a
(12:21):
huge group of armies set out to destroy him. So
Jojoseph Fat gathers all of Juda together, he tells everyone
to fast, and he prays one of the most honest
prayers in the entire Bible. This is what King Jojoseph
Fat prayed. Oh Lord, we're powerless against this mighty army
that's about to attack us. We don't know what to do,
(12:43):
but our eyes are upon you. Don't you love that?
He actually says, Lord, we don't know what to do,
but our eyes are upon you. There's no false confidence,
there's no trying to impress God. With a big theological vocabulary.
It's just raw, honest desperation pointed in the right direction.
(13:04):
Sometimes the most powerful prayer you can pray is the
simplest one.
Speaker 1 (13:08):
God.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
I don't know what I'm gonna do, but I'm looking
to you God. If you don't come through for me,
I'm dead in the water. That's effectively what King Jejoseph
fat pray. Then the Lord directed a prophet to the
king who said, don't be afraid. The Lord says, this
battle is mine, not yours. And the next morning, when
the army of Judah went up to face their enemies,
(13:31):
they found the enemies had turned onto each other in
the night and destroyed themselves. Jojosepha and his men didn't
have to fight a single battle. They just had to
show up and collect the spoils. Now, let's be honest,
not every situation has resolved like that. There are times
we pray about something and seemingly nothing happens. So God
(13:52):
is always at work, perhaps behind the scenes, but there
are times when God will just intervene in a direct
overt way. The Bible does say you have not because
you asked not, So keep praying about whatever you're facing.
But I can't guarantee your problem will be resolved immediately.
But I can tell you this God is aware of
your problem. He cares about your problem. He's not indifferent,
(14:15):
and he is capable of doing what you cannot do
for yourself. You know what Jehoseph had prayed. He didn't
just lay out his problem. He spent time reminding himself
and the people that were joining him in prayer of
who they were talking to. Look at how he opens
this prayer. He says, O, Lord, God of our ancestors,
(14:37):
you alone are the God who is in heaven. You
are the ruler of all the kingdoms of the earth.
You are powerful and mighty. No one can stand against you.
That second Chronicles twenty verse six. Do you see what
he's doing there. He's not just informing God of this situation,
because God's.
Speaker 1 (14:56):
Already aware of it. He's reorienting his own heart.
Speaker 2 (14:59):
He's reminding himself of the size of his God before
he focuses on the the size of his problem. This
is one of the most important things I can tell
you about in prayer. Before you lay out your problem
or your petition before the Lord, if you have the
ability to do so, spend time worshiping God. Remind yourself
(15:23):
of who he is. Remind yourself of his power, of
his faithfulness, remind yourself of his track record, and of
his character. Because here's the thing. When you stare at
your problem long enough, it starts to look enormous, it
can fill your whole field of vision. But when you
spend time in worship first, your problem gets smaller. Now
(15:44):
not technically, but your comprehension of that problem get smaller
because your God has gotten bigger. Not that he's grown larger,
but you're seeing him for who he is. That is
why the Summer says, magnify the Lord with me, let
us exalt his name together a big God. You will
(16:06):
then have a relatively small problem. But if you have
a big problem, my question to you is, as you
God too small or the way you see him. This
is modeled in what we call the Lord's prayer, which
isn't just a prayer to pray, it's a template for
all prayer. It's what prayer should look like. You know,
if you've ever bought a home, you know that they'll
(16:27):
have model homes you can look at and you walk
through them. And these are like examples of it. Your home,
which probably is just dirt right now, will look like
one day. And they have pictures of people that don't
exist and furniture, and it's a model. It's an example.
This is what your home can look like. And so
the Lord's prayer is a model. This is what your
(16:47):
prayer should look like. So it's okay to pray the
Lord's prayer, repeat him, but it's also a great thing
to realize that it's a model for all prayers. So
what does Jesus teach us in the Lord's Prayer? He says,
after this manner, therefore you should pray, who are in heaven,
Hallow would be your name, your kingdom. Come, Your will
(17:10):
be done on earth as it is in heaven. And
then the petition comes, give us this stay our daily bread.
There's absolutely nothing wrong with asking God to give you
your daily bread. But notice that it begins with our
father word in heaven. Hollow would be your name, your kingdom. Come,
your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
In other words, God, you're awesome, You're powerful. I want
(17:33):
your rule and ren in my life. Now let me
come to my personal needs. That's a good way to
begin your prayers, because prayer is not informing God of
something he doesn't know. Prayer is inviting God into something
you can't handle. Let me repeat that again for emphasis.
Prayer is not informing God of something he doesn't know.
(17:56):
Prayer is inviting God into something you can't handle. God
doesn't need your update. He already knows this design. Prayer
is the mechanism, if you will, by which we bring
Him into our situation.
Speaker 1 (18:11):
Not for his sake, but for ours.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
There's something amazing that happens when we pray, something that
shifts in our heart, burdens suddenly, lift, perspective returns. Peace
comes as well. Again, the Bible calls it the peace
that passes all human understanding. Scripture reminds us you will
(18:35):
keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on
you because.
Speaker 1 (18:39):
He trusts in you.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
See, this piece does not necessarily come because your circumstances
have changed, but it comes because you place your problems
of someone who is bigger than you. That's what we
call it, the peace that passes all understanding. Then there's
a matter of timing in prayer. God does not always
(19:02):
move as quickly as we would like him to. In fact,
most of the time. We wanted the answer yesterday. We
want the healing now, we want the relationship restored this week,
we want the financial pressure to lift immediately. And God says, hey,
I make all things beautiful in my time, not your time,
(19:23):
not my time.
Speaker 1 (19:25):
His time.
Speaker 2 (19:26):
And honestly, this takes time to learn. There are things
that I prayed about for years, even decades, and then
the Lord finally answered that prayer. As an example, my
mother's salvation. My mom was raised in a very strong
Christian home, and if you saw the Jesus Revolution movie,
you saw that she was away from God, and she
(19:48):
was an alcoholic and was married in divorced seven times,
and on it went. And so after I became a Christian,
I wanted to reach my mom, and she didn't seem
all that thrilled about me coming to Christ. Quite honestly,
she did not raise me in a Christian home. But
in a funny way, my mother engaged in her form
of pre evangelism. Let me explain, by living her life
(20:13):
and by me, as a young person, seeing the emptiness
of her life, I knew I did not want that
life for myself. So where a lot of times you
see people raising Christians homes, rebelling against it and walking
away from God. I was raised in the opposite of
a Christian home, and I rebelled against it, and I
went searching for God. Don't get me wrong, I'm not
(20:34):
encouraging you to raise kids in a horrible, dysfunctional, alcoholic
homb What I'm saying is God can work despite what
hand we're dealt in life, if you will. But I
prayed for her for years and years, and I said,
is my mom ever going to come to the Lord?
So now she's reached the age of seventy. Sadly, her
(20:55):
lifestyle had taken its toll on her. She was once
an incredibly beautiful woman, but drinking and smoking every single
day aged chur and all. Also, it caused her a
lot of medical issues. She was getting dialysis three times
a week. And then I kept praying for my mom
to come to Christ. And one day I was driving
(21:15):
the church and the Lord spoke to me as clear
as day. He said, go talk to your mother. Understand
this was an awkward situation because whenever I would talk
with her about spiritual things, she immediately changed the subject
and her go to line.
Speaker 1 (21:29):
Was I don't want to talk about it. I don't
want to talk about it.
Speaker 2 (21:33):
So the Lord directs me to go to her home
in the middle of the afternoon, and she's sitting there
at her kitchen table. She says, Greg, what are you
doing here. I want to talk to you.
Speaker 1 (21:42):
Mom.
Speaker 2 (21:43):
What what do you want to talk about? I said,
I want to talk to you about your soul. She said,
I don't want to talk about it. And I said, today,
we're going to talk about it. And we did. And
the result of that conversation was my mother made a
commitment to Christ, but it took forever. So what I'm
telling you is, don't give up on your loved ones
that you're praying for. Don't give up in that prodigal
(22:06):
son or daughter, or that prodigal mother or father. Don't
give up praying for that healing. Don't give up praying
for that door of ministry to open. Don't give up
on whatever it is you're praying about. Jesus said, asking
it shall be given, seeking he shall find.
Speaker 1 (22:23):
Knocking, the door shall be open.
Speaker 2 (22:25):
And in the original language, there's an ascending intensity in
those verbs, so it's like ask, seek knock. So first
I'm asking, maybe politely, then I'm seeking desperately. Now I'm knocking,
I'm pounding on the door.
Speaker 1 (22:40):
Lord. I'm not going to take no for an answer.
Speaker 2 (22:42):
Now, of course, God can answer your prayers as he chooses.
But I believe when you're praying for the salvation of someone,
you're praying for something that God wants to do. Because
the Bible says God is not willing that any should perish,
but that all should come.
Speaker 1 (22:59):
To repent it.
Speaker 2 (22:59):
So keep praying and be patient on the timing of
the Lord. Isaiah forty thirty one says, they that wait
upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount
up with wings as eagles. They shall run and up
be wary. They shall walk and not faint. So keep
waiting on the Lord. By the way, his timing is
not a sign of his indifference. His timing is a
(23:23):
sign of his wisdom. And my job is to keep
trusting well, like keep waiting. So Jesus told an interesting
story Luke chapter eighteen. And the reason he told this
story he is stated up front. The Bible says he
told his story to show his disciples that we should
always pray and never give up. So here's the story.
(23:43):
There's a judge in a certain city. This judge was
a corrupt guy. In fact, Luke's Gospel describes him as
he neither feared God nor cared about people. In fact,
the judge himself later said, I don't fear God and
I don't care about people. So he was owning that.
So here's this corrupt, indifferent judge. No, in contrast to
(24:04):
him is a widow who has a need. And by
the way, in the ancient world, a widow was among
the most vulnerable people in society. She had no husband
to advocate for her, no one was standing in the
court for her. She did not have an attorney, she
didn't have any money, she didn't have any political connections.
She just had a need and a cause that was just.
(24:27):
And she kept coming to this corrupt judge day after day, saying,
give me justice against my adversary. And this judge is
kept refusing her, blowing her off, didn't answer her. But
she wouldn't give up. She was relentless, she was persistent.
Finally she wore the judge down. The judge literally said, look,
(24:49):
I don't care about people and I don't care about justice,
but this woman is driving me crazy. And in the
original language, it can be translated she's leaving me black
and blue. Now, I don't know if that is speaking
symbolically that she was verbally houstling him, or if it
means she literally I don't know. It was kind of
shaking him a little bit, but she was freaking him
(25:09):
out a little bit. In fact, her nymu's Karen, you
may not know that.
Speaker 1 (25:12):
No, kidding, not really.
Speaker 2 (25:13):
But anyway, finally this judge just gave in. Okay, fine,
I'm tired of you bothering me. I'll give you what
you asked for. Now we're thinking, wait, what kind of
an illustration is that? Is God like a corrupt judge
that is indifferent toward us and we need to just
berate him until he finally capitulates and gives us what
(25:34):
we pray for. No, it's the opposite of that. God
is not like the unjust judge who doesn't care about people.
God is the just judge. God is the loving judge
who cares about you. So the point is God is
not like this corrupt judge, but he's your loving, heavenly
(25:55):
father who will respond to you when you call out
to him. So the lesson of this parable is simple,
but it's profound don't give up, don't stop praying. Don't
let a silence seemingly from heaven convince you that Heaven
isn't listening. Keep praying, keep asking, keep seeking, keep knocking. Okay, now,
(26:17):
let's talk about that first that I referenced earlier, that
beautiful verse, that powerful verse, Romans eight twenty eight. Let
me say it again, and by the way, every Christian
should commit this verse to memory.
Speaker 1 (26:32):
Here it is, and.
Speaker 2 (26:33):
We know that all things work together for good to
those who love God, to those who are the called
according to His purpose. Now, before we go any further
on this verse, let me address what the verse is
not saying, because I often heard Romans eight twenty eight
misquoted and misapplied people. You know, we have all these
(26:55):
scenes that we use to motivate people, or maybe in
our minds, to encourage them. We'll say things like, you know,
when life gives you lemons, make lemons, give me a break.
Who came up with that? That's not Romans eight twenty eight.
That's just a trite saying. Or someone might say, well,
everything happens for a reason. Well that's not entirely true either.
(27:18):
Bad things happen that honestly are completely inexplicable. There isn't
always a tidy reason behind every tragedy. Or another might say, well,
when the going gets tough, the tough get going, brother,
give me a break. Here's my favorite. Well, there's always
someone worself than you. Is that supposed to comfort me?
(27:39):
There's also a lot of people that are a lot
better off than me. So what does Romans eight twenty
eight mean? Does Romans eight twenty eight mean that whatever
happens in your life, if it's a bad thing, God
will turn it into a good thing. The answer to
that is no, that's not what it's saying again, Romans
a twenty eight, and we know that all things work
(28:02):
together for good to those that love God another call
according to his purpose. This is not saying that all
things are good. It's not saying that bad things won't.
Speaker 1 (28:13):
Happen to you. Here's what it's saying that.
Speaker 2 (28:15):
God, the sovereign, all knowing, all powerful, loving creator of
the universe, is at work in all things, and he's
working him toward a good end. It's for those who
love Him, who are the called according to his purpose.
In other words, Romans eight twenty eight isn't for everyone
(28:35):
it's for the believer. Again, we know that all things
work together for good to those who love God. Now,
the called according to His purpose Romans eight twenty eight
is not some kind of a cosmic guarantee that the
universe is friendly and everything will work out eventually. No,
it's a specific personal promise from God to his children. Now,
(28:57):
Notice how the verse begins. The apostle Paul says, we know.
He doesn't start with well, we hope, or we suppose,
or we wish. No, we know, But how can we
know that? Look ad verse thirty two. That obviously follows
verse twenty eight, which says he who did not spare
his own son, but gave him up for us all,
(29:20):
how will he not also, along with him, freely give
us all things. The argument goes as follow us, If
God was willing to give up his own son for you,
for me, for us, the most costly gift imaginable, the
greatest sacrifice possible, do you really think He's going to
(29:40):
hold out on you in some lesser matter? If he
gave you the greatest thing, can't you trust him with
everything else? When I begin to doubt the love of God,
In other words, when circumstances are hard. I find myself
wondering if things really are working for good. I take
a long look at the cross, and I see Jesus
(30:00):
Christ hanging there bearing my sin, dying for me. That
vantage point I can say with Paul, we know you
know there are certain things we all know. Heard a
story about a woman who walked into a pet store
to buy food for her cat, and there was a
parrot perched in the front of the store, and as
she walked in, the parrot said to her, you know
(30:23):
you are the ugliest woman I've ever seen. She was outraged,
so offended she demanded that the owner of the shop
come out, and he came from his back room. She said,
that bird insulted me. No under said, what did he say?
He said to me, you know you are the ugliest
woman he's ever seen. The man said, let me take
care of it. He took the bird in the back room,
(30:45):
slapped her around a little bit, feathers slain everywhere, told
the bird to never say that to the woman again.
He put the bird back on its perch in the
front of the store, and as she was leaving the
store with her cat food, the parrot called out hey, you,
And she turned in. She said what, and he said,
you know there are things we know. We know that
(31:06):
all things work together for good to those who love God.
Now here's something important. This verse does not say that
all things are inherently good.
Speaker 1 (31:16):
It does not even.
Speaker 2 (31:17):
Say that bad things will necessarily become good things in
and of themselves, because, frankly, there are some things in
this world that are bad, horribly bad, and they'll never
stop being bad. Like when a marriage falls apart, that's bad.
When a diagnosis comes back, can you find out you
have cancer?
Speaker 1 (31:37):
That is bad?
Speaker 2 (31:39):
When a child dies that is unimaginably bad, and it
will never be good ever. But what the versus saying
is that God is able to bring good despite those things.
Not necessarily that he'll make a bad thing a good thing,
though he does do that in certain occasions, but rather
(32:00):
despite the bad thing that will always remain a bad thing,
God can then bring a good thing. Why because God
is more powerful than any evil that touches our lives.
Someone in nineteen ninety one says, all things are your servants.
Back to that statement, we know that all things work
(32:20):
together for good, all things, not some things, not just
the pleasant things all things, even the painful things, are
ultimately in service to God, if you will. Ephesians one
to eleven says that all things are done according to
God's plan and decision. So here's what we need to know.
Speaker 1 (32:39):
There are no.
Speaker 2 (32:40):
Accidents in the life of a Christian. As Christians, we
don't believe in dumb luck. We believe in God's guidance.
We don't believe in mere coincidence. We believe in providence.
Let me illustrate now. Our son Christopher went to be
with the Lord in a tragic automobile accident eighteen years ago.
(33:03):
He was only thirty three years old. When I heard
the news, it was the worst moment of my life.
I was devastated. That was an unimaginably bad thing, and
there is nothing that has happened since then that will
ever make it a good thing. So I have to
see that it's just a bad thing in my life.
But despite that really bad thing, have I seen good
(33:27):
things happen in my life?
Speaker 1 (33:29):
Yes? I have.
Speaker 2 (33:30):
Have I changed as a result of it? I certainly
have have I grown more homesick for Heaven? Absolutely? Did
it cause me to want to redouble my efforts to
preach the gospel without question. Did it cause me to
want to take some bold steps of faith and do
things I would have never even considered previously. The answer
(33:53):
to that is yes as well. So my point is,
despite a really bad thing, God has brought some good
things as well. Why because we know that all things
work together for good loved God. Now they called according
to his purpose. Let me illustrate. I want to show
you how disappointment can become an appointment from God. So
(34:15):
I read the story. But a man who was out
swimming in the ocean and he was attacked by a
great white shark. So he was rushed to the hospital,
and during the examination and surgery, doctors discovered that this
man had cancer. In fact, he had a tumor that
had not yet spread, but because they caught it early,
(34:37):
they were able to remove it completely. And the men
later said he was, believe it or not, thankful this
shark attacked him, because otherwise his cancer might have never
been discovered. Now, they wanted to give the shark an
a word, but he was unavailable. He was out looking
for other people to bite. That's another story. So I'm
(34:57):
not saying the shark attack was a good thing. That's
a horrible thing. But I'm saying, despite this bad thing,
a good thing came, a really good thing. Why because
we know that all things can work together for good.
So here's the ultimate illustration of this verse, and it's
found in the Old Testament story of Joseph. You know,
(35:18):
it's interesting to note that the Bible says virtually nothing
critical about Joseph. I mean, look, if he did anything wrong,
maybe he was guilty of, you know, rotting out his brothers,
and maybe he shouldn't have, you know, trotted around in
his beautiful robe that his father made for him in
front of his brothers. Of those other worst things he did,
(35:39):
they're pretty minor. But nothing really negative is said about Joseph.
Speaker 1 (35:43):
But here's what we know.
Speaker 2 (35:45):
He was the favorite son of Jacob, and as I mentioned,
he was given a special coad. So Joseph had these
god given dreams about his future. So maybe he was
a little overly enthusiastic in telling his brothers about those dreams,
which basically presented him as a man of great power
(36:05):
and now he had submission to him. Probably should have
not said that. Sometimes it's best to keep your dreams
to yourself and see.
Speaker 1 (36:13):
If they're from the lord.
Speaker 2 (36:14):
They'll really happen, of course, But whatever it was, his
brothers grew very angry with him. They grew resentful of him.
They were so jealous of the attention the father showed
toward their brother. So one day they decided to kill him.
A little extreme, I would say, yeah, let's just kill him.
But then they noticed some slave traders are passing by
(36:36):
on their way to Egypt, and one brother said, well,
why don't we just sell him to the slave traders instead.
That's what they did. They sold their brother to slave traders,
and then torrip is beautiful robe of many colors, covered
in in animal blood, and said, hey, Dad, sorry, your
beloved son got killed, and it broke Jacob's heart. Meanwhile,
(36:58):
here's Joseph. He's a slave, and he sold to a
man named Potiphar. Now Potiphar was basically the head of
Pharaoh's security forces. He ran the secret service detail for
the Pharaoh, if you will, and so he put Joseph
to work. And Joseph was so diligent, so honest, so
(37:18):
hard working, that before you knew it, he was running
Potiphar's estate. So we might say, okay, now this isn't
so bad. He's sold by his brothers to slave tratters.
That's a bad thing. But now he's in charge of
this guys, this date and living a fairly good life.
That's a good thing. But the story is not over.
Potiphar had a wife. Her name was Missus Robinson. No
(37:41):
wrong story, that's the Graduate. But she was like Missus
Robinson in The Graduate. If you saw the movie, which
is the story of an older woman seducing a younger man.
This older woman Missus Cougar. No, she's not Missus Couger,
she's Missus Potiphar comes to Joseph and basically says to him,
(38:01):
I want you to have sex with me. He refuses her,
comes again, says it again. And the fact is she
was probably a very attractive woman. So one day she
has all of the servants leave, she's alone with Joseph
and she pulls him down on the bed, saying, have
sexual relations with me. And he did what any clear thinking,
(38:23):
red blooded young man should do under such circumstances.
Speaker 1 (38:27):
He ran like crazy.
Speaker 2 (38:29):
Then she falsely accused him of rape and he was
arrested and sent to prison. Okay, now wait a second,
So the bad thing is he's sold by his brothers
into slavery. The good thing is he's running Potiph's or state.
The bad thing is a Potiphar's wife tries to tempt him.
The good thing is he resists her temptation, but then
(38:49):
she accuses him of rape and he's sent to prison.
So here he is now sitting in a jail cell
for doing the right thing, not the wrong thing. He
could have given in to her temptation, but he did not.
He said, how can I do this thing and sin
against God? And he sat in that prison cell for
eleven years.
Speaker 1 (39:10):
That's a long time.
Speaker 2 (39:11):
Eleven years of injustice, eleven years of being forgotten, eleven
years of having done nothing wrong, in suffering everything wrong.
But Joseph did not turn against God. Joseph trusted God.
Joseph prayed, and Joseph waited and then literally overnight, literally overnight,
(39:32):
he went from a prison cell to the second most
powerful position on earth. So what happened is the pharaoh
has this dream. No one can interpret his dream. Well, Joseph,
by the grace of God, has amazing dreams that he
can interpret. So he summoned to the palace. Let me
explain to the people that work for the king were
sent to prison, and we're in the cell with Joseph.
(39:53):
And he said to them, if you ever get out
of here, don't forget your old buddy Joseph, because they
too had dreams that he interpreted. So now the pharaoh
has a dream that he can't figure out. And someone says,
does anyone know what this dream means? And the guy
who was in the prisons of what Joseph said, Hey,
your majesty, I remember this dude I met in a
(40:14):
prison cell and he can interpret dreams. And pharaoh said,
bring him up here. So enter Joseph. He probably had
long a long beard and long hair, and he was
all scruffy. So they clean him up. They shaved his hair,
they put on that little Egyptian eyeliner so he could
walk like an Egyptian. And he goes into the court pharaoh.
(40:34):
The pharaoh tells him his dream. Joseph says, yea, I
know what that dream means, because God gave him the interpretation.
And Joseph interpreted the dream of the pharaoh and was
made the second most powerful man in the entire nation. Okay,
let's put it all together. So good thing. He's favored
by his father. Bad thing, resented by his brothers and
(40:56):
sold into slavery. Good thing, hired by Potterphard to run
his estate.
Speaker 1 (41:01):
Bad thing. Potiphar's wife is hitting on him.
Speaker 2 (41:04):
Good thing. He resists her advance. This bad thing he
sent to prison for eleven years. Good Thing. In prison,
he meets someone that works of the Pharaoh. That gets
him into the Pharaoh's court and he interprets the dream
and now he is in a position of power. Now
let's see how this all comes together. This is the
best part of the story. So the brothers of Joseph
(41:27):
show up. This is years after they sold him into slavery.
For all they knew he was dead. And so they're
brought into this room and they're standing before their brother Joseph.
They didn't recognize him, and a femine had hit the
land because Joseph had predicted, I inspired by God, the
famine was coming to Egypt, and they had stored up
(41:49):
a grain supply to prepare for the lean years, and
he was in charge of running it. So here are
the brothers of Joseph in front of them. And this
could have been the ultimate payback move. This could have
been the greatest revenge movie you've ever seen. He could
have pulled off a full Liam Nissen moment, Remember the
(42:09):
movie Taken, and somebody kidnaps his daughter and he calls
him up and he says, I have a very particular
set of skills, skills I've acquired over a very long career,
skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. Yeah,
Joseph could have said that to his brothers had them
all put to death, but that's not what he did.
(42:30):
In fact, what he did illustrates Romans eight twenty eight
so perfectly. The first thing that happened is Joseph looked
at his brothers and he.
Speaker 1 (42:38):
Began to weep. They're probably thinking, what on earth is
going on?
Speaker 2 (42:41):
Who is this guy? Why is he crying? Does this
mean we're in trouble? Then he revealed himself. He said,
I am Joseph, whom you betray. Can you imagine that
I am Joseph. That must have reverberated I am Joseph something.
They thought, we are dead, dead, dead dead.
Speaker 1 (43:01):
But here's what he said.
Speaker 2 (43:03):
You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good,
to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of
many lives. There it is Romans eight twenty eight. You
meant to harmony. God intended it for good. Joseph lived
Romans eight twenty eight before it was written, because the
God of Romans eight twenty eight is the same God
(43:25):
who was with Joseph in the pit, in the slave market,
and pot of our house in the prison cell, and
then on the throne, and thousands, maybe even millions of
people lived because Joseph endured eleven years of suffering and
trusted God through all of it. So listen, I don't
know what you're going through right now, but your story
(43:46):
is not over. Whatever pict're in right now, God knows
where you are, and He has.
Speaker 1 (43:51):
Not forgotten about you.
Speaker 2 (43:54):
Now, let's pull the camera back and look at Romans
eight twenty eight, and then what follows. We know that
all things work together for good to those who love
God another called according to his purpose. Then verse twenty nine,
for whom he did for no, he also did predestined
to be conformed into the image of his own dear son.
Speaker 1 (44:14):
So here's a big picture.
Speaker 2 (44:16):
We think that whatever happens in life should always have
a tidy, little ending. All the loose ends are tied up,
everything works out and sometimes, honestly, things.
Speaker 1 (44:27):
Do work that way.
Speaker 2 (44:28):
There are things that maybe God said no to that
you prayed about early in life, and then later in
life you look back and you say, Lord, thank you
for not answering that prayer. In the affirmative, there was
a girl that I don't know if I fell in
love with her, but she was a very sweet Christian
girl and a very godly woman, and she had a
Volkswagen van and she let me borrow it. When I
(44:50):
was starting my ministry, I had this beat up old
corvet Corvette Corvert. That's the car that had the engine
in the back and was made out of aluminum foil.
Speaker 1 (45:00):
Not literally, but it seemed like it. Anyway.
Speaker 2 (45:02):
This Corvet was always breaking down as a driving from
Orange County to Riverside, where our church was beginning, And
so I asked this girl, could I borrow your van?
And she let me borrow it, and I thought the
school's amazing. So one day I said, Hey, would you
like to go out to dinner with me? Sometimes she
said no, Oh, well maybe some other thing we can
(45:23):
do together.
Speaker 1 (45:24):
No.
Speaker 2 (45:24):
Wow, So she wasn't interested in me at all. And
then I had the audacity to say, can I still
borrow your van. She said, yes, what an amazing girl.
So I borrowed her van a few more times. And
here's the point I'm making. If I thought that was
a girl I was supposed to end up marrying, God
said no to that. But that's because he had the
girl picked out for me that was going to marry
(45:46):
me named Kathy.
Speaker 1 (45:47):
See.
Speaker 2 (45:48):
So sometimes God says no, he closes a door, but
he's going to open another. Okay, let's come back to
Romans eight twenty nine. The big picture of your life
is that you become more like Jesus. Heaven is a
prepared place for prepared people. Remember, Jesus says, I go
to prepare a place for you.
Speaker 1 (46:09):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (46:10):
Romans eight twenty eight. God causes all things that work
together for good to those who love God. Now they
called according to us purpose for whom He for you.
He also did protestint to be conformed into the image
of his.
Speaker 1 (46:21):
Own dear son. Here's the ont in lying.
Speaker 2 (46:24):
God's endgame for you and his endgame for me is
to make us more like Jesus, to be conformed into
the image of his own dear son again, to prepare
us for heaven. So there are things that happen to
us in life that are inexplicable, things that never make sense.
But I believe one day, when we get to heaven,
(46:47):
all of those questions will be answered and we'll see
God's ultimate plan. But I do also think there are
things in your life that are bad at the moment
that will in time become good. And I also think
there are things that are bad that will always be bad.
But despite those really bad things, God will bring about good.
(47:07):
Here's the bottom line. God's aware of what you're going through.
God's in control of your life. Listen to this. The
word oops is not in God's vocabulary. Let me close
with this thought. These beautiful promises we've been talking about
together are only for the child of God. If you're
not a believer in Jesus Christ. In other words, if
(47:28):
you haven't asked God to forgive you of your sin,
and if you've not put your faith in Christ, you
cannot say, oh, well, this will work together for good, because.
Speaker 1 (47:37):
Good chance it won't at all.
Speaker 2 (47:39):
God is not directing your life because you have not
asked him to, but he wants to you. See, God
loves you and as a plan for your life, and
he wants to show you that plan when you ask
him to come into your life. And I want to
ask you, have you done that yet? Have you prayed
and asked Jesus Christ to come into your life to
(48:01):
be your savior and Lord. If not, you should do
that so you can enter into this relationship with God.
So you can go through life not alone, but with
the Lord working in you and through you and guiding you,
and best of all, knowing that when this life ends,
and yes it will end, will go immediately into the
(48:22):
presence of God because we put our faith in Christ.
That's the ultimate good that comes in life, because we've
put our faith in Him and we're ready to meet Him. So,
if you've never actually asked Christ to come into your life,
I'd like to close this podcast with a prayer, a
(48:42):
prayer that you can pray after me, A prayer that
we sometimes call the sinner's prayer, which is just an
admission of our sinfulness and our need of Jesus that
I've led people in all around the world.
Speaker 1 (48:55):
Ayer.
Speaker 2 (48:55):
There's no magic in this prayer, but what the prayer
is saying can bring about the greatest change imaginable because
the Bible says whoever will call upon the name of
Life the Lord will be saved.
Speaker 1 (49:07):
So listen.
Speaker 2 (49:07):
If you want your sin forgiven, if you want to
know you'll go to heaven when you die, if you
want to enter into this relationship with God and start
discovering his plan for your life, just pray this prayer
with me. You could pray it out loud if you like,
but pray this prayer. Pray, Lord Jesus. I know I
am a sinner, but I know that you're this savior
(49:31):
who died on the cross for my sin and rose
again from the dead. I repent of my sin, and
I choose to follow you from this moment forward. Thank
you for hearing this prayer and answering this prayer. In Jesus' name,
I pray, Amen. If you just pray that prayer minute,
(49:53):
I want you to know, in the authority of Scripture,
God has heard that prayer. The Bible says, whoever will
call upon the name of the Lord will be saved.
Save from your sin, save from future. You just prayed
that prayer. Christ turned it, and He's coming to your life.
I have something I'd like to send you at no charge.
It's called the New Believer's Bible. This is a special
(50:16):
edition of the New Testament and what is called the
New Living Translation, which means it's just very understandable, and
it has thousands of notes that I wrote that will
encourage you in this commitment you've just made to follow Christ.
I will send you the New Believer's Bible, New Testament
Edition and no charge to help you get started on
(50:39):
the right foot. Get your copy of the New Believer's Bible,
and God bless you. You've made the right decision. And
remember God is in control of your life and whatever
you're going through, He's going to get you through it
and you're going to see ultimate good, so keep trusting him.
Speaker 1 (50:56):
God bless you.
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