WEBVTT - Surviving Your Prison -- Part 2 0:00:00.840 --> 0:00:03.400 Have you felt stuck in this season of life, waiting 0:00:03.400 --> 0:00:06.080 for things to change? Well, Mark Jobe has a message 0:00:06.080 --> 0:00:08.360 for you on today's bold steps. 0:00:09.039 --> 0:00:11.479 I can't wait, yeah. To get married. I can't wait 0:00:11.480 --> 0:00:14.120 to retire. Can't wait to get out of this job. 0:00:14.160 --> 0:00:16.840 Can't wait to overcome this illness. Can't wait to pay 0:00:16.840 --> 0:00:19.320 off my debt. Then I'll start living. I want to 0:00:19.320 --> 0:00:21.759 tell you. Maybe now is the time that God is 0:00:21.760 --> 0:00:24.640 really asking you to live in the middle of your prison. 0:00:24.640 --> 0:00:26.279 How many of you know what I'm talking about here? 0:00:38.560 --> 0:00:42.000 Welcome to Bold Steps with Mark Jobe. Mark is founding 0:00:42.000 --> 0:00:45.840 pastor of New Life Community Church in Chicago. I'm Wayne Shepherd. 0:00:46.280 --> 0:00:49.360 Today we're concluding a series called life, interrupted as we 0:00:49.360 --> 0:00:51.479 take a deeper look at the story of Joseph in 0:00:51.479 --> 0:00:55.560 Genesis chapter 40. Sometimes we find ourselves in a season 0:00:55.600 --> 0:00:57.279 of life where all we can think about is how 0:00:57.280 --> 0:00:59.680 to move on to the next. But the truth is, 0:00:59.880 --> 0:01:03.000 sometimes those seasons that feel like prison are full of 0:01:03.000 --> 0:01:07.000 God given potential. That's exactly what the life of Joseph demonstrates, 0:01:07.000 --> 0:01:08.920 and that's what we're learning today as we join Mark 0:01:08.920 --> 0:01:12.760 Jobe now for a message titled Surviving Your Prison. 0:01:14.319 --> 0:01:18.480 Hear this. He discovered in his own prison a new 0:01:18.480 --> 0:01:24.720 dimension to his gifting dream interpreter. At 17, he had 0:01:24.720 --> 0:01:27.880 had a dream. How many of you know? Sometimes we 0:01:28.440 --> 0:01:31.200 have callings and giftings, but when we're too mature to 0:01:31.240 --> 0:01:33.640 handle them, we don't know what to do with them. 0:01:34.520 --> 0:01:36.959 At 17, he had had a dream that God gave 0:01:36.959 --> 0:01:40.039 him that you remember the dream he told his brothers about, 0:01:40.040 --> 0:01:42.960 and they became angry. You see, sometimes some of you 0:01:42.959 --> 0:01:46.319 have a gifting, but you're not mature enough to handle 0:01:46.319 --> 0:01:49.200 your gifting yet because you haven't grown to a level 0:01:49.200 --> 0:01:51.600 of maturity to be able to handle the gifting that 0:01:51.600 --> 0:01:55.320 God has given you. You may have it already inside 0:01:55.320 --> 0:01:59.240 of you, but you have to develop maturity to be 0:01:59.240 --> 0:02:01.930 able to sustain the Stain the gifting that you have. 0:02:03.170 --> 0:02:05.850 When he was 17, he had a dream and he 0:02:05.850 --> 0:02:07.530 didn't know what to do with the dream. And he 0:02:07.530 --> 0:02:11.410 went babbling it to everybody and turned his brothers against him, 0:02:11.410 --> 0:02:14.329 because he didn't have the wisdom and maturity to handle 0:02:14.330 --> 0:02:17.130 the dream that God had given him. But now this 0:02:17.130 --> 0:02:21.730 is about ten years. 11 years later, he's been through 0:02:21.730 --> 0:02:28.090 the one on one slavery in Potiphar's house, 101 betrayal 0:02:28.090 --> 0:02:34.650 from his brothers, and now 101 prison sentence he suffered. 0:02:34.850 --> 0:02:40.169 He's been knocked off the pedestal of young youth. Youthful cockiness. 0:02:40.570 --> 0:02:45.169 He suffered some. He's been betrayed. He's had to trust God. 0:02:45.210 --> 0:02:49.130 There's deeper waters that flow within his veins now. And 0:02:49.130 --> 0:02:52.170 now when he's exposed to a dream. Unlike when he 0:02:52.169 --> 0:02:56.170 was 17. Now there's a depth there. Now he's not 0:02:56.169 --> 0:03:00.370 just blabbing out an answer. Now he turns to God 0:03:00.370 --> 0:03:02.850 and God in the middle of his prison, in the 0:03:02.850 --> 0:03:05.050 middle of his dark time, in the middle of his 0:03:05.050 --> 0:03:10.770 waiting room, God gives him a dimension to his calling 0:03:10.970 --> 0:03:18.370 that he never knew he had. See, some of you 0:03:18.370 --> 0:03:21.810 right now. Think that your prison is a waste of time. 0:03:23.530 --> 0:03:27.650 You think that you're waiting room. You wish you could 0:03:27.690 --> 0:03:30.489 erase it, that it could come to an end. But 0:03:30.490 --> 0:03:33.290 what you don't realize is that God is using this 0:03:33.290 --> 0:03:38.250 prison time, this waiting room to forge in you something deeper, 0:03:38.450 --> 0:03:41.650 something that you could not learn any other way except 0:03:41.650 --> 0:03:46.570 through a difficult trial, a waiting period God is about 0:03:46.570 --> 0:03:50.130 to hone. God is about to shape. God is forming 0:03:50.130 --> 0:03:53.290 in you something that cannot be formed any other way. 0:03:53.290 --> 0:03:55.970 It may be a new dimension to your call. It 0:03:55.970 --> 0:03:58.450 may be a new sense of what God is calling 0:03:58.450 --> 0:04:03.140 you to do. Just like Joseph. He became a dream interpreter, 0:04:03.180 --> 0:04:08.900 not in freedom, but in his prison. And here's what happens. 0:04:09.980 --> 0:04:15.220 So they both tell him. Tell him their dreams. And 0:04:15.220 --> 0:04:19.580 to the first guy, God's Joseph says, the first guy 0:04:19.580 --> 0:04:22.300 to the cupbearer. He says, what's going to happen to 0:04:22.300 --> 0:04:25.460 you in three days from now? There's going to be 0:04:25.460 --> 0:04:27.100 a knock on the prison door. You're going to be 0:04:27.100 --> 0:04:28.940 let out of prison, and you're going to be restored 0:04:28.940 --> 0:04:31.180 to the position that you had before. You're going to 0:04:31.220 --> 0:04:34.340 be restored to favor. Just as if you had never 0:04:34.339 --> 0:04:41.980 gone to prison. He was like, wow. High five all time. 0:04:42.860 --> 0:04:47.020 So the baker says, me, me, my turn now. He says, 0:04:47.020 --> 0:04:50.540 you three days knock on the door. You will also 0:04:50.540 --> 0:04:53.820 be let out of prison, but you're going to hang. 0:04:57.420 --> 0:04:58.859 You know, you know when the guy comes before you 0:04:58.860 --> 0:05:00.419 and gets a good answer, you think you're going to 0:05:00.420 --> 0:05:02.220 get one, two, you line up and you get the 0:05:02.220 --> 0:05:08.340 bad one. And just like Joseph had said, it happened. 0:05:09.060 --> 0:05:13.020 Three days later, the cupbearer was restored to his former position, 0:05:13.020 --> 0:05:17.180 and three days later the baker was taken out and 0:05:17.180 --> 0:05:20.260 was hanged. But here's what I want you to know. 0:05:21.060 --> 0:05:23.740 I want you to understand that not only did he 0:05:23.740 --> 0:05:26.420 grow in his dimension as a dream interpreter, but I 0:05:26.420 --> 0:05:29.419 want you to know because some of you are wasting 0:05:29.420 --> 0:05:32.779 your prison time, some of you are so focused on 0:05:32.779 --> 0:05:36.539 getting out of your waiting period that you you have 0:05:36.540 --> 0:05:39.340 missed what God is trying to do within you and 0:05:39.339 --> 0:05:42.820 inside of you in your waiting time. Some of you 0:05:42.820 --> 0:05:44.900 are looking so much at the door that you don't 0:05:44.900 --> 0:05:47.620 know what God is trying to do inside of your heart. 0:05:47.660 --> 0:05:51.500 God is trying to shape and mold something inside of you, 0:05:51.500 --> 0:05:54.620 but you are missing it right now in this waiting period. 0:05:54.700 --> 0:05:58.420 I believe that sometimes it's in our prison time that 0:05:58.420 --> 0:06:02.110 we develop the essence of our calling and vision for 0:06:02.110 --> 0:06:06.869 our life and develop the giftings for our future. I 0:06:06.870 --> 0:06:10.510 think of a man by the name of Chuck Colson. 0:06:11.950 --> 0:06:19.990 Chuck Colson in. 1969 to 1973. Served as a counsel 0:06:19.990 --> 0:06:26.789 to President Infamous Richard Nixon. He was once known as 0:06:26.790 --> 0:06:35.190 the president's hatchet man. After the Watergate scandal, Colson, who 0:06:35.190 --> 0:06:41.150 was not a believer, was sentenced to prison right before 0:06:41.150 --> 0:06:44.310 he went into prison in 1973. He gave his life 0:06:44.310 --> 0:06:47.430 to Christ, and he served for eight months in the 0:06:47.430 --> 0:06:51.750 maximum prison in Alabama as the first member of the 0:06:51.750 --> 0:06:56.790 Nixon administration to be incarcerated. While he was in prison, 0:06:56.790 --> 0:07:01.870 maximum security prison, he went from Washington. High profile. Second 0:07:01.870 --> 0:07:05.150 man to the president. And now he's in an Alabama 0:07:05.670 --> 0:07:12.270 maximum security prison. But it's while Colson was in prison 0:07:13.070 --> 0:07:19.590 that he received the calling, the vision, the destiny that 0:07:19.590 --> 0:07:23.190 he would throw the rest of his life into because 0:07:23.190 --> 0:07:25.310 it was there in prison that God spoke to his heart. 0:07:25.310 --> 0:07:27.390 It was there in prison that God said, all that 0:07:27.390 --> 0:07:31.670 you've been pursuing, fame and fortune and recognition is of 0:07:31.670 --> 0:07:34.510 no value. I have a calling and a purpose for 0:07:34.510 --> 0:07:37.390 your life that is totally different than what you have 0:07:37.390 --> 0:07:40.630 been pursuing up until this time. Colson came out of 0:07:40.630 --> 0:07:46.790 his prison and he started Prison Fellowship, which is one 0:07:46.790 --> 0:07:52.950 of the strongest, largest ministries in prisons across North America. 0:07:52.990 --> 0:07:55.190 Colson went on to be a public speaker and write 0:07:55.190 --> 0:07:59.030 over 30 books and influence tens of thousands of people, 0:07:59.030 --> 0:08:02.360 especially focused on other prisoners inside. It was in prison 0:08:02.360 --> 0:08:09.800 that he found his calling. One of the journalists that, uh, 0:08:10.160 --> 0:08:14.080 that was mentored by Chuck Colson said this of him. 0:08:14.920 --> 0:08:18.679 The destruction of Chuck's career freed up his skills for 0:08:18.680 --> 0:08:23.440 his calling. He would have never chosen providing, providing fulfillment 0:08:23.440 --> 0:08:29.640 beyond his ambitions. And he often said this. Bless you, 0:08:29.640 --> 0:08:35.240 prison for having been in my life. That's all I'm 0:08:35.240 --> 0:08:37.880 saying to you right now is that if you're in prison, 0:08:37.920 --> 0:08:40.600 a waiting period of disappointment, a place where you feel 0:08:40.600 --> 0:08:43.480 like your hopes and dreams are not being fulfilled, a 0:08:43.480 --> 0:08:45.640 place that's hard to be in, a place where you 0:08:45.640 --> 0:08:48.840 have limited control. A place that you're saying, I can't 0:08:48.840 --> 0:08:51.280 wait to get out of this season of my life. 0:08:51.280 --> 0:08:53.720 I can't wait, yeah, to get married. I can't wait 0:08:53.720 --> 0:08:56.400 to retire. Can't wait to get out of this job. 0:08:56.400 --> 0:08:59.079 Can't wait to overcome this illness. Can't wait to pay 0:08:59.080 --> 0:09:01.640 off my debt. Then I'll start living. I want to 0:09:01.640 --> 0:09:04.040 tell you. Maybe now is the time that God is 0:09:04.040 --> 0:09:07.880 really asking you to live in the middle of your prison. 0:09:07.880 --> 0:09:09.480 How many of you know what I'm talking about here? 0:09:16.360 --> 0:09:19.000 I believe that sometimes our greatest discovery comes in the 0:09:19.000 --> 0:09:25.400 darkest of places. Some of you are going to look 0:09:25.400 --> 0:09:27.640 back at this dark place right now, that you're going 0:09:27.640 --> 0:09:30.400 through this difficult time, and you're going to point to 0:09:30.440 --> 0:09:35.199 that as your greatest time of growth, your most powerful 0:09:35.200 --> 0:09:40.040 time of revelation, your defining moment that happened in the 0:09:40.040 --> 0:09:42.960 middle of the darkest time in your life, but it 0:09:43.000 --> 0:09:46.760 geared you to your calling, to what God would use 0:09:46.760 --> 0:09:52.040 for the rest of your life. Number two, write this down. 0:09:53.679 --> 0:09:57.439 Not only must we not put our life on pause, 0:09:58.160 --> 0:10:02.770 but remember God is at work behind the scenes. Don't 0:10:02.770 --> 0:10:08.530 doubt that God has a plan. Wait with patient expectation. 0:10:09.690 --> 0:10:13.250 So the Bible says that Joseph interpreted both the dream 0:10:13.250 --> 0:10:17.090 of the cupbearer and the dream of the baker, and 0:10:17.090 --> 0:10:22.970 his interpretation was fulfilled. And he told the cupbearer, hey, 0:10:23.690 --> 0:10:26.930 when you get out of prison and when you go 0:10:26.929 --> 0:10:32.569 back to the palace, remember me? Remember that I've been 0:10:33.330 --> 0:10:39.530 unjustly imprisoned. Speak to the king. Ask him. Let him 0:10:39.530 --> 0:10:43.770 show me favor. In three days the cupbearer was let out. 0:10:44.370 --> 0:10:48.050 He was elevated to his former position. And guess what? 0:10:48.090 --> 0:10:54.370 He forgot all about Joseph. How many of you know? 0:10:54.370 --> 0:10:56.650 It's a lot harder to wait if you think the 0:10:56.650 --> 0:11:02.969 door is about to open. If you don't think it's 0:11:02.970 --> 0:11:05.449 going to open in a long time, it's a little 0:11:05.490 --> 0:11:08.490 bit easier to wait. But if you feel like the 0:11:08.490 --> 0:11:12.650 door is going to open now, you're like, okay, I 0:11:12.690 --> 0:11:16.930 got my bags packed. I'm waiting. Hey, I hear someone 0:11:16.929 --> 0:11:20.330 walking down the hall. Hey, hey. No, just feeding me 0:11:20.370 --> 0:11:28.970 my breakfast. The waiting becomes harder the higher our expectation 0:11:28.970 --> 0:11:34.570 to get out, the slower the clock ticks. When we 0:11:34.570 --> 0:11:37.810 feel like the time is getting closer. 0:11:47.970 --> 0:11:50.770 And we'll continue with the final half of today's Bold steps. 0:11:50.770 --> 0:11:53.929 Message with Mark Jobe momentarily. But before that, I want 0:11:53.929 --> 0:11:55.450 to tell you where to go. If you've missed any 0:11:55.450 --> 0:11:58.370 part of our current series called Life Interrupted, you'll find 0:11:58.370 --> 0:12:01.260 all of Mark's previous messages available on our website at 0:12:01.260 --> 0:12:04.140 bold steps.org. Or if you want to listen to these 0:12:04.140 --> 0:12:06.939 programs while you're on the move, maybe hiking or biking 0:12:06.940 --> 0:12:09.540 or just running errands, be sure to subscribe to our 0:12:09.540 --> 0:12:11.820 podcast and pull up any of these messages right from 0:12:11.820 --> 0:12:14.820 your phone. Go to our podcast app, search for bold 0:12:14.820 --> 0:12:17.340 steps with doctor Mark Jobe, and make sure you tap 0:12:17.340 --> 0:12:20.660 that subscribe button. And another great way to fit in 0:12:20.660 --> 0:12:22.660 some more bold steps. Teaching to your busy day is 0:12:22.660 --> 0:12:25.579 through our Bold Steps app, where you'll find short videos, 0:12:25.580 --> 0:12:29.100 Bible study resources, and other listening options like the Spanish 0:12:29.100 --> 0:12:33.220 edition called Bold Steps Apostles Audacious and the Bold Steps Minute. 0:12:33.220 --> 0:12:35.900 Check it all out today by downloading the Bold Steps 0:12:35.940 --> 0:12:38.300 app right now, let's get back to our message for 0:12:38.300 --> 0:12:41.740 today titled Surviving Your Prison. Here again is Mark. 0:12:46.540 --> 0:12:50.020 The cupbearer, it says in chapter 40 verse 23, it says, 0:12:50.020 --> 0:12:55.420 the chief cupbearer, however, did not remember Joseph. He forgot him. 0:12:56.540 --> 0:13:00.660 In chapter 41, verse one, it says, when two full 0:13:00.820 --> 0:13:08.100 years had passed the longest 24 months of Joseph's life. 0:13:08.820 --> 0:13:12.340 Two full years. How many of you know that two 0:13:12.340 --> 0:13:15.780 years can seem like a lifetime when you're having fun? 0:13:15.780 --> 0:13:18.300 It goes by really fast. When you're not having fun, 0:13:18.300 --> 0:13:23.420 it goes by really, really, really, really slow. How many 0:13:23.420 --> 0:13:24.980 of you feel like this season of your life is 0:13:24.980 --> 0:13:32.939 going pretty slow? Come on, be honest. Slow. When you're waiting, 0:13:33.860 --> 0:13:36.939 when you're expecting something to happen and it's not happening, 0:13:37.540 --> 0:13:43.219 it just the clock ticks slower. When I come to 0:13:43.220 --> 0:13:47.380 a stop sign, a stoplight, I've been at some stoplights. 0:13:47.380 --> 0:13:50.020 When I'm in a hurry and I'm expecting it to change, 0:13:50.020 --> 0:13:52.940 I tell my wife this stop sign, this stoplights broken. 0:13:52.940 --> 0:13:55.620 I'm sure it is. I think I should go through 0:13:55.620 --> 0:13:59.740 it because it can't really be this long. And she says, no, 0:13:59.870 --> 0:14:06.790 you're just in a hurry. I've been at Starbucks drive thru. 0:14:08.830 --> 0:14:14.550 I'm expecting my latte. Expecting my coffee. And when I 0:14:14.550 --> 0:14:18.270 expect it, I just. It feels like time goes slower 0:14:18.270 --> 0:14:20.950 and I start thinking, what are they? Milking a cow, 0:14:22.510 --> 0:14:27.870 stirring the milk till it turns to cream. Individually. Individually. 0:14:27.870 --> 0:14:30.350 Squeezing every grain out. I mean, how long can it 0:14:30.350 --> 0:14:33.190 take to make a cup of coffee? Seriously, when you're 0:14:33.190 --> 0:14:39.350 waiting for it? It just goes by slowly. How many 0:14:39.350 --> 0:14:41.870 of you have been praying for that husband to change? 0:14:42.910 --> 0:14:45.630 How many of you have been praying to meet that 0:14:45.630 --> 0:14:48.310 person that will be your life partner? And it just seems. 0:14:48.310 --> 0:14:53.230 How slow can this go? God, how many of you 0:14:53.230 --> 0:14:56.229 have been waiting for that acceptance letter? And it just 0:14:56.230 --> 0:15:01.120 seems like it takes forever. How many of you have 0:15:01.120 --> 0:15:05.680 been waiting for a circumstance to change that you feel 0:15:05.680 --> 0:15:08.440 like is holding you back, and it feels like the 0:15:08.440 --> 0:15:15.000 clock is ticking in slow motion? It's during those times 0:15:16.000 --> 0:15:18.280 that you have to pause and remember God. You have 0:15:18.280 --> 0:15:22.440 a plan. And Lord, even though it feels like nothing's 0:15:22.440 --> 0:15:25.800 moving forward, I trust the fact that you are working 0:15:25.800 --> 0:15:30.320 behind the scenes doing what I cannot see in the natural. 0:15:30.320 --> 0:15:32.800 But you're working in the supernatural. Can I remind you 0:15:32.800 --> 0:15:39.080 folks today God has a plan. God has a plan. God. Yeah, 0:15:39.120 --> 0:15:43.560 God has a plan. And I want you to notice 0:15:43.560 --> 0:15:46.400 what happened. Look at this passage. I want you to 0:15:46.440 --> 0:15:50.120 see what was happening here. And it tells us that 0:15:50.120 --> 0:15:58.800 behind the scenes, God had given Pharaoh a dream. Who 0:15:58.800 --> 0:16:07.640 gave Pharaoh a dream. God. He. He's working. While Joseph 0:16:07.640 --> 0:16:12.479 was sleeping, God was working on a plan. Hear this, 0:16:12.720 --> 0:16:18.400 hear this. Listen to me well. Listen. Sometimes God stirs 0:16:18.440 --> 0:16:23.160 a problem in the palace while he creates a solution 0:16:23.160 --> 0:16:27.000 in the prison that opens up the door to a 0:16:27.000 --> 0:16:30.880 new and powerful position in your life. Come on now. 0:16:31.560 --> 0:16:34.760 Sometimes God is creating a problem in the palace while 0:16:34.760 --> 0:16:37.800 he is stirring a solution in the prison. And while 0:16:37.800 --> 0:16:41.280 you're in prison, you don't know that God is stirring 0:16:41.280 --> 0:16:44.920 a problem somewhere else and preparing you to meet that problem. 0:16:45.000 --> 0:16:47.400 All you know is you're in prison. But God is 0:16:47.400 --> 0:16:51.320 working behind the scenes. When God gave Pharaoh a dream, 0:16:51.320 --> 0:16:55.160 Joseph was unaware of it. But God was working behind 0:16:55.160 --> 0:17:01.920 the scenes. We lose hope when we feel like God 0:17:01.920 --> 0:17:06.359 is forgotten. We lose patience when we feel like it's 0:17:06.359 --> 0:17:11.800 never going to change. We begin to wonder, God, what 0:17:11.800 --> 0:17:13.440 are you doing? Can I tell you? Just because you 0:17:13.440 --> 0:17:16.240 can't see God doing it doesn't mean he's not doing it. 0:17:17.320 --> 0:17:21.480 Just because you can't see God. Moving the pieces around 0:17:21.960 --> 0:17:25.959 for your future doesn't mean that God is not moving 0:17:25.960 --> 0:17:30.600 the pieces around. God works in the background. We live 0:17:30.600 --> 0:17:33.479 in the present. We only see this side of what 0:17:33.520 --> 0:17:38.000 God is doing. But behind, behind, behind. God is working, 0:17:38.000 --> 0:17:42.120 moving things around. God was giving Pharaoh a dream, and 0:17:42.119 --> 0:17:46.040 God was giving Joseph the ability to interpret dreams. And 0:17:46.040 --> 0:17:49.320 when God is formed and in the perfect timing, then 0:17:49.320 --> 0:17:52.320 God connects the dots. Has it ever happened to you 0:17:52.320 --> 0:17:57.080 before where suddenly you look and say, wow, God was 0:17:57.080 --> 0:18:00.530 connecting the dots all along. I just didn't see it. 0:18:01.530 --> 0:18:03.649 And can I tell you, sometimes God is connecting the 0:18:03.650 --> 0:18:09.530 dots before you even started to pray. I remember years 0:18:09.530 --> 0:18:12.330 ago we were in a starting out in ministry and 0:18:12.330 --> 0:18:17.170 we were doing really, really bad financially. And I was praying, God, we, 0:18:17.410 --> 0:18:20.330 you know, we're living on the brink of poverty here. 0:18:20.530 --> 0:18:22.889 And Lord, you need to do something. And I remember 0:18:22.890 --> 0:18:26.810 praying and the very next day receiving a letter that 0:18:26.810 --> 0:18:29.690 had a check for exactly what we needed. And I 0:18:29.690 --> 0:18:34.729 realized God sent it took five days for this check 0:18:34.730 --> 0:18:38.730 to get here. I just prayed yesterday. Oh, mine. Come on. 0:18:38.890 --> 0:18:43.450 God was anticipating my prayer and before I ever prayed it, 0:18:43.490 --> 0:18:46.770 he was already setting in motion the answer to my prayer. 0:18:46.810 --> 0:18:54.370 Only God can do that. He had already set it 0:18:54.369 --> 0:18:59.090 in motion before I ever prayed. He was connecting the dots. 0:19:00.260 --> 0:19:03.260 God is working behind the scenes in so many of 0:19:03.260 --> 0:19:08.780 your lives, and you don't even know it yet. And 0:19:08.780 --> 0:19:14.540 in verse nine, finally the cupbearer, after the pharaoh had 0:19:14.540 --> 0:19:19.580 a dream, the cupbearer remembers that his dream was interpreted 0:19:19.580 --> 0:19:22.780 by Joseph, who was in prison. And it says in 0:19:22.780 --> 0:19:27.060 verse nine of chapter 41, he said, today I'm reminded. 0:19:28.580 --> 0:19:32.740 Which leads me to my third and final point. Number one, 0:19:33.380 --> 0:19:36.340 take your life off. Pause. Number two, see that God 0:19:36.340 --> 0:19:40.740 is working behind the scenes. Number three, don't harden your heart. 0:19:40.740 --> 0:19:45.260 Allow yourself to be humbled and prepared for your next season. 0:19:48.260 --> 0:19:52.659 Pharaoh had a troubling dream. No one seemed to be 0:19:52.700 --> 0:19:57.459 able to interpret the dream. The cupbearer, after two years, 0:19:57.460 --> 0:20:03.700 while Joseph is waiting, is reminded, he remembers. Oh, yeah. Hey, 0:20:03.700 --> 0:20:09.900 I know a guy who's about 30 years old, a 0:20:09.980 --> 0:20:16.899 Hebrew who has this uncanny ability to interpret dreams, and 0:20:16.900 --> 0:20:24.020 maybe Pharaoh, this guy can interpret your dream. So they 0:20:24.060 --> 0:20:28.820 hurry out, they find Joseph. Suddenly the door opens. When 0:20:28.820 --> 0:20:32.179 he's least expecting it. They clean, clean him up. It 0:20:32.180 --> 0:20:34.660 says they shave him. They dress him up, wash him 0:20:34.660 --> 0:20:37.379 up to be presentable before the Pharaoh. In verse 14 0:20:37.380 --> 0:20:39.700 it says, so Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and he was 0:20:39.700 --> 0:20:43.700 quickly brought before from the dungeon when he had shaved 0:20:43.700 --> 0:20:46.540 and changed his clothes. By the way, a good idea 0:20:46.540 --> 0:20:47.900 for some of you guys if you're going on your 0:20:47.900 --> 0:20:51.380 first date when he'd shaved and changed his clothes, he 0:20:51.380 --> 0:20:55.820 came before. Just a little advice to young men out there. Um, uh, 0:20:55.820 --> 0:21:00.180 Pharaoh said to Joseph, I had a dream And no 0:21:00.180 --> 0:21:03.780 one can interpret it. But I have heard it said 0:21:03.820 --> 0:21:06.580 of you that when you hear a dream, you can 0:21:06.580 --> 0:21:11.300 interpret it. Here's the most powerful man on the planet, 0:21:11.300 --> 0:21:14.220 the Pharaoh of Egypt at that time, the nation that 0:21:14.260 --> 0:21:17.580 ruled the world. And he's speaking to a slave boy, 0:21:17.940 --> 0:21:21.899 a prisoner bringing him out, saying, I heard that you 0:21:21.900 --> 0:21:26.460 have the special ability to interpret dreams. And I want 0:21:26.460 --> 0:21:33.419 you to notice the seasoned, broken, humbled response of Joseph. 0:21:35.820 --> 0:21:48.300 I cannot do it. Hallelujah. The cocky Joseph would have said, sure, 0:21:48.300 --> 0:21:54.580 here I am. What's up Pharaoh? Lay it on me. 0:21:54.940 --> 0:21:59.220 Got it down. This isn't a 17 year old cocky 0:21:59.310 --> 0:22:08.230 kid anymore. This is a broken, seasoned, humbled, mature man 0:22:08.230 --> 0:22:15.990 of God. He says, no, I cannot do it. The 0:22:15.990 --> 0:22:19.389 greater you go in grace, the greater you grow in wisdom. 0:22:19.750 --> 0:22:22.629 The more you discover how incapable you are of doing 0:22:22.630 --> 0:22:34.030 anything about from the power of God. So maybe you're 0:22:34.030 --> 0:22:37.190 in the middle of your prison right now, and you're 0:22:37.190 --> 0:22:41.830 in a place where God is humbling you, teaching you. 0:22:42.310 --> 0:22:44.869 Maybe you're in that waiting room and you're saying, God, 0:22:44.869 --> 0:22:51.950 how long? No life experience in God is wasted. If 0:22:51.950 --> 0:22:54.229 we allow the Spirit of God to work on us. 0:22:54.550 --> 0:22:57.830 Joseph could have thought, this is wasted time, but God 0:22:57.869 --> 0:23:00.750 had a purpose in the pain. So I want to 0:23:00.750 --> 0:23:03.430 speak to you right now to pray for you that 0:23:03.430 --> 0:23:05.710 are feeling right now, that you're in a place of 0:23:05.710 --> 0:23:08.910 waiting or a place of pain, and you don't know 0:23:08.910 --> 0:23:12.669 what the purpose is. I do believe that in God's 0:23:12.670 --> 0:23:16.710 master plan, if we give it over to God that 0:23:16.710 --> 0:23:19.950 God has the power and ability to use even that 0:23:19.950 --> 0:23:22.790 which is bad for good. He's not the author of it, 0:23:22.790 --> 0:23:25.389 but he can use it for good. So father, I 0:23:25.390 --> 0:23:28.750 pray right now for that person that's in a place 0:23:28.750 --> 0:23:33.390 of waiting. They don't understand their prison. They don't understand 0:23:33.390 --> 0:23:37.030 the place of pain. They're not sure why they're going 0:23:37.030 --> 0:23:40.190 through what they're going through. I pray that you would 0:23:40.190 --> 0:23:43.030 infuse them with hope. God, I pray that you would 0:23:43.030 --> 0:23:46.189 give them perseverance in the midst of the prison cell. 0:23:46.190 --> 0:23:49.110 They find themselves in God. I pray that you would 0:23:49.109 --> 0:23:51.750 remind them that you are sovereign, that you do have 0:23:51.750 --> 0:23:54.470 a purpose, and that you do have a plan. And 0:23:54.470 --> 0:23:57.389 in the right moment, God, I pray that you would 0:23:57.630 --> 0:24:01.520 unveil that plan. God that they would look back and see. Yes. 0:24:01.520 --> 0:24:06.320 Thank you God, for those things that I even despised 0:24:06.320 --> 0:24:10.320 at the time. So God, I pray, encourage that person 0:24:10.320 --> 0:24:14.400 right now to persevere. I ask this in Jesus name. Amen. 0:24:15.040 --> 0:24:17.680 You're listening to Bold Steps with Mark Jobe, the end 0:24:17.680 --> 0:24:21.280 of a message titled Surviving Your Prison. It's actually the 0:24:21.280 --> 0:24:24.520 final lesson in our series called Life Interrupted. And if 0:24:24.560 --> 0:24:26.760 you missed this study, remember you can always listen again 0:24:26.760 --> 0:24:31.000 by going online to bold steps.org. Once you're there, we 0:24:31.000 --> 0:24:33.840 also encourage you to check out this month's Bold Step gift. 0:24:33.840 --> 0:24:36.400 It's a timely and important book called The Church in 0:24:36.400 --> 0:24:39.280 Babylon Heeding the Call to Be a light in the Darkness, 0:24:39.280 --> 0:24:42.879 by Doctor Erwin Lutzer. If you've ever felt like a 0:24:42.880 --> 0:24:46.119 stranger in your own culture, you're not alone. God's people 0:24:46.119 --> 0:24:49.040 have faced hostile cultures before, and Doctor Lutzer draws on 0:24:49.080 --> 0:24:53.639 that Babylon exile example to show us how to remain faithful, hopeful, 0:24:53.640 --> 0:24:56.840 and bold today. So reach out and request your copy 0:24:56.840 --> 0:24:58.720 when you give a gift of any amount to support 0:24:58.720 --> 0:25:02.159 the Bold Steps ministry. To make your donation and request 0:25:02.160 --> 0:25:06.119 this bold step gift, visit us online at bold steps.org 0:25:06.440 --> 0:25:13.280 or call us at 800 D.L. Moody, that's (800) 356-6639. Now, 0:25:13.280 --> 0:25:15.119 before we close today, we want to remind you to 0:25:15.160 --> 0:25:17.600 connect with us on social media. You'll get a more 0:25:17.600 --> 0:25:20.880 personal behind the scenes view of everything happening in bold steps. 0:25:20.880 --> 0:25:23.320 And you can find us on Facebook and Instagram by 0:25:23.320 --> 0:25:27.119 searching for Bold Steps Radio. I'm Wayne Shepherd, inviting you 0:25:27.119 --> 0:25:29.520 to join us again tomorrow when Mark shares a brand 0:25:29.520 --> 0:25:32.520 new message titled How Not to Push Away the Presence 0:25:32.520 --> 0:25:35.320 of God. It's a powerful look at King David and 0:25:35.320 --> 0:25:37.280 the Ark of the covenant, and what it means to 0:25:37.320 --> 0:25:41.640 approach God's presence with reverence instead of convenience. Don't miss it. 0:25:41.640 --> 0:25:46.919 Friday on Bold Steps with Mark. Bold steps is a 0:25:46.920 --> 0:25:50.600 production of Moody Radio, a Ministry of Moody Bible Institute.