WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.580 Welcome to Pomoja Podcast. The place where stronger 00:00:04.580 --> 00:00:07.980 lives are built, faith is strengthened, hearts 00:00:07.980 --> 00:00:11.060 are encouraged, and Christ -centered homes are 00:00:11.060 --> 00:00:14.359 shaped through ordinary conversations that become 00:00:14.359 --> 00:00:17.980 extraordinary encounters with God's truth. I'm 00:00:17.980 --> 00:00:22.859 your host, Barry Mwamba. Last time, we discovered 00:00:22.859 --> 00:00:25.800 something that completely changed the way I look 00:00:25.800 --> 00:00:29.320 at difficult seasons. We discovered that while 00:00:29.320 --> 00:00:32.740 David was still sitting in the cave, God was 00:00:32.740 --> 00:00:36.299 already gathering four hundred men, while Joseph 00:00:36.299 --> 00:00:40.119 was still sleeping in prison. God was already 00:00:40.119 --> 00:00:43.659 disturbing Pharaoh's dreams. While Shadrach, 00:00:43.979 --> 00:00:47.039 Meshach, and Abednego were walking toward the 00:00:47.039 --> 00:00:51.200 furnace, God had already gone before them. And 00:00:51.200 --> 00:00:54.240 maybe, while you're walking through your own 00:00:54.240 --> 00:00:58.520 valley today. God is already moving in ways you 00:00:58.520 --> 00:01:02.060 cannot yet see. That conversation left me with 00:01:02.060 --> 00:01:05.439 another question, one that honestly stayed in 00:01:05.439 --> 00:01:09.680 my heart. If God is already moving, why doesn't 00:01:09.680 --> 00:01:13.420 he simply tell us everything? Have you ever wondered 00:01:13.420 --> 00:01:17.180 that? I certainly have. Why doesn't God simply 00:01:17.180 --> 00:01:21.219 tell Joseph, don't worry, you'll only be in prison 00:01:21.219 --> 00:01:24.760 for two more years? Why doesn't he tell David, 00:01:24.939 --> 00:01:29.159 Those 400 men are already on their way. Why doesn't 00:01:29.159 --> 00:01:32.879 he tell Daniel, the lions won't touch you? Why 00:01:32.879 --> 00:01:36.299 doesn't he tell Abraham exactly when Isaac will 00:01:36.299 --> 00:01:39.959 be born? Wouldn't that make life so much easier? 00:01:40.480 --> 00:01:43.659 Wouldn't faith become so much easier? The more 00:01:43.659 --> 00:01:47.859 I thought about that, the more I realized. Perhaps 00:01:47.859 --> 00:01:51.140 God isn't trying to make faith easier. Perhaps 00:01:51.140 --> 00:01:54.269 he's trying to make faith deeper. Because if 00:01:54.269 --> 00:01:57.890 God explained everything, would we still need 00:01:57.890 --> 00:02:01.170 faith? That question brought me straight to Hebrews 00:02:01.170 --> 00:02:06.069 chapter 11. And I think for the first time I 00:02:06.069 --> 00:02:10.250 began reading it differently. For years I thought 00:02:10.250 --> 00:02:14.289 Hebrews 11 was simply a chapter about great men 00:02:14.289 --> 00:02:17.889 and women of faith. Now I think it's something 00:02:17.889 --> 00:02:21.750 much deeper. It's a chapter about ordinary people. 00:02:21.949 --> 00:02:25.530 who kept trusting God while they didn't understand 00:02:25.530 --> 00:02:29.830 what he was doing. That changes everything because 00:02:29.830 --> 00:02:33.610 suddenly faith is no longer about seeing the 00:02:33.610 --> 00:02:37.770 miracle. Faith becomes trusting God before the 00:02:37.770 --> 00:02:41.629 miracle. Faith is no longer celebrating the answer. 00:02:42.050 --> 00:02:45.789 Faith becomes continuing to pray before the answer 00:02:45.789 --> 00:02:49.469 arrives. Faith is no longer standing on the other 00:02:49.469 --> 00:02:52.639 side of the Red Sea. Faith is taking the first 00:02:52.639 --> 00:02:56.759 step while the sea is still closed. And then 00:02:56.759 --> 00:03:00.900 one sentence came into my spirit, a sentence 00:03:00.900 --> 00:03:05.159 that has stayed with me ever since. Faith is 00:03:05.159 --> 00:03:08.419 not understanding the author. Faith is trusting 00:03:08.419 --> 00:03:11.699 the author while he is still writing. The more 00:03:11.699 --> 00:03:15.960 I thought about that, the more I realized that's 00:03:15.960 --> 00:03:18.860 exactly what every person in Hebrews 11 was doing. 00:03:19.469 --> 00:03:24.229 None of them had the complete story. None of 00:03:24.229 --> 00:03:28.770 them could see the last chapter. None of them 00:03:28.770 --> 00:03:32.110 knew how everything would unfold. They simply 00:03:32.110 --> 00:03:37.629 trusted the one holding the pen. And maybe that's 00:03:37.629 --> 00:03:41.129 where you and I are today. Not at the end of 00:03:41.129 --> 00:03:45.750 the story, not even close. We're somewhere in 00:03:45.750 --> 00:03:48.870 the middle chapters. The chapters where questions 00:03:48.870 --> 00:03:52.050 are still louder than answers, where promises 00:03:52.050 --> 00:03:55.129 seem bigger than circumstances, where prayers 00:03:55.129 --> 00:03:59.710 continue even when heaven appears silent. And 00:03:59.710 --> 00:04:03.469 perhaps that is exactly where faith does its 00:04:03.469 --> 00:04:08.610 greatest work. There is something I've noticed 00:04:08.610 --> 00:04:12.349 about almost every servant of God. None of them 00:04:12.349 --> 00:04:15.770 had the privilege of reading the last chapter. 00:04:16.160 --> 00:04:20.160 while they were living the middle one. Joseph 00:04:20.160 --> 00:04:22.759 didn't know prison would become the pathway to 00:04:22.759 --> 00:04:26.379 the palace. David didn't know the cave would 00:04:26.379 --> 00:04:30.000 become the birthplace of a kingdom. Abraham didn't 00:04:30.000 --> 00:04:34.240 know how God would fulfill his promise. Paul 00:04:34.240 --> 00:04:36.720 didn't know his prison letters would one day 00:04:36.720 --> 00:04:40.240 become part of the New Testament. They all had 00:04:40.240 --> 00:04:44.060 something in common. They knew God, but they 00:04:44.060 --> 00:04:48.629 did not know the entire plan. And maybe that's 00:04:48.629 --> 00:04:51.430 exactly how God intended it. Because if they 00:04:51.430 --> 00:04:54.290 had known everything, it wouldn't have required 00:04:54.290 --> 00:04:59.389 faith. Faith lives where explanations stop. Faith 00:04:59.389 --> 00:05:03.509 begins where certainty ends. Faith continues 00:05:03.509 --> 00:05:07.509 walking even when understanding cannot. And I 00:05:07.509 --> 00:05:10.930 wonder if that's exactly why some of us are struggling. 00:05:11.689 --> 00:05:15.040 Not because we lack God's promises. But because 00:05:15.040 --> 00:05:18.360 we want explanations when God is inviting us 00:05:18.360 --> 00:05:23.879 to trust and maybe That's exactly where faith 00:05:23.879 --> 00:05:27.459 does its greatest work Not after the miracle 00:05:27.459 --> 00:05:32.399 before it not after the answer before it not 00:05:32.399 --> 00:05:36.319 after understanding before understanding ever 00:05:36.319 --> 00:05:39.860 arrives I think that's why Hebrews chapter 11 00:05:39.860 --> 00:05:42.560 has become one of my favorite chapters in the 00:05:42.560 --> 00:05:46.319 Bible Because if you remove the miracles for 00:05:46.319 --> 00:05:51.160 just a moment, what remains? People, ordinary 00:05:51.160 --> 00:05:55.439 men and women, living one ordinary day at a time, 00:05:55.899 --> 00:05:58.920 making one decision of obedience after another, 00:05:59.680 --> 00:06:02.839 without knowing how their stories would end. 00:06:03.639 --> 00:06:06.920 Sometimes we read Hebrews 11 as though those 00:06:06.920 --> 00:06:09.680 men and women knew they would become heroes of 00:06:09.680 --> 00:06:14.199 the faith, they didn't. Abraham had no idea millions 00:06:14.199 --> 00:06:17.240 of people would one day call him the father of 00:06:17.240 --> 00:06:21.399 faith. Joseph never imagined that one day children 00:06:21.399 --> 00:06:24.100 would learn his story in Sunday school around 00:06:24.100 --> 00:06:27.019 the world. David never thought the songs he was 00:06:27.019 --> 00:06:29.560 writing in lonely caves would become worship 00:06:29.560 --> 00:06:33.139 for generations. Paul never imagined that letters 00:06:33.139 --> 00:06:35.779 written from prison would become part of the 00:06:35.779 --> 00:06:38.920 New Testament. They were simply living, trusting, 00:06:39.279 --> 00:06:42.879 obeying, one day at a time. And maybe that's 00:06:42.879 --> 00:06:46.120 exactly what faith looks like, not seeing the 00:06:46.120 --> 00:06:50.379 entire staircase, but taking the next step because 00:06:50.379 --> 00:06:54.560 you trust the one who asked you to move. I think 00:06:54.560 --> 00:06:57.720 sometimes we make faith look much more complicated 00:06:57.720 --> 00:07:01.540 than it really is. We imagine faith as something 00:07:01.540 --> 00:07:05.279 extraordinary, something reserved for spiritual 00:07:05.279 --> 00:07:09.980 giants. But when I read Hebrews 11, I don't see 00:07:09.980 --> 00:07:13.300 superheroes. I see people who simply decided, 00:07:13.899 --> 00:07:17.379 I'm going to trust God today. That's all Abraham 00:07:17.379 --> 00:07:21.500 could do. That's all Sarah could do. That's all 00:07:21.500 --> 00:07:25.800 Moses could do. That's all Daniel could do. That's 00:07:25.800 --> 00:07:29.800 all Paul could do. And maybe that's all God is 00:07:29.800 --> 00:07:32.879 asking from us today, not to understand the next 00:07:32.879 --> 00:07:36.680 10 years, simply to trust Him today. Because 00:07:36.680 --> 00:07:40.750 the truth is, God rarely explains himself completely. 00:07:41.610 --> 00:07:45.129 Have you noticed that? He gives Abraham a promise, 00:07:45.730 --> 00:07:49.910 but not a calendar. He gives Joseph dreams, but 00:07:49.910 --> 00:07:53.170 not an explanation of the prison. He anoints 00:07:53.170 --> 00:07:56.569 David King, but doesn't tell him about the caves. 00:07:57.269 --> 00:08:01.209 He calls Moses, but doesn't describe 40 years 00:08:01.209 --> 00:08:05.350 in the wilderness. He calls Jeremiah, but doesn't 00:08:05.350 --> 00:08:08.370 promise everyone will listen. He calls Paul, 00:08:08.810 --> 00:08:12.149 but also tells him, I will show him how much 00:08:12.149 --> 00:08:15.949 he must suffer for my name. God gives enough 00:08:15.949 --> 00:08:19.910 light to take the next step, but rarely enough 00:08:19.910 --> 00:08:24.629 to see the entire journey. And maybe that is 00:08:24.629 --> 00:08:28.029 intentional, because if God showed me every chapter 00:08:28.029 --> 00:08:31.490 of my life today, would I still need faith tomorrow? 00:08:32.450 --> 00:08:35.889 Probably not. I would simply be following information. 00:08:36.360 --> 00:08:41.080 Faith begins, where explanations end. Faith continues, 00:08:41.919 --> 00:08:45.720 when emotions fluctuate. Faith remains, when 00:08:45.720 --> 00:08:49.159 circumstances refuse to change. Faith keeps praying, 00:08:49.980 --> 00:08:53.759 when heaven appears silent. Faith keeps worshiping, 00:08:54.019 --> 00:08:57.220 when the prison doors remain closed. Faith keeps 00:08:57.220 --> 00:09:01.240 loving, when life becomes difficult. Faith keeps 00:09:01.240 --> 00:09:04.799 obeying, when obedience doesn't immediately make 00:09:04.799 --> 00:09:09.330 sense. And I wonder if that's why God never gave 00:09:09.330 --> 00:09:13.409 Joseph an explanation. Because Joseph didn't 00:09:13.409 --> 00:09:16.950 need an explanation. He needed God's presence. 00:09:17.610 --> 00:09:21.129 David didn't need an explanation. He needed God's 00:09:21.129 --> 00:09:23.970 presence. Daniel didn't need an explanation. 00:09:24.269 --> 00:09:27.710 He needed God's presence. Paul didn't need an 00:09:27.710 --> 00:09:31.990 explanation. He needed God's presence. Do you 00:09:31.990 --> 00:09:34.549 see something beautiful here? The more I read 00:09:34.549 --> 00:09:38.049 the Bible, the more I realize God often gives 00:09:38.049 --> 00:09:40.850 us something better than explanations. He gives 00:09:40.850 --> 00:09:45.289 us himself. Moses understood that. When God told 00:09:45.289 --> 00:09:49.370 him, my presence will go with you, Moses didn't 00:09:49.370 --> 00:09:52.690 ask for a better strategy. He didn't ask for 00:09:52.690 --> 00:09:56.950 a detailed map. He simply answered, if your presence 00:09:56.950 --> 00:10:00.389 does not go with us, do not send us from here. 00:10:00.769 --> 00:10:04.879 Why? because Moses had already discovered something. 00:10:05.399 --> 00:10:09.320 The presence of God is greater than knowing tomorrow. 00:10:09.419 --> 00:10:13.320 And I think that's where faith reaches maturity. 00:10:13.740 --> 00:10:16.580 Not when I finally receive every answer I've 00:10:16.580 --> 00:10:20.200 been asking for, but when I can honestly say, 00:10:20.759 --> 00:10:24.720 Lord, I still have questions. There are still 00:10:24.720 --> 00:10:28.440 things I don't understand. There are still prayers 00:10:28.440 --> 00:10:31.809 I'm waiting to see answered. But I know you, 00:10:32.230 --> 00:10:35.409 and knowing you is enough for me to keep walking. 00:10:36.309 --> 00:10:40.309 I believe that is the faith Hebrews chapter 11 00:10:40.309 --> 00:10:43.889 is talking about. Not faith that understands 00:10:43.889 --> 00:10:47.649 everything, faith that trusts someone, faith 00:10:47.649 --> 00:10:51.149 that has discovered. The author is trustworthy, 00:10:51.929 --> 00:10:55.429 even when the chapter being written doesn't yet 00:10:55.429 --> 00:11:00.149 make sense, and perhaps. That's why none of those 00:11:00.149 --> 00:11:03.909 men and women quit Not because they had all the 00:11:03.909 --> 00:11:07.049 answers but because they had become convinced 00:11:07.049 --> 00:11:10.830 that the one writing their story would never 00:11:10.830 --> 00:11:15.590 stop being faithful and That thought led me to 00:11:15.590 --> 00:11:18.730 another question if faith is trusting the author 00:11:18.730 --> 00:11:23.490 while he is still writing What happens? When 00:11:23.490 --> 00:11:26.210 the chapter you're living looks nothing like 00:11:26.210 --> 00:11:30.820 the promise he gave you I think that's where 00:11:30.820 --> 00:11:35.019 Abraham's story begins. Because if there is one 00:11:35.019 --> 00:11:37.700 man in the Bible who understood what it meant 00:11:37.700 --> 00:11:40.940 to trust God without having every answer, it 00:11:40.940 --> 00:11:45.539 was Abraham. Think about it for a moment. God 00:11:45.539 --> 00:11:49.200 comes to Abraham and makes an incredible promise. 00:11:49.940 --> 00:11:54.240 I will make you into a great nation. It's a beautiful 00:11:54.240 --> 00:11:58.200 promise, an extraordinary promise. But there 00:11:58.200 --> 00:12:02.080 was one problem. Abraham didn't even have a son. 00:12:02.860 --> 00:12:05.960 Have you ever thought about that? God spoke about 00:12:05.960 --> 00:12:09.779 a nation while Abraham was still waiting for 00:12:09.779 --> 00:12:13.460 one child. I don't know about you, but if I had 00:12:13.460 --> 00:12:16.059 been Abraham, I probably would have had a few 00:12:16.059 --> 00:12:21.539 questions. Lord, you set a nation. Can we first 00:12:21.539 --> 00:12:25.950 talk about one son? And maybe... That's exactly 00:12:25.950 --> 00:12:31.210 where faith begins. Faith begins when God's promise 00:12:31.210 --> 00:12:33.250 seems much bigger than your present reality. 00:12:33.889 --> 00:12:37.169 Every morning Abraham woke up. The promise remained. 00:12:37.909 --> 00:12:40.590 But nothing around him seemed to change. Another 00:12:40.590 --> 00:12:44.649 day passed. Nothing. Another month. Nothing. 00:12:45.490 --> 00:12:48.629 Another year. Still nothing. Can you imagine 00:12:48.629 --> 00:12:52.070 that? The promise hadn't changed. God hadn't 00:12:52.070 --> 00:12:55.730 changed. But Abraham's circumstances looked exactly 00:12:55.730 --> 00:12:58.950 the same. I think that's where many believers 00:12:58.950 --> 00:13:02.610 quietly struggle. We don't struggle because God 00:13:02.610 --> 00:13:06.129 has never spoken. We struggle because He spoke. 00:13:06.570 --> 00:13:09.669 And then everything became quiet. We expected 00:13:09.669 --> 00:13:13.149 immediate movement. God invited us into waiting. 00:13:13.549 --> 00:13:17.350 And waiting is probably one of the greatest classrooms 00:13:17.350 --> 00:13:20.710 of faith, because waiting forces us to answer 00:13:20.710 --> 00:13:25.250 one question. Do I trust God because I already 00:13:25.250 --> 00:13:29.870 see the miracle? Or do I trust Him simply because 00:13:29.870 --> 00:13:33.009 He spoke? Those are two very different kinds 00:13:33.009 --> 00:13:36.870 of faith. One depends on visible evidence. The 00:13:36.870 --> 00:13:39.929 other depends on the character of God. And when 00:13:39.929 --> 00:13:44.870 I read Hebrews chapter 11, I realize God never 00:13:44.870 --> 00:13:48.710 asked Abraham to believe in the impossible. He 00:13:48.710 --> 00:13:53.299 asked Abraham to believe. In him, that changes 00:13:53.299 --> 00:13:56.840 everything, because faith is not confidence in 00:13:56.840 --> 00:14:00.539 circumstances. Faith is confidence in the one 00:14:00.539 --> 00:14:04.139 who made the promise. The promise may seem impossible, 00:14:04.779 --> 00:14:09.399 but the promiser remains faithful. Sarah eventually 00:14:09.399 --> 00:14:13.820 learned the same lesson. At first, she laughed, 00:14:14.399 --> 00:14:17.100 not because she hated God, because the promise 00:14:17.100 --> 00:14:20.809 seemed impossible. Humanly speaking, It was impossible. 00:14:21.690 --> 00:14:25.190 Time had already spoken. Age had already spoken. 00:14:25.690 --> 00:14:28.970 Biology had already spoken. Everything around 00:14:28.970 --> 00:14:33.690 her was saying, it cannot happen. But God had 00:14:33.690 --> 00:14:37.649 already spoken. And when God speaks, His word 00:14:37.649 --> 00:14:41.090 always has the final authority. That's why I 00:14:41.090 --> 00:14:44.629 love something the angel asked Sarah. Is anything 00:14:44.629 --> 00:14:48.990 too hard for the Lord? Notice, God didn't explain 00:14:48.990 --> 00:14:54.100 how. He simply reminded her who he is. Sometimes, 00:14:54.940 --> 00:14:57.879 God answers our questions, not by explaining 00:14:57.879 --> 00:15:01.039 his methods, but by revealing his character. 00:15:01.860 --> 00:15:05.159 That thought really challenged me because I realized 00:15:05.159 --> 00:15:09.720 I spend too much time asking, how? While God 00:15:09.720 --> 00:15:12.460 keeps reminding me, look at who is speaking. 00:15:12.799 --> 00:15:15.399 Maybe faith has never been about understanding 00:15:15.399 --> 00:15:19.240 God's methods. Maybe faith has always been about 00:15:19.240 --> 00:15:22.720 knowing God's heart. And that's exactly what 00:15:22.720 --> 00:15:26.100 Abraham learned. He never knew every detail. 00:15:26.659 --> 00:15:30.360 He simply became convinced that the God who made 00:15:30.360 --> 00:15:34.679 the promise was faithful enough to fulfill it. 00:15:35.340 --> 00:15:37.600 Then something beautiful happened in my heart. 00:15:38.139 --> 00:15:42.759 I realized every servant of God eventually reaches 00:15:42.759 --> 00:15:45.889 this place. A place where they stop depending 00:15:45.889 --> 00:15:49.470 on explanations and start depending on God's 00:15:49.470 --> 00:15:54.090 character. Joseph reached that place. David reached 00:15:54.090 --> 00:15:58.450 that place. Daniel reached that place. Paul reached 00:15:58.450 --> 00:16:02.870 that place. And perhaps, God is inviting us there 00:16:02.870 --> 00:16:06.649 too. Not to understand everything, but to know 00:16:06.649 --> 00:16:10.190 Him so deeply that even when life doesn't make 00:16:10.190 --> 00:16:15.399 sense, our confidence in Him never changes. Because 00:16:15.399 --> 00:16:19.480 once you know the author, you stop panicking 00:16:19.480 --> 00:16:22.220 every time you don't understand the chapter. 00:16:23.639 --> 00:16:26.700 And that made me think about Joseph again, because 00:16:26.700 --> 00:16:31.720 no one, perhaps more than Joseph, lived through 00:16:31.720 --> 00:16:35.220 chapters that looked completely opposite to the 00:16:35.220 --> 00:16:40.240 promise God had given him. Yet somehow, he never 00:16:40.240 --> 00:16:46.980 stopped believing. God gave Joseph two dreams, 00:16:47.500 --> 00:16:51.000 beautiful dreams, powerful dreams, dreams about 00:16:51.000 --> 00:16:54.779 purpose, dreams about influence, dreams about 00:16:54.779 --> 00:16:58.000 leadership. Imagine being Joseph that morning. 00:16:58.299 --> 00:17:02.059 You're 17 years old. God has just shown you something 00:17:02.059 --> 00:17:05.680 extraordinary about your future. If someone had 00:17:05.680 --> 00:17:09.000 asked Joseph, what do you think happens next? 00:17:10.079 --> 00:17:12.900 What do you think he would have answered? Perhaps, 00:17:13.109 --> 00:17:17.730 God is about to open doors. Perhaps my life is 00:17:17.730 --> 00:17:22.210 about to become easier. Instead, his brothers 00:17:22.210 --> 00:17:26.029 hated him. Then they betrayed him. Then they 00:17:26.029 --> 00:17:29.049 threw him into a pit. Then they sold him as a 00:17:29.049 --> 00:17:33.150 slave. Then he was falsely accused. Then he was 00:17:33.150 --> 00:17:36.390 forgotten in prison. Can you imagine how confusing 00:17:36.390 --> 00:17:39.970 that must have been? Because if I compare the 00:17:39.970 --> 00:17:44.079 dream to the journey, Nothing seems to match. 00:17:44.759 --> 00:17:47.680 The dream speaks about leadership. The journey 00:17:47.680 --> 00:17:51.019 speaks about slavery. The dream speaks about 00:17:51.019 --> 00:17:54.299 honor. The journey speaks about humiliation. 00:17:55.500 --> 00:17:58.559 The dream speaks about influence. The journey 00:17:58.559 --> 00:18:02.079 speaks about isolation. Have you ever had a season 00:18:02.079 --> 00:18:05.880 like that, where what God promised and what you 00:18:05.880 --> 00:18:09.259 are experiencing seem to be moving in opposite 00:18:09.259 --> 00:18:12.980 directions? I think many believers quietly lose 00:18:12.980 --> 00:18:16.880 heart right there. Not because God failed to 00:18:16.880 --> 00:18:20.180 speak, but because life stopped looking like 00:18:20.180 --> 00:18:24.559 the promise. And yet, Joseph never stopped being 00:18:24.559 --> 00:18:28.180 Joseph. Have you ever noticed that? He served 00:18:28.180 --> 00:18:31.720 faithfully in Potiphar's house. He served faithfully 00:18:31.720 --> 00:18:35.019 in prison. He interpreted dreams with the same 00:18:35.019 --> 00:18:37.859 integrity, whether he was wearing a servant's 00:18:37.859 --> 00:18:41.140 garment or a prisoner's garment. His circumstances 00:18:41.140 --> 00:18:44.539 kept changing. His character didn't. That really 00:18:44.539 --> 00:18:48.380 challenged me. Because sometimes we postpone 00:18:48.380 --> 00:18:52.099 faithfulness until the miracle arrives. Joseph 00:18:52.099 --> 00:18:55.700 remained faithful before the miracle. He remained 00:18:55.700 --> 00:18:59.640 honest before justice. He remained excellent 00:18:59.640 --> 00:19:03.480 before promotion. He remained dependent on God 00:19:03.480 --> 00:19:07.940 before deliverance. And maybe that's what faith 00:19:07.940 --> 00:19:11.720 really looks like. Faith is not waiting to become 00:19:11.720 --> 00:19:15.160 faithful when life finally makes sense. Faith 00:19:15.160 --> 00:19:18.759 is remaining faithful while life makes no sense 00:19:18.759 --> 00:19:22.500 at all. Then something else caught my attention. 00:19:23.119 --> 00:19:26.480 Joseph never spent his life trying to force God's 00:19:26.480 --> 00:19:29.279 promise to happen. He didn't escape the prison. 00:19:29.420 --> 00:19:32.079 He didn't manipulate Pharaoh. He didn't seek 00:19:32.079 --> 00:19:35.200 revenge against his brothers. He simply remained 00:19:35.200 --> 00:19:39.539 faithful where God had placed him. I wonder how 00:19:39.539 --> 00:19:42.779 often we exhaust ourselves trying to open doors 00:19:42.779 --> 00:19:46.980 that only God can open. Joseph teaches us something 00:19:46.980 --> 00:19:51.299 beautiful. Your responsibility is faithfulness. 00:19:51.680 --> 00:19:55.619 God's responsibility is fulfillment. That takes 00:19:55.619 --> 00:19:58.839 a tremendous burden off our shoulders because 00:19:58.839 --> 00:20:01.839 faith doesn't have to manufacture the miracle. 00:20:02.259 --> 00:20:05.059 Faith simply continues walking with God until 00:20:05.059 --> 00:20:09.619 his time arrives and maybe That's why Joseph 00:20:09.619 --> 00:20:13.039 could later say to his brothers, you meant evil 00:20:13.039 --> 00:20:16.859 against me, but God meant it for good. Notice, 00:20:17.500 --> 00:20:21.279 he didn't say, now I understand everything. He 00:20:21.279 --> 00:20:24.819 simply recognized that God had been writing another 00:20:24.819 --> 00:20:28.460 story behind the one everyone else could see. 00:20:28.980 --> 00:20:32.380 The pit wasn't the end. The slavery wasn't the 00:20:32.380 --> 00:20:36.460 end. The prison wasn't the end. They were chapters. 00:20:36.759 --> 00:20:40.200 necessary chapters, chapters Joseph would never 00:20:40.200 --> 00:20:44.119 have chosen, but chapters God refused to waste. 00:20:44.599 --> 00:20:48.220 And then it suddenly became personal for me. 00:20:48.779 --> 00:20:52.180 How many chapters in my own life have I been 00:20:52.180 --> 00:20:55.759 trying to close while God was still writing them? 00:20:56.099 --> 00:20:59.339 How many times have I called something a failure, 00:20:59.680 --> 00:21:03.180 that God was calling preparation? How many times 00:21:03.180 --> 00:21:07.609 have I prayed, Lord, get me out? while God was 00:21:07.609 --> 00:21:11.509 quietly saying, Barry, I'm not finished writing 00:21:11.509 --> 00:21:15.529 this chapter yet. That thought changed me, because 00:21:15.529 --> 00:21:19.170 maybe the goal is not to escape every difficult 00:21:19.170 --> 00:21:23.450 chapter. Maybe the goal is to remain faithful 00:21:23.450 --> 00:21:29.210 until the author turns the page. And when I thought 00:21:29.210 --> 00:21:32.650 about that, my mind immediately went back to 00:21:32.650 --> 00:21:36.240 David. Because if Joseph teaches us how to trust 00:21:36.240 --> 00:21:40.160 the promise, David teaches us how to worship 00:21:40.160 --> 00:21:43.619 while you're still waiting for it. And perhaps 00:21:43.619 --> 00:21:48.059 that's where we'll begin next time. Because David, 00:21:48.799 --> 00:21:52.920 Daniel, and Paul all discovered something that 00:21:52.920 --> 00:21:56.660 Joseph had not yet fully revealed. They discovered 00:21:56.660 --> 00:21:59.940 that faith doesn't simply keep believing. Faith 00:21:59.940 --> 00:22:03.779 begins to sing. Faith begins to worship. Faith 00:22:03.779 --> 00:22:07.859 begins to write. David sang in the cave. Daniel 00:22:07.859 --> 00:22:11.880 prayed in exile. Paul wrote from prison. None 00:22:11.880 --> 00:22:14.960 of them knew that what they were doing in those 00:22:14.960 --> 00:22:18.599 dark moments would one day strengthen generations 00:22:18.599 --> 00:22:21.779 they would never meet. Think about that for a 00:22:21.779 --> 00:22:25.380 moment. David thought he was writing songs to 00:22:25.380 --> 00:22:28.960 God. God was preparing the worship of his people 00:22:28.960 --> 00:22:32.599 for thousands of years. Daniel thought he was 00:22:32.599 --> 00:22:35.500 simply remaining faithful in a foreign land. 00:22:36.000 --> 00:22:39.079 God was revealing his kingdom to generations 00:22:39.079 --> 00:22:43.299 yet unborn. Paul thought he was encouraging a 00:22:43.299 --> 00:22:47.119 few churches from a prison cell. God was building 00:22:47.119 --> 00:22:51.119 the theological foundation of his church. None 00:22:51.119 --> 00:22:54.240 of them realized that while they were simply 00:22:54.240 --> 00:22:58.220 trying to remain faithful, God was creating a 00:22:58.220 --> 00:23:01.819 legacy. And maybe, That's one of the greatest 00:23:01.819 --> 00:23:05.519 lessons of faith. Faith is not only believing 00:23:05.519 --> 00:23:09.500 that God will fulfill his promise. Faith is continuing 00:23:09.500 --> 00:23:14.960 to worship, to pray, to write, to obey, even 00:23:14.960 --> 00:23:17.819 when you have no idea how far your obedience 00:23:17.819 --> 00:23:23.019 will reach. Perhaps the greatest works God accomplishes 00:23:23.019 --> 00:23:25.960 through our lives are the ones we will never 00:23:25.960 --> 00:23:29.700 fully understand while we are living them. And 00:23:29.700 --> 00:23:33.519 that is exactly where our next conversation begins. 00:23:34.319 --> 00:23:38.279 Because if faith continues walking, even without 00:23:38.279 --> 00:23:41.980 explanations, what happens when God turns your 00:23:41.980 --> 00:23:47.180 cave, your exile, or your prison into a testimony 00:23:47.180 --> 00:23:50.660 that will outlive you? I cannot wait to explore 00:23:50.660 --> 00:23:55.200 that with you. Until next time, keep trusting, 00:23:55.640 --> 00:24:00.279 keep dwelling, keep obeying. Because the author 00:24:00.279 --> 00:24:02.200 is still writing.