Misunderstood • Week 5

Welcome to the Willow Ridge Sermons Podcast, where you can listen to audio from our most

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If you have your Bibles, and I hope you do, I want to invite you to join us in just a moment

in Romans chapter 8. If you don't have a Bible at the end of the service, stop by here by this black

Romans 8 · chapter mention

table. We've got some black Bibles that are back there. We'd love for you to grab one of those.

You can have one of those. It is yours. It is already for you. We want everyone to have a copy

of God's Word, so please make sure that you stop by. And I want to echo what Berger said as well. If

you are a first-time guest, we want to invite you. My wife and I will be back here at the table as well

after the service is over with. We know you have a lot of places to be, but if you would just mind

stopping back there so that we can meet you, so that we can thank you for being here, for worshiping

with us, and just to be a part of that. One of the things about our church that I love so, so much

is the opportunity that I have to take what God's been doing in my life and growing as a teacher of

the Bible over 24 years now that God's given me the opportunity to do this and to invest in others

who want to grow and do that. And this summer has been a lot with that. Robert Stevens is doing an

internship, a teaching internship here through Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary where he's

a student to get his Master's of Divinity that's there. So, Robert and I are working on some things

with teaching. I've got the wonderful privilege, and this is really exciting and fun, to work with

about four of our high school students who are looking to grow in becoming Bible teachers, and we

will be using them on a lot of our youth trips to actually teach the Scripture for the week for the

students who are there. And so, a wonderful opportunity. Like, if you want to learn some great

questions and insights on Bible passages, like sit down with high school students and let them, as they

dig through, ask those questions as well. But then also, one of the things in culminating today

is Josh Nix, who's been on staff with us now this year working in our young adult ministry area,

is going to come and share from God's Word this morning. This past year, when I went to India,

the last time we went, I came up to Josh. I don't know Josh, about a month before we went,

two months before we went, and I was like, hey man, one of the things we're going to be doing is doing

like a small group training, those type things, and they want a message kind of at the end of that.

And so, would you like to do that? And like, the look on his face was, I think, more like,

am I asking for permission? Are you telling me? And so, Josh was like, well, sure, absolutely.

And then Josh went there and did a phenomenal job of teaching the people in India God's Word.

And so, as we came back and talking through, this is a wonderful opportunity for Josh to use his gifts

and talents in a way and to develop those and grow those. And I will tell you, kind of watching Josh

this week and the weeks leading up to this, man, the faithfulness that he has poured into studying

God's Word and wrestling with what it says and really taking to heart the message that God has for him

so that he can come and share with you guys what the truth of God's Word is. So, I will read the Bible

verse and pray here in just a moment, but I want y'all to join me in giving him the warmest, most exciting

welcome that y'all have in you this morning, all right? So, let's welcome Josh.

And I'll just say, man, the front row is never this full for me, right? But man, for you, they've got it filled up.

They've got it filled up. So, let's read Romans 8, 28, and then I will pray. God's Word says,

and we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good for those who are called

according to his purpose. Let's pray. God, I thank you so much for the beauty, the fullness, the completeness

of your Word. God, I thank you that we can come in here and we can gather together, Lord, with confidence.

This world is inconsistent.

This world is chaotic.

But God, we can come with the confidence

of the truth of your Word.

God, we lift up our brother Josh to you.

God, we thank you for all that he is in Christ.

We thank you for his dedication. We thank you for his faithfulness.

We thank you for his diligence in your Word.

And God, we know, Lord, we can't wait to see how you use him this morning.

So, God, in every word that he says, in every truth that we hear, God, may you be glorified.

And we thank you.

We thank you that men and women desire your Word, desire to learn your Word,

to know your Word, God, so that they can take the truth of your Word and pass it on to others.

And God, we thank you for that.

We ask all these things in Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

So, as Pastor Bo alluded, my name is Josh Nix.

I work on staff here at Willow Ridge and have, for about the last year and a half,

in a full-time role for starting in January.

So, my role here at the church is facilities and operations.

And I also lead and direct our young adult group.

And to be honest, since they gave me a mic and they haven't muted me yet,

I don't feel like I can pass up this opportunity to plug our group.

So, a young adult group consists of 18 to 24-year-old young men and women here in our church.

We meet once a week on Sunday mornings in room 105, which is, like, right through that wall right there.

About once a month, we gather for meals at my house.

And we just, you know, we eat food, which I found that they always show up for, you know, a free meal.

And we just, we get into the Word, we spend time together, we fellowship, we play games.

It's just an opportunity for them to roast me and me just kind of take it.

And it also works on my heart.

So, if you are a parent of someone that's 18 to 24, or if you just know someone that needs a group to connect with,

I'd encourage you to send them our way.

We started out earlier this year, or really, I guess, at the end of last year.

And, you know, it's been fun just to watch God work and move and grow our group.

I guess two years ago, Pastor Bo, Pastor Dave, Joel Van Ham, they called me up and they said,

Hey, man, we want to take you to lunch.

For those of you in the room that have ever been invited to lunch by Pastor Dave or Pastor Bo,

you know there's always something coming, right?

So, we sat down and they said, Hey, we've noticed an area of need in our church for 18 to 24-year-olds.

And we've got a children's ministry that's pouring into the life of our kids.

We've got volunteers that are pouring into the life of our kids.

We've got a youth group that's growing.

We've got adult ministries where we've got discipleship, we've got retreats, mission trips.

We do all these things for all these different areas of our church.

But we've noticed that we just, we don't have anything for our young adults.

And against my better personal judgment, I prayed about it.

I felt like God was laying it on my heart.

And so, I said I would do it.

And through all of my inadequacies and through all of my fears and doubts, you know,

feeling called, knowing there was a need.

It's just been great to watch God work and move in them and through our group.

And I kind of joke with them, well, not joke, I kind of tell them seriously, like, I lead

our group, and it's fun to watch growth in them.

But it's the blessing piece comes from when God just pours into me through them.

And so, yeah, that basically, that's the story of our young adult group.

That's my shameless plug.

I'll move on to a little bit more about me.

So, my wife, Kim, and I have been married for 17 years.

For 12 of those years, we've called Willow Ridge Church our home.

We've got three kids, Haley, the tall one, Samantha, the one that jumps off playgrounds,

and Olivia, who wears her Croc shoes on the wrong feet on purpose.

So, if you don't know them by name, you've seen them, I promise you.

But however, prior to meeting my wife, prior to getting married, I actually grew up at Willow Ridge

Church.

When I was younger, we visited Agape Baptist Church on Platte Springs Road, and I grew up

going to VBS and kids camp, and Miss Jackie was my Sunday school teacher, Miss Gail.

And growing up in the church, in a Baptist church, in the South, you learned some things,

right?

You learned some things like, it's never a bad time for an impromptu potluck dinner in

the fellowship hall, right?

As you get into your teen years, you join the youth group, you learn that a lock-in, even

if it sounds a lot like prison, it's not.

It's actually fun.

Then you get into your adult years, and you're asked to volunteer for one, and then you realize

it actually is a lot like prison.

Last but not least, and I'm praying that Beau doesn't come take over the stage after I

say this one, you learn how important it is for your pastor to finish on time on a Sunday

morning, right?

Yeah, you guys know where I'm going with this, we've all been there, you get out late, all

the churches on Highway 1 beat you to San Jose's, you pull in the parking lot, you got to park

back there by the soccer field, which is like a mile from the front door, you park, you get

out, you already know, but you walk in, the lobby's full, you wait on a table, and yeah,

so the importance of finishing on time is heavy on my heart, so I'll do my best.

So, I'm sorry, Pastor Beau, we still love you, but I think one of, growing up in a Baptist

church in South Carolina, one of my favorite things was kind of the sayings, right?

Like the things that you would hear people say.

There's too many to count, there's too many to say, there's some I probably shouldn't repeat,

so I won't, but one in particular was always cool, and I loved it, and so I'm going to try

to do it with you guys this morning, I'm hoping for some crowd participation, because if it

doesn't happen, I'm going to look really dumb.

So, for those of you who know it, do it along with me, but God is good all the time.

Okay, thank you.

That's a tremendous weight off my chest.

I don't know why I didn't think y'all wouldn't do it, but I'm really glad you did.

However, Brent Hawkins didn't do it, so we're going to do it one more time, or we're going

to do it for the next 35 minutes until you decide to participate.

So, one more time, and also, too, for those who didn't know it prior to this, you get an

opportunity now to fully participate, right?

So, God is good all the time.

Okay, good job.

Give yourself a hand.

Yeah, yeah, there it is.

I'm not sure if you guys have felt this way, but something I've noticed in myself over the

last few weeks, you know, kind of coming into this series, I mean, other than the fact that

Bo asked me to preach, and that's terrifying, something I've learned about myself is no matter

how comfortable or familiar I felt with a verse that we're talking about that week, like God

has just had something for me each and every week.

Like, I've just felt convicted of a way I've used it, or I've learned something new, and it's

just, you know, it's been good to just see how God's working and moving through that.

Two weeks ago, the young adult group is on its way back from a mission trip to New York.

We did park ministry in Queens.

Sunday is our travel day back, so we go through TSA.

Nobody tried to get a gallon bottle of hair conditioner through TSA, so we actually got

through it okay.

We're sitting, waiting to board our plane, and it's about 1045 on a Sunday, and the thought

occurred to me.

I was like, man, I was like, you know, I hate we can't be at church.

Like, I feel like we're missing out, but I've got to be honest.

There was a part of me that was kind of glad I didn't have to feel convicted, you know what

I mean?

Like, by whatever Bo was preaching on.

And so we fly back home, get back to the house, prepare for the week with kids' lunches

and all the things.

Come in.

Come into my office the next morning, open up my laptop.

There's an email from Pastor Dave.

I'm like, okay, let's see what this is about.

Open it up.

And it's the questions for the discussion time at 9 a.m. for this week.

And he said, hey, just a reminder, you're leading the discussion time.

Here's the link for the YouTube video.

Please watch it and prepare yourself for the questions.

So thank you for the accountability, Pastor Dave, that I wasn't expecting.

But no, I joke, but in all seriousness, it's been a lot of fun to see God work and move through

this series for me in my personal life.

And something I want to reiterate is that Pastor Bo said early on in this series, he said, you

know, we're going through this together.

And what that speaks to is each of us have encountered a verse that we've used the wrong

way, either in a conversation or we've used the wrong way in our personal life and how we

convince ourselves of something.

And I think like it made me feel better in preparation to understand that like, I'm not

alone in this.

So as I prayed over this verse and truly felt God directly working in me, it really kind of

gave me peace.

So if you haven't already done it, turn your Bibles to Romans chapter 8.

Romans 8 · chapter mention

We're going to be in verse 28 and we'll cover 28, 29, and 30.

Verse 28.

And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good for those who

are called according to his purpose.

For those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son in order

that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

And those whom he predestined, he also called.

And those whom he called, he also justified.

And those whom he justified, he also glorified.

Would you pray with me?

God, I thank you for this morning.

I thank you for the opportunity to come on this stage and share your word.

And God, I pray that over the next however many minutes it takes me to get through this

stuff, God, I pray that your word would be spoken.

I pray that you would calm my nerves.

And God, I just pray that you would open our hearts and our minds to hear what you have

for us this morning.

In your name, I pray.

Amen.

So, as believers, there are a few common ways that we misunderstand, misapply, or misinterpret

the truth of Romans 8, 28.

I think the first way, the first and maybe one of the more common ways that we misuse this

verse is we take a verse like this and we apply it as a truth for non-believers.

You know, Paul in this verse does not say, for everyone, all things work together for the

good.

Paul says, for those who love the Lord, all things work together for the good.

When we read a verse like this, we, you know, it's one of those that like, I can kind of

see like big bold letters on the front of somebody's t-shirt, right?

Like, all things.

And then underneath it, and maybe cursive or some kind of fancy writing that I can't think

of the name of the font right now, it says like, work together for, and then big bold

letters underneath it, good, right?

We can see it in a local Christian bookstore, or maybe in like one of those Instagram shops

where you're not sure if they're just trying to steal your credit card information, or if

they're actually going to send you a t-shirt or not.

We've seen it on social media, like 10,000 likes.

I mean, how encouraging is it to think that all things work together for the good for everyone?

It's pretty encouraging.

And we can leave it at that, at that simplified, easy to digest wording.

That's not what the verse says.

Paul says, for those who love God, all things.

And if that wasn't enough, you know, Paul finished the verse with, for those who are called according

to his purpose.

I was listening to a John Piper breakdown a couple of weeks ago on Romans 8, 28, and he

stated something that I thought was cool.

He stated that in Paul's writings, and all of Paul's writings, he made mention of loving

God three times.

Romans 8, 28, obviously our verse, 1 Corinthians chapter 2, and then he also mentions it again

1 Corinthians 2 · chapter mention

later in 1 Corinthians.

So I want to share those other verses with you as well.

In 1 Corinthians chapter 2, verses 9 and 10, Paul writes, what no eye has seen, nor ear

1 Corinthians 2:9

heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him.

You see, to be a believer is to love the Lord.

You know, and this verse was written and meant as a promise to those who love God and are

known by God.

What does it mean to be known by God?

In the book of Galatians, Paul writes, but now that you have come to know God, or rather

to be known by God.

You see, loving God and being in relationship with him makes us known by him.

The other time Paul writes of loving God is in 1 Corinthians chapter 8, in verse 3, he

1 Corinthians 8 · chapter mention

writes, but if anyone loves God, he is known by God.

I feel like in this verse, Paul uses a couple of descriptions that, I mean, are right there,

they're in the verse, so it's kind of obvious, and I've already shared them, but I want to

dive into like those descriptions of like who this verse applies to.

The first part of the verse says, for those who love God.

This means people who have made a commitment to him, to live for him.

Commitment meaning to serve in recognition and appreciation of who he is.

Who he is as a faithful, loving, generous father.

John 14, verse 21, it says, whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me.

John 14:21

And he who loves me will be loved by my father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.

Loving God for who he is in himself requires commitment, requires a commitment to endure difficulty and suffering.

To endure difficulty through those hard, difficult circumstances.

It's trusting that when he makes a promise, like all things, he's faithful to keep it.

The second way that Paul describes this verse and who it applies to, he says,

those who have been called according to his purpose.

Meaning those who have been brought into relationship with him.

Christians.

Believers.

Romans 8.30, it says,

I think if we're not careful as Christians, we run the risk of taking a verse like this and we can comfort a non-believer.

And in that, we can mislead them.

I mean, it doesn't mean that good circumstances can't happen in their life, right?

Like good circumstances happen all the time.

But to someone who doesn't know where the good is coming from,

those circumstances can further harden and further delude their heart.

Timothy Keller wrote,

But when an unbelieving heart experiences a string of success and pleasures,

it only reinforces the illusion and can make the worst sins in the human heart grow and take over.

Sins like pride.

Sins like overconfidence.

Self-centeredness.

Etc.

As we dig deeper into this verse,

we can establish that if, like Paul says,

all of life's circumstances are for the good of those who love him

and are called to his purpose,

then there's also the strong implication,

and honestly, we can establish that all of life's circumstances

do not work for the good of those who do not love him.

The promise of Romans 8.28 is not a promise

that really applies to all things being good.

It is a promise.

But the promise of 8.28 is referring to the goodness of God

who has a sovereign plan to use all of those things

for the good of those who love him.

Second way that we misuse and misunderstand this verse is

we take a verse like this and we say,

well, God uses some things for our good.

Paul does not say some things work together for the good.

Paul says all things.

Romans chapter 11, verse 36,

Romans 11:36

he writes,

for from him and through him and to him are all things.

To him be glory forever.

Amen.

And then in Ephesians chapter 1,

Ephesians 1:11

verse 11 and 12,

in him we have obtained an inheritance,

having predestined according,

I'm sorry,

having been predestined according to the purpose

of him who works all things

according to the counsel of his will.

So that we who were the first to hope in Christ

might be to the praise of his glory.

Last year,

we as a church,

we spent the entire year in the book of Genesis.

And Pastor Bo spent several weeks

on the story of Joseph.

And so what Pastor Bo spent

about two or three weeks on,

I'm going to try to recap in about 10 minutes.

So needless to say,

I'm going to leave some things out.

But I'd encourage you to go back

and read on your own

in the fullness of this story.

Because it is hope.

Because it does speak to how God works.

So what do we know about Joseph?

Well, we know Joseph was one of 12 sons, right?

We know his father favored him

above his brothers.

And we know that his brothers

despised him for it.

We know that Joseph has a dream.

Joseph probably didn't read the room very well,

shares that dream with his brothers

who already despise him.

And they despise him even more because of it.

He says,

I'm going to be here.

You guys are going to be here, right?

So the father sends him

to check on his brothers one day

who are out pasturing the flock.

The brothers see him

off in the distance,

conspire to kill him.

But one of the brothers intercedes.

Reuben says,

don't kill him,

let's throw him into a pit.

So we see this picture of,

it says the brothers sit down to eat.

And it's kind of this picture

of like them sitting here eating

and Joseph's down in the pit.

And the brothers off in the distance,

they see a caravan of Ishmaelites.

So now they see dollar signs.

Hey, we should sell him.

At this point in the story,

Joseph has been sold

by the Midianite traders

to Potiphar in Egypt.

Potiphar is an officer of Pharaoh.

We get to chapter 39,

verse 2 in the book of Genesis.

It says,

the Lord was with Joseph

and he became a successful man.

So we see this picture

of Joseph being faithful to the Lord,

encountering some hardship,

like your brothers selling you

into captivity kind of hardship.

But we also see God's hand just working.

We see God's hand moving

in the fact that his brothers

didn't just kill him.

So Joseph's in Potiphar's house.

He finds favor in Potiphar's eyes.

It tells us that he's made overseer

of the entire house.

And again,

we see God blessing Joseph

and blessing this Egyptian's house

for Joseph's sake.

We continue on in the story

and we see that Potiphar's wife

desires Joseph.

He refuses her multiple times.

And then eventually,

after his last refusal,

he runs out of the house to get away,

leaving his cloak behind.

She accuses him of assault.

Potiphar has Joseph thrown into prison.

Chapter 39, verse 21.

But the Lord was with Joseph

and showed him steadfast love

and gave him favor

in the sight of the keeper

of the prison.

You see, at this moment,

we don't see God remove Joseph

from prison.

We don't see God remove Joseph

from the difficulty.

We don't see him just remove

all of his suffering.

Continue on in chapter 40.

It says,

Pharaoh is angry with his cupbearer

and his chief baker.

He throws them into prison.

And it says,

the captain of the guard

appointed Joseph to be with him.

So here's this moment

where the captain of the guard

appoints Joseph

to be with the cupbearer

and the baker.

Probably seems insignificant, right?

Like to Joseph,

it probably just seems like,

okay, well, I'm put here.

I'll do this.

This is my job.

So again, though,

we see God working

and moving

through these circumstances.

They have two dreams.

Each one of them has a dream.

Joseph interprets their dreams.

For one guy,

it works out well.

The other guy,

not so much.

Chapter 40, verse 14.

Joseph's talking to the cupbearer

and he says,

only remember me

when it is well with you.

And please do me the kindness

to mention me to Pharaoh.

And so get me out of this house.

The only problem is

the cupbearer doesn't remember him.

Forgets about him.

Two years later,

two long,

imprisoned years later,

Pharaoh has a dream

or has two dreams.

Pharaoh brings in

all the wise men

and magicians in Egypt,

in the region,

and tells them of his dreams.

No one can interpret them.

It was then

that the cupbearer

remembered Joseph.

Joseph interprets

Pharaoh's dreams

and then in chapter 41,

verse 39,

Pharaoh says to Joseph,

since God has shown you

all this,

there is none

so discerning

and wise as you are.

Verse 40.

You shall be over my house

and all my people

shall order themselves

as you command.

As we continue on

in this chapter,

as Joseph interpreted,

Egypt has seven plentiful years

and the earth

produced abundantly.

And during those seven years,

Joseph's guidance

and under his leadership,

they stored grain

throughout all the cities

of Egypt.

So that when the seven years

of abundance ended

and the seven years

of famine began,

just as Joseph interpreted.

And when the people

of Egypt cried out

for bread,

Pharaoh's response was

in chapter 41,

verse 55,

go to Joseph.

What he says to you,

do.

God provided.

God is working.

God is moving.

As we continue reading on,

we find that it's not just

the people of Egypt

that come to Joseph for grain.

We find that people

from all over the region

are impacted by this famine.

It's severe.

It's harsh.

They need bread.

They need grain.

Chapter 42.

20 years later,

Joseph's brothers

are brought back

into the story.

You see,

Joseph's family

was impacted

by the famine as well.

And over the next

couple of chapters,

the brothers are sent

to Egypt by their father.

They're going to starve.

And what we see

over the next few chapters

is this opportunity

for Joseph

to supply

for his family.

We see Joseph

conceal his identity

so his brothers

don't know it's him,

but he knows it's them.

He sends the brothers

back with grain

and then they run out

and then they come back

for more.

And it's just,

there's a lot there.

So again,

I encourage you,

go back and read it

on your own this week.

But what we see

in this is Joseph

providing for his family

during the famine.

God using Joseph.

God is good

all the time.

As Christians,

we know God is good.

We know him

to be good.

but what does that mean?

I'm reading this book

and was reading it

in preparation

for this series

and this sermon.

But Eric Bargerhoff

writes

in reference

to God's goodness,

he says,

to say that God is good

is to say that

within the heart of God

he is morally

excellent and kind.

His heart is true.

His love is pure

and his kindness

is seen

in the goodness

and mercy

that he gives

in abundance.

So we've covered

some common misuses

and misunderstandings

of Romans 8.28

but I'd like to spend

what's left

of our time

just talking about

what this verse

means to the believers.

What this verse

means

and the hope

that it brings

to those who love him

and are called

to his purpose.

Number one,

God's promises

stand

despite my circumstances.

Before the story

of Joseph,

a promise

had been made

to Abraham

that God

would make

many nations

of him

and that promise

was put

into peril

by the famine

that God

called upon

the region

but God

made a way.

Psalm 105

Psalms 105:16

verses 16

and 17

this is David

writing about

the story

of Joseph

and the famine

in verse 16

he says,

when he summoned

a famine

on the land

and broke

all supply

of bread

he had sent

a man

ahead of them

Joseph

who was sold

as a slave.

God was working

to ensure

that his promise

was kept.

In Romans 8

28

Paul writes

all things

work together

for the good.

And the good

that Paul

is talking about

if we relate it

to the story

to the story

of Joseph

is not

Joseph's health.

It's not

his comfort.

Not even

his freedom.

The good

that Paul

is talking

about

is his heart.

And as we

apply Paul's

writing

to our lives

the good

is not

in our health.

It's not

in our wealth.

It's not

the health

of our kids.

It's not

the American

dream.

Romans 8

29

through 30

for those

whom he

foreknew

he also

predestined

to be

conformed

to the

image

of his

son

in order

that he

might be

the firstborn

among many

brothers.

In those

whom he

predestined

he also

called.

In those

whom he

called

he also

justified.

In those

whom he

justified

he also

glorified.

the good

that Paul

is referring

to is

our

sanctification.

Our

character.

Our

holiness.

He's

molding

and changing

you

to be

more like

Christ.

So in

this story

eventually

Joseph

reveals

who he

is

to his

brothers.

There's

weeping.

There's

embracing.

There's

fear.

But there's

also

reconciliation.

And as

we read

through the

story of

Joseph I

think it's

easy for

us to

get wrapped

up in

the famine.

Right?

Like we

can understand

famine.

We can

understand

difficulty.

I can

relate to

the difficulty

in my

life.

I can

relate to

hard

circumstances.

I think

we can

even process

how 20

years

of

suffering

and

difficulty

can be

for

Joseph's

ultimate

good

and how

he's

able to

save

his

family

and

provide

for

his

family.

But if

we aren't

careful we

can miss

the point

of what

God truly

has in

the story

for us.

And it's

how God

took a

faithful

servant

and molded

him to

be more

like

Christ

and how

God

continued

to

work

through

what

we

see

as

chaos

and

what

he

sees

as

our

good.

In

Genesis

Genesis 50:15

chapter

50

verse

15

Joseph's

father

Jacob

had just

passed

away

and his

brothers

responded

he said

when

Joseph's

brothers

saw

that

their

father

was

dead

they

said

it

may

be

that

Joseph

will

hate

us

and

pay

us

back

for

all

the

evil

that

we

did

to

him.

Five

verses

later

we see

Joseph's

response.

Verse

20

As

for you

you

meant

evil

against

me

but

God

meant

it

for

good.

To

bring

it

about

that

many

people

should

be

kept

alive

as

they

are

today.

Notice

in that

that

Joseph

doesn't

say

but

God

used

it

for

good.

See

used

it

implies

a

reaction.

Used

it

implies

that

he's

caught

off

guard

by

it.

Joseph

said

God

meant

it

for

good.

He

ordained

it.

He

planned

it.

had

purpose

in

it

from

the

very

start.

And

what

God

shows

us

that

he

has

done

through

the

story

of

Joseph

is

not

just

a

plan

to

save

his

people

but

it's

a

plan

for

us.

God

has

always

loved

you.

God

has

plans

for

you.

Those

plans

to use

all

things.

Not

in

isolation

of one

another.

But

all

things

for

our

good.

Second

and last

point

that I

want to

make

about

the

hope

that

this

verse

brings

and

then

I'll

close.

Got to

get you

guys

to San

Jose's.

Nothing

is

wasted.

Romans

8

18

For

I

consider

that

the

sufferings

of

this

present

time

are

not

worth

comparing

with

the

glory

that

is

to

be

revealed

to

us.

Psalm

34

18

The

Lord

is

near

to

the

broken

hearted

and

saves

the

crushed

in

spirit.

In

my

life

I've

often

seen

the

good

as

something

God

gives

me.

Blessings

to be

thankful

for.

But

the

bad

hard

stuff.

The

promotion

I

deserved

but

didn't

get.

The

car

breaking

down.

The

loss

of a

loved

one.

Difficulty

in my

marriage

or my

other

relationships.

A

cancer

diagnosis.

At my

worst I've

seen

circumstances

like this

as crippling.

I've

allowed

doubt

to creep

in.

Maybe

not to

the

point

where I

lose

trust

that

God

is

good

but

the

doubt

that

creeps

in

that

he

could

use

it

for

my

good.

And

to be

honest

at my

best

while I've

seen

these

circumstances

I've

seen

these

things

as

something

he

steps

in

to

fix.

Something

he

reacts

to.

Something

he

rescues

me

from.

This is

probably

the most

common

way that

I misuse

this verse

by the

way.

Just to

be

transparent.

But I'm

learning in

this that

God is

just as

present and

purposeful in

the lows as

he is the

highs.

He's not

just the

one that

pulls me

out.

He's the

one who

walks with

me through

it.

Because

God

with God

triumphs and

tribulations

work together.

He doesn't

just allow

it.

He plans

it.

He has

purpose for

it.

He doesn't

just fix

what's

broken.

He molds

us with

it.

All

things

working

together

for my

good.

Paul

throughout

Romans 8

is painting

a picture

of how

God

is weaving

the great

triumphs

and terrible

tragedies

all together

for his

sovereign

purpose.

And I'll

close with

this.

In reference

to Psalm

105 where

David's speaking

of Joseph

and the

famine,

Charles Spurgeon

had a quote

that I thought

was kind of

cool and so

I figured

I'd read it

out loud.

He said,

the iron

fetters

were preparing

him to wear

chains of

gold and

making his

feet ready

to stand

on high

places.

It is

even so

with all

the Lord's

afflicted

ones that

they too

shall one

day step

from their

prisons to

their

thrones.

So I'll

ask you

this morning

if you're

here

and you

don't have

a relationship

with the

Lord

or if

you're just

not 100%

sure that

the hope

of Romans

8.28

applies to

you,

I'd encourage

you to speak

to someone

about salvation.

You know,

the Bible

says for

those who

call upon

the name

of the

Lord

they'll

be

saved.

Billy Graham

was once

speaking to

a crowd

in Yankee

Stadium

and kind

of during

his altar

call he

said,

I tell

you,

before you

leave this

great stadium

you can

find an

answer to

the dilemma

and mysteries

of life

if you

will come

and surrender

yourself

without

reservation

to

Jesus.

If you

don't have

a relationship

with the

Lord this

morning,

my prayer

is that

you would

come

without

reservation.

And if

you're here

and you

are a

believer

but maybe

you're just

going through

some stuff.

Some

circumstances

and some

difficulties

that just

can't make

sense of

too hard.

I pray

that you

would just

lean into

the promise

that it's

all things

working

together

for your

good.

But also

trust that

you're not

alone.

You have

a church

family that

loves you

and wants

to connect

with you.

Find a

prayer

encourager

here in a

few minutes.

Find a

prayer

encourager.

Find

Pastor

Bo.

Find

me.

Find

anyone.

If God

is working

in your

heart this

morning,

don't leave

this place

without a

conversation.

Would you

pray with

me?

God,

I thank

you for

this morning

and I

thank you

that I get

to be a

part of

just a

church

family that

loves me

and pours

into me

and loves

and pours

into my

kids.

God, I

thank you

for this

promise.

I thank you

for the

truth that

you are

working all

things, all

circumstances

for my

good.

God, speak

to our

hearts.

Bring us

into conversation

with you this

morning, Lord.

In your name

I pray.

Amen.

That's it

for this

week's

message.

Be sure

to check

back next

week for

a new

episode and

in the

meantime,

you can

visit us

online at

willowridgechurch.org

or by

searching for

Willow Ridge

Church on

Facebook,

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and YouTube.

Thanks again

for listening.

Thank you.