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ACTS 7:9, 10

"BUT, GOD WAS WITH HIM"

I. TIME WHEN IT SEEMS GOD HAS FORSAKEN US.
        A. When Joseph's brothers plotted against him.
                1. When they sold him to the traders.
                2. When he was sold as a slave in Egypt.
                3. When his master's wife lied about him.
                4. When he was placed in Egyptian jail.
        B. It Is only as you know the total story that you know that in all these calamities
           "God was with Him."
                1. God knew the future.
                        a. He knew the drought was coming.
                        b. He knew it would take the resources of Egypt to sustain 
                                Jacob's family.
                        c. He needed to get Joseph before Pharaoh. 
                2. Behind each calamity was a purpose.
                        a. You might say, "All things were working together for good..."
        C. Somehow mistaken notions have been formed.
                1. We praise God for the good things that come into our lives.
                        a. We challenge and curse God for the bad.
                        b. God takes so much guff from man.
                2. We somehow think that God's path should always be
                        smooth and easy.
                        a. When things are going great we say, "God is really with me."
                        b. When things are going bad, we say, "Satan is really after me.
                        c. Our greatest tests of faith come when we cannot understand God's
                           ways.
                                1. "If God really loved me why...?"
                                2. "I do not see what possible good can come..."
                        d. His answer to our many questions is, "Trust Me."
                                1. "Follow Me" "Where?" "Trust Me."
                        e. One of our greatest problems is lack of trust.

II. BECAUSE GOD WAS WITH HIM.
        A. He delivered Him out of all his afflictions.
                1. He was delivered from his brothers plot to kill him.
                2. He was delivered from his master's wife's enticements.
                        a. You say, 'Yes, but in jail."
                        b. God wanted him to meet the Pharaoh.
                3. He was delivered from jail.
                        a. Note: not immediately.
                        b. After more than two years.
                4. "Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivereth him out
                   of them all."
                        a. Many are the afflictions of the unrighteous, but there is no
                           deliverance.
        B. "He gave him favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh."
                1. God's purpose for Joseph was for him to one day stand before Pharaoh.
                        a. He had to get him from the bedouin tent in Canaan to
 the palace in Egypt.
                        b. These intermediate steps all necessary.
                2. Now as he stands before Pharaoh God gives him wisdom and favor.
        C. "He was made governor over Egypt.
                1. God was preparing him to rule and reign.
                        a. Each step of preparation necessary.
                2. God is preparing you to rule.
                        a. "We shall reign with Him over the earth."
                        b. He knows each step necessary in your preparation.
                3. We do not know the total story in this life, the really exciting chapters
                   are yet to come.
                        a. "For the light affliction which is for a moment worketh an 
                                exceeding eternal weight of glory."
                        b. The present suffering cannot be compared with the glory that  shall
                           be revealed.