The Dark Moments In Our Life

If you want God’s best and you want to make your life count, then you can expect to travel the road of adversity. God uses these moments to help overcome our adversities.

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In touch, the teaching ministry of Doctor Charles Stanley, reaching the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Next on in touch, the dark moments in our life.
If you want god’s best in your life and you wanna make your life count, then you can expect to travel the road of adversity.
It’s always there. And it’s amazing how somehow god used this adversities in our life, to shape us, to make us fit, and to equip us to do the things that he desires to do in us, and throw us in life.
And when you think about what adversity is, adversity is those dark moments in our life.
That is the times when We feel tired and tempted. We feel hurt, misused, and abused.
We feel depressed, anxious, theorful, thoughtless, sinful, depressed, you name it.
All those things that, personally goes through sorrow and loss,
These are dark moments in our life, and god does not promise that we’ll have life without dark moments.
We are going to have them.
And what we have to ask is this, how we’re going to respond to them.
And the way we respond to them is determined by a number of things.
One of which is how long that moment of darkness lasts.
Somebody says, well, for me, it hasn’t been a moment of darkness. It’s been hours.
Days, weeks, moments, years of darkness. Well, let’s ask the question.
Why do you think God has allowed that in your life for so long.
So I wanna bring you to one of the life principles of the life principle bible. Because it
is a principle by which god operates every one of these principles
is that’s true of it. So I wanna put this on the screen so you can write it down.
And you’ll not forget it because this is what we’re gonna be talking about.
The dark moments of our life lasts only as long as his Nessus for god to accomplish his purpose.
So there is a limitation on them. There’s a purpose for them is there’s a very specific purpose.
They last only as long as is necessary for god to accomplish his purpose.
Now since we don’t always know his purpose in our life, We think, well, god, why you’re lagged us to happen.
This seems to be so useless, so senseless. I don’t see any reason to this. I’m just hurting.
I’m feeling the pain. And you just keep letting it go on.
Well, we don’t see it, but god sees it because he sees her life from beginning to end.
And what I’d like for us to do in this message is to illustrate this very truth through the life of Josie because beginning as a teenager, his dark moments began as a teenager and lasted for 13 very dark years.
I want you to turn, if you will, to the book of Genesis.
And, uh, let’s look, if you will, in the 37th chapter.
And I wanna give us a little background about what’s going on in this life.
So that you’ll see how this all relates together. The 37th chapter beginning in verse 1.
Now Jacob lived in the land where his fathers had sojourn in the land of Kanan, and these are the records of the generations of Jacob.
And yet, he starts out with Joseph because there’s an awesome story here. So he begins.
Joseph, when seventeen years of age, was passed during the flock with his brothers, while he was still a youth, along with the sons of Billha and the sons of Zilpa, his father’s wives.
And Joseph brought back a bad report about them to their father.
Now, Israel, this is his other name, Jacob’s other name.
The Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons because he was the son of his old age, and he made him a bear come tuning.
And, you know, we call it the coat of many colors.
His brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers.
So they hated him and could not speak
to him on friendly terms.
That is he lived in an atmosphere of pure hatred. And remember, this is 11 brothers.
Then Joseph had a dream. And when he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more.
He said to them, Please listen to this dream which I’ve had.
For behold, we were bonding sheaves in the field, and the low Marshiv rose up and also stood erect and behold your sheaves gathered around and bowed down to my head.
Now I don’t think I would have told him I’m part of the dream.
I don’t believe it would have.
Then his brother said to him, are you actually going to reign over us, or are you really going to rule over us so they hated him even more for his dream and for his word.
Now he’d still had still another dream and related it to his brothers and said, low, I’ve had still another dream and behold, the sun and the moon, and the 11 stars were bowing down to me.
He related this to his father and to his brothers and his father rebuked him and said to him, what is this dream that you’ve had?
Shall I and your mother and your brothers actually come to bow ourselves down before you to the ground?
His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept these things in his mind.
Then his brothers went to pass to their father’s flock in Checkham.
Israel said to Joseph, are not your brother’s passing the flock in shechem.
Come and I will send you to them and he said to them, I will go.
Now, that was a very unfortunate trip that he went on.
What I want you to see with that background is this.
This young man beginning at the age of seventeen went through some very, very dark moments in his life.
And I want us to think about the kind of moments he went through.
And as we said, moments that can be hours or whatever it might be.
First of all, he grew up in a home where He was hated. Totally hated.
They were jealous of him because their father showed partiality, made him his coat of many colors, So he was his father’s pet.
The what it wasn’t his fault. They hated him. And three times, it says they hated him.
They were jealous and they hated him.
So he had that atmosphere in which he grew up, that is atmosphere, a pure rejection.
Well, he goes to see his brothers and they decide, you know what?
We’re sick and tired
of him. We’re gonna get rid
of him. So they decide to kill him.
They said, we’ll kill him, and then we will take an animal and shed its blood, put it on his coat of many callers.
And we’ll take it back to the father and tell him that, uh, he was by wild beast.
So what did they do?
They threw him in this pit and, uh, stayed there for a little while, not too long.
And this caravan came by and they thought, wait a minute. Why don’t we just sell him?
Might as well make a lot of
money off him. Why don’t
we just sell him to this caravan? So they sell him this caravan.
Now He has hated by his brothers, been separated from his parents, and now he’s on his way to somewhere.
He doesn’t know exactly where. And getting further and further and further away from home and feeling more and more lonely, more and more rejected, more and more rejected, more and more fearful, no doubt, not knowing what in the world’s gonna happen to him.
So when they get down to, uh, uh, Egypt, uh, they put him on a block and offer him up as a slave.
So it just so happens by the grace of god that potava who is the head of the bodyguard for pharaoh, bought him.
Took him home. Now he’s a slave. So naturally, he starts out all the dirty work.
That has to go on and thinking about, you know, this coat of many colors he had and has parents took good care of him, and now he’s scrubbing floors and doing all the nasty dirty work.
And so, but he did it so well that after a season of time, um,
Padav looked at him and watched him, and he thought, well, he’s discipline than what he does.
He’s not complaining. And what is it about this guy?
So next thing you know, over a period of time, I’m sure.
He puts his household, whole household under Joseph’s authority. He took care of everything.
Every single thing, he put it into his hands.
And then, uh, he’s doing his best and the Bible says that he’s a success with potiphar, but he’s too good looking.
So pot of his wife begins to look at him and lust after him and does everything in her power to get him to go to bed with her, and he wouldn’t do it.
He said, How can I do that when your husband has put me in total charge of his household, and he trusts me?
The answer is no. And so she frames him and tricks him.
And so what happens when she tells her husband, naturally, he’s going to believe her, I think.
I wouldn’t I I I think he must have had some question because if she were that way toward him, more than likely, she’d been looking around maybe it’s somebody else, but that’s neither here nor there.
Anyway, he couldn’t do anything, but put him in prison. Now, think about this.
You go into prison by the bodyguard, head of the bodyguard of pharaoh, and
you’re going to prison as a criminal for attempting to seduce The bodyguard’s wife, you’re
in prison, and you’re gonna be forgotten, throw him in prison.
How long he was in part of his house. We don’t know how long he’s in prison.
We don’t know. But one thing for certain, and
one of the kind of prison we’re talking about, because in other passage of the Bible, talks about him being in change in stocks.
And so imagine how they treated him when he first got in prison. You scoundrel, you criminal.
I mean, imagine the kind of turmoil he went to do.
But in spite of all that, after a period of time, the next thing you know, The prison keeper is watching him and, uh, noticing his response and his attitude.
And before long, he puts Joseph in charge of the prison.
So wherever he goes, he’s a success at whatever he does.
And, uh, you say, well, that wouldn’t be too bad. Wait a minute. He’s in prison.
We we’re talking about dungeons and prison. We’re talking about bad stuff. Well,
the baker and the butler get thrown in the prison.
That is pharaoh’s bacon, but he had thrown in
the prison. And so they were talking and, uh, they had a dream.
So Joseph said, well, let me see if I can interpret that dream.
So he interprets a dream that one of them would be restored and one of them would be beheaded.
And so the Butler would be restored. The banker would be the headed.
And so, sure enough, that’s what happened. And so Joseph said, to the Butler.
When you get back, would you just remind Pedro that I interpreted this dream and, uh, remember me He said, I’m sure I will.
Forgot him. How long he went by, probably a couple of years or so. Anyway, it was god’s timing.
And so uh, one day, he’s in prison and he is, uh, approached by someone who said, you need to shave and get the get the bed.
We got some we got some new clothes, some clean clothes for you, and follow me. Or what was that?
What was all that about? Don’t usually execute people in clean clothes, but so he didn’t have an idea of what was happening.
And taken before pharaoh, and
you know the story. If pharaohs doesn’t have had these dreams, and
I hear you can interpret them.
And it was the dreams about 7 lean years and 7 fruitful years, And he interpreted that dream in such a powerful way that pharaoh now this is a Hebrews, a young Hebrew kid, to some degree.
Now he’s thirty years of age and whereas he spent his life, spent his life as a slave, spent his life in prison as a criminal who was there for attempting to seduce Polifor’s wife.
Not a ghost of a chance. Pharaoh said, I’ve not found this
kind of wisdom anywhere. Putting you in charge. You’re second to me. Whatever you say goes.
And so you’re it. You’re the prime minister. Whatever Joseph says in Egypt is what happens.
So For 13 years, it was one experience of darkness after the other.
Moments of darkness, trials and adversity. And most any of
us would think, well, now, it looks like god could have sort of fixed that in a couple of
years or so. No. This is
what’s so very important you don’t wanna miss.
It took 13 years. Now, more than likely, some of you are going through some of those dark moments in your life, and you’re feeling it, and you’ve got the same questions he has.
God Why are you letting this happen to me? Lord, I’ve been
a Christian a long time. I’ve been trying to do what’s right. I’ve tried to be obedient to you.
Or it may be that you would say, Lord, I know I haven’t been what ought to be.
I know I’ve strayed. I know I have been backslid, and
I know I’ve won this from you.
And In other words, whatever it may be, but you’re still asking the question, why is god allowing this to happen to you?
So more than likely,
if you’re going through one
of those tough moments in your life, listen to me carefully because there is a biblical, godly, truthful, eternal answer to that.
So
we all find ourselves at times in
our life going through dark moments.
Sometimes, I like to think of him as maybe maybe as as dark, maybe as a shadow.
And then there’s some moments that are absolutely midnight black.
You don’t see any hope.
You don’t know how god could possibly work you out of that.
Well, the question that comes is, what is god’s purpose in these times.
What what what is god’s purpose in allowing us these dark moments?
And I have these these roads and pathways of adversity that we all traveled at some point in our life.
Listen carefully. God had a purpose for Joseph. Now I
know that some of you have
a hard time believing this. God has a purpose for you that is just as important to god as it was for his purpose for Joseph.
You say, yeah, but look what Joseph did. That’s not the issue. The issue is how does god view us?
He loves every single one of us, and he has a purpose for your life.
He had a purpose for Joseph’s life.
And that purpose is very clear
to us 1000 years later, but it wasn’t to him in the beginning of that time.
Here’s the purpose for your life. So what you say, well, what’s the purpose for my life?
Well, let’s think about it, for example. Ultimately, here’s the here’s the bottom line.
His ultimate purpose in your life in my life The reason he uses these dark moments is to conform us to the likeness of Christ.
He said, I don’t quite get that.
What I mean by that is this, Only one thing is gonna satisfy you.
And that’s Jesus living his life in and through
your life. That’s it. So
when I when I think when I think about the purpose god has in their life, then one of the issues here is the length of time that god allows these things to happen in life.
That is, for example, with Joseph 3rd or when we say 17, He lived among his brothers, and they hated him before he was seventeen.
That’s just where the scripture starts. And so what about the length of time?
Only as long as is necessary, but god to accomplish his purpose in our life.
Now do I have anything to do with that? Yes. I do. And so do you?
If I rebel against the dark moments, all I’m doing is lengthening the time of the dark moments, or positioning myself ultimately that god just sets you aside and says, you do you determine not to be used, I won’t use you.
So the way we respond is is very, very important.
You don’t give up because your god is not gonna give up on you.
He’s not gonna give up on you no matter what.
And so when I look at at at Joseph’s life and realize what he went through, how long it took, And then think about maybe some times that you and I go through, and we think 2 weeks is just terrible.
Or a month is just horrible. But here’s the thing that makes it difficult.
When you’re going through one of those dark moments and you don’t see any end in sight, and it looks like it’s gonna last the rest of your life.
It looks like you’re gonna be penalized the rest of your life.
It looks like you’re never gonna be able to reach those goals.
Somehow, it’s just, it just seems to be so hopeless.
It’s never hopeless as long as you have God. Because god loves you.
And he’s going to work out his will in your life one way or the other if you’ll just trust him.
Joseph must have felt everything that you and I would feel may be worse because he didn’t have the knowledge of Jesus that you and I have, but he did have a knowledge that jehovah god, the one true god, was his god, and he was aware of god’s presence in his life.
So think about where you are. I don’t know what you’re facing.
It may be a health issue, relationship issue, whatever it might be, but don’t don’t blame god for that.
Ask yourself the question. Lord, are you trying to do in my life?
So remember what we said, one of the primary things is to shape us in the character of Christ.
The teachers to trust him to be diligent, to be persevering, to be courageous, to be bold, that is to keep our eyes on him, to keep our awareness of him, to be trustworthy, to be faithful, dependable, diligent, disciplined in our life.
These are god’s purpose us.
And as we yielded that and allow him to work those things in our life, what happens?
He uses us listen, He uses us in proportion to our willingness to be shaped.
So then who determines that? We determine it to some degree.
If I’m willing to say god, I don’t understand it,
but I’m willing. If this is necessary in my life to get me rid of what you want me to
do, I I’m willing. Now listen very carefully.
You wanna survive no matter what, there’s some things that are very important. Number 1 is this.
And that is that you trust god.
If you don’t trust them in the dark times, you won’t it it just won’t work. You trust him.
Secondly, in order for that to happen, you must read the word of god.
You must read the word of god meditating upon his word.
For this reason, when you read the scriptures, what are you doing?
The spirit of god is programming your mind to think the way god thinks.
You think the way god thinks the more of scripture you put in your mind and heart.
Prayer and the reading of the word of god are absolutely essential.
If we are to walk through the dark moments and walk through them successfully.
It is truth that you want embedded in your thinking. How does god think?
How does god work? How do I fit into god’s plan?
If you wanna survive the dark moments, it’s in the word of god, talking to him, and listening to him, which means it takes time.
You see, god’s not on our schedule. We’re on his.
You wanna walk through the dark moments.
You’re gonna have to walk on your knees in the word of god, listening to him, taking time, to let him sink into your mind and heart what he’s thinking about your individual situation.
Will he lead you? Will he guard you? Will he god you? Will he protect you? Yes. He will.
So what’s the conclusion? You think, well, dark moments are bad times, not always.
Listen, if god allows you to walk into a dark time in your life.
It is not something you did. Watch this carefully.
He has something in mind you will never be able to figure out that he works it out.
You don’t wanna take the chance of missing what god has in mind.
But you gotta trust it. What builds trust what builds trust is his word and prayer.
And what builds trust is obedience to what he says and the trust level just keeps rising and rising and rising.
God will do in your life things that you never dream if you’re just trusting through those dark moments.
And, father, how grateful we are. That you know how to turn a dark moment into radiant light.
When your will begins to be fulfilled in our lives.
And I pray the Holy Spirit will take this message of hope and assurance that every single person who hears and sees will be willing to place their trust in you, no matter what, and what you work your awesome work in their life.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.