Lighthouse Baptist Church
and Christian Academy

Three examples of this:

1. Joseph

So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe - the richly ornamented robe he was wearing - [24] and they took him and threw him into the cistern. Now the cistern was empty; there was no water in it.

[25] As they sat down to eat their meal, they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were loaded with spices, balm and myrrh, and they were on their way to take them down to Egypt.

[26] Judah said to his brothers, "What will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? [27] Come, let's sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him; after all, he is our brother, our own flesh and blood." His brothers agreed.

[28] So when the Midianite merchants came by, his brothers pulled Joseph up out of the cistern and sold him for twenty shekels of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt.

Genesis 37:23-28 (NIV)

The Lord was with Joseph.

Genesis 39:2 (NIV)

and after a while his master's wife took notice of Joseph and said, "Come to bed with me!"

[8] But he refused. "With me in charge," he told her, "my master does not concern himself with anything in the house; everything he owns he has entrusted to my care. [9] No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?"

Genesis 39:7-9 (NIV)

the Lord was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden. [22] So the warden put Joseph in charge of all those held in the prison, and he was made responsible for all that was done there. [23] The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph's care, because the Lord was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did.

Genesis 39:21-23 (NIV)

2. Moses - 200 Mile Journey

When Pharaoh heard of this, he tried to kill Moses, but Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in Midian, where he sat down by a well.

Exodus 2:15 (NIV)

And God said, "I will be with you."

Exodus 3:12 (NIV)

3. Elijah - 100 Mile Journey

Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, "As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word."

[2] Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah: [3] "Leave here, turn eastward and hide in the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan.

1 Kings 17:1-3 (NIV)

God does not leave you!

God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."

Hebrews 13:5 (NIV)

Everyone suffers from: Trouble, hard times, hatred, hunger, homelessness, bulling threats, and back stabbing.

Two keys to remember

1. Without adversity, you will not know what you're capable of being.
2. As long as Joseph was wearing the coat of many colors, he would never understand God is enough even when you have lost everything.

Focusing on the self is the opposite of focusing on God. Anyone completely absorbed in self ignores God, ends up thinking more about self than God. That person ignores who God is and what he is doing.

Romans 8:7 (Msg)

You must worship no other gods, but only the Lord, for he is a God who is passionate about his relationship with you.

Exodus 34:14 (NLT)

For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Ephesians 2:10 (NIV)

Make a commitment to believe:

1. God has seen this before.
2. God will limit it's intensity.
3. God will make a way out.