WHEN YOU FEEL STUCK IN LIFE!

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WHEN YOU FEEL STUCK

What do you do when you’re doing everything you know how to do and you just feel STUCK in life?

Hey everyone, my name is Allen Parr thank you so much for tuning in. I don’t know about you but there have been times in my life where I just feel stuck. Nothing’s working. Doors seem to be closed. People around you are getting blessed and if you’re not careful you’ll sink into depression wondering if your change is ever going to come. So today I want to share with you from the word of God 3 lessons that I believe God desperately wants us to learn in these seasons of our lives where we can’t seem to break through and I want to give you one word to hold to for each lesson.

And so today we want to look at a man named Joseph who did everything right. God had given him some amazing dreams for his life and yet in Gen. 40 he finds himself stuck in prison. The first lesson I believe God would have us to learn is a lesson on testing…

1. Testing
a. There is a beautiful scripture in Psalm 135 that says, “until God fulfilled Joseph’s dreams God was testing his character.”
b. God often gives us tests in life. The Bible says God “tested Abraham.” He “tested” the nation of Israel in the wilderness. The Bible says that the testing of our faith produces perseverance and it says in Romans that this perseverance ultimately produces character in our lives.
c. When Joseph was sold as a slave he was under a test. How is it going to respond when things don't go his way? Would he forgive his brothers for selling them into slavery? Will he still continue to do his best on a job that is beneath him and he's overqualified for? Or would he give half effort, complain to those around him, and constantly look ahead instead of being present? How would he respond when falsely accused? How will he respond when people mistreat him? Will he respect, honor and submit to the people in authority over him or will he talk negatively about the people who are over you? How will he respond when he's tempted and everything in his flesh wants to give in to that sexual temptation? The way we respond to all of these tests when we feel STUCK demonstrates and develops greater character in our lives.
d. KEY WORD: RESOLVE – Resolve to demonstrate good character.
2. Trust
a. Later in this amazing story of Joseph’s life he finds himself now in prison and he forms a great relationship with a man who was also innocent who was getting ready to get released to go back and work for the king. And Joseph says to him, “when you get out remember me and put in a good word for the king. I’m not supposed to be here!”
b. Often times we say we trust God. We sing songs about trusting God. We tell other people how they can and need to trust God. But when we are stuck in life it reveals whether we are putting our trust in God or in man.
c. Who is your trust in? Man or God? Tests often times reveal who we are trusting in. So many times we put our trust in our connections, our resources, our possessions, our education, our experience instead of God. When we get stuck we think "I've got what it takes to get myself out of this." God’s got you. God knows exactly where you are and how long you’ve been in your situation. And He’s already gone ahead of you to make provisions for your next assignment that you don’t even know about.
d. KEY WORD: REST – Be still and know that God is God. Don’t force things and put your trust in God.
3. Timing
a. The Bible says that after two full years in prison that Joseph was released. But he wasn’t just released; God had promoted him to being the second most influential person in the entire land IN HIS TIMING. I can imagine Joseph thinking, “why did I have to stay in prison for TWO years?”
b. The question is, “do we think with our finite minds that we know more than God?” Or can we say like the psalmist said, God I don’t understand what you’re doing but, “But I trust in you, O Lord…and my times are in your hands.”
c. KEY WORD: RELINQUISH – Relinquish your timetable of when you think things should happen in your life and trust God’s timing because just as the heavens are above the earth so are His ways higher than ours.