Being Brave with Bad News

[podcast]http://www.revkwon.com/podcast/Being_Brave-With_God_News.mp3[/podcast] Last week I pointed out to you that being brave is about having god thoughts. We learned that the way we can have God thought is by “not wavering. Staying on track, steady in God.” How many of us had God thoughts this past week? In your small groups, I want you to share with each other about how you focused on God thoughts to be brave this week. This week, I want to teach you that the news we receive is not as important as the report we believe. Example:

• A doctor can give us bad news and tell us we have 12 months to live, which is horrible news, but just because we only have 12 months to live doesn’t mean we have live like a dying person, it just means that we have to believe that within those 12 months there’s something life changing we have to do.
  • The news we received from the doctor isn’t as important as what we believe we have in front of us for 12 months.
• We lost our dead end job because our dead end job was at a dead end company. More bad news.
  • But the loss of our dead end job isn’t as important as the next opportunity you believe God is giving you.

There’s a difference between the actual news and what we believe will come from the news. What we believe in bad news will define what, who, and why be believe. ⁹ Then he dreamed another dream and told it to his brothers and said, “Behold, I have dreamed another dream. Behold, the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” ¹⁰ But when he told it to his father and to his brothers, his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves to the ground before you?” ¹¹ And his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the saying in mind. (Genesis 37:9-11) At first glance, God news may be unbelievable. Look at Israel’s reaction about this first:

• His father rebuked him… when joseph unknowingly shared his God news with his family, he was criticized and people disapproved. The reason they criticized and disapproved was because God news is sometimes unbelievable.
• His father kept the saying in mind… This is a double take. The reason this is important to note here is because his father had the same type of God news when he was younger. You see his brother wanted to kill him, instead his brother hugged and kissed him.
• When I first had God news (and God news comes in all sizes, shapes and forms) that I was going to a pastor, I flipped out at God. I told God no. But who tells God no, and God listens? Yeah, I know. So I told my dad, and my dad flipped out laughing and said I should be a comedian instead. Then I told my mom and she asked me, are you sure you’re going to be the pastor and not having dreams about your brother? But I knew it was me. God news may be unbelievable at first glance.

Now I’m going to skip some parts of Joseph’s life until he’s in Egypt. Basically, his brothers were so jealous of Joseph that they were going to kill him, but instead sold him into slavery. You don’t need enemies if you have crazy family. So now he’s in Egypt. But unlike the dream he had earlier (the God news), he was in a bad situation—he was a slave. ¹⁶ Then she laid up his garment by her until his master came home, ¹⁷ and she told him the same story, saying, “The Hebrew servant, whom you have brought among us, came in to me to laugh at me. ¹⁸ But as soon as I lifted up my voice and cried, he left his garment beside me and fled out of the house.” ¹⁹ As soon as his master heard the words that his wife spoke to him, “This is the way your servant treated me,” his anger was kindled. ²⁰ And Joseph’s master took him and put him into the prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined, and he was there in prison. (Genesis 39:16-20) Joseph was a good looking slave and his master’s wife was a vixen and was thinking of doing the nasty with him but joseph ran away. Now because he was doing the right thing, he was going to be punished for it. It’s funny how that works sometimes when you do the right thing, it sometimes ends up being a bad thing for your situation. There’s something to note here though, God’s plan can come in the form of bad news. God’s plan to have his brothers bow before him, it could not happen unless Joseph got this bad news. It was part of God’s plan. Joseph could have been cowardly and done the wrong thing, but instead, he does the right thing because he was steady in God and God’s plan is about to manifest itself by having Joseph live out his bad news. Joseph is now in prison and I don’t know how many years he’s there. ¹⁴ So Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and he was quickly brought from the dungeon. When he had shaved and changed his clothes, he came before Pharaoh. ¹⁵ Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream, and no one can interpret it. But I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.” ¹⁶ “I cannot do it,” Joseph replied to Pharaoh, “but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires.” (Genesis 41:14-16) Being brave is about living out the belief you have in God through the news you receive. ³⁷ This proposal pleased Pharaoh and all his servants. ³⁸ And Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find a man like this, in whom is the Spirit of God?” ³⁹ Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has shown you all this, there is none so discerning and wise as you are. ⁴⁰ You shall be over my house, and all my people shall order themselves as you command. Only as regards the throne will I be greater than you.” ⁴¹ And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.” ⁴² Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his hand and put it on Joseph’s hand, and clothed him in garments of fine linen and put a gold chain about his neck. ⁴³ And he made him ride in his second chariot. And they called out before him, “Bow the knee!” Thus he set him over all the land of Egypt. ⁴⁴ Moreover, Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, and without your consent no one shall lift up hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.” (Genesis 41:37-44) How we keep our faith through bad news will be the foundation of our present future. ⁶ Now Joseph was governor over the land. He was the one who sold to all the people of the land. And Joseph’s brothers came and bowed themselves before him with their faces to the ground. ⁷ Joseph saw his brothers and recognized them, but he treated them like strangers and spoke roughly to them. “Where do you come from?” he said. They said, “From the land of Canaan, to buy food.” ⁸ And Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him.⁹ And Joseph remembered the dreams that he had dreamed of them. And he said to them, “You are spies; you have come to see the nakedness of the land.” (Genesis 42:6-9)