Jeremiah chapter number 29. It's good to be able to preach on a Wednesday night. Typically most of the year I am in couples, actually more of a parenting class. We started for the Awana parents and have about 20 to 30 that come on a regular basis to that. We took a break for the month of August and we'll start back again in September but looking forward to tonight and preaching. I want to bring a message on when the facts aren't adding up. When the facts aren't adding up. The main thought is simply this, how to respond when life isn't going like you thought it would. How to respond when life isn't going like you thought it was. I've pastored long enough and I've been in ministry long enough and I've talked to enough people who've made this statement to me. Why, if God is so good, why would he do that? Why would I have to go through that? Oftentimes I've struggled answering that question, but I think this question will be answered tonight out of Jeremiah chapter 29. We'll just go verse by verse through this. This is a letter to the exiles in Babylon. Of course, T.J. preached on that Sunday morning a little bit, why they were there and so forth. But I'm looking forward to going through this chapter, kind of giving a little bit of the context, a little of the history behind it, and then what God did through these dear people. And I believe that we can apply that to our heart today. What to do? Maybe you aren't going through a difficulty. Perhaps you know someone is, and you're wondering how to answer them. Maybe you can take these biblical principles and help them out as well. If you'll stand to your feet tonight, we're just going to read the first four verses. even though there's 14 that we'll be preaching through. And I want to just read these first four, and then we'll get into the message. The Bible says there, Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem unto the residue of the elders, which were carried away captives, and to the priests, and to the prophets, and to all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon. After that, Jehoiachin, the king, and the queen and the eunuchs, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, and the carpenters and the smiths were departed from Jerusalem. By the hand of Elassah, the son of Shapam, and Gamara the son of Hilki, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent unto Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, unto all that are carried away captives, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem unto Babylon. Then he gives a few verses there of instruction to them, and we'll look through that in just a second. Let's go, Lord, in prayer. Lord, we sure do love you. Thank you so much for loving us. Thank you for these dear people. I know most of them, if not all of them, were busy today. or they're working, some maybe, or around the house doing things, running errands, spending time with people, going shopping, Lord, and they're tired. But they're here because they believe it's important to be in your house. They need maybe some fuel, if you will. They need something to help get them through the rest of the week. Lord, you've put this thought on my heart several weeks ago and in my devotion time, and I've had some time to look over it and study it and search it out, and I really believe this is what you would have for us tonight. Lord, it's interesting how it kind of ties in a little bit from Sunday. Lord, and hearing from the teens, and then Brother TJ's message, what I hope will be a help to us tonight. Be with those who are maybe online watching. Maybe they couldn't be here. They're at work, or maybe they're sick, or maybe they're out of town. I pray you'll just help them. And Lord, may they know that they're appreciated for tuning in. And be with those who are in Leavenworth. Lord, give them safety. Be with the children, teens, nursery. and young adults as well. I just pray you'll minister to us and work in a mighty way. May I get out of the way and may you flow through me, and may we learn something that will help us tonight. In Jesus' name, amen. You may be seated. Years ago, back when it was popular for cars to have bench seats, remember those front seats that were bench seats, okay? and there was a older couple that was driving down the road and they stopped at a stoplight and the wife was looking out and she saw this car that said newly married and this wife was almost sitting on her new husband's lap you know and she looked wistfully over there of course she was on her side of the car he was on his side and she looked over and she said Frank, honey, why don't we ever sit that close anymore? And Frank kind of just kept driving, and without even looking at her, he said, well, I haven't moved at all. And you know, oftentimes in our Christian life, it seems like we as Christians can slowly start sliding away from the things of the Lord. I don't think any of us would brag about that or Rejoice about that or even admit to it, but if we're honest with ourselves We can find ourselves slowly sliding away from the things Lord, and that's what happened in this particular chapter. This is what's talking about the children of Israel, how they are on fire for the Lord. But over the years, they slowly started falling away. And really, in the last four years or so, they really fell away. And so tonight I want us to see what Jeremiah is writing to the exiles who are in Babylon. By the way, as we learned on Sunday, and I believe with all my heart, it's very accurate. A lot of those who are there probably don't deserve to be there. They're there because their parents and grandparents kind of started stiffening their neck and quit hearing the preaching. Of course, I don't want to re-preach Brother TJ's message, but they weren't doing right. And because of that, the wise ones, the smart ones, the children, teens, the youth that showed a lot of promise got taken out of the land. So they find themselves in a place where they don't understand why they're there, they don't want to be there, they want to be back home with mommy and daddy maybe, they want to be back in their familiar territory, but they find themselves here. And Jeremiah writes to them and says, hey, I'm going to give you some instruction on how to get through this. I got to thinking in our life how oftentimes, and I'm not exempt from this, I've found myself at times in a place where I don't necessarily like where I'm at, or I don't necessarily like the trial or frustration I'm going through. I don't really care that God has put me somewhere, and sometimes I can get frustrated, and maybe you can too throughout your years of being a Christian. May I encourage you, just like these dear people were encouraged, God has not forgotten where you are. God cares about you. And God uses Jeremiah to write a letter to these people to let them know that they haven't been forgotten. So let's look at this tonight. I have just three points. First and foremost here, first off, if you will, not really foremost, but first off, we see in order to get through what you're going through, you have to learn to face the facts. You have to learn to face the facts. Years ago, Henry Augustus Rowland was a professor of physics at John Hopkins University. He was a very humble man, and he was called upon to be the executive witness in a big case. And as he sat there, the lawyer came to him, and he said, what are your qualifications as an expert witness in this case? As was mentioned before, Henry Rowland was very modest. He was a retiring professor. He honestly wasn't ever seeking any claim or never was boastful. He said this, I am the greatest living expert on the subject under discussion. Man, people were surprised. This guy never spoke for himself that way. And later a friend who was well acquainted with his humble spirit came up to him and he said, Roland, he says, what would cause you to be so boastful about yourself? Roland answered, well, what did you expect me to do? I was under oath. And you know, sometimes in our life, it's amazing how we shortchange ourselves, or we don't look at the whole picture, or we like to see what we want to see. But we see here that there's a reason why these people were where they were. Not only do they have to face the facts, but face the facts of the context. Look at verse number one again. It says, Now why were they carried away captive? Well, we heard a little bit about this on Sunday, but I want to give you a little bit more background. In 609 BC, there was a great battle that was fought. The Battle of Sharshimesh. It was a world war that was starting to brew. Back in that year, there was the Assyrian Empire, there was the Egyptian Empire, and then there was a Babylonian Empire. And each one was trying to overthrow the others. And the Pharaoh of Egypt, Pharaoh Necho, thought, you know, why don't I partner up with Assyria, and then we can take down Babylon. On his way up to Assyria, if you kind of look at a map, you have Assyria here, you have Babylon over here, and then you have Egypt down here, and then Israel's right in the middle. So on the way up, he starts heading up there. There is a city he got to named Megiddo. Megiddo was a strategic, important military center. And King Josiah of Judah, Israel, did not want to lose grip on that. So he decides to go up there and take care of Pharaoh Necho. And as he went up there, we see Pharaoh Necho took him out, if you will. You can read this in 2 Chronicles. He takes him out, and we see that he dies in battle. So in less than four years, Israel goes from kind of following the Lord to just reverting back to their evil ways. So I want us to see not only the context of this facts, but I want us to also see the circumstance of these facts that Jeremiah causes them to face. Look at verse number four, the Bible goes on to say, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, unto all that are carried away captive. Jeremiah doesn't just say you've been carried away captive, he says God has carried away you captive. Isn't it interesting that sometimes we get ourselves into predicaments, but other times God is doing a work in our life and moving us sometimes where we don't want to be moved or to do what we don't necessarily want to do. Judah had rebelled against God. We saw that on Sunday in Brother TJ's message. God raised up the Babylonian Empire, and in 605 BC, September of that year, Nebuchadnezzar comes and crushes Israel. He takes the most brilliant, bright prisoners and leaves the rest there, and Jeremiah stays there to continue to prophesy in Judah. These people are jerked from their homes and the only reason why they're jerked away is because they're brilliant, they're smart, because they're athletic, because they have leadership skills, and they come to Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar is trying to get them to not necessarily change who they are. He wants them to accept Babylon philosophy and then go back and then help lead this country and be unified with Babylon. He really was a brilliant man. And so he gets there and then we see in verse number 9 and 10, not only of the context of the circumstance of the facts, but also the facts of the Shemera. You say, what is Shemera? Shemera is an old word that means a vain or foolish imagination or dream. And I want to see what happens to these people, these exiles that are in Babylon. They're not sure why they're there. They're frustrated. They don't feel like they deserve to be there. And they're there and they hear from this false priest, Hananiah, that there is hope and they're only going to be in exile for two years. Look at verse number nine. The Bible says, This is the Lord speaking through Jeremiah. So if you look back a chapter, and we won't tonight, But verses 11 through 17, you'll see where Hananiah does this. He comes up in front of the people and he says, hey, don't worry, you exiles. I know you're here, I know you don't wanna be here, but in two years, you're gonna be back in Jerusalem, everything's gonna be back to normal, you're gonna be okay. Oh man, these exiles say, okay, I can write out two years, and two years from now, we'll just go back to normal. You know what Jeremiah says? No, that's not going to happen. It's going to be 70 years. Now, I don't think Jeremiah was the most popular prophet at that point, but he was preaching the truth. May I say, truth isn't always popular, but it needs to be said. And so we see here a group of people, if you will, Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego including there, They're sitting there. They're in a strange place. They're having to learn to take a stand for what's right. They're not eating the king's meat. They're eating poles and vegetables. And here they are trying to adjust to a new land. They're being taught brand new philosophies. They're being taught all these things that are different from what they brought up there. And they're sitting there and they hear from Hananiah, hey, this is only going to be two years. Don't worry about it. So what happens? They think, well, I can put up with two years worth. We just won't do anything for two years and then we'll go back. But I want to encourage us tonight that God says, no, no, no, no, no. That's not what's going to happen. You're going to be there for 70 years. Well, oftentimes, as I mentioned earlier, people have asked me the question, why does God allow bad things to happen to good people? Why does he allow problems and pressures and heartaches and difficulties and stress? Why does he do that? Well, I will say this, oftentimes those things always get the attention of my life. They get my attention. C.S. Lewis said this, God whispers to us in our pleasure, but he shouts in our pain. It's a powerful quote. Oftentimes, in our pleasure, we don't really think about God. But when pain comes, whoo-hoo, all right, God, you got my attention. Oftentimes, we wonder, why do problems come? And someone said this one time, and I jotted it down, and it's really helped me. We can bring problems on ourselves by faulty decisions, bad judgments, and sins. There's times we get ourselves in pickles and predicaments and places we don't want to be because of our own problems, our own will. But there's another reason why things happen to us and that is sometimes problems are caused by other people and we can't control. Some people are just plain evil. They're just sinful. They just want to make people miserable. And may I say you can't control what people do to you all the time, but you can control how you respond to that. And then we see the third thing, it oftentimes can be brought on by Satan, like in the life of Job. But whatever the case may be, a trial, a heartache can come our way. How do we respond? It's important to understand. Now we think when we read these verses, well, bless God, they should go to exile. These are wicked people. I mean, good night. These people harden their necks. They stiffen their necks. They wouldn't listen to the message. They were worshiping idols. They were living immorally. They should be in exile. But remember, Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were in exile. Not one of them deserved to be there. So I think it's important to understand that just because you live a wicked life doesn't always mean you'll be chastised. But just because you live a good life doesn't mean it's always going to be a bed of roses. So these people are here, they're in a spot they don't want to be, and they're hearing that maybe it will only last two years, and God says, no, it's going to be 70 years. And so they're sitting here, they're starting to face the facts, and I just encourage you tonight, the first step in getting over that you don't like what God's done in your life is just simply this. Face the facts and realize, God has put me here, and I'm going to figure out what God's trying to teach me. But second of all, I want us to see what Jeremiah wrote to these people, and I think it's very helpful, and that is to flourish in the facts. Once you understand the reason why God has you there, that it's God's reason. He's put me here for a reason. It could have been my own problem that got me here. It could have been what someone else did to me. It could be what the devil's doing to me. But once I'm here and I realize that I'm here because God put me here, now God says, hey, you need to flourish now that I put you there. Just because you're not where you used to be flourishing doesn't mean you can't flourish where I have you now. years ago there was a missionary couple and they brought some african pastors over from africa and and they were going to this big event and it was a it was in a smaller town though and they told the pastors hey why don't you go for the afternoon and go shopping and if you get lost or anything i'll give you my phone number you can call me about an hour or so later the missionary got a call and they says we're lost He says, okay, we'll go down to the nearest intersection and look up and tell me what the street sign says. So the pastor got up there and he looked up and he says, what does it say? He says, walk and don't walk. Well, oftentimes in our life, I thought it was kind of funny, but anyways, oftentimes in our life, we can be directionless and we don't know where to turn. And oftentimes we can say, you know what, God, I don't like where you have me. I don't like what you're doing with me right now. I'm not seeing the progress I want to see. I'm not seeing the prosperity I want to see. My ministry may not be growing like I want, or maybe my job, I'm not moving up the ladder like I want, or maybe I'm not able to get the house like I want. There's just some things that's here in my life, and I don't like it. And God says, hey, hey, hey, wait a minute here. If you'll just trust me and keep doing right, I'm going to teach you some things. I want you to flourish. How in the world can they flourish? Well, first of all, by learning patience. Look at verse number five. The Bible says there, build ye houses and dwell in them. I don't know about you, but it's hard to build a house overnight. He says, build houses. You know what? You need to root down. Plant gardens. The other day, I had a garden. We have a garden coming up. I told my wife, I got it in late. I don't even mind if we get anything. I just want to be able to grow something. Because I grow awesome weeds, okay? But anyways, my boy cut down one of the shrubs. He thought he was helping me. I said, son, that took like 10 years to get that, you know, anyways. I don't know where that came from. But the point I'm getting at is planting gardens, eating the fruit of them. That doesn't happen overnight. That takes time. That takes effort. That takes you being willing to put in the work, but also being willing to be patient. And oftentimes when we're in a spot where we don't necessarily like where God has us, or we're not necessarily understanding what to do, or we're frustrated, or our life is hitting us right behind the horns and we don't know what to do, we oftentimes do not want to learn patience through that. We want to get over it as quick as possible and go back to where we were. But God was teaching them patience. He says, Well, that takes a little bit of time. Takes wives for your sons. Oh, so I'm supposed to have a child and to get a wife for him? Well, that's not going to happen in one year. It's going to take at least 20 or 25 years. And he says that they may bear sons and daughters. In other words, you're going to become a grandparent in this land. They're going to be there a while. So don't be just wishing it's over or, well, just not do anything because I'm going to get out of here soon enough. No, no, no. God says, I have you there for a reason whether you like it or not. Whether you think like you deserve it or not, I have you there. Now get busy. And so they do. But also we see by eliminating poverty. He taught him how to learn patience, how to eliminate poverty. Look at the rest of verse number six. The Bible says that they may bear sons and daughters, that ye may be increased there and not diminished. and seek the peace of the city whither i have caused you to be carried away captives and pray unto the lord for it for in the peace thereof shall you have peace you know what god was saying you can still be successful and flourish and increase even though you're where you may not necessarily want to be Now that goes against our human nature and our brain and oftentimes we want to be exactly where we want to be, but I have found a long time ago that if you're where God wants you and you're doing what God wants you to do, He's going to start blessing it. And so we see that in the children of Israel's life. They don't get busy, they're gonna fall into poverty and dwindle away. And God didn't want that for them, He wanted to bless them. Even in Babylon, He wanted to bless them. Isn't that show a loving Heavenly Father? You say, well, I don't know about that, if God really wants to bless. No, God wants to bless your efforts if you get busy for Him, if you wanna serve Him. It reminds me of Jesus Christ. When he came to his disciples, they had a motley lot. and he got them to all leave, some fishermen, some tax collectors, he got them all to leave, and he trained them for three years, and he says, hey, I want you to go, I'm gonna leave you, but I want you to go, and I want you to reach this world for Christ, in Mark 16, 15, and he said, go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. Matthew 28, 19, and 20, lo, I am with you always. Mark 16, 20, and they went forth and preached everywhere, and what happened? the Lord working with them and confirming the word. You know what? God just wants you to get busy so that he can work through you. This last year has been a year of transition for my wife and I. I'll be honest, it hasn't always been easy. We were very entrenched in the ministry, and we sure love the ministry there in Turlock, but we knew without a doubt this is where God was moving us. So we came, and it took some time, and By the way, I appreciate your patience and your love. It's not always been easy for you as well, I'm sure, but we started ministering, and God started blessing, and little by little God has opened doors for us to start impacting lives again. But I found that the same, if you love people, and if you follow up after people, and if you share the gospel with people, and you point them to the love of Jesus, and you stay after people, and you encourage them, and you help push them up and you help love on them when you be there for them. It's amazing how different people, different areas, but God still can bless your efforts. And I want to encourage you, if you're in that area where you feel like you're just not where God, where you'd like to be maybe, just face the facts. Realize God has me here. By the way, if you made that mistake, God's specializing on taking broken things and make them good again. And if you're in a place where you don't necessarily want to be, I'm not talking about location, I'm talking about whatever you're going through right now, just remember this. God wants you to flourish through that. And then last but not least, I want us to see he not only wanted them to face the facts, he not only wanted them to flourish in the facts, but he wanted them to grow their faith in the facts. A young teenage boy had just gotten his driver's license and he got home and he talked to his father who was a minister and he said, dad, I want to talk to you about the car. His dad said, okay, come to the study and let's talk about it. So his son came in and said, dad, what's the regulations on the car? And his dad said, all right, son, if you'll improve your grades, if you'll spend time in God's word every day and you cut your hair, he says, I will let you have free reign of the car. The boy said okay about a month later. He came in he said dad He says can we talk about the car again? So he says well come in my study So the boy came in his study and and his dad said son. I've been very proud of what you you've brought up your grades He says and you've been spending time in the Bible he says But your hair you didn't get a haircut the young man says dad. I've already thought about this and He said Moses had hair, long hair, Samson had long hair, even Jesus had long hair. His father interrupted him at that point and said, yes, son, but they all walked everywhere they went. What was he teaching his son? Hey, you've made progress, but you're not there yet. And tonight I want to encourage you that once you face the facts of, you know what? God, I'm here where you have me. And I don't like this trial. I don't like this frustration. In fact, I loathe it. But I realize you put me here for a reason. I realize you brought me here. You're gonna make something good out of it. So will you help me to flourish in the facts?" And God says, I'll let you flourish. But he says, there's one more thing I want to do for you. And that's what Jeremiah wrote these dear people. He says, I want to grow your faith in this season. I don't know about you, but I don't always like my faith being grown. I don't always like being stretched. But I will say this, when God stretches it, it's pretty amazing when he does that, when you look back. So let's look at this tonight. It says in verse number 10, for thus saith the Lord, that after 70 years be accomplished at Babylon, I will visit you and perform my good word toward you, and causing you to return to this place." God's starting to give him some promises here. He says, I know 70 years sounds like a long time, but I'm gonna do what I said. I'm gonna bring you back, verse 11, for I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you an expected end. You know what God was saying? He gives them four ways to grow your faith in the midst of their facts. Number one, God makes promises that are good and intends to fulfill them. He says in verse number 11, for I know the thoughts I think toward you. I have thoughts of peace and not of evil. I haven't expected, and I have something good for you. I'm reminded of 1 Kings 8, verse 56. It says, there blessed be the Lord that has given rest unto his people Israel according to all that he promised. There hath not failed one word of all his good promise, which he promised by the hand of Moses, his servant. By the way, If you remember back in November when I laid the foundation for Nehemiah, Daniel was used of God to go, by the way, the same Daniel this letter probably was being written to by Jeremiah, was used by God to go to King Cyrus and say, hey Cyrus, Darius, Cyrus, I think God's going to use you to help lead Zerubbabel and a group of people back to Jerusalem. Daniel got to see God's promises come to pass. I see not only does God make promises that are good and intent to fulfill them, but number two, God listens to his people when they pray. God listens to his people when they pray. Look at verse number 12. you shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you." These were the people who were stiff-necked. These were the people who could have not heard the message. These are the people, as we learned on Sunday morning from Brother TJ, these are the people who really wanted nothing to do with God, but now they're calling out to Him. Now they're spending time in prayer. You know what? God says, hey, I'm going to listen when you pray. I'm thankful for God tonight, that I'm not just praying to a piece of wood and pretending that he hears me. I'm praying to a God who is alive and well, and who's listening to me and knows exactly what I say, and he wants to hear, and he wants to answer. The Bible says in Psalms 34, 15, the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry. Matthew 7, verse 11, if ye then being evil know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask Him. See, not only does God listen to His people when they pray, but God also allows His people to find Him when they seek Him. Look at verse number 13. The Bible says there, And ye shall seek me and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. I love to play hide and seek with my children sometimes. And I will hide in an amazing place. They hide in the same places every time. Especially when they find me, then they hide there. And I love when they can't find me and I'll make these calls or make these little noises. Why? Because I want them to find me. And you know, God doesn't want to be a mystery. I was sharing with a couple the other day in discipleship, God doesn't want to be a mystery. God doesn't want to be elusive. He doesn't want to hide from you. No, no, He wants to be found. He wants you to search Him out. The Bible says in Exodus, or Isaiah 55 or 56, Call ye upon him while he is near. Matthew 7, 7, a very familiar verse. Ask and it shall be given you. Seek and ye shall find. Knock and it shall be opened unto you. See, not only does God want to hear you pray and he wants to answer, but he also repeatedly rescues his people out of exile. The Bible says in verse 14, And I will be found of you, saith the Lord, and I will turn away your captivity. Exodus 2 verse 23, and it came to pass in process of time that the king of Egypt died and the children of Israel sighed by reason of bondage and they cried and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage. I think at 1st Peter 1 verse 1 the Bible says Peter apostle of Jesus Christ to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia." You say, why did you use that verse? Because it's interesting in that verse how all of those things were remote regions, they were regions that people didn't necessarily go to share the gospel, but Peter went there and I have to imagine that maybe someone in some of those cities were crying out and asking for the truth of God's Word and God sent Peter to go to them. What about you tonight, Colossians chapter 1 and verse 13, who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us in the kingdom of his dear Son? I don't know about you, but I'm thankful when I was in bondage, if you will, I've never been in prison, but I was in the dark bondage of sin. You see, I was sold under slavery. I had no hope. I was on the auction block, if you will. And Jesus Christ said, hey, Satan, I'm going to buy him. He asked for me to purchase him with my blood. And I will shed my blood. And I will pay for his sin on Mount Calvary. And I will claim him. And he invited me into his heart. And I will become his heavenly father. And Satan, you no longer have hold of him. He is now a child of mine. I want to encourage you tonight that God created you, God cares for you, and Jesus was crucified for you, and one day he rose for you, and one day he wants to come back for you. Have you given your life to Christ this morning? God may be preparing you in times of dire circumstances. When you feel like God has forgotten you, He may be preparing you, as He did the people of Judah, for a new beginning with Him at the center. So we see tonight that we need to face the facts. We need to flourish in the facts. And we need to have our faith grown in the facts. But I couldn't help but think of a particular person who I believe emulates this pattern perfectly. Bring your attention to Joseph. Many of you remember the story. Joseph was born to Jacob and Rachel. Jacob had a very interesting family life. His mother loved him, but his father grew closer to Isaac, and because of that, Jacob always had a missing piece in his heart, and he ended up stealing, if you will, what wasn't his but probably would have ended up being his but he stole anyways he got shoved out of the house he never could come back and he goes and ends up finding Rachel and he gets fixated over Rachel and he feels like unless I can have her I will never be complete and after 14 long years of working he ended up marrying her and she was everything to him and Leah had all these children, and he didn't really care, and he was careful about Rachel, and then she had Joseph, and after she had Benjamin, she passed away. That missing hole in Jacob's heart then got pushed over to Joseph, and Joseph became his favorite. You know the story? He got him a coat of many colors. It was a very rich coat. It was a very lavish coat, and Joseph's brothers were already upset at Joseph. They didn't like that his father was treating him as a favorite. And if you see in the story of Genesis, that Joseph gave him an evil report, his brothers. And in the Hebrew, that word evil means a false report. I've often thought Joseph, I always felt sorry for Joseph, but studying up the life of Joseph, I wonder if maybe not just Jacob was fault for his brothers hating him, but maybe Joseph had a little bit to do with it too. If you read about the different dreams he had, the different visions he has, We see that he told him in such a way that finally his father, Jacob, had to rebuke him and said, Jacob, or Joseph, you're being too arrogant when you share this here. You're saying these in such a way that you're causing your brothers to hate you even more. And Joseph was going down a very rough road. He was proud. He could have been arrogant. He could have been spoiled. In fact, three different times, the Bible says his brothers hated him. Now, I don't know if Joseph had anything to do with it or not, but I think when you look at it a little closer, maybe Joseph could have been just as much at fault as Jacob was for his brothers hating him. I don't know if Joseph was a picture perfect son or brother, but we do know one thing, that God started working in Joseph's life in an amazing way, in a way that you and I wouldn't want him to work in our lives. He gets put in the pit, almost killed, gets taken out, gets sold into slavery, he gets unjustly accused, gets put in prison, he gets a promise that he's going to be told about so he can get out, and then two or three more, I think there's two more years, he stays in prison even longer. Finally he gets out and he comes second to Pharaoh and he ends up saving his family and really the the children of Israel. What are you saying, Pastor Justin? I'm just simply saying this. Joseph says in Genesis 50 verse 20, Perhaps maybe Joseph knew who he was as a child and knew the road he was going down and realized that God did a work in his life and the spots that he didn't necessarily want to go. I want to encourage you tonight. You wouldn't picture yourself as Joseph being arrogant, proud, and stubborn, but we're all sinners, saved by grace. And sometimes God needs to put us on a journey to get us where he wants us to be. And I'll be honest with you, I don't like those journeys. But I know one thing, when God gets done working with me and working with you, it ends up being pretty good. I have one last illustration and I'll be done tonight. I got a call today from a lady who I led to Christ in Turlock, in our church there in Dener. And I got the call, wasn't expecting it, and she said, Pastor Justin, can I, do you have some time? Well, sure, go ahead. She says, well, I want to tell you a story. She says, you remember when I accepted Christ as my Savior, and I do remember, she was sitting, I believe, on the sixth or seventh row, and I gave the sinner's prayer, and she raised her hand, tears flowing down her face, and she was so happy, I could tell. I remember talking with her afterwards, I said, did you give your heart to Christ today? She said, yes, it's the greatest feeling in all the world. Well, she had went home, and she started coming every week, but she says, I want to get baptized, but I want to get baptized in a river. I said, it's January. You don't want to get baptized in a river in January. Maybe in July. But we started working with her and discipling her, and then she tried to get her husband to come. Her husband finally came one day, but it was right after the service, right in time for the special event and the meal. I thought, man, you're an elusive guy. I never could figure out why he didn't want to come, Then COVID hit, and over the course of COVID, she was very fearful, and at the time we didn't know, and she kind of stopped coming. And I didn't hear much more about her than God called us up here. And so I really hadn't been keeping in touch with her. And she says, Pastor Justin, she said, I was in a dark place. She says, I was depressed. And she said, to top it off, She said, I found out my husband had been cheating with my best friend for 17 years. I thought, man, I said, I'm so sorry. She says, for two months, I only got up to feed my kids and then to go back in my room. She says, I didn't know what to do. She says, but I remember something you said in the message one time, that you just can cry out to God and he's always listening. And you can tell them whatever you want. So she says, I started crying out to God, and God says, God told me that you need to start searching for me more. And so she goes, the only thing I could think of was to go to the local Bible bookstore, and they gave me a devotional journal. They said, well, you should start reading here. So she started reading through that, and God started working in her life. She said, one day my husband came to me and he says, I'm so sorry for what I did. And God, I cried out to God and God says, told me I need to go to church. She says, well, that's a good place to start. And I need to get help with my alcohol addiction. So he did. He started getting some help and they went to church. After several weeks of going, I think he was at step five in his program, and he sat across the room from a man in the Sunday school class who says, I've also went through that program. And he said, hey, he said, what step are you on? He says, I'm going through number five. He says, you know what that step is? That's when you got to ask forgiveness for your sins and give your life to Christ. And he says, I can help you with that. I just did that. And the man says, oh, I would love to do that. And with tears, she was telling me this story. She says, Pastor Justin, she says, my husband prayed and asked Jesus in his heart. I said, praise the Lord. I said, well, tell me more. She says, Pastor Justin, he's a changed man. She says, I don't know how to explain it. I says, well, the only thing we know is that that's what God does. He changes our life. We're a new creature. She says, Pastor Justin, I prayed and prayed that God would give me a Christian husband, and now I have one. She says, I wanted to tell you that. I said, okay. But she said this, and I thought this was interesting because I knew what I was preaching tonight. She says, Pastor Justin, I had to get to a point where I had understood that I was in my spot for a reason. And until I understood that, I could not go forward. And then I finally gave it to God and God started, she didn't say flourishing, but what she was trying to say is God was starting to work in my life. And then God started growing my faith when I found out about my husband and what he had done. And then he gave his life to Christ and she said, it changed my heart. It changed my everything about me. She says, you know, God did something amazing. She goes, I just wanted you to know, because if you wouldn't have given the gospel to me, I would have never prayed and searched it out, and my husband would have never got saved. Now God could have worked in another way, I don't know. But the point of that story is simply this. You may be in a situation similar to this lady, I don't know. But until you realize that maybe God has a place for you, and God's put you there for a reason. And then you gotta realize that God put me here and I gotta flourish. I gotta figure this out. I don't like what's going on around me. I don't like some news I heard recently. I don't care for all that, but I know that God's put me here for a reason and I'm gonna flourish because even in Babylon we see these people flourishing. I don't wish anyone to go to Babylon, but I will say this, that if God puts you in a place you don't wanna be, if you work hard and you please God and you put him first, you're gonna flourish. then watch as your faith grows. Faith growing isn't always fun, but man when your faith grows it's amazing to see what God can do through you. So maybe you're like this lady I mentioned tonight. I told her I wouldn't mention her name, but she said I could share her story. Or maybe you're like Joseph. Maybe you're headed down a path that you shouldn't have been going down, and God got a hold of you, and through some interesting circumstances, he then used you to do something amazing. Or maybe you're like these exiles. You don't really care for where you're at. But I know this. If I trust God, and realize he makes no mistakes, and he's put me where he's put me for a reason, and I'm gonna flourish. And when he starts stretching my faith, I'll let him stretch my faith, because eventually he'll put me back where I started, and for them it was Jerusalem. He'll bring you back a person way better than where you were, because he did a work in your life. Every head bowed, every eye closed this evening. Most people thought Joseph had been done evil and he knew it was good, for his good. These exiles didn't necessarily care for where they are, but God cared enough about them to write this encouraging letter to them. Now those 70 years were probably long and hard, but God came through on his promise, as we know because we studied through Nehemiah, and they finally rebuilt the wall, they rebuilt the temple, and they were back. But where are you at tonight? If you were to die right now, do you know for sure you're going to heaven? I know we're a Wednesday night crowd, probably all of us know, but maybe there's one that doesn't. By the way, if that's you, that's okay. We all were lost at one point too. Let me encourage you to say something like this in your heart, dear Jesus, I know I'm a sinner. I deserve to go to hell. I don't want to go there. Please come into my heart and save me. and take away my sin so I can go to heaven when I die. I believe and trust in you, Lord, and invite you into my life. Thank you, Jesus." Maybe that's you tonight. Maybe you prayed that prayer. Maybe there's someone tonight that'd say, you know, Pastor Justin, I'll be honest, I don't want to face the facts, but tonight I realized I just need to be content where God's put me. And I'm just going to believe that He did it. And he's going to use either the mistakes I've made, or he's going to use what wrong someone's done to me, or he's going to use the devil doing something. I don't know. He's going to use where I'm at, and he's going to help me. He wants me to flourish. Pastor Justin, I believe with all my heart. I believe God is going to help me face the facts and flourish and even grow my faith where I'm at. Will you pray for me, pastors? Will you pray that God will help me through this phase I'm at? If that's you, will you slip up your hand? I want to pray for you. Anybody tonight? God bless you. God bless you all over. Lord, you see the hands. You know the hearts. Lord, you know this is a message that I believe can be used to help us throughout life. Maybe there's some good things going on in most of these people's lives right now, and praise the Lord. Perhaps they know of someone who's struggling, or maybe they're struggling right now. I pray that they know that you want them to flourish. You want their faith to grow. you want to use them, like you use Joseph, and you use Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and many others. We sure do love you, Lord. Thank you so much for loving us. In Jesus' name, amen. If you could stand to your feet, the piano's going to play briefly. Maybe God's touched your heart tonight, and you'd like to pray at an altar, or maybe you'd like to pray in your pew, that's fine. Let me encourage you to take a moment, maybe, just spend some time with God. Ask for his help to face the facts, maybe. Ask his help to help you flourish when you don't feel like it. You just wish you could be back where you were, or you just wish you could do what you were doing. You don't like this new trial, this new frustration, this new thing you're in, but you'll just pray that God will help you flourish. Maybe there's some that need to grow their faith a little bit, and you're having a hard time growing your faith. May you allow God to work in your heart. and strengthen your faith tonight, like these exiles in Babylon. All righty. God bless you. Hope you have just a wonderful, wonderful day. Thank you for coming tonight. We'll look forward to seeing you on Sunday and excited about a great day planned. Hope you have a great, great rest your week. You are dismissed.