Betrayed Series

Betrayed

Genesis 37-50

The Lord may not have intended this to overtake me, but He has most certainly allowed it. Therefore, even though it is an attack from the enemy, it has passed through His loving care, and therefore all is well.

1. Get real v.19

2. Get perspective v.20

The sovereignty of God is the biblical teaching that all things are under God's rule and control, and that nothing happens without His direction or permission.

3. Give redemption v.21

Story of someone betrayed (spouse/business partner/dad?/military)

Genesis 37 . This morning we continue our series entitled ‘Wrecked.’ We’re in this series because frankly, for many of us, our lives ARE wrecked. You might recall in our series on prayer called Circle Maker (logo), we asked folks to write on card stock what they were going to draw a circle around and pray daily for until God answered one way or the other. I gathered those up at the end of the day and have been praying through them. I finished this week. They are gut-wrenching and heart-breaking: Praying for my marriage; praying for my addicted daughter; praying for my gay son; praying that we don’t lose our house; praying for my husband’s salvation; praying for my despair after my divorce.

Last week we talked about the storms of life; how things can be going along pretty well and then the storm clouds appear on the horizon, the winds begin to blow, the waves begin to swell, and we find ourselves in a storm. If you were not here last week, I encourage you to watch or listen to the podcast. I rarely say that, but I’m saying it now. Go online and listen/watch the podcast from last week. Every believer needs to hear what we talked about last week and it sets up the rest of the series. You won’t get the full impact of these messages if you don’t understand the truths of that 1st message.

At the end of last week, we had you move to one of the nine black boards throughout the worship center to write your storm on them. And here they are. We’re going to leave them up thru this series as a reminder that while we are in the storm, God is greater than the storm. Your storm didn’t catch God by surprise. God can accomplish things in a storm that He can’t really any other time. And the storm doesn’t mean you’re wicked; doesn’t mean God doesn’t love you.

Many of you asked that I post on FB the plaque I used to hang on my wall:

The Lord may not have intended this to overtake me, but He has most certainly allowed it. Therefore, even though it is an attack from the enemy, it has passed through His loving care, and therefore all is well.

BTW, each morning I am posting by Twitter on Facebook an insight from our daily devotional we’re doing together. If you haven’t gotten the book (on screen) 90 days of God’s Goodness, get it, read these 2-3 page devotions with us, check in on Facebook each morning and let’s got through this together.

This morning we take a look at something that is all to common in our lives and when it happens, it creates a strange and awful emotion inside of us. And that is betrayal. Everybody in the room has been betrayed. Stroll back on memory lane and think about when you’ve been betrayed. Maybe your ex betrayed you, or your company or boss betrayed you, or a good friend betrayed you, or your adult child betrayed you. Mother in law betrayed your love. Or someone betrayed your trust.

When you are betrayed, what do you feel? Anger. Hurt. And one more thing: vengeance! There is a part of us that wants the other person to feel pain; even be destroyed. It’s an ugly response to an ugly situation.

One of the best examples of betrayal is found in the life and story of a young man named Joseph. Now you might recall that Joseph was one of 12 brothers. His dad was a guy named Jacob, who God later named Israel.

We pick up the story in Genesis 37:1-8 (on screen)

v.2 Doesn’t say what these guys had done, but Joseph tattled on them; as a loyal son he felt it was his duty to inform his dad that they had done something wrong.

v.3 Favoritism by a parent always ends up bad for everyone. As a parent, each of my kids said I favored the others over them. Ben said…Brit said…Brad said… That’s a pretty good indication I didn’t play favorites. Jacob unwisely gave Joseph the best clothing. They got drab brown bath robes to wear while Joseph got the latest fashion robe from the Land’s End catalogue. This did not go over well with the brothers.