Unhurried Spirituality Pt 3 Series

Sermon: Unhurried Spirituality Pt 3

Thesis: There is no such thing as an overnight success! Joe was on the go for God because he was a humble servant leader and because he was filled with the Spirit of God. He was on the go for God because he was dispenser of grace and a forgiving individual.

Scripture Texts: Genesis 40-45

Introduction:

Today we will observe Jospeh who seemingly in our story became an overnight success! But that would be a mistake to conclude that about Joseph! He became a success for God over a 13-year period of betrayal, slavery, faithfulness and a commitment to honor God even through injustices.

The "overnight success" is a myth today because it hides the years of, faithfulness to God, hard work, pain, rejection, setbacks, and a persistence on the part of the individual – these are the true foundations of any significant achievement and spiritual growth.

What appears to be sudden overnight success is often the result of long-term, consistent effort, and the visibility of that success comes after a lengthy period of struggle, growing, maturing, failing, growing, failing and learning from the hardship of life.

The Reality check behind an "overnight success:" myth are the Fruits of the Spirit: The "fruits of the Spirit" are nine qualities—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control—that are described in the Bible as being produced in a person's life by the Holy Spirit. These qualities are listed in Galatians 5:22-23 of the Bible: They are spiritual qualities which reject the “Hurry up Sickness” of this world. They are the fruits which help us to mature into the man or woman of God that He wants us to be.

Love: The ability to look at people without hate even when they have wronged you! As we will learn today Joe could do this1 Not many people can do this!

Long-term consistency fruits include (perseverance, patience, faithfulness): What looks like a quick breakthrough is typically the result of years of sustained effort, being faithful day in and day out, this is where small, consistent actions compound over time. Jospeh demonstrates this quality with the jobs and character he had doing his jobs for the Lord in Egypt.

Hidden struggles: (Joy, peace, self-control play apart in this dimension of becoming a success in the Kingdom) The public rarely sees “behind-the-curtain" work, which includes late nights, trial and error, pivots, hurts and grief and dealing with your failures.

Delayed results: (patience, goodness, faithfulness are keys in doing this) The results of early efforts may not be seen for a long time. For example: rejecting the advances of Mrs. Po led to Jospeh eventually becoming a success. Serving faithfully when unjustly imprisoned revealed this too.

Compounding effort: The effect of consistent faith is multiplicative, not additive and it brings divine dividends in the future. Faith and Love for God will multiply the blessings in your life!

Here is growing secret – choosing to Improve by just 1% everyday results in a massive increase over time, not just a simple accumulation.

The Media portrayal: The media often focuses on the "big win" story, which is more exciting but less representative of the real journey, it leads to a false perception of instant results. In Joseph Day the media would have centered in on his overnight success (Dream interpretation) but that would have missed the truth behind what made him a success in Egypt. It was the Spirit of God dwelling in him and his humility, attitude of grace and his forgiving heart (All character traits).

Overcoming success:

Years ago, Erwin Lutzer wrote a very helpful little book titled Failure: The Back Door To Success, it could have been written about Joseph. Many times, it takes years of failures and setbacks to become an “overnight success.” Abraham Lincoln is a classic example. He had two failed businesses, one nervous breakdown, endured the death of a sweetheart, and was defeated for public office no less than ten times over the space of 30 years. Then, incredibly, he was elected President of the United States. Years of failure had equipped him to deal with the heady air of the heights of power. Those repeated reversals, apparent failures, and personal tragedies did not defeat Lincoln. They strengthened his character and commitment. So, it was with Joseph.

So here we find, or hero of the faith was a man who experienced setbacks and more setbacks, but the key was his defeats equipped him and developed him into a man who could handle success. We should never look at setbacks as failure but as a backdoor to success. A person who has gone through the process of loss and recovery is more able to handle the successes in life.

Genesis 40 – Events that seem unrelated to becoming an overnight success take place in Joe’s life with God’s help – the opportunity arose to interpret the dreams of the Chief Cup Bearer and Chief Baker to Pharoah! Both on the outs with the all-powerful leader of Egypt!