We Don’t Have the Right Perspective

Welcome to our new series called, ‘I am Second’. The whole point of this series is about transformation. You are going to hear real people share their real stories and how they found transformation. That means they found peace, found healing and were able to break their addictions.

I want to start with what scripture says.

In everything you do, put God first, and he will direct you and crown your efforts with success. Don’t be conceited, sure of your own wisdom. Instead, trust and reverence the Lord, and turn your back on evil; when you do that, then you will be given renewed health and vitality. Honor the Lord by giving him the first part of all your income, and he will fill your barns with wheat and barley and overflow your wine vats with the finest wines. Young man, do not resent it when God chastens and corrects you, for his punishment is proof of his love. TLB Proverbs 3:6-11

Do you see that first part? It says …put God first… That requires that we put ourselves in second place. That is the whole point of the, ‘I am Second’ series. That is the first step in being transformed. I will put God in first place in my life. I will no longer demand that I am first.

Today, I have this long rope up here. This long rope represents all of eternity. This is what God sees. He sees it all. This is before creation and this is after Jesus returns. Imagine how God sees all of eternity. Do you see this little thread? It’s a small, small dot in time isn’t? That’s your life. It’s really, really, small when you look at all eternity. That means you are a speck in time.

Based on this rope and thread, we can conclude that God sees all of eternity but we are only able to see or understand today. His perspective is unimaginable. Our perspective, not so impressive. We can barely remember what we ate for dinner last night. We can barely remember our homework from this past week.

So God, who loves us and wants what best for us, writes a love letter to us, called the Bible, and says this.

In everything you do, put God first, and he will direct you and crown your efforts with success. Don’t be conceited, sure of your own wisdom. Instead, trust and reverence the Lord, and turn your back on evil; when you do that, then you will be given renewed health and vitality. Honor the Lord by giving him the first part of all your income, and he will fill your barns with wheat and barley and overflow your wine vats with the finest wines. Young man, do not resent it when God chastens and corrects you, for his punishment is proof of his love. TLB Proverbs 3:6-11

Why would God say that? Because He sees eternity. He knows what happened before you. He knows what is happening today. He knows what is best for you today. He knows His plans for tomorrow.

But see, isn’t that our struggle? We don’t see eternity. We only see today. Day to day, we experience hard times, set backs and frustration. Our temptation, every day, is to put ourselves in first place. Why? Because that’s what seems to make sense to us. It’s because our vision, our understanding is so small we think, ‘I know best.’ And we think, ‘God is holding out on me, so I need to take control.’

That’s why God said,

Don’t be conceited, sure of your own wisdom. Instead, trust and reverence the Lord, and turn your back on evil.

God sees all of eternity but we are only able to see or understand today. Put God in first place.

I want to walk through a story with you. It’s a story of Joseph found in Genesis. To prepare you for this this story, you need to know that there was a man named Abraham. God loved Abraham and promised to bless him and all his children.

What’s more, I am changing your name. It will no longer be Abram; now you will be known as Abraham, for you will be the father of many nations. I will give you millions of descendants who will represent many nations. Kings will be among them! I will continue this everlasting covenant between us, generation after generation. It will continue between me and your offspring forever. And I will always be your God and the God of your descendants after you. NLT Genesis 17:5-8

Historians believe this happened about 2100 B.C. Abraham had a son named Isaac. Isaac had a son named Jacob. Jacob, his named was changed to Israel, had twelve sons, one of them was Joseph.

In the days of Joseph, about 200 years after God’s promise to Abraham, what nobody knew, there was about to be a world wide famine for seven years. Part of God’s bigger plan was to move Abraham’s children, known has the children of Israel [aka: Jacob], to a place where they could be safe. That place was Egypt.

Before we read sections of this story, remember, God sees eternity.

We learn Joseph when he is 17 years old. That would make him a Junior or Senior in our world. Joseph’s dad liked him the most and he didn’t hide it. He made special clothes for him and honored him more than his older brothers. The older brothers deeply resented Joseph. Let’s read what happens.

23 So when Joseph arrived, they pulled off his beautiful robe 24 and threw him into the pit. This pit was normally used to store water, but it was empty at the time. 25 Then, just as they were sitting down to eat, they noticed a caravan of camels in the distance coming toward them. It was a group of Ishmaelite traders taking spices, balm, and myrrh from Gilead to Egypt. 26 Judah said to the others, “What can we gain by killing our brother? That would just give us a guilty conscience. 27 Let’s sell Joseph to those Ishmaelite traders. Let’s not be responsible for his death; after all, he is our brother!” And his brothers agreed. 28 So when the traders came by, his brothers pulled Joseph out of the pit and sold him for twenty pieces of silver, and the Ishmaelite traders took him along to Egypt. NLT Genesis 37:23-28

Time out. Think about this. What is Joseph’s reality? What does Joseph see? What does he experience? He sold by his family to be a slave. He is rejected. He is lonely. He is afraid.

What does God see? God sees eternity. God sees 2100 years from Abraham to the birth of Jesus. God sees that promise He made to Abraham about 200 years earlier. God sees that the Children of Israel need to get to Egypt. God sees how important today is for the future of the Jewish people.

Do you think Joseph understood what was happening? No, he is a speck in time. Do you think Joseph has questions for God?

Let’s keep reading.

1 Now when Joseph arrived in Egypt with the Ishmaelite traders, he was purchased by Potiphar, a member of the personal staff of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. Potiphar was the captain of the palace guard. 2 The LORD was with Joseph and blessed him greatly as he served in the home of his Egyptian master. 3 Potiphar noticed this and realized that the LORD was with Joseph, giving him success in everything he did. NLT Genesis 39:1-3

What is Joseph’s reality? What does Joseph see? What does he experience? He is a slave in a foreign land with no family. Basically, he now has no future.

Do you think Joseph understood what was happening? No, he is a speck in time. Do you think Joseph has questions for God?

Let’s keep reading.

6 Now Joseph was a very handsome and well-built young man. 7 And about this time, Potiphar’s wife began to desire him and invited him to sleep with her. 8 But Joseph refused. “Look,” he told her, “my master trusts me with everything in his entire household. 9 No one here has more authority than I do! He has held back nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How could I ever do such a wicked thing? It would be a great sin against God.”

10 She kept putting pressure on him day after day, but he refused to sleep with her, and he kept out of her way as much as possible. 11 One day, however, no one else was around when he was doing his work inside the house. 12 She came and grabbed him by his shirt, demanding, “Sleep with me!” Joseph tore himself away, but as he did, his shirt came off. She was left holding it as he ran from the house.

19 After hearing his wife’s story, Potiphar was furious! 20 He took Joseph and threw him into the prison where the king’s prisoners were held. 21 But the LORD was with Joseph there, too, and he granted Joseph favor with the chief jailer. NLT Genesis 39:6-12, 19-22

What is Joseph’s reality? What does Joseph see? What does he experience? He did the right thing and his reward was jail. What could be worse than being a slave? Going to jail.

Do you think Joseph understood what was happening? No, he is a speck in time. Do you think Joseph has questions for God?

In this last section, Pharaoh has a dream and Joseph is brought from jail to Pharaoh to interpret his dream. Let’s keep reading.

37 Joseph’s suggestions were well received by Pharaoh and his advisers. 38 As they discussed who should be appointed for the job, Pharaoh said, “Who could do it better than Joseph? For he is a man who is obviously filled with the spirit of God.” 39 Turning to Joseph, Pharaoh said, “Since God has revealed the meaning of the dreams to you, you are the wisest man in the land! 40 I hereby appoint you to direct this project. You will manage my household and organize all my people. Only I will have a rank higher than yours.”

41 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I hereby put you in charge of the entire land of Egypt.” 42 Then Pharaoh placed his own signet ring on Joseph’s finger as a symbol of his authority. He dressed him in beautiful clothing and placed the royal gold chain about his neck. 43 Pharaoh also gave Joseph the chariot of his second-in-command, and wherever he went the command was shouted, “Kneel down!” So Joseph was put in charge of all Egypt. NLT Genesis 41:37-44

What is Joseph’s reality? What does Joseph see? What does he experience? He is the second in command of all Egypt.

Do you think Joseph understood what was happening? No, he is a speck in time. Do you think Joseph had questions for God?

Let me ask you this. If God sees all of eternity would you trust Him?

If all we can see is today, why would we not put God first?

Maybe everything you are walking through is okay. Maybe we just need to trust Him.

In everything you do, put God first, and he will direct you and crown your efforts with success. Don’t be conceited, sure of your own wisdom. Instead, trust and reverence the Lord, and turn your back on evil; when you do that, then you will be given renewed health and vitality. Honor the Lord by giving him the first part of all your income, and he will fill your barns with wheat and barley and overflow your wine vats with the finest wines. Young man, do not resent it when God chastens and corrects you, for his punishment is proof of his love. TLB Proverbs 3:6-11

How would you live if you believed God sees eternity and loves you?

Follow up thought: When you don’t trust God, you pull yourself out of God’s bigger story, you stay wrapped up in your much smaller story. To trust God means you leave your small story to join God in his big story. That begins when you can say, ‘I am Second.’

I want to end with this.

For we fix our attention, not on things that are seen, but on things that are unseen. GNT 2 Corinthians 4:17-18

We can only see a speck in time, we can not see eternity. So we fix our attention on… what we can’t see.