Paul Daugherty - Favor In Frustration - Part 1
We've been talking about this guy in the old Testament named Joseph, and he was favored by his father. He got a beautiful coat. He had a dream to lead his family. He had more than one dream, all about leadership and all about being an impact to his family and to the world. And when he shared that dream with his brothers, they hated him even more. They saw the favor of their father on him. They heard his dreams and out of jealousy, they threw him into a pit and they sold him as a slave. They pulled them out of the pit and they said, "Instead of leaving him to die, let's make some money off our brother". And so they sold him as a slave to these Ishmaelite travelers who then carried him off to Egypt.
We're going to pick up today in part two of the Joseph series. And I want to title this message, "Favor in Frustration". "Favor in Frustration". If you have a Bible go to Genesis 29, Genesis 29. Come on. Actually, Genesis 39, sorry. Genesis 29 is... Yes, we got another try at that. Genesis 39 verse one. Now Joseph had been taken down. Have you ever felt like your life had been taken down? You ever felt like your dreams have been taken down? Ever felt like your confidence had been taken down? Anyone ever been there before where you're just like, "Man, I am feeling insecure, feeling frustrated. I was happy". Anyone had your happiness just kind of ripped from you? Yeah. Taken down.
Here Joseph was, he went from being the favored son of his father, living in his dad's house, having meals with his family, enjoying the luxury of the promised land. He lived in Canaan, which was the promised land in Israel. And all of a sudden in one day, he's now waking up in Egypt and he's been taken down. He's been taken down to a place of extreme lows, Joseph story is a story of highs and lows. The high of getting a coat from his father, the high of having a beautiful dream, a dream that was going to be amazing. And the low of experiencing the jealousy of his brothers and now an even lower low of being sold and taken down to Egypt. Now watch this. It says Potiphar, an Egyptian, who was one of Pharaoh's officials.
Let me stop right there. Joseph in his mind probably thought, "I'm a hundred miles backwards from my dream. I didn't just take one step back. I just took like a hundred miles back from where I was supposed to be". Like this is not a part of Joseph's dream. He didn't have a dream of Egypt. He didn't have a dream of pyramids or Pharaoh. He had a dream of leading his brothers. So in his mind, he's like, "What am I doing here? Why am I here"? Now we get the beauty of being able to look at the whole story and we go, "Man, this is exactly part of the plan and the process where God is getting him ready to lead a nation". We get to see that. But Joseph didn't see that. He didn't have a Bible. He didn't have a script. So in his mind, he's like, "What is happening? This is frustrating".
Have you ever been there before? Where you're just in a season and you're like, "This is frustrating". You're in a city that just feels frustrating. You're in a job that feels frustrating, you're with some family members that are just frustrating you. You're with some roommates that are frustrating. You're with a boyfriend, you're with someone and you're like, "This is frustrating. This is complicated. This is difficult". That's where Joseph is at. He's in a place that feels frustrating. And it says this, "Potiphar, an Egyptian, who was one of Pharaoh's officials, the captain of the guard".
Little did Joseph know that he was actually closer to his dream than he ever was before. He was closer to a place of leadership that he would one day be promoted to. He was one step away from Pharaoh. Here he was and he was working for Potiphar. Who was the captain of the guard for Pharaoh. Could it be that your place of frustration is one step closer towards your dream? Could it be that the season and the job and the situation that feels frustrating to you is actually God's plan and process to take you one step closer to your dream, and you're closer than you realize? Turn to someone next and say, "You're closer than you think". You're closer to your destiny than you think. You're closer to your purpose than you think.
By the way, purpose is a big topic in the story of Joseph. I think sometimes we think that purpose starts when we finally reached the dream. But purpose started for Joseph before he ever landed into the position of leadership that he was dreaming of one day being in. Joseph learned that purpose is not defined by Pharaoh. Purpose is not defined by Potiphar. Purpose is not defined by his brothers or even by his own father. That purpose comes from God and God alone. And when God defines my purpose, then I can work at QuikTrip and be happy. I can work at Home Depot and be happy. I can work for Victory Church and be happy because my purpose goes with me everywhere I go. whether I'm single or married, whether I have kids or don't have kids, none of that stuff defines my purpose.
Pharaoh does not define my purpose. Potiphar does not define my purpose. God defines my purpose. And the beauty about purpose is purpose supersedes location and vocation. In other words, I can fulfill my purpose in America and I can also fulfill my purpose in Afghanistan. I can fulfill my purpose in Mannford, Oklahoma, and I can also fulfill my purpose in Paris, France. I can fulfill my purpose in Orlando, Florida, Miami, Florida. I think sometimes we think a location is what's going to help our purpose really come to pass. And God says, it's not about location. It's not even about vocation because we're waiting on, one day when I'm working for the church, I'll really be fulfilling my purpose. One day when I'm a missionary... No. You're a missionary right now.
If you're waiting to become a pastor by title or position, you're missing your purpose, cause you should be pastoring right now without a title. When I went to Oral Roberts university as a freshman in 2004, any ORU students in the house? So I went to ORU in 2004 and I was hungry for a title. I went to the RA office. I said, "I want to be an RA". An RA is someone who oversees a floor of guys on campus. And I was like, I need a title. I need a position. I'm looking for RA chaplain, pastor leader, CFO. I want to be in charge of some people. I want to be in charge of some money, some people. I was on this leadership, hunger, thirst trap. Right? And so I went and sat in the office, they said, "You can't be an RA". I was like, "Okay, why not"? And they were like, "Because you're not qualified". I was like, "Okay". And so then they said, "You could try out to be a chaplain".
So I tried to be a chaplain and they're like, "Nah, you're not really Chaplin material, Paul". So I was like, "Okay". So then I tried out for the worship band at ORU, and I had dreams of being on the worship band. I was like, "Okay, I'm going to be a worship leader". And they said, "You're not really good enough". I tried out and they were like, "Nope, you didn't make it". No one hit the button. No judges turned around and said, "You're accepted". They all rejected me. I tried out for the choir. I thought maybe I'll... I wanted to have a badge that gave me a title, like choir member or RA or chaplain or pastor, leader. I wanted some titles, some position. And God was trying to teach me that I don't need a title to live with purpose, that I don't need a position to be fulfilled with a purpose.
God was teaching Joseph, Joseph, you don't have to have a title to be a leader. You can learn to lead from the bottom up. You can learn to lead in the middle. You can learn to lead without a position, without status, without being placed in charge of anyone. You can lead right here. And Joseph was bought by Potiphar for $20. 20 bucks. I think I have a $20 bill somewhere around here. There it is. Oh, I got two twenties. Ooh. Okay. I'm gonna use both of these. All right. How many of y'all believe that these two $20 bills are worth 40 bucks? How many believe this is 40 bucks?
Okay. Now what if I take one of these twenties and I crumple it up? Is this still worth as much as this? They both still have the same value. But what if I say you worthless piece of trash? Y'all are like, wow, tell us how you really feel. You're good for nothing. I'm like practicing my movie lines. What if I just call this thing a bunch of names? Is it still worth just as much as this? And what if I spit on it? How many of y'all believe this is still worth, just as much as this? Would you want this? You're like, no, give me the one that hasn't been messed with. But oftentimes this is our life, right? We're looking at someone who seems to have some perfect life on Instagram and we're going, "Man, they've never been through the abuse I've been through".
They've never experienced the pain. They didn't have their parents divorce. They didn't have their parents leave them. They didn't go through all the verbal abuse that I went through. And God says, "Yeah, but you're still valuable". God still sees you as valuable. Just as valuable as this one. You go, "Yeah, but this one's crispy. This one's clean". No, this one just looks crispy and clean. This one's been handled by the Tulsa State Fair guys too. Okay. This one has been through some hands. I think sometimes Instagram covers up all of our wounds and our imperfections, and we try to pretend like we don't have issues. But even the pastor's kids, even the people that have been in church their whole life, they've got stuff. And God says, you're both valuable. Don't let what people say to you determine your worth. Don't let what people have done to determine your worth. You are valuable, Joseph, not because Potiphar pay 20 bucks for you. You're priceless. Not because your brothers...
Listen, just because your dad gave you a coat, that's not what made you valuable. God gave you life. You were made in his image. And Joseph understood that his value came from his creator. And when you understand that your value comes from your creator, then you can live with purpose, despite what your paycheck is. Because people go, "Well, I'm only as good as my paycheck". They're only paying me 20 bucks. Like Paul, they don't even value me. If you saw the way people treated me and how they ignore me, my boss... Yeah, but your value doesn't come from your boss. Your value doesn't come from your, your employer, your value doesn't come from your nation. Your value doesn't come from your skin color. Your value comes from your creator and you are just as valuable as anyone else out there. And don't let anyone determine your worth except for your creator.
So Joseph knew where his value was from, and he knew where his purpose came from. And I love verse two, Genesis 39, verse two, it says, "And the Lord was with Joseph". The Lord is with you in the valley and he's with you on the mountaintop. The Lord is with you in the darkness. He's with you in the hell on earth type of season. He's with you in the abusive... And you go, "Well, if he's there, then why am I going through this"? And life is not fair. God did not exempt Joseph from trouble. The Christian life, I think sometimes we misunderstand that the Christian life is not an exemption from pain. Sometimes it's even a greater invitation to walk through persecution, because when you live for God, not everybody's going to like it.
When you live with confidence that comes from the Holy Spirit and you believe that he's got a plan for your life, not everybody's going to be pumped for your dream. So when you decide to follow Jesus, you are going to walk through pain. And even just without following Jesus, our world is a broken world. So there's pain and there's abuse and there's trouble and there's heartache, but God is still with you. God was with Joseph in the pit. And I know sometimes in our minds we're like, "Well, if he was there, why didn't he stop it? Why didn't he stop the brothers from selling him? Why didn't God stop the abuse from happening? Why didn't God stop the bullies from messing with my son? Why didn't God stop it"?
And there's questions that we can ask. And listen, God can handle those questions. But Joseph learned, instead of living with so many questions and resentment, he learned to trust in God and put his faith in God and release the questions and said, "Lord, no matter where I am, no matter what people do, I'm going to trust in you. And I'm going to make the most of Egypt. I'm going to learn to make the most of a frustrated place". See, favor is unmerited. In other words, the favor that God gives you, you can't earn it. He gives it to you freely. It is his nature. But you can position yourself for favor. I can't earn the favor of God, but I can position myself. Where Joseph positioned himself for favor was instead of raising his fist at God saying, "Why did you let this happen"?
Joseph came right here. You want to position yourself for favor in a frustrated place, get on your knees. You can be angry all day at God for the things that didn't go right in your life. And you tell me where that gets you. You tell me where resentment and bitterness and questioning and anger at God, you tell me how that goes. But I've learned even when my father passed away, that I'm better on my knees than I am with my fist at heaven. That there's something here that God begins to heal my broken heart. There's something here where God says, "I know you wanted it that way, but even in this, you're going to see the goodness of God".
And even though you might feel surrounded by enemies on every side, you're also surrounded by the deliverance and the favor of God. And even though you might find yourself in a frustrated place, Paul, even here, you're going to see a victory. I'm going to turn what the enemy meant for harm into your good Joseph. What's your brother's sent to try to kill you and destroy you, I'm going to use as a launching pad and a setup for your promotion. You are one step closer to your dream and you're closer than you realize. So God was with Joseph. God is with Daniel. God is with Antonio. God is with John. God is with Abby. God is with Sharon. God is with you, even in that secular job.
Joseph was not working for a Christian boss. He was not working for a church. He was not working in a perfect environment. He was surrounded by immorality. But instead of letting the culture shape his character, his character shaped the culture. Instead of letting the culture and the environment and the circumstances to determine his purpose, his purpose shifted the circumstances. Joseph was so strong that he walked into a toxic environment and he changed it. Watch what happens. It says, "The Lord was with Joseph so that he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master". He's living in a house that is secular, that is godless. They worship sex. They worship immorality. They worship all kinds of stuff in Egypt. It was dirty. It was unclean. It was Vegas times a thousand. I mean, lust was everywhere.
There was idolatry everywhere, and yet Joseph prospered in a secular environment. You don't need a perfect president or a perfect king to prosper as a man of God or prosper as a church, you can prosper in any season when God is with you. But when we hear the word prosper, we immediately go, "Money. Prosperity checks in the mail. Bonuses". And that's not what prosperity is. Prosperity for Joseph didn't mean more money. It meant more impact and influence. He was prospering to be salt and light in Egypt. And I think we need to redefine what prosper means. Prosper means that God shines a light on you in a place that wouldn't make sense for light to shine. Prosper means that when you show up to work, people notice how good you are at your job.
And there's some sort of momentum, some sort of second wind that's that's on you, that just sets you apart. You look different in the eyes of other people. People notice. This is what happened with Joseph. As he began to prosper in his work. Look in verse three it says, when his master saw that the Lord was with him. Does your boss see that God is with you? Does your supervisor see that you have a relationship with God? Because your relationship with God should cause you to prosper in your work. Your relationship with God should set you apart. That you're showing up on time, you're diligent, You're working hard. Again, you can't earn the favor of God, but you can position yourself for the favor of God. Joseph was on time. He worked hard. He didn't file for unemployment and say, "I just need money to come to me. Even though I've got two hands, two feet, and I can work this job".
Joseph was not living lazy. Joseph was living diligent. He was working hard. He was giving his best in a society where people just settled for mediocre service. Joseph served with an excellent spirit. Can that be said about you in your job? Cause we ask God to bless us, but we disregard what God has asked us to do; to work unto the Lord, to give it our whole heart. Colossians chapter three says, "Work as if everything you do is for the Lord". Work with excellence, work with diligence. When Joseph worked hard, his master, his boss saw that God's hand was with him and that the Lord gave him success in everything he did. So God wants to give you success at your job. God doesn't want you to eek your way through life. He doesn't want you to just survive. He wants you to succeed.
When I was at ORU and I didn't get a title or position, the only job available was to work as a janitor. And so that's what I did. I signed up to work as a janitor. I was making $5.25 an hour. Come on somebody. So my paychecks at the end of two weeks were like $97 after all the tax, everything that was taken out of there. And it was frustrating. It was a frustrating season. It lasted for about two and a half to three years. I wasn't always pumped to pick up people's nachos. I had to clean up the baseball stadium after baseball games. I had to pick up in the Mabee Center.
I remember setting up tables and chairs and when it was cold outside in the winter, when it was icy, we had to get up at 5:00 AM and put salt all across the prayer tower, pathway where people would walk to the student center from their dorms. And I remember days, nights, mornings, just frustrated with my job. Have you ever been frustrated with your job, frustrated with the season in your life? Yeah. And I remember during that season, I was single and I was watching people just make out in the prayer gardens and just like... which was weird, Why are you making out in the prayer gardens? But Jesus is sitting on the bench. They actually have a statue of Jesus and a guy and a girl just making out next to Jesus, and the praying hands, just people kissing in front of the praying hands.
I don't know, maybe it's romantic. But I remember during that season, I was so frustrated. I was frustrated with my job. I was frustrated with my relationship status. I was frustrated with so many things. And yet even in the frustration I was finding favor. And you've got to learn to look at the favor and let the favor change your perspective about the frustration, because you might have more favor than you realize, but you're focused on your frustration. And so you're not enjoying the season and God goes, "Yeah, but didn't you see how I used you to be a light this week"?
I remember talking to my friend, Jeremy. Jeremy Richardson, he was working for Red Rock Canyon as a waiter. and while he was working there, it was not his dream job. He did it for three, four years, him and Tara. And he said, "Man, the customers are not always friendly. They'll yell at you. They're mean sometimes". I know none of you Victory people are like this, but he said, instead of leaving a tip, they would leave a track and invite us to church. But then they would tell us how bad, how slow we were. And he said there was nights where I just was frustrated with working this job as a waiter. But he said, "Even in my frustration, God was using me". He said, "I couldn't shake the fact that God had me there on assignment".
That God was using me and giving me purpose to minister to the other waiters and waitresses. That God was using me to lead people to Christ. He said, "I was able to invite so many people to Victory Church. During those three to four years, I was witnessing and I was constantly bringing people who were far from God closer to God". Sometimes prosperity and success is different than you realize. Sometimes it has nothing to do with this, and it has everything to do with being a witness to the people around you.
Favor isn't fair, literally. Sometimes the favor of God will land you in a pit and your brothers will strip you of your coat and ignore you. Sometimes favor will land you in Potiphar's house and you'll make $5.25 an hour and you'll work hard and you'll help the whole house to prosper, but your paycheck never changes. And you go, "I don't want that kind of favor. I want the American dream kind of favor". And God says, "You need to redefine favor because favor looks different in different seasons". Sometimes favor is less about this and more about you just being a light in Egypt, being a light in a dark place.
When I talked to missionaries who are in Iraq and Afghanistan and people who are serving overseas, ministering overseas, they're like, "Man, the favor of God is all over our orphanage". "Tell me about it". "We eat rice and beans every day. And we're lucky if we get a chicken. We get a chicken once a year, but the favor of God is so strong on our orphanage right now. We're changing an entire community". And it redefines favor for all of us Americans who think favors driving a Tesla, living in a big house and having a six figure salary. That's not favor. Favor is when God's hand is on your life and you are impacting your community and hell can't stop you and Potiphar's wife can't stop you and Pharaoh can't stop you.
Joseph found favor in a frustrated place. And watch this. When his master saw that he had favor and success in everything he did, he became his top attendant. Employee of the month. Employee of the year, his top attendant. And when I read attendant, I looked up what does attendant mean? It means waiter. And so I got my apron today because Joseph was his top hostess in Potiphar's house. He found favor to become... And I thought I would serve you today at Victory Restaurant. Be our guest. Who wants some cookies? Anybody who wants some milk? Cookies? Pastor Ty Milk. Here's your milk. Cookies? Chocolate milk? Regular milk?