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Detours: The Unpredictable Path to Your Destiny

Detours: The Unpredictable Path to Your Destiny. Study Based on book by Tony Evans. Facilitator: Pastor Raymond A. Bell, Jr. Mt. Hope Baptist Church. The Providence, Perspective, and Perseverance of Detours.

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Detours: The Unpredictable Path to Your Destiny

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  1. Detours: The Unpredictable Path to Your Destiny Study Based on book by Tony Evans Facilitator: Pastor Raymond A. Bell, Jr. Mt. Hope Baptist Church

  2. The Providence, Perspective, and Perseverance of Detours

  3. Luck (or its siblings: chance, fate, and happenstance) is the concept of seeing events as random things that happen that affect ones life, fortune, or lot in life • It is that inanimate force that just shows up unexpected, unanticipated – for either our benefit or our harm • When we look upon luck, we have gazed upon an idol • Idolatry is a tool used by Satan to move your faith, hope, and trust away from God toward chance The Concept of Luck

  4. Positive affirmation – positive statements that, when repeated, help overcome self-sabotaging and negative thoughts • Positive thinking – encourages the mind and spirit • When you put your faith in your own mind’s power to work out your destiny, you’ve set yourself up as an idol • While Joseph was in jail, he focused on God, not himself: • The Lord was with Joseph (Gen. 39:21, 23) • The Lord extended kindness to him (Gen. 39:21) • The Lord gave him favor (Gen. 39:21) • The Lord made everything he did successful (Gen. 39:23) You, as an Idol

  5. It was God that released Joseph from jail and got him a job with Potiphar then Pharaoh • It was God who saw the end from the beginning and orchestrated all that was necessary on Joseph’s detours to lead him to his destiny • It was God who arranged the circumstances ultimately in Joseph’s favor • God’s sovereignty means that He is the absolute ruler, controller, and sustainer of His creation • God’s sovereign control and arrangement of life is not luck, but is His providence – His hand in the glove of history – “which God will bring about in his own time—God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords” (1 Tim. 6:15) God’s Providence

  6. Sovereignty is God’s rule • Providence is how God uses that rule to facilitate His purposes • Scripture is clear that God’s plans cannot be thwarted (Isa. 14:27; Dan. 4:35) • Sovereignty and luck cannot coexist • Our sovereign Lord controls all things • Luck suggests things happen randomly • One excludes the other God’s Sovereignty and Luck

  7. Along his journey towards his destiny, Joseph experienced a lot of detours • All things were put in place “to work together for good”in Joseph’s life (Rom. 8:28) • Joseph’s “unlucky” days were actually God fulfilling His purpose • Somewhere along Joseph’s journey, he began to the understand God’s providence in his detours – “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many peopleshould be kept alive, as they are today.”(Gen. 50:20) Joseph and God’s Providence

  8. Start with the foundation that God is sovereign • In His sovereignty God providentially arranges all things to accomplish His goal • Sovereignty is so complete and providence so intricate, that it is delicately woven through every detail of our lives (Matt. 10:30; Jer. 29:11) • Often we see the devil in the details; when we change our perspective, we’ll recognize that God is in them all the more • Understanding God’s providence will allow you to view your detours and life differently You and God’s Providence

  9. But God… • Providence includes using the negative to produce the positive; God’s sovereignty also includes what other’s meant for harm • The word “meant or to mean” can be defined as intended for a particular purpose and destination • But God… in Scripture, these two powerful words usually signifies what comes next will change the entire situation • The exact thing Joseph’s brothers meant for evil, was the exact thing God used to bring him to his destiny (Gen. 50:20) • God provided us with an example of Him working directly in the negative situation

  10. Perspective can be defined as: • How you view something • The capacity to view things in their true relations or relative importance (Merriam – Webster) • Perspective affects not only what you see, but also what you achieve • It is critical to have the right perspective while journeying towards your destiny; particularly while on your detours Perspective

  11. Distractions or Detours? • Perspective gives us discernment between our detours and our distractions • Our distractions are things that have no purpose in developing us for our destiny and can include: • People • Hobbies • Thoughts • Work that is not in alignment with God’s purpose in our lives

  12. Destiny involves the coming together of three things: • Your good (Rom. 8:28a) • God’s glory (Rom. 8:28b) • The advancement of His kingdom through the impacts on others (Eph. 4:12) • Only when you have true perspective of destiny can you fully live it out Achieving Your Divine Destiny God’s Kingdom God’s Glory Your Good

  13. Perseverance • Your journey towards your destiny will likely have ups, downs, twists, and turns • What will enable you to arrive at God’s intended destination is perseverance • Joseph arrived at his destination only because he refused to leave God out of the equation • Rather than seeking self-promotion, Joseph deferred to God when interpreting Pharaoh’s dream (Gen. 41:16) Destiny

  14. Joseph’s Focus • Every time we see Joseph, we see God • While in Potiphar’s home – Gen. 39:2 • While in prison – Gen. 39:21 • While interpreting Pharaoh’s dream – Gen. 41:16 • Blessed are those who have a pure heart because they will see God – Matt. 5:8 • Purity does not refer to perfection • Purity refers to the absence of distraction • When your hearts are open to God, your eyes will be as well

  15. Joseph’s Perspective • Joseph credits God’s involvement in his detour to destiny: • God sent him ahead of his brothers to save lives – Gen. 45:5 • God sent Joseph ahead of his brothers to preserve a remnant of earth and to save lives by a great deliverance – Gen. 45:7 • It was not his brothers who sent Joseph to Egypt, but God - Gen. 45:8 • God made Joseph master over all the land of Egypt – Gen. 45:9 • What was intended for evil, God intended for good – Gen. 50:20 • Joseph’s heart purely believed the promises of God, and his perspective patterned the Lord’s

  16. Your Perspective • If you are actively pursing the will of God: • You can never be a victim to your circumstances • Your circumstances will not be your circumstances without God allowing them to be used to take you to your destiny • You will not allow the enemy to take credit even for the negative circumstances in your life • Your focus will be on your God ordained journey to your destination • God was the total sum of Joseph’s life; He has to be the same in our lives

  17. Evil. God. Good. • “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive.” (Gen. 50:20) • Joseph’s brothers meant evil • But God intervened • Then good was brought about • The enemy has come to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10) our destiny • Satan wants you to keep God out of the equation • Satan wants us to allow evil to be the dominant influence in our detours • The moment you allow God in the situation and put your focus on Him, God turns evil into good

  18. Necessary Detours • Every pit Joseph faced took him to a new place: • His brothers’ jealousy was evil, but was necessary to get him to Egypt • Potiphar’s wife lust was evil, but was necessary for Joseph to meet and interpret the dreams of the baker and cupbearer • The Cupbearers memory lost was necessary for Joseph to be in the position to interpret Pharaoh’s dream • At the exact time in history when Joseph’s wisdom, insight, strategy, and skills were most needed, he becomes second-in-command; preventing starvation for a country faced with a famine, to include Joseph

  19. Our Obedience “Success is not what you have; success is WHO you have.” ~ Tony Evans ~ • Your destiny is not determined by what you do to get you to your desired location in life • God can and does use our experiences, education, and networking to help us reach our God ordained destiny; but He doesn’t need any of that • What God wants is our obedience, even through the detours

  20. Closing Thoughts • God is sovereign, so nothing surprises Him even though they surprise us in our finite thinking • Rom. 11:33 reminds us that God’s ways are “unsearchable” • The way He providentially twists, tweaks, moves, maneuvers, and meanders is beyond our intellectual capacity to understand, decipher, or discern • When we understand providence, we look to see what God is doing and where He is moving • When you align your perspective with the Lord’s you may find that you are closer to your destiny than you think

  21. Next Week: The Patience and Path of Detours

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