What Happens After the Pit | Genesis 37 | Crossroads Daily

everybody's story's gonna have setbacks. Everybody's story's gonna have these setbacks. It is the way of the world. It's not, you know, and this is one of the things I had to learn, it's like, it's not all God causing it. Some of it is like, there's brokenness in the world. There's demonic forces in the world. There are things coming against God's plan in your life. Like, we've gotta take account for all of those things and not only are always blame God, but in the midst of it, God will work through it. This is the Crossroads Daily. No experts, no perfect people, just honest conversations about what happens when the Bible shows up in real life. Hey, I'm Chuck. I'm Jamie. I'm Kirsten. I'm Miko. Hey, thanks for, man, this is fun. It's fun to just get to talk about the scriptures and Joseph, Joseph, oh, Joe, Joe, Joey, Joseph, man. That's my man. Yeah, you like him, okay, why? What's the relatability there for you? I just thought it would be funny to say that. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, but we do love Joseph. Yes, he's one of my favorites because it just, in his youth, his lack of wisdom and his willingness to just say whatever, it never dawned on him, like, my brothers might feel some kind of way

that I'm gonna rule over them, and had he not been him, then God would have had to orchestrate the story in a different way. Yeah, that's right. And I think that's what I love about Joseph's story. Well, talk about a story that gets orchestrated. Joseph certainly didn't feel like his story was being orchestrated when he's betrayed by jealous brothers, thrown into a pit, and then winds up finding himself a slave in Egypt. And so that had to be a setback from his vision, right? When have you experienced a setback like that? And what were you wrestling with God around in the midst of that setback? Around the time me coming home, I guess being a returning citizen, coming home from prison. And I always define, or call that my season of ambiguity because it was just like, I just did not understand life. I didn't understand, God, how do I navigate this life with you? What are we doing? Like, I'm not questioning that you're good. I understand you're sovereign. None of that is on a chopping block, but that's not answering, that's not giving understanding to what this season is right now. Which way is up? Where are we going with this? And I think, I would try to cling to certain scriptures and try to use that to anchor my soul

and just continue to fight the good fight. But I can, so many nights and just days of just confusion being in that space. Yeah, yeah. Man, what were your conversations with God like, or how did they take place in that confusion? Wow, depends on the day, depends on the hour. There was some times where I would literally be like, okay, God, what if you've asked, have you considered my faithful servant, D'Amico? Is that what this is? It's a drove experience, you got me offering. You know, am I doing something wrong? Like, is it like, you're just waiting for me to finally get this thing right, or whatever the case, and you're leaving me in this space until I get it right. Like, which direction should I go? Like, you know what I mean? There was so many different conversations of just being confused. I remember telling God, like, God, it can't be simply on my shoulders to get the thing right. If you were sitting right here next to me and you said, D'Amico, go left or go right, then this will be a matter of obedience, right? But that's not how this works, so I don't know. I'm just living and just moving forward and trusting that you're in this, but Lord, why does it have to look like this right now? How long will it look like this?

So, yeah. Yeah, when you were talking, it's funny, you said, how long? I was like, man, you sound like the Psalms. You sound like you literally were living the Psalms, right? That's what it felt like. Yeah, and that kind of hits at the duality of like, you could totally trust that God is going to resolve it, and sitting in the crap of it right now of like, I don't understand. Like, I don't know how I can have a picture for someday, but also, I can't reconcile it to today, and I just think that that is such a like, that has to be, like, Joseph's like, I had two dreams, I think it was two dreams right at the beginning, that clearly point to this, and then yet, here I am. Okay, God, I'm gonna go on the long haul with you. I mean, I think that's the definition of faith, right? Of like, being willing to trust in the outcome. You think he was just like, yeah. No, no, I definitely don't. I think he was probably just like, I'm in a pit, and now I'm headed to somewhere else. Like, God, where are you? But I have to imagine, like, if I think of like, situations, like, I can think, If I think about a personal setback, I felt like God clearly asked me to do something.

And I was like, okay, God, I'll go on this journey with you. And we like meandered. And then it just got bleaker and bleaker. And I'm like, so to the point, I think he remembered. I don't think he was like, well, those dreams are fake. But he's like, I don't see how we're gonna get there. Even to the zigzagging of things of like, God, there can't be a straight path from pit and slavery to ruling over my brother, like helping my brothers and being in that space. So no, I don't think he was just like, well, I'm gonna just go on the journey. But I also don't think he could forget. Similar situation, not similar. I've never been thrown in a pit by my brothers. But I think in kind of similar situations, I can remember, and I think even D'Amico and what you were describing of like, I know and I can trust that this is what God is saying. I just reconciling the deed. Yeah, it just really is. And I love seeing, I love like, because when I look at the story, I'm like, okay, so what was his posture? And I see faithfulness. I see God was with him, right? Like the Bible, it continuously says that God was with him. And he would recognize God's favor on him, even in these different circumstances. So it's like looking for God's favor in these spaces,

but then he was also just faithful in the now. Wherever he was, that's where he was faithful. And for me, that was my takeaway. Like, okay, God, I'm going to embrace and acknowledge your favor, even in the things where it's like, you know, like the lady at the drive-thru on this crappy day. The small things, right? You know what I'm saying? Like be faithful for, like recognize your favor and give you the glory for all of that. That's what I have control over. I'll do that and be faithful with what's in front of me. That's super good. That's super good, yeah. And Joseph is an example of that. He does do that, you're right. Every time there's an opportunity to glorify God from that point forward, he does, right? I mean, he absolutely, he's obedient, he's living out, you know, he says yes to the right things, he says no to the right thing. Even though it's not all plain out for him, he's very, very faithful. And I think that's really important for us to realize. Like that's what God is calling us to do. Everybody's story is going to have setbacks. Everybody's story is going to have these setbacks.

It is the way of the world. It's not, you know, and this is one of the things I had to learn. It's like, it's not all God causing it. Some of it is like, there's brokenness in the world. There's demonic forces in the world. There are things coming against God's plan in your life. Like we've got to take account for all of those things and not only are always blame God, but in the midst of it, God will work through it. So as you think about Joseph, one of the things that we get in his story is the perspective of seeing how God was faithful. What have you learned through your setbacks about the character of God? What have you learned about his faithfulness and about how these things play out over time? When I think of my setbacks and the question is always like, God, where are you? Like, God, where are you? And so many times in these stories, like it's a loose parallel, but I also read Esther recently where God's not even mentioned at all, but it's all like him interwoven into coincidences and ironies and just how things work when you're just like, one of the nods is just like prayer and fasting. It's just the act of waiting. And I think the faithfulness of just, I mean, Mika, you said it just like,

he wants to be called out too, right? I could see Joseph just like being like, where are you, God? Like my brothers of all the people in the world, like my brothers, is this what you set me up for by sharing my dream and just pleasing my worldly father? And so in my life, I think that's where I go as often that question of God, where are you? And if I wait long enough, I always can look back and say, there you were, like the whole time. I see it a lot in job stuff where I get my purpose and my worth a lot from my work that I do. I mean, you spend so much time in it. And like with your kids, you see them growing up and being like, they're growing, they're healthy. Like I'm succeeding. Versus sometime in your job, you're like, is this growing? Is this healthy? Am I succeeding? And just sitting with God and being like, God, where are you? Like, I know you're working in this and untangling my worldly worth with God's worth for me, which is just like, I got you, I have your purpose. I have your worth, which Joseph knew. Some things I, some things I learned from Joseph's story and just from my own life with God is like, God always plays the long game. So if you're into the short term, like, God is rarely into the short term. He plays the long game. The other thing is, God, He, He uses difficulty and suffering to shape you.

Because nothing else does what that does for you. So God is, not only is God not afraid to use that, He will use that. He is a, He's an expert surgeon of the heart when it comes to using difficulty and setbacks to bring to the place. And I think the other thing is like, never underestimate the redemptive power of God. Never underestimate that no matter how bad it looks, how dark it is, He can bring it around, right? He can bring it around. He does that in Joseph's story. He obviously does that in our story. So yeah, I hope that encourages you for wherever you are and whatever you're going through today. You