Ankerberg Show

John Ankerberg: Welcome. Every one of us will face difficult seasons in life. Some of you have lost someone you love. Maybe you’ve received a diagnosis you never expected. Perhaps your marriage is struggling, finances have been turned upside down, or you’ve been treated unfairly by friends. Some of you have been praying to God, waiting for an answer, and you’re still waiting. When life hasn’t gone the way we planned, we all ask the same questions: God, where are you? Do you see what I’m going through? Will you help me?

Those are real questions, and the wonderful news is that God gives real answers in His word. My guests today are Anne Graham Lotz and her daughter, Rachel-Ruth Lotz Wright. They will assert that God will lead you through life’s deepest struggles, and they will prove this by taking us through the remarkable story of Joseph—a man betrayed by his family, sexually tempted, a man who experienced injustice, disappointment, and years in prison waiting to be freed.

Relying on God’s faithfulness every step of the way, Joseph couldn’t see what God was doing, but God knew exactly where Joseph was and He had a plan for his life. God knows exactly where you are today and has a plan for your life. To hear more, join us as we begin this edition of The John Ankerberg Show.

Welcome to our program. I'm John Ankerberg, and today we’re talking about "Where Is God While We're Waiting?" Some of you have been faithful to the Lord—going to church, reading your Bible, praying—and you're waiting for things to happen. It could be that you're waiting for someone to marry you, maybe you're waiting for a job to open up, or maybe you're waiting for a place to serve God, and nothing seems to be working. Everything just stays the same. You're waiting, and you get discouraged.

We’re talking about some of these problems that we feel today and are suffering under, but we’re using Joseph in the Old Testament as an example. In Genesis 37, Joseph was serving the Lord, and the Lord was with him. However, he has a story that starts out great and seems to be going downhill repeatedly. The spot that we find him in now is in the worst spot in Egypt, and that's the Pharaoh’s dungeon.

We figure that he spent about two years in Potiphar’s house, who was the captain of the guard for Pharaoh, and maybe 12 more years in this dungeon. He was waiting for God to do something to get him out of there. The dungeon was a smelly place, and he was put in charge of the worst prisoners. Yet, he remained faithful to God and was kind to people. Rachel-Ruth, tell us more. God knows where everyone listening is at and what they're thinking. He doesn't want them to walk away from Him just because they are waiting. But waiting is tough, and you can get disillusioned.

Rachel-Ruth Lotz Wright: Joseph was that young 17-year-old boy back in Canaan in a wealthy family. He was his dad’s favorite. Long story short, his brothers became very jealous of him. They seized him one day, threw him in a pit, and sold him into slavery. He went all the way to Egypt and became a slave in Potiphar’s house. He worked hard there for the Lord and didn’t grow bitter or angry.

Potiphar’s wife set her sights on him and wanted to have sex with him, but he refused because he didn't want to do such a wicked thing and sin against God. So, he suffered unjustly again because he got thrown into prison after she accused him of rape, which he didn't do. He was thrown into this dark prison in a dungeon. Instead of giving in to self-pity, anger, and bitterness, he just decided to work hard serving God there.

God’s favor was on him in that dungeon, and it wasn't like God was watching him and decided it would be only five months before letting him out. It was a long suffering. It was most likely 12 years in prison. That's a long time to not hear from God. He didn’t have a Bible or a Bible study he was going to; he was literally on his own serving God. He could probably see and sense God’s favor in his life, but he trusted God even when it was a long wait.

John Ankerberg: The Bible says in Psalm 115:12, "The Lord remembers us and will bless us." And Psalm 27 says, "I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord." You had a neat illustration that you put into the book about playing chess and Monopoly with your dad. Tell us about that.

Rachel-Ruth Lotz Wright: When we would play, and I was the ADHD kid whose attention just goes everywhere, my dad would move the chess pieces. But before he would, he’d be like, "Rach, what’s over there?" I’d look, and then he would move the chess pieces. When I looked back, I wouldn't know what happened.

The point I was making is that sometimes we can't see what God is doing, but He's moving the chess pieces in our lives exactly where He wants them. Sometimes that takes some time. It took time in Joseph’s life to set it up for what was coming, but we have to trust that the Lord knows what’s best.

In the meantime, while we’re waiting—even if it’s hard and you’re suffering—just trust Him. I have a friend in a very closed-off country, and she is alone. I keep encouraging her that God has a plan. He watches her, knows what she's going through, and knows the situation. Just trust Him and keep working where He's got you. That’s what Joseph did.

John Ankerberg: God has a plan for your life, but there might be a period of 12 to 14 years, which is a lot of time. You can give up and say, "I don’t think God even remembers where I’m at." Nothing happens for 14 years, but we can’t think that way. God is in charge of the chessboard of life. He’s moving things around and has His own purposes. While Joseph is down there in the dungeon, he takes control again. He works hard, the dungeon is put under his hand, and he’s taking care of all the prisoners. He was actually sympathetic to some of them, listened to them, and helped them out.

Anne Graham Lotz: He was just going about his duties day after day, year after year. Then the next thing you know, Pharaoh throws the cupbearer and the baker into prison. I wonder what happened. Did the baker burn the cake, or did the cupbearer spill the drink on him? He got angry and threw them into prison. Joseph walks in one day, and their faces are downcast. They had probably been there for a day.

Instead of Joseph walking in and being like, "I don’t want to hear it. You have no idea what I’ve suffered and how long I’ve been suffering," we see Joseph’s heart again because he responds to them so sweetly. He asks, "Why are your faces downcast?" He was concerned about them. I always remember my mom in her Just Give Me Jesus revivals when she would talk about Jesus on the cross.

It says that He looked down and He asked John to take care of His mother. He was thinking of others in the middle of His suffering. That is what we have to do in the middle of our suffering. As bad as it gets, instead of being self-focused—which is very easy—think of others. It is such a beautiful, Christ-like thing to do, and Joseph did that.

John Ankerberg: When nothing's happening, you sometimes take matters into your own hands and say, "I’m going this direction because I’ve got to make something happen here." Usually, it turns out wrong because you’re not waiting for God. We’ve got to be careful when we’re waiting to know that this is the direction God wants us to do. Talk to the people that say, "I’ve waited for so long, nothing’s happened, and I’ve kind of given up, so I’m just going to do this, that, or the other."

Anne Graham Lotz: People quote that verse, "God helps those who help themselves," which is not in the Bible. But we seem to think that. I don't know that Joseph knew that he would enter into Pharaoh’s court. You may not have any sense that God’s going to change your situation that drastically. But waiting for answers to prayer is something we all have to do.

I’ve had prayers I’ve prayed for a long, long time and have yet to see an answer. When God doesn't seem to answer our prayers on our timeframe, the way we want, or when we want, then we tend to think we have to do something to help God. It's like Abraham when God promised him a son and he thought he had to help God by having a son through his wife’s servant, Hagar.

We’re still paying the price today for Ishmael, who was not the son God had promised him; it was Isaac who would come later. So, it’s a very dangerous thing to take matters into your own hands. Waiting is one of the hardest disciplines to learn in the Christian life. I personally don’t like to wait at a stoplight, wait for my computer to come up, or wait for my kids.

I want things immediately. But sometimes God just takes His time. Joseph in the dungeon was learning, because that was Pharaoh’s prison where he sent political prisoners. He was learning about the court, the government, and the way Pharaoh operated. In Potiphar’s house, he learned agriculture because in the end, he would be in charge of the fields of Egypt. In the dungeon, I think he was learning the government. God can use the waiting time to prepare you for what comes next.

John Ankerberg: Let’s talk about the baker and the cupbearer. We’re not going to tell the whole story, but like you say, they are serving Pharaoh, the top guy in Egypt. This was the top position you could have, and they must have done something wrong to get thrown into the dungeon. They’re downhearted, sitting in the dungeon, and here’s Joseph, who has his own story, coming over to help them out. What happened?

Rachel-Ruth Lotz Wright: They both had had bad dreams. They were just like, "Oh, we can’t figure them out. They don’t make any sense." Joseph said, "Tell me the dreams. I can’t interpret them, but God will." The cupbearer told him he had a dream about a vine with three branches and grapes on the top. He squeezed them, put them in a cup, and gave them to Pharaoh. God just downloaded what it was. That was supernatural right there. Joseph told him that in three days, he would be restored back to his position as cupbearer. The guy was probably thrilled.

John Ankerberg: But before we get to the baker, Joseph says to the cupbearer, "Remember me when you come into Pharaoh’s court because I was forcibly carried off from the land of the Hebrews and even here I have done nothing to deserve being put in a dungeon." You can tell that he hadn’t forgotten all of those years that he had been put away. The guy says, "Yeah, I’ll be glad to do that." In three days, that cupbearer went straight up and became the cupbearer again. Of course, he forgot all about Joseph. Now, the baker looked at that and thought, "That sounds like a good interpretation. Can you interpret mine?"

Rachel-Ruth Lotz Wright: It does show Joseph’s heart, that he wasn’t a robot. He wasn’t numb. It was hard, and he did want to get out. The baker’s dream had three baskets with bread in them, and the birds started eating them off his head. Joseph could have gotten the interpretation from the Lord and decided it was too hard to speak to this guy, but instead, he told him the truth.

He said that in three days, his head would be chopped off or he'd be hung, and the birds would eat his flesh. He didn’t water down the message God gave him at all. That is a good lesson for all of us not to water down God’s word. When we’re sharing God’s word, we say what God tells us to say. Sure enough, the baker was hung three days later.

John Ankerberg: What are some of the hard things that we need to tell people in our society today that people are not hearing at church? We’ve all sinned and come short of the glory of God. There is no one righteous, no, not one.

Anne Graham Lotz: The subject we addressed in our last session—that sex outside of marriage is a sin—is one we don't hear so much. People don’t want to say that hard word. I think the fact that we're commanded to be holy is another. But I think another subject that we don’t talk about is hell.

Jesus is preparing a place for us to live with Him forever, so those who’ve placed their faith in Him, He’s preparing heaven for us. But He’s preparing another place at the same time, and it’s a place of eternal separation. If we don’t receive Jesus by faith as our Savior and we step into eternity, then we're going to be separated from Him forever. We don’t talk about judgment or hell.

John Ankerberg: Jesus said, "No one comes to the Father except through me." You were in Davos, Switzerland, and you were given a chance to talk to some of the top people in the world at a conference there. God was saying, "Anne, I want you to witness," and you didn’t. You felt terrible that you turned it down. You were depressed going back on the airplane. Tell the folks what happened.

Anne Graham Lotz: I’ll never forget what happened. I wasn’t just given a chance to witness, but they asked me to be on a panel representing evangelical Christians. It was on the spur of the moment. Somebody hadn’t shown up, and they just wanted to put me up in front of this packed room full of leaders. I didn’t feel prepared, and I said no.

Somebody had told me, "Anne, don’t make a fool of yourself." The devil always has somebody around you to try to get you to do the wrong thing. So, I didn’t do it. When I got on the plane going from Zurich to London, I knew I had done the wrong thing. I sat in my seat and I put my head down. I felt like a failure. I didn't want to be in ministry anymore. I didn't feel like I could serve the Lord anymore. I wasn’t worthy.

As the plane was preparing to take off, this couple came and sat in the front row. My companion said, "Anne, look who’s there." She told me who it was—a very famous couple. I thought, "Okay, I’m a failure, so I’m just going to wallow in my failure." But the whole plane was titillating. Everybody was trying to take pictures, whispering, giggling, and leaning into the aisle. They were world-famous movie stars that everybody knew.

God told me, "Anne, I want you to go witness." He didn't quite say it like that. They titillated for the entire flight. As the plane was starting to land in London, I wondered if anybody had ever shared the gospel with that couple. Then there was that little whisper: "Anne, what do you think you’re on this plane for?" I said, "Well, I’m a failure; I can’t do that."

Then there was just silence. I decided to do it. I went to get up, and just then, the pilot said, "We’re coming down, everybody buckle your seatbelt, you can’t get up in the aisle." I said, "Thank you, Lord. I was willing to do it, but I can't." Then the pilot came back on and he said, "We’ve been put in a holding pattern, so we’re going to circle London."

I unsnapped my seatbelt as fast as I could, I ran up to the front, and I went into the bathroom. I was shaking. I came out and I knelt beside the woman; she was on the aisle. I asked if I could speak with her. She said I could. I told her who I was, and then I just shared the gospel with her. The guy sitting next to her had his baseball cap down; I know he was listening.

I shared the gospel with her, and she received it. I could see her face soften. She was a beautiful woman, and she thanked me. I went back to my seat. It made a difference in me, John, because I snapped myself out of that spiral of failure. I felt like we're all failures in some way, but I had failed and I wasn't going to give in to that anymore. I went over to Ireland for an evangelism conference, and I could stand on the platform knowing that I’m a failure, but we can come out of it. We don’t have to stay in that failure.

John Ankerberg: Joseph stayed firm and told them the truth. It was a terrible thing, and the guy lost his head, but that was a kind of test that God was giving to him. God was not done with Joseph. Before we close this program, Anne, I want you to pray for people that are Christians that have had the chance to actually say the right thing and to witness about Jesus and they turned it down. Pray for them and encourage them.

Anne Graham Lotz: If you’ve failed like I did, then ask God to give you another opportunity because that’s what’s going to snap you out of it. Joseph said the hard thing. Sometimes God gives us a hard word, or it can be a loving and encouraging word, but it’s just outside of our comfort zone. Let me pray for you.

Dear God, we just come to You now, and we're so thankful that failure doesn’t have to be final. You’re not only the God of a second chance, but a third chance and a fourth chance, and You will continue opening that door. Lord, You know our weakness. You remember our frame, that we're just little dust people, but You’ve put Your spirit within us.

So I'm asking now, if there's somebody listening who has failed to give out that word that You put on their hearts to tell someone, that they would confess that to You and ask You to give them a second opportunity to open their mouths and share Your word. People are hungry for it, Lord, even if we don't see that response immediately. We know that Your word is true, that Your Holy Spirit clothes it with His power, and it's Your word that will draw them to You.

And I want to also pray for those who are waiting and waiting and waiting for that answer to prayer: for a spouse to come back, a child to come home, a reconciliation, or a healing from a disease. Would You strengthen their waiter, that they would be willing to wait until You’re the one that comes down? You determine the timing, You determine the place, You determine how You’re going to do it.

We just lay it before You, but we want to remind You that we’re waiting. In this waiting time, would You use our experiences to prepare us for when that answer to prayer does come? We commit this to You with praise and thanksgiving, knowing that You came to Earth, You waited 33 years before going back to heaven, You know what it’s like to wait and yet see God at work in the waiting period. So we love You, Lord, and we want to say that You’re worth waiting for. We want to wait for Your answers to our prayers and for You to have Your way in those situations that are such a burden to us. We thank You for the blessing we know we're going to receive because we're asking for it in Jesus' name, Amen.

John Ankerberg: Folks, I love when I hear Anne telling these stories. Next week, we’re going to talk about Joseph. He’s still in the dungeon, and God’s moving the chessboard around. He’s got a plan for Joseph’s life. You’re going to be surprised at what God does. He’s in the dungeon, but how is God guiding Joseph to freedom? We’ll talk about that next week. It's a fantastic story that God’s given to us.

Thank you for listening to The John Ankerberg Show. We're a listener-supported ministry, and your gifts help us continue to share the gospel with millions of people worldwide. To learn more about our resources or to support our mission, visit jashow.org or please call us at 1-800-805-3030. If you’re in Canada, please visit jashow.ca or call us at 1-866-746-5803. Or you can subscribe to us on YouTube. Your support makes a difference in spreading God’s word. Amen.