Power Walk Ministries

Guest (Male): This is the Power Walk Ministries broadcast, and our current series is titled Broken, Not Defeated.

Theophilus Berry: Hi, my name is Theophilus Berry. I'm the senior pastor of Greater True Light Missionary Baptist Church. There is no doubt in my mind that there are a plethora of conferences that deal with leadership, but I would tell any leader, this one is one that you should not look over, that you pass up. I would make it definitely a priority to be here.

Guest (Female): Hi, my name is Circatou. I'm here from Houston, Texas, Iglesia Fe y Poder. I'm a pastor's wife and also our women's director at our church. I'm so glad I came. I'm taking valuable tools on growth of church, personal discipleship, and growing myself. And then of course, realizing that we're all doing this together in the kingdom of Christ and we're not walking alone.

Guest (Male): I am so excited about the conference coming up April 23rd to the 25th. I really am ecstatic about it. Pastors have come together on a committee to help with the process moving forward. Excited about our first conference last year, but this conference this year is going to be greater.

There's like about 40 classes here. Let me give you a taste. The pastor and deacons functioning under the leadership of Christ, a biblical approach to resolving conflict in the church, traits of successful biblical leaders, cultivating a healthy and productive team environment, overcoming the stagnation in the church, discipling leaders, dealing with how do we grow people and do evangelism at the same time.

Despite all the difficulties churches are facing, we can find a powerful, effective way forward. A lot of teachers are coming to teach. They're well-trained, well-educated, practicing these principles within their church. Come be a part of April 23rd through the 25th. Go to powerwalkministries.org. Powerwalkministries.org so that we can move forward together for God's glory. Look forward to seeing you. You will not be in any way disappointed at this conference.

Guest (Male): Our web address is powerwalkministries.org. Reverend Paul Cannings provides clear biblical and practical principles which we can apply to the situations we face in life. Taking us through the various stages in Joseph's life from scripture and how Joseph processed pain, Pastor Cannings urges us to see how we too can respond to trials in a way that honors God. Don't Run - Stay the Course is the title of today's message. Let's listen.

Dr. Paul Cannings: Relationships can have extremely difficult experiences that can leave such bitter marks on people's lives that it lasts for a long time, sometimes for a lifetime. Sometimes because of the abuse and the level of abuse, it's just never erased. It affects how someone functions in a marriage. It affects whether or not someone gets married.

It affects how people relate to one another at a church because of bad experiences with other churches or with a pastor. It could relate to people on a job and people wanting to find a particular culture even if it meant that they take a small salary cut so they can be in a better position in a better culture than the same kind of difficult, tense situations that they were once in. People sometimes move away because they don't want to be reminded of the pain each and every day.

Relationships can do that. They're necessary. As a matter of fact, in the midst of COVID, everybody separated from one another and found out how much they needed one another. I found out how much the isolation was too much. So sometimes when we're together, we can't stand each other, and then when we can't be together, we wish we can.

When we come to relationships in the scriptures, we don't find anything different, no matter where we go. You've got Sarah and Hagar. You've got, starting out when sin entered into the world, Cain and Abel, a brother killing a brother. You see these situations continuing throughout the Bible. Noah and one of his sons, Ham, and you see Canaan bearing the brunt of that, only for Israel to go and be told to remove the Canaanites, to destroy them.

So you see relationships and the effects that they have: the Ishmaelites and the nation of Israel and the descendants that come from all these different places as a result of all the decisions that were made just with Abraham and Sarah and how those things have continued throughout centuries that have happened that are creating conflict and difficulties.

So folks, when we come to relationships, we really need to do a better job of it because when you go to God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, they have never fallen out. Oh yeah, you could say on the cross God turned his back on Jesus, but that's because of our sin, not his. And he bore our sin, and God is holy. He can't handle looking and seeing his son where he is and carrying the sin of the world when he's holy and righteous in every way.

So when we come to relationships, it obviously can work from God's perspective because they never fell out. They're always together for eternity past. They're always going to be together. They're always—they never fall out. They always get along. So relationships can be harmonious. And the person who established the structure created Adam and Eve, and they didn't divorce, and they lived together for many years because Adam was nine hundred and ninety-some years when he passed.

So that's a long marriage. You don't hear them divorcing. So when God put this process together, he intended for people to stay together because he—God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit—that's what they do. And there we were made in their image. So how do we come to a place where relationships can find those critical parts that we never violate? And how do we deal with the issues that bring pain in our lives?

This is what we're dealing with when it comes to Joseph. Joseph in Genesis chapter 42—yes, we're still there. In Genesis chapter 42, we look at Joseph, and Joseph is in a lot of pain. He's seeking to establish the first thing that is absolutely necessary in order for relationships to work, and that is trust. He has to rebuild trust.

He cannot just come to them and say, "Oh, you're my brothers. I had a dream. This is what is supposed to happen." And he understood all of that. Chapter 45 says that he gets it. But even though he gets it, he has to come to his brothers to establish this because he's trying to forget it. In Genesis chapter 41 verse 51, we read where he names his first son Manasseh, trying to put the past behind him. That's literally what he says.

"This is going to put an end to my past on all the stuff I've carried all these years because of what my brothers have done to me." There was a lot of tension that their father created by loving one wife more than the other. You weren't supposed to have two in the first place, but he had two. The loving the children from one more than the other, that created tremendous tension among the children because he's not trying to solve it.

He's not even hiding it. He puts a very colored coat on Joseph, and he sends Joseph to talk with his brothers. That just is irritating. You have this very colored coat person showing up which is evidence of the father's love, and they're older than him, lots older than him, and he's never done anything like this for you. And the father's not there.

And all the animosity that they have because of what the father has done is thrown onto Joseph. When Joseph has not hated them, he hasn't done anything to them, but bringing the coat in their face doesn't help. So the bitterness for them comes out, and they put their brother in a well and leave him here to die.

But God in his providence already arranged for a relative, the Ishmaelites, to come by and pick him up from that well. God had already structured everything because God had already told their forefather Abraham, their grandfather, that this is going to take place in a land called Egypt. So God has set Joseph there, and Joseph gets the point.

Chapter 45, as I said earlier, "Hey, I understand what is going on, but y'all have got rid of your bitterness, but I have not gotten rid of my pain." I want you to see something here that is so critical that we could miss it. There's so many times that Joseph was in such pain that he cried.

The first time he saw his brothers, he just went away and wept. You see this in verse 21 through verse 24. He wept, and they said one to another, "We are very guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul when he besought us and we would not hear. Therefore is this distress come upon us."

And Reuben answered them, saying, "Spake I not unto you, saying, 'Do not sin against the child,' and ye would not hear? Therefore behold, also his blood is required." And they knew not that Joseph understood them, for he spake unto them by interpreter. So Joseph could recognize them, but they can't recognize him, especially just dressed up in Egyptian clothes and his hair is different.

In verse 24, he says, "And he turned himself about from them and wept." Didn't say "cry," wept. There's a bitterness to that. There's a pain in that. That comes from your soul. He turned away. He has to go away to weep. He can't be among the soldiers. He can't be among the people who are looking up to him as a second-in-line to Pharaoh. He has to get away from all of that. He wept so hard that he had to wash his face, clean himself up, and come back.

Joseph is in pain. They have addressed their envy and jealousy against Joseph because they keep saying they're honest men, and it proves that they actually are. They've actually come to that spot. And when we get to chapter 50, we'll find out that they still haven't fully accepted that Joseph has forgiven them because they're still carrying this around, but they are willing to keep working with it.

And they could work with it when they couldn't before. Before, he's in the well; now they can live with him and interact with him and hope that Joseph would address the issue in a productive manner. So that's where they are, but that's not where Joseph is. Joseph is in pain. He cries.

When Benjamin—he sees his brother—he just loses his mind crying. When they repent, he cries. When he hugs his brother, he cries. When he sees his father, he loses his mind crying. You've never seen his brothers cry, not once. Joseph does. Somebody else may get over their pain. That doesn't mean that yours are over.

And it doesn't mean that God is expecting you to go, "Oh, it's over, you know. I'm good because God is saying I should be good." No, God is saying, "We still have to let it flow." We can't let it roll to where we are now carrying out our own vengeance, to where we are now doing things that displease God.

We're still held accountable with God to do what he calls us to do, despite what the person has done to us. There's no guarantee that they will respond in a productive manner. It doesn't matter if they do or not. The Bible requires this of us. Yes, it's pain, but we have to get past that pain. And the Bible is saying God requires this of us.

So what does that mean in terms of God expecting us to function like he did, expecting us to hold to the things like he did? You see this in chapter 14 verse 19: "Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, the things wherewith one may edify another."

What the Bible is modeling for us in the story of Joseph is that Joseph, he's literally saying this in chapter 45, has to in spite of his pain work towards peace because the agenda of God is never lost when we submit our will to his will. So the more I keep doing what God tells me to do like Joseph is doing in this passage, the spirit that is our peace sees us trusting God first.

He keeps healing my heart, and that healing process—the Holy Spirit—continues to grow and develop in my life. And the more he develops is the more the fruit comes out, which is the joy, the peace, the ability to love the person who hurt you, to long-suffering if they don't respond the way they're supposed to. And therefore, you can still be kind.

It's what the spirit of God will produce for the glory of God. Joseph is modeling that for us, and that leads to his healing, and that leads to productive results for the glory of God. We must commit our hearts to the obedience of God, trusting him to heal us. I pray that we will see how this endears our relationship with Christ and heals us. Stay focused.

Guest (Male): Thank you, Pastor Cannings. I like your statement that God's agenda is not lost when we submit to him. As always, we value your prayers for our ministry as we serve not only in our community, but nationally and internationally as well. Please call us at 281-260-7402 or log on to powerwalkministries.org.

We'd love to hear from you. And if you live in the Houston area or you're planning a visit, please join Reverend Cannings at Living Word Fellowship Church this Sunday. For church location and service times, visit lwfellowshipchurch.org. And now remember, like Joseph, we can also process our pain by committing it to God and pressing forward each day to fulfill his plan for us.