The Alternative

Dr. Tony Evans: Detours involve negative experiences that God either creates or lets somebody else create. Dr. Tony Evans talks about how frustrated we can get when we realize some of life's toughest obstacles were put there by the Lord. It's easy to get mad at God in a trial when actually the trial is the occasion to draw near to God.

Guest (Male): This is the Alternative broadcast featuring the timeless biblical teachings from the archives of Dr. Tony Evans. Joseph was a man who knew all about how life could take an unexpected turn. He had more than his share, and most were potentially fatal. Well, today we'll learn how side-stepping one disastrous detour led him straight into another, as Dr. Evans takes us to Genesis chapter 39.

Dr. Tony Evans: Detours always involve tests. A test or a trial is an adverse circumstance either created or allowed by God in order to develop us in preparation for His purpose for us. So a test is adverse circumstances. Joseph is in a test because he's now a slave in a situation he never planned to be in, and it is adverse. He's in a pit, no water, sold into slavery by his own family, and verse one of chapter 39 says he's taken to Egypt and Pharaoh, the captain of the bodyguard, buys him from the Ishmaelite. He's being bought and sold like property.

He's in a bad situation, and now Joseph is living a life he didn't plan on. His daddy didn't raise him to be a slave, but that's what he is now. That leads to number two: the second route on the detour to destiny of the pattern that God uses is training. We're told to learn through testing. So testing is designed to provide training.

Look at verse two: "The Lord was with Joseph, and he became a successful man. He was in the house of his master. His master saw that the Lord was with him and God caused all that he did to prosper in his hand. Joseph found favor in his sight and became his personal servant. He put everything he had under Joseph's charge." Okay, let's deal with training number one: spiritual training.

The Lord was with Joseph as a slave. The Lord was with Joseph in his trial. The Lord was with Joseph being bought and sold. The Lord was with him. In other words, he did not let his circumstance compromise his spiritual relationship. It's easy to get mad at God in a trial when actually the trial is the occasion to draw near to God. But he gives you the key—here is the key—to making it during your season of trial. It says he became a successful man because the Lord was with him.

Not because of who he knew, not because of his contacts, not because of his notoriety, not because of his name, not because of his bank account. If the Lord is not with you, I don't care who you know, what contacts you have, what power you think you have. The reason he was a success as a slave is because the Lord was with him. And the Lord blessed him as a slave, and everything underneath Potiphar's house was under Joseph.

Now watch this. One of the purposes of trials is to develop us and to train us. Don't miss this: Joseph is now second in command in Potiphar's house. But what Joseph didn't know is that down the line he's going to become second in command in all Egypt. Potiphar is a pagan, he's not a believer. He's working in a non-Christian company.

But look what it says about Joseph. Verse five: "The Lord blessed the Egyptian's house on account of Joseph. Thus the Lord's blessing was upon all that he owned in the house and in the field." That means all of his property. In other words, the Christian was the best employee he had. You say, "My boss isn't a Christian, my coworkers aren't Christians, nobody loves the Lord here with me," but all God needed in Potiphar's house was Joseph. He's preparing him.

I like this because it says in verse three, "Now his master saw that the Lord was with him." But this is a pagan man. How is a pagan man going to see the Lord is with you? There are only two ways: word and deed. That is, he was a witness with his mouth, but he backed it up with his feet. He didn't talk about Jesus and turn in sloppy work, nor did he do good work and skip the fact that his faith was the basis of how he worked.

It was word and deed. He didn't talk about Jesus all day and get nothing done, but he didn't get stuff done and leave Jesus out. It was word and deed because he wasn't just working for a paycheck, he was working for a person, and the Lord was with him. Is the Lord with you in your career?

Watch this, don't miss this: his job was not his destiny because a lot of us have made our jobs our destiny. This job, he is getting ready to leave this job. In fact, in a few minutes, he's getting ready to get fired. Joseph is getting ready to get fired from his job. So if he put all of his marbles in his job, he's going to be severely disappointed because he is getting ready to lose his job. The man is getting ready to get a pink slip.

So your job is not your destiny. Your job may just be preparation for your destiny because he's going to learn skills in his job that God is going to use for His kingdom. So don't make your job all that and a bag of chips because you got some letters behind your name and you got a little education. Don't go off because his job was not his destiny, but his relationship with God, which was going to determine his destiny, was with him on his job.

God cares more about the development of the dreamer than the realization of the dream. See, he's a dreamer. He's got the gift of having dreams and interpreting dreams. He's a dreamer. The third part of the pattern of detours is temptation. There was a test, there was training, and now there's temptation.

Guest (Male): Temptation is solicitation to do evil. It is solicitation to disobey God. Okay, let's get this straight: temptation is not sin. The Bible says the Spirit of God in Matthew 4 led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. Yet the Bible says Jesus was without sin. So being tempted is not equal to sinning. Sinning is yielding to the temptation, not having the temptation. Everyone, we all face temptations. That's not a sin; it's the yielding that makes it a sin.

Let me tell you something about temptation, and that is temptation and testing are often simultaneous events. In other words, it's the same event being both at the same time. While God is trying to develop us, Satan is trying to deceive us, and it's about the same thing. That's why sometimes you're caught between "Is this God or is this the devil?" Many times you're caught because it's the same event.

The Spirit of God led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. So the Spirit of God sent him there, and God knows why he's being sent there. The devil's going to try to test him there. So in the same spot, he has both working. And that's where the confusion is: "Is this God or is it the devil? Is this God or is this the devil? Is this real or is this Memorex? What is this?" Because it's happening with the same event.

Car dealerships show you they'll crash a car to show you how sturdy a car is. "Look how sturdy this car is." Or they'll slam the door and say, "This car is strong." The opposition will do the same thing and show you how weak the car is. And it's the same car. Temptations and testing for development often occur at the very same time.

So the Lord is with Joseph, the Lord sent him to Potiphar's house, and he runs into Mrs. Potiphar. We're told in the end of verse six, "Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance," which means this passage can't apply to most of the men here. Notice I said most. He was handsome in form, muscular, six-pack, ripped. He's a beast. So he's handsome in form and in face. Eye candy. Easy to look at. He had it going on.

It came about after these events that his master's wife looked with desire at Joseph, verse seven says, and said, "Lie with me." This is not a subtle sister. She is getting to the point. But verse eight says he refused and said to his master's wife, "Behold, with me here, my master does not concern himself with anything in the house and he has put all things that he owns in my charge."

And now he gives the zinger: "There is no one greater in this house than I, and he has withheld nothing from me except you because you are his wife. How then could I do this great evil and sin against God?" He has now been solicited by Mrs. Potiphar. He's been solicited for a sexual relationship. She has come right out and said it.

Verse 10 says she came to him day after day. She's not going to leave him alone. And there's no place he can go because he works there. He's going to run into her at the water cooler. He's going to run into her at the office. He can't go anywhere. This is his job. And she's after him day after day to seduce him. He's being solicited, he's being tempted, and the temptation will not go away.

Guest (Male): That happens to all of us in one way or another. But all temptations have something in common, and Dr. Evans will tell us more about that in just a moment. Before he does though, I want to tell you about a pair of resources designed to encourage anyone who is wondering why life hasn't unfolded the way they expected. The centerpiece is Tony's current nine-message series, Joseph: Detours to Destiny. In these lessons, you'll see how God remained at work through every setback Joseph faced, turning disappointment into preparation and hardship into opportunity.

We'd like to send you this complete audio collection as our thank-you gift when you make a donation to support the Urban Alternative. And as a part of this special package, we'll also include Tony's insightful book, Detours: The Unpredictable Path to Your Destiny. In it, he explains why God's greatest blessings often come by way of unexpected roads, helping you find hope and confidence even when the destination isn't yet in sight. To make your request, visit TonyEvans.org or call our resource center anytime at 1-800-800-3222. That's 1-800-800-3222. Well, Dr. Evans will return with more of today's message right after this.

Dr. Tony Evans: On the Unbound podcast, Dr. Tony Evans brings honest stories to life. Guests bring thoughtful insights on topics like love, marriage, and how they relate to faith.

Guest (Female): There's something about being seen in your pain. I wouldn't allow myself ever to admit how lonely I was.

Dr. Tony Evans: It's not wrong to ask God questions, it's wrong to question God. From broken marriages to restored hope. God still raises marriages from the dead. Unbound with Dr. Tony Evans.

Guest (Male): Listen and subscribe to the Unbound podcast on Dr. Evans' YouTube channel or on your favorite podcast platform. Well, let's get back to today's lesson now on the pattern of detours.

Of course, we live in a world today where in addition to our natural flesh, we have everything appealing to it. Here it's a sexual thing, but it could be anything that wants to hold you hostage and reel you in. He's tempted. But Joseph says no, and there are two reasons we say no to temptation when we do.

One is fear of consequences; that's the negative reason. We don't want the reprisal that could take place. Joseph knew that everything had been placed under his hand and he knew that could be jeopardized here. But then he gives the positive reason and the dominant reason at the end of verse nine. He says, "How then could I do this great evil and sin against God?"

The reason we sin more is because we love God less. We will say to one another regularly, "You shouldn't do that, that's sin." We may know it. We may not even want to do it and we keep doing it. But the issue is: am I growing my love for God, therefore lessening my life for sin, or am I lessening my love for God so that I'm growing my response to sin?

One of the ways you know your love for God is growing is that your hatred for sin is increasing and how bad you feel when you let Him down. When you've disappointed God. And when that feeling goes away, it's because love has been diminished. People who love God hate sin and hurt when they do it. People who don't love God get over the hump.

Joseph didn't sin because he valued his relationship. He did not want to displease God. He did not want to unravel the God who had brought him to this place of blessing even as a slave. One of the reasons God allows detours to become extended is development has not occurred enough for us to choose Him over the most enticing things in our lives. When we choose Him, it shows that we have grown in our love for Him, even the thing that calls our name the most. Abraham, give me your son Isaac, the one you love the most.

That's not easy. It makes me think of the guy who was on a diet and certain things he wasn't supposed to eat, yet he came to work this day with a whole bag of donuts. They ask him at work, "Weren't you on a diet?" He said, "Yes." "Well, why you got those donuts?" He says, "On my way to work here, I had to take another route and I saw I was going to pass a donut shop. I said, 'Lord, if you don't want me to get donuts, then I need you to make sure that there's no parking place in front of the donut shop.' After eight times around the block, I came across a parking space at the donut shop."

Here's what you need to know about Satan, and this is true for everybody here: a good coach studies the game film of the opposing team. They're constantly looking at the idiosyncrasies, the tweaks, the techniques, the patterns, the tendencies of the opposing team so that they can exploit them when the game is to be played. Well, Satan has seen all of our game film.

He knows where our weak spots lie and what we're most susceptible to, and he makes arrangements to sabotage situations we're in, even if it's in the will of God, to use them to exploit them for his purposes. He knows our game film. He knows our history, our background, our propensities, our potential, the things that we react to, respond to, the things that we are oriented to, and he seeks to exploit them.

But he said no, "I can't do this," and it's because of God, because God was real for him even in a trial. But you usually don't get that in a trial; you get that because you had it on your way to the trial because you were cultivating the spiritual depth. So if you're in this situation of a temptation, the thing is to cultivate this relationship with God so that you love Him more and you hate that more, even if it's something that is appealing.

Well, she accuses him of rape. Verse 12: she caught him by the garment saying, "Lie with me," and he left his garment in her hand and fled and went outside. And when she saw he had left his garment, she called to the men of the household and said, "See, he brought this Hebrew to make sport of me. He came in to me, I screamed, and he left his garment." Now here's the situation: he's in a no-win deal. He can't win this one.

He's been accused of rape, nobody saw it, and she has the material in her hand to prove it. And she's the boss's wife. He can't win this one. Anybody in here ever had anybody lie on you? And they win. Because nothing you can say can get you out of this one. No appeal you can make because she's got the evidence, even though she's the liar. She can prove that you tried to rape me. Her husband comes home.

And when her husband comes home, she speaks to him. Verse 17: then she spoke to him with these words: "The Hebrew slave who you brought to us came in to me and made sport of me. And I raised my voice and screamed. He left his garment beside me and fled outside." Now when his master heard these words from his wife which she spoke to him saying, "This is what your slave did to me," his anger burned.

So Joseph's master took him and put him in jail. That's called a pink slip. He's fired. But remember, Joe is on a detour. He's on a detour to destiny, and detours involve negative experiences that God either creates or lets somebody else create. Therefore, don't mistake the hand of God for the hand of man. God was letting the lie of a woman move Joseph to the next layer of his destiny.

So you're on a road, you're on a turn, or you will be. That's because God loves you enough to take you somewhere and develop you till you get there. You can prolong the detour, but you don't have to prolong it if you will draw near to Him in the midst of it, say no to that which breaks His heart and yes to that which brings His heart joy. Confess any failure you had yesterday. You can't change yesterday, but if you start today, you can move toward a better tomorrow.

Guest (Male): Dr. Evans will return in a moment with the final illustration about why building a life is a little like making a pizza. As I mentioned earlier, today's lesson comes from Tony's nine-part series, Joseph: Detours to Destiny. For a limited time, when you make a donation to support the ministry and request this complete audio collection, we'll also include Tony's companion book, Detours: The Unpredictable Path to Your Destiny. Together, these resources offer biblical encouragement for anyone learning to trust God's purpose through life's unexpected delays, disappointments, and changes of direction.

To learn more or make your request, visit TonyEvans.org. That's TonyEvans.org. Or call our resource center at 1-800-800-3222, where one of our team members will be glad to assist you anytime of the day or night. That's 1-800-800-3222. The shortest distance between two points may be a straight line, but when God takes us on a tangent, we need to recognize what He's doing and why. Dr. Evans unwraps that for us on Monday. But right now, he's back with this final illustration for today.

Dr. Tony Evans: In closing, have you ever been to a real pizzeria? I'm talking about one run by the Italians. I ain't talking about the fake pizza, I'm talking about the real deal. You know what they do? They take a wad of dough and abuse it. They slam it down. Bam! They take a rolling pin and mash it. They flatten it. Now they've already thrown it down, now they're going to flatten it out. They take it on their finger and spin it in the air.

I want the good stuff. I want the sausage and the pepperoni and the cheese and the sauce and the tomatoes. I want the good stuff. But if you're eating the pizza, you can't get the good stuff until the dough has been made ready to receive it. You can't just put the good stuff until the dough has been slammed, flattened, and spun.

But after it's been slammed, flattened, and spun, now you've positioned it to receive the pepperoni and the sausage and the cheese and the sauce. I know you all want the good stuff. You want to arrive at destiny. And we're going to get to the good stuff, but before we get to the good stuff, God's got some preparation He needs to make. And that may include some slamming and some flattening and some spinning. But what He's doing is getting you ready for the sausage, pepperoni, cheese, and sauce. He's getting you ready for the good stuff by creating the situation that prepares you to receive it.