The Alternative

Dr. Tony Evans: If you're here today and you want your destiny, I would not be being fair to the word of God if I didn't tell you that there're going to be dry spots along the journey.

Dr. Tony Evans: Dr. Tony Evans says the process God uses to prepare us for our destiny isn't always comfortable. Things can get worse before they get better, especially when you're being stripped of something that you're wrapped in.

Guest (Male): This is the Alternative broadcast featuring the timeless biblical teachings from the archives of Dr. Tony Evans. Just when we think we're ready for what God has in store for us, we quite often discover God thinks we're ready for more preparation and purification. We'll learn why as Dr. Evans talks about the purpose behind the detours in our lives. Let's join him.

Dr. Tony Evans: If you are a believer in Jesus Christ today, you have a destiny. Now, from an eternal perspective, we know what our destiny is, and that is to be in God's presence forever, worshiping him and working for him in that eternal state. That is our eternal destiny. We know that.

But our concern or our focus is on the historical destiny that He has for you in this life. Part of experiencing your destiny is understanding your detours. When you look at scripture, it is full of destinies being reached through detours. There is no individual in the Bible who illustrates this principle of detours and its relationship to destiny like the life of Joseph.

Now I love a good suspense novel. I love a drama. I love a movie or a book with twists and turns along the way, where they've got a story and then they got a story within the story, and then a story within the story that's within the story that was in the story. So you got all kind of things happening at the same time. Now, if I'm impatient, I go to the last chapter, because then I can see where all this stuff winds up.

Why don't we do that? Why don't we go to the end of Joseph's story? Look at Genesis chapter 50. This is the end of the story. We're going to back up to the beginning of the story in a second, but let's go to the end, because the end helps us understand the concept of destiny, and 37 to 50 gives you the whole suspense novel.

But Joseph said to them, that is his brothers, "Do not be afraid, for am I in God's place?" You got a hint of destiny there. Destiny is being in the place God has for you. Am I not in God's place? As for you, you meant it for evil, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result to preserve many alive, so therefore do not be afraid. I will provide for you and your little ones. So he comforted them and spoke kindly to them."

Please notice that phrase. "As for you, you meant evil against me, and God meant it for good." Watch it, watch it. That tells you something about destiny. It includes evil and good. It's not all good going to destiny. There's some bad stuff on the way to destiny. There's some bad people on the way to destiny. In fact, in our lives, there have been some bad choices on our way to destiny.

But don't get stuck there, because he says, even though there's bad, he says, God was doing good. So you got bad and good simultaneously taking place in order to wind up in the place God has for you. Now, what you don't want to do is add more chapters to the book than is necessary. But, nevertheless, that is the reality, and it involves some evil stuff that took place.

Let's go back to the beginning of the story. Chapter 37. We find in verse two, Joseph was 17 years of age. He is the 11th son of Jacob. Joseph is born into a dysfunctional family. Let me tell you about his daddy, Jacob.

Jacob, ever since he was a little boy, was a deceiver. He was a trickster. His name means trickster, because he was always deceiving somebody out of something in order to get his way. He is a manipulator by trade, which explains his children, because his children became manipulators. Because what you and I pass on to our children are not only our looks, it's also our habits, be they good or bad. So the deceiver gave birth to deceivers.

He loved Joseph more than all the sons, because he was the son of his old age, and made him a varied-color tunic, a multi-colored coat, or you and I would say an elegant robe. He make anything for anybody else? He made a robe for his favorite kid, the baby in the family.

When he made them this special coat, notice what happens. Verse four, his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all of his brothers, and so they hated him and could not speak to him on friendly terms. So now you got a sibling situation, cuz daddy's playing favorite. Now, let me tell you why they hated him all the more.

Not just because he got a pretty robe. That would have been enough of itself. But that's a robe that goes to the oldest son, because it was the firstborn who was to be the most recognized. And the firstborn got a double inheritance. So they understood what this robe meant. This robe meant that he was going to be treated like the firstborn, even though at this point, he's the lastborn, and it says, "And they hated him," and would not speak to him on friendly terms. They talked about him, they degraded him, and there were sibling conflicts, and some of you know what it's like not to be able to communicate with brothers or sisters or or siblings because of what went down with daddy and mama.

But it ain't over. Because now Joseph has a dream. Verse five, then Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more. He says, please, verse six, listen to the dream I had last night. Verse seven, "Behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and lo, my sheaf rose up, and also stood erect, and behold, your sheaves gathered around and bowed down to my sheaf."

Now, they already don't like you, boy. And you going to tell them you had a dream where they bowed down to you. So what was their response? Verse eight, "And their brother said, 'Are you actually going to reign over us?'" So they hated him even more for the dreams he dreamt and the words he told them. But not only that, we ain't finished.

Verse nine, "Now he had still another dream." This boy needs to stay up. This boy having too many dreams. He had another dream. And he related it to his brothers and said, "Lo, I have still another dream and behold the sun and the moon and 11 stars were bowing down to me." He related this to his father, to his brothers, and his father rebuked him and said to him, "What is this dream you have? Shall I and your mother and your brothers actually come and bow ourselves down before you to the ground?"

Joseph has made three mistakes. The end of verse two, "And Joseph brought back a bad report about them to his father." He's a tattletale. Tattletales for tattletale's sake. Not because you're trying to help, you're trying to get folk in trouble, is generally done to build up how I look. See, I'm going to tell on you so you look bad, so compared to you, I look better. So we understand that.

You know, he's immature. That's the first thing. Second thing he did was tell his dreams to folk who don't like him. You don't tell folk who can't stand you about dreams where they're going to be underneath you. Some dreams you need to keep to yourself. Now they may be God-given, but it's God-given to you.

That's the third mistake he made, sporting his tunic. Okay, watch this now. We read in the beginning of the chapter, he's taking care of flocks with his brothers. His brothers already don't like him and speak harshly to him. He's taking care of flock with his brother. Now he gets suited and booted. He's got on this multi-colored, flamboyant tunic. Everybody else is riding up in the bike. He drives his car to the flock. And he wants to rub this favoritism in the face of his brothers who already doesn't like him. He is immature.

So Joseph is going to have to grow up before he can realize his dream. Which means he needs a detour. Here it is. The purpose of detours is to develop you for the destiny God has for you, while God is developing the destiny for when you arrive. God is doing two things at one time. He's developing you, maturity, through the things he takes you through for the destiny, while he's working on the destiny for when you get there.

Now, it's nice if both of them happen at the same time. But I think for most of us, the destiny sitting there waiting for us to arrive, because God has a detour and we create new ones.

Guest (Male): We'll learn more about the purpose of detours in our lives when Dr. Evans continues our lesson in just a moment. Don't go away.

Guest (Female): Picture yourself surrounded by crystal clear waters, warm Caribbean breezes, and the kind of quiet that allows you to hear from God in a fresh way. This February 28th through March 7th, you're invited to join Dr. Tony Evans and friends for a seven-day Caribbean cruise. A journey of rest and renewal. You'll visit beautiful ports of call like NASA in the Bahamas, the pristine shores of Grand Turk, and Amber Cove in the Dominican Republic, even stopping in a private island designed for pure relaxation. And in between, you'll enjoy peaceful days at sea, perfect for reflection, fellowship, and rest. Along the way, you'll experience powerful Bible teaching from Dr. Evans and other speakers, uplifting worship, and meaningful connection with a community that feels like family. If your soul needs refreshing and your spirit needs renewing, this is your invitation. Find out more and make your reservation today at Tonyevans.org. That's Tonyevans.org.

Guest (Male): Priscilla Shire will be a featured guest speaker during the cruise, and Anthony Evans will be leading worship sessions. You can learn more about our upcoming Caribbean cruise opportunity at Tonyevans.org. Now, before we get back to the lesson, I want to tell you about a special resource package that goes hand in hand with the series we've begun today. It starts with a collection of all nine of the full length messages from Tony's teaching series called Joseph, Detours to Destiny.

Through Joseph's remarkable story, you'll discover that the unexpected twists and disappointments of life aren't interruptions to God's plan, they're often the very path he uses to accomplish it. And to help you explore these truths further, we'll include Tony's popular companion book, Detours: The Unpredictable Path to Your Destiny. It offers practical encouragement for anyone wondering why life hasn't gone according to plan, revealing how God can use delays, disappointments, and unexpected turns to prepare you for the future he's designed.

We'd like to send you this special resource package as our thank you gift when you make a donation to support the ministry of the alternative. To get all the details, visit Tonyevans.org, or call our resource center at 1-800-800-32-22. That's 1-800-800-3222. I'll repeat that contact information after part two of today's lesson. Here's Dr. Evans.

Dr. Tony Evans: When God is getting ready to move you to the next spiritual level toward your destiny, we'll talk about how to define your destiny, but when God is seeking to move you to your destiny, here it is, you won't like this, but I got to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth, so help me God, things may get worse before they get better. And I know everybody looking for their blessing, and all of that. That's half the truth.

The other half the truth is, in order to develop you, God will detour you, and I think most of us know, most detours occur when construction is taking place. There's a construction crew on the road creating a detour. The reason why God creates detours is because he's got to do some construction in our lives first. He's got to chip away at the parts that don't fit where he's taking us. He has to chip away at the things we're not ready yet.

And depending on how we respond to the detours tells us how long we're in the detours and how long we're going to be blocked from the destiny. So, I got to tell you the truth. Things may get worse before they get better, because development is part of the process. See, we want the destiny. God wants to make sure you're ready for it, because the worst thing you can have is to be somewhere God wants you to be and not be ready to be there, because then you'll mess up the destiny.

His father sends him on a trip to see his brothers. He says, I want you to go check on the brothers. So he goes looking for them. He goes to Shechem, he goes to Dothan, he's looking for them. And when, verse 18, here it is, "When they saw him from a distance, and before he came close to them, they plotted against him to put him to death. They said to one another," oh, I love this, "Here comes the dreamer."

Here come the dreamer. Okay, watch this. Here comes somebody who thinks he's something. Because remember, the dream was he going to be over us. Here comes somebody who thinks he better than us. Thinks he's higher than us. Oh, in other words, watch this, his God-given calling was already being rejected by his own family. Because they weren't spiritual enough to understand it. So, so if you're pursuing the Lord and folk don't understand where you're coming from, they may be your nuclear family, your extended family, it could be even your church family. They don't understand where you're coming from, but you know God is leading you.

See, they're actually complimenting him in reverse. Here comes the dreamer, but that's what he is. In fact, that is how God is going to use him, as you'll see the story unfold. Now, let's watch this as we come to a conclusion. They said, verse 20, "Let us kill him, throw him into the pit, and we will say a wild beast devoured him."

Reuben said, "No, no, no, no, no. Let's, let's, let's, come on. We got to come up with something. Let's not shed any blood." So it came about when Joseph reached, verse 23, his brothers, they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the very colored tunic that was on him. I told you he was wearing this thing. I told you, he going to visit his brothers, who are out with sheep and he's suited and booted. He wearing a suit, a royal robe to hang out with some sheep and sheep herders. All right? He's strutting his stuff.

Watch this now. And they stripped him of it. And, what did they strip him of? They stripped him of something he held in high value. Cuz he's wearing this thing. It was given to him by his daddy. You see, sometimes when God is taking us on a detour, He allows us to be stripped of things we love the most. Stripped of things we consider the most precious, the most valuable. It looked like he was finally climbing the hill. He was being recognized as royalty. And now he's been stripped.

It's like when you've been working in a job, and you've been giving it all you have, and now you wind up with a pink slip. When you've been doing better than everybody else, and you thought that was going to be a great career move, and you've been stripped. You can be stripped of your dignity. When you've given the best you have, and somebody you cared about walks out on you and you've been stripped.

Cuz when you're on God's design detours, things can get worse before they get better, especially when you're being stripped of something that you're wrapped in. That's covering you, that's close to you. It says, they stripped him of it, and they took him, verse 24, "threw him into a pit. Now the pit was empty and without water." Oh, no.

Anybody here today in a pit? That's a hole you can't get out of. That's a situation you can't fix. That's a wayward child that you can't control, that won't listen to you, that's staying on drugs, and you're in a hole and you can't get out of it, and you can't get them out of it. You're stuck. It's a, it's a boss you can't get away from. It's a coworker who won't leave you alone. It's a family member who's driving you crazy. It's a mate who is unresponsive, and you find yourself stuck, because when God takes you on a detour, you often may wind up in a hole.

He didn't create the hole. He didn't make the hole, but he was thrown into the hole. If you're here today and you want your destiny, I would not be being fair to the word of God if I didn't tell you that there're going to be dry spots along the journey. There's going to be dry spots where nothing appears to be happening and you find yourself stuck in a bad place. So I know what the dreamer is thinking. Here is what he's thinking. My dreams are shattered.

I had these great dreams. I thought I was going to be something, be somebody, go somewhere, achieve something. And now I didn't gone from a royal robe to a hole. I'm down to my underwear. Cuz I've been stripped. This man's got to be disappointed. And maybe he's even disappointed with God. God, how could you let me be in this hole? When you said you loved me? How can you let me be in this hole when you told me to trust you? How can you let me be in this hole with my own family members doing me in? How can you let me be in this hole with these folks treat me this way? How can you leave me in this hole? And when you're in a hole and you have no way out, you feel like you're in a hopeless situation.

You're on a detour, because detours are divine designed to contribute to construction, because God must address our character. He must mature us if he is going to trust us with the destiny he has for us.

Guest (Male): Dr. Evans will return in a moment to wrap up today's program with a word of prayer. But first, if you'd like to hear the complete full-length version of today's message, be sure to ask about Tony's nine-part teaching series, Joseph, Detours to Destiny. For a limited time, when you make a donation to support the ministry and request this audio collection, we'll also include Tony's companion book, Detours: The Unpredictable Path to Your Destiny.

Together, these resources will encourage you to trust God's timing, even when life takes unexpected turns, and help you discover how he uses every detour to move you toward his purpose. Get all the details and make your request today at Tonyevans.org. Again, that's Tonyevans.org, or call our resource center at 1-800-800-3222. Our team members are available around the clock to assist you. That's 1-800-800-3222. 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. Next time, Dr. Evans talks about how side-stepping one disastrous detour led Joseph straight into another, and how we can avoid making that same mistake. Right now though, he's back to lead us in prayer.

Dr. Tony Evans: Let's pray. Father, I thank you for the word of God that goes forth through this ministry and for every ear that hears it. I pray that you will use the word in the life of each person individually so that they know that they are hearing from you and are transformed by what they hear. I pray that that transformation touches them at their place of need. Wherever they're hurting, struggling, wherever they're in pain, or wherever they're celebrating. May you be the center of that and may they be able to say because of the word that they've heard and because of the true God that they're interacting with right now, that you have showed up and shown off on their behalf, doing good by them, no matter what their circumstances happened to be. Thank you for how you're going to touch every listener today in your own special way. In Jesus' name. Amen.