IT’S TIME TO DREAM AGAIN – WEEK FIVE
“Messy Miracles”
Greg Wingard – January 30, 2022
IT’S TIME TO DREAM AGAIN
“Messy Miracles”
Greg Wingard – January 30, 2022
Genesis 45:4-11 — “Please, come closer,” he said to them. So they came closer. And he said again, “I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into slavery in Egypt. But don’t be upset, and don’t be angry with yourselves for selling me to this place. It was God who sent me here ahead of you to preserve your lives. This famine that has ravaged the land for two years will last five more years, and there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. God has sent me ahead of you to keep you and your families alive and to preserve many survivors. So it was God who sent me here, not you! And he is the one who made me an adviser to Pharaoh—the manager of his entire palace and the governor of all Egypt. Now hurry back to my father and tell him, ‘This is what your son Joseph says: God has made me master over all the land of Egypt. So come down to me immediately! You can live in the region of Goshen, where you can be near me with all your children and grandchildren, your flocks and herds, and everything you own. I will take care of you there, for there are still five years of famine ahead of us. Otherwise you, your household, and all your animals will starve.”
God dreams unfold in our lives as messy miracles. Messiness in your life does not disqualify you from God’s miracles. In fact, messiness is a key part of how miracles unfold in our lives!
Six Purposes for our Messes
Messes to PREPARE you.
Psalm 105:19 — “Until the time that His word came to pass, the word of the Lord tested— smelted — [Joseph].”
Messes that are SPIRITUAL opposition stirred up because of others’ envy.
Genesis 4:38; Matthew 27:18; Acts 13:45
Genesis 37:9-11 — “Look, I have dreamed another dream… So he told his father and his brothers… And his brothers envied him…”
Genesis 37:18-19 — “Now when they saw him far off… they conspired against him to kill him. They said to one another, Look, this dreamer is coming! Let’s kill him…”
Messes that are actually INCREMENTAL receiving.
Exodus 23:30 — “Little by little I will drive them out before you, until you have increased enough to take possession of the land.”
Mark 8:22-25 — A blind man gets healed by Jesus in stages.
Messes as a set-up for God to SHOW OFF.
John 9:2-3 — “His disciples asked him, Why was this man born blind? Was it because of his own sins or his parent's sins? It was not because of his sins or his parents’ sins, Jesus answered. This happened so the power of God could be seen in him.”
Messes as an opportunity for God to show YOU off.
This is the entire theme of the book of Job.
Job 1:8-12 — “Then the Lord asked Satan, “Have you noticed my servant Job? He is the finest man in all the earth. He is blameless—a man of complete integrity. He fears God and stays away from evil… Satan replied to the Lord, “Yes, but Job has good reason to fear God. You always put a wall of protection around him and his home and his property. You have made him prosper in everything he does. Look how rich he is. Reach out and take away everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face! All right, you may test him, the Lord said to Satan…”
Messes to build your FAITH.
James 1:2-4 — “Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. You know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.”
Contrast Joseph With the 10 Spies
JOSEPH: Psalm 105:19 — “Until the time that His word came to pass, the word of the Lord tested — smelted — [Joseph].”
THE 10 SPIES: Numbers 13:33 — “We saw the giants there. We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.”
Testing grows your faith to believe that you are who He says you are!