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[3196.34 --> 3199.44] It should ignite a plea for justice.
[3200.84 --> 3204.22] But because this story is so anger-inducing,
[3204.52 --> 3206.30] it also causes us to miss
[3206.30 --> 3208.02] some very important information.
[3210.08 --> 3212.28] We miss the bookends to this story
[3212.28 --> 3213.74] because the middle of it
[3213.74 --> 3215.68] is so compelling.
[3216.56 --> 3218.12] It irks us so much.
[3219.10 --> 3220.04] The story starts,
[3220.38 --> 3221.06] and it ends,
[3221.26 --> 3223.02] with focal points for us today.
[3223.02 --> 3225.16] But we often just blow right over it,
[3225.20 --> 3226.24] even though it's central
[3226.24 --> 3228.08] to this entire narrative of Joseph.
[3229.52 --> 3231.52] The bookends to this story really matter,
[3232.20 --> 3234.86] and they provide our God hint this morning
[3234.86 --> 3236.02] in our suffering.
[3236.94 --> 3237.58] Find them with me.
[3237.64 --> 3238.04] Verse 2.
[3239.28 --> 3240.54] Verse 2, it says this.
[3241.52 --> 3243.24] The Lord was with Joseph.
[3244.68 --> 3246.18] And then at the end of all of this,
[3246.26 --> 3247.48] verse 21, take a look.
[3247.48 --> 3250.34] The Lord was with him.
[3252.98 --> 3254.60] Even in all of the hardships
[3254.60 --> 3255.96] that Joseph was going through,
[3256.84 --> 3257.92] God was there.
[3259.04 --> 3260.08] He was with him.
[3261.38 --> 3262.84] That's our God hint today.
[3263.00 --> 3265.10] You are not alone.
[3265.10 --> 3270.22] As Joseph was thrown into a well,
[3270.74 --> 3272.26] as he was sold into slavery,
[3272.76 --> 3274.06] even as he was sent to prison
[3274.06 --> 3275.62] for a crime he did not commit,
[3276.38 --> 3279.18] the Lord was with him always.
[3281.94 --> 3284.02] See, even in our hardships,
[3285.20 --> 3286.80] even when life seems unfair,
[3286.96 --> 3288.90] even when things are unjust to us,
[3288.90 --> 3291.04] even when we find ourselves suffering,
[3291.58 --> 3293.98] we can be certain that we are not alone.
[3295.10 --> 3298.00] Now, it's easy for me to say
[3298.00 --> 3299.00] from up here, right?
[3300.22 --> 3301.02] And that's fair.
[3301.88 --> 3302.88] Like, I would never stand
[3302.88 --> 3303.90] in front of you all today
[3303.90 --> 3305.54] and say, I understand
[3305.54 --> 3306.86] what all of you are going through.
[3307.40 --> 3308.18] Of course I can't.
[3309.90 --> 3311.26] Some of you have gone through
[3311.26 --> 3313.00] or are going through health concerns
[3313.00 --> 3314.62] that I've never had to endure.
[3316.36 --> 3318.22] Some of you have suffered loss
[3318.22 --> 3318.92] in your life
[3318.92 --> 3321.60] that I have never had to experience
[3321.60 --> 3322.74] and cannot comprehend.
[3322.74 --> 3325.88] Some of you have walked
[3325.88 --> 3328.00] barefoot through hell and back
[3328.00 --> 3329.70] and have witnessed loved ones
[3329.70 --> 3331.58] crumble and fall
[3331.58 --> 3333.80] or have broken down yourselves
[3333.80 --> 3335.56] because of the context
[3335.56 --> 3336.80] that you find yourselves in.
[3338.50 --> 3340.52] And all I can do is sit and listen
[3340.52 --> 3341.68] and be present with you
[3341.68 --> 3342.50] and pray with you,
[3342.90 --> 3344.78] but I can't understand
[3344.78 --> 3345.82] the depths of your suffering
[3345.82 --> 3346.38] or your pain.
[3346.38 --> 3349.72] So if you're sitting there thinking,
[3350.58 --> 3351.32] yeah, Kevin, sure,
[3351.46 --> 3352.34] but you don't know.
[3353.34 --> 3353.78] You're right.
[3354.48 --> 3355.62] I haven't gone through
[3355.62 --> 3356.84] the same things that you have.
[3357.34 --> 3359.20] And I would never claim to know
[3359.20 --> 3361.16] what you are going through.
[3361.16 --> 3364.36] But I can say
[3364.36 --> 3366.16] with certainty
[3366.16 --> 3367.90] because of the power
[3367.90 --> 3369.50] and authority of God's Word
[3369.50 --> 3371.36] that in those dark times
[3371.36 --> 3372.44] that you faced,
[3372.54 --> 3374.24] the times that I cannot comprehend,
[3375.44 --> 3377.86] the Lord was with you.
[3379.10 --> 3380.14] While the depths
[3380.14 --> 3381.18] and the pain
[3381.18 --> 3382.14] and the suffering
[3382.14 --> 3383.22] that you've gone through
[3383.22 --> 3383.68] was deep,
[3383.94 --> 3385.14] our living God
[3385.14 --> 3386.26] went through them with you.
[3387.24 --> 3387.98] He was there.
[3387.98 --> 3390.92] That's the big idea today.
[3391.86 --> 3393.28] You are not alone.
[3394.56 --> 3396.96] God is with you always.
[3399.52 --> 3401.00] When Joseph was a slave,
[3401.12 --> 3401.76] God was with him.
[3402.52 --> 3403.68] And he prospered.
[3404.62 --> 3406.36] When Joseph was sent to prison,
[3407.42 --> 3408.44] God was with him.